Our Instant Pot Cheesy Penne Pasta may become your favorite quick dinner! This is honestly the BEST dinner recipe for families. Even picky eaters love it.
Do you want to try out some more recipes with the new Instant Pot? Try our Instant Pot Spicy Chicken and Rice Bowls, Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup, and our Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup.
WHICH INSTANT POT IS BEST?
Our favorite Instant Pot has over 34,000 4-star reviews on Amazon. You can find it HERE! It’s also one of the more affordable electric pressure cookers available.
Related Article: An entire pan of homemade breadsticks done in 45 minutes! Check out our Sheet Pan Garlic Breadsticks for a delicious side dish!
Ingredients in Instant Pot Cheesy Penne Pasta:
- Chicken broth
- Evaporated milk
- Cloves of garlic
- Salt
- Pepper
- Penne pasta
- Marinara sauce
- Parmesan cheese
- Mozzarella cheese
- Fresh basil
I have only ever made this using evaporated milk, but you could possibly substitute whole milk or even half and half if you don’t have any evaporated milk on hand.
You could even try and make your own marinara sauce with this easy marinara sauce recipe!
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INSTANT POT PASTA NECESSITIES:
How to make Instant Pot Cheesy Penne Pasta:
This creamy Instant Pot pasta recipe is super simple! You can get it ready to go in a matter of minutes.
Start by combining the chicken broth, garlic, salt, pepper, and penne pasta into the pot in the Instant Pot.
Mix it all together, then put the lid on and turn it to secure it before turning it on.
Once the lid is secure, switch the knob to the “sealing” position and press “manual” to cook the pasta for 5 minutes.
A tip for cooking pasta in the Instant Pot: take the cooking time recommended on the package and divide it in half. Then subtract 2 more minutes from that number and that is about how long you should cook pasta in the Instant Pot (usually 4-5 minutes is the magic number).
Then, after the Instant Pot beeps to let you know that it is done cooking, let it do a natural release for 5 minutes (this means you don’t have to do anything but let it sit there for another 5 minutes.
The numbers on the display of the Instant Pot will now start to count up – don’t be alarmed, this is just to let you know how long it has been naturally releasing pressure for.)
After the 5 minutes of natural release, move the knob to the “venting” position and the Instant Pot will do a quick release with the rest of the pressure that was built up.
Once the pin drops, you can remove the lid and then pour in the evaporated milk and marinara sauce into the pressurized noodles. Then, mix everything together so that the pasta is evenly covered with sauce.
Then, add in the Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese and stir everything up until the cheese is completely melted.
All that is left to do is serve the creamy pasta immediately and top it with fresh basil and parmesan cheese!
If you wanted to add protein to this, you could add in some cooked Italian sausage or even cooked shredded chicken. Just mix it in at the end.
EASY DINNER RECIPE
If you are looking for another great recipe that you can just dump in the Instant Pot and go, then you will want to check out this amazing EASY Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe on our YouTube channel.
It is one of my favorite go-to recipes during the week.
Nothing like preparing dinner in under 10 minutes and letting the Instant Pot do its thing!
More of the best Instant Pot recipes to try:
- INSTANT POT MAC AND CHEESE
- INSTANT POT EASY SESAME CHICKEN AND RICE
- INSTANT POT CREAMY CHICKEN SOUP
- INSTANT POT STUFFED PEPPERS
- INSTANT POT MINI MEATLOAF
- INSTANT POT BEEF STROGANOFF
Instant Pot Cheesy Penne Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cup chicken broth
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 16 ounces penne pasta, uncooked
- 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
- 2 cup marinara sauce
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
- Fresh basil and shredded Parmesan for garnish (if desired)
Equipment
Instructions
- Pour chicken broth, garlic, salt, pepper, and penne pasta into Instant Pot. Secure the lid, switch the knob to "sealing" and cook on "manual" for 5 minutes.
- When it is done cooking, let the pot do a natural release for 5 minutes.
- Remove the lid and pour in evaporated milk and marinara sauce. Stir the sauce into the pasta so that all the pasta is covered evenly.
- Add in Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese and stir until cheese is melted.
- Serve immediately and top with fresh basil and Parmesan cheese if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.Recipe adapted from Cooking with Karli
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I thought you cannot pressure cook any dairy ? I’m confused and fear making this wondered if you put it out after realizing the advice given in Mac n cheese video
I am so sorry about that – I gave the directions in the wrong order. I corrected it in the recipe and you should be good to go! Thanks for the comment!
Can I make this in a regular big pot ,I would like too make this next Christmas,for a big crowd thank you.
I don’t have a manual button? I have the usual insta pot… do you mean pressure cook and then put on 5 minutes? Sorry I’m new to the instapot thing just trying to figure it all out 😬
Just made this and it was a hit with my picky pete kid!! I’m not sure what I did differently though, mine was swimming ton of juicy sauce. We just drained it before plating it and it was delicious!! Thank you for sharing!
Manual/Pressure Cook are the same thing depending on what Instant Pot you have. You’ll love your instant pot!
Did you drain the pasta before adding the milk and sauce
No need to drain the pasta before adding the other ingredients.
The mozzarella (added last, after the sauce & milk) turned into a blob. What did I do wrong?
Were you cooking the whole time? That should help. And cook just until cheese is melted.
I loved this recipe but it was soupy. I tried it and followed the recipe today.
For some reason it was very soup like. I added spinach and cream cheese and let it cook more well I stirred it. Turned out perfectly and not soupy. In case this happens to someone else. I also added more cheese to help thicken it.
Like many others who commented, mine turned out really soupy. I added more cheese but we still just ended up eating it out of bowls as soup. Disappointed.
How would I change the directions to use a slow cooker?
Not all recipes convert over. But here is a post that can help you. https://mycrazygoodlife.com/convert-instant-pot-recipes-crockpot/
Could frozen meatballs be added to this recipe? Would the cook times change?
You definitely can. I would saute the frozen meatballs in the bottom of the Instant Pot a little bit (you may need to scrape the bottom of the instant pot after sauteing to avoid a burn notice), then add in the rest of the ingredients. You may also need to add in a little extra liquid to make sure all the noodles are covered, too, so they can cook, but would keep the time at 5 minutes. I would also double check the temperature of the meatballs to make sure they’re cooked all the way through before eating them, but I think it will work!