Come Home Casserole–tender bites of chicken with penne and broccoli in a cream sauce and topped with melty mozzarella cheese made in your Instant Pot.
Come Home Casserole
I am so excited because this week my daughter comes home from college for Thanksgiving break. I have been looking forward to this for weeks. I am so excited to have relaxing family time together and hear all her college stories. I have missed her a LOT! I didn’t think I was going to be like this but here I am. I am trying to lure her home early with this creamy, cheesy penne pasta with chicken and broccoli. It is exactly the type of meal that is her cup of tea. She LOVES all pasta and carbs and I’m right with her (the boys in the house love all the meats). I know she’ll love this dish and I think you’ll love it too. My son told me that the chicken was “perfect”.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs–I love using thighs for this recipe because they turn out so moist and tender. You can also use chicken tenderloins.
- Poultry seasoning
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- Italian seasoning
- Chicken broth
- Penne rigate pasta–or another type of pasta like rotini
- Heavy cream
- Parmesan cheese
- Frozen broccoli florets
- Mozzarella cheese
Steps
Take the broccoli out of the freezer and let it thaw on the counter.
Use kitchen shears to cut the chicken into bite size chunks. Add the chicken into the Instant Pot. Stir in the poultry seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, red pepper and Italian seasoning to coat the chicken
Pour in the broth and stir.
Sprinkle in the penne pasta.
Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
Stir in the heavy cream and parmesan and broccoli florets.
Cover the Instant Pot with air fryer lid and bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.
Sprinkle the mozzarella on top and bake for 2 more minutes to melt the cheese.
Serve and enjoy!
Notes/Tips
- Serve with a side of garlic toast and a green salad with Italian salad dressing.
- I used my Duo Crisp 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- You can use another type of pasta if you prefer. You may need to adjust the cooking time. Here is the formula: look at the back of the box of pasta and see how many minutes it says to boil the pasta. If it’s 10 minutes you divide that number by 2 (=5) and then subtract 2 minutes. So you would pressure cook for 3 minutes.
- Other recipes you can make with heavy cream are Life Changing No Peel Cheddar And Chive Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes and Instant Pot Marry Me Chicken.
More Instant Pot penne recipes…
Instant Pot Chicken Margherita Pasta
Penne pasta, bites of chicken, halved grape tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, fresh basil and mozzarella all come together in a simple but totally flavorful one pot meal. You won’t be able to stop eating this one!
Instant Pot Chilis Copycat Cajun Chicken Pasta
An easy way to make a copycat version of Chili’s cajun chicken and penne. It tastes soooo good and costs a fraction of the price you’d pay at a restaurant.
Instant Pot Creamy Turkey Spinach Penne
Saucy penne pasta with ground turkey, tomatoes, green chiles, cumin, cream cheese and spinach. Make it fast in the electric pressure cooker.
Instant Pot Penne in Cajun Mustard Cream Sauce
Make this Instant Pot Penne in Cajun Mustard Cream Sauce for a quick and easy weeknight meal. With options to prepare it with andouille sausage or meatless you can make everyone happy.
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
Come Home Casserole
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 24 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Tender bites of chicken with penne and broccoli in a cream sauce and topped with melty mozzarella cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tsp poultry seasoning
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 8 ounces uncooked penne rigate pasta
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 12 oz package frozen broccoli florets
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Take the broccoli out of the freezer and let it thaw on the counter.
- Use kitchen shears to cut the chicken into bite size chunks. Add the chicken into the Instant Pot. Stir in the poultry seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, red pepper and Italian seasoning to coat the chicken
- Pour in the broth and stir. Sprinkle in the penne pasta.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the heavy cream and parmesan and broccoli florets.
- Cover the Instant Pot with air fryer lid and bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle the mozzarella on top and bake for 2 more minutes to melt the cheese.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
If you don’t have an air fryer lid then make sure to steam the broccoli in the microwave (or on stove). Then stir it in after pressure cooking time is up along with the parmesan and cream. Sprinkle the mozzarella on top and let it melt on the keep warm setting for about 5 minutes.
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Instant Pot/Air fryer lid
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
This recipe looks amazing. Where do I buy an air fryer lid? Can you provide a suggestion or a link to the one you use? Thank you, I’m excited to try this recipe in my instant pot 🙂
I used my Duo Crisp 6 quart Instant Pot* https://amzn.to/3khKqPE
i dont have an insta pot so i tried it the old fashion way in a skillet on the stove, since i couldn’t find a crock pot recipe.
Steps for doing it on the stovetop. I couldnt find slow cooker inst either.