Instant Pot Alfredo Sausage Pasta—flavorful bites of smoked sausage with a creamy sauce that envelopes spaghetti noodles.
Instant Pot Alfredo Sausage Pasta
I loved the Instant Pot Skinny Chicken Alfredo so much from Monday that I decided to make a spin off of it with smoked sausage and spaghetti instead of chicken and linguine. It was a perfect choice since the smoked sausage brought so much flavor and the spaghetti noodles seemed to be the perfect vehicle to get more alfredo sauce into my mouth. My mouth is watering just looking at these pictures.
Some ideas for next time:
- One thought would be to stir steamed broccoli florets into the finished product to add a pop of color and more nutrition. I didn’t do this because I didn’t have any broccoli on hand. But next time I totally will. Broccoli florets should not be pressure cooked because they will turn into mush. Here is how I steam broccoli in the Instant Pot.
- Add some sliced mushrooms into the pot with the other ingredients. I am a huge mushroom fan. Unfortunately my kids are not. Boo.
- 16 ounces of pasta is a lot. It serves about 6-8 people. The amount of smoked sausage added to the pot could be increased to have a higher meat to pasta ratio.
More Instant Pot Pasta Recipes You’ll Love…
Instant Pot Skinny Chicken Alfredo
Instant Pot Ground Beef Stroganoff
Recommendations
Instant Pot Garlic Sausage Orzo
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Alfredo Sausage Pasta I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.
Instant Pot Alfredo Sausage Pasta
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
Flavorful bites of smoked sausage with a creamy sauce that envelopes spaghetti noodles.
Ingredients
- 1 (13 oz) package smoked sausage
- 1 pound uncooked spaghetti noodles (whole wheat is okay)
- 3 ¾ cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 2 cups milk
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch
- 2 cups grated/shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Slice the smoked sausage into quarter inch rounds and place them in the bottom of the Instant Pot in an even layer.
- Break the spaghetti in thirds and fan them out so that they aren’t in one big clump. Pour the broth around the sides of the pot.
- Add in the garlic powder, onion powder, basil, parsley, salt, pepper and butter.
- Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure the valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When the time is up let the pot sit for 5 minutes, then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir the noodles. Turn the Instant Pot to the saute setting. Stir the cornstarch into the milk until smooth and then pour the mixture into the pot. Stir in the parmesan cheese. The sauce will thicken up quickly. Turn off the saute setting.
- Serve the pasta and enjoy!
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Instant Pot
*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.
Do you have any recipes that are low in carbohydrates or are for a Keto type diet?
Here are the low carb recipes on my site: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/recipes/?fwp_dietary_restrictions=low-carb
I expected this to have an actual alfredo taste, but it came out tasting like chicken broth and Parmesan noodles. Personally not a fan of this recipe, but that’s just my taste. Boyfriend said it seemed like it’s losing its identity. Wondering if water would’ve worked the same so that I could’ve avoided the chicken broth taste, cause it’s way too bold for me.
★
Could I use Mozzarella Cheese instead of Parm?
Sure!
First time doing pasta in my 10 qt Crock Pot express. It turned out great! I used this recipe to make a cajun pasta with Itailian Sausage Brats and Chicken. I also used half and half and didn’t have enough paresan so I used a bit of shredded colby jack plus I use angel hair. I wouldn’t have risked all those changes but for the comments and how positive you were about substitutions. Thank you!
Oh I’m glad it turned out well for you! All those changes sound awesome!
My family & I really enjoyed this recipe. It was my first time making pasta in my instant pot & it turned out perfect. I used a Cajun smoked sausage which gave it a nice kick. Very quick & easy to make, I’ll be saving the recipe to make again in the future.
★★★★
Yum I love the idea of the cajun sausage!
This was a really tasty dish however I will look at the sodium grams next time. This was the saltiest recipe that I have ever made in my instant pot in four years of cooking in it. I saw that it was 54%!!! Eeek and tasted like it too. I did add some broccoli for a healthy aspect and maybe a low sodium sausage would help. Thanks for the recipe though 🙂
★★★
Sodium content will depend a lot of the sausage. Sorry you had a bad experience.
Would the cook time change if using an 8quart IP?
I would keep it the same.
Hi Karen. We would love to try this recipe. But, I have a problem with nitrates oh, so the sausage that I use must be nitrate-free. Unfortunately, I’m having trouble finding a plain smoked nitrate-free sausage. the only nitrate-free smoked sausage I seem to be able to find in my area is of the andouille / Cajun variety.
Do you think I can use that in this recipe? If so, how would I adjust the spices listed. Thanks for your help.
I think it would be super yummy actually! It may have a little kick to it. I wouldn’t change anything else.
Could I just use Alfredo sauce from a jar instead? Would the cooking time be about the same?
Sure you could. Just dump it on top of the spaghetti. Keep the same cooking time.
Also, instead of milk and cornstarch could you use heavy cream?
sure!
How do you think this would work if using cream cheese instead of milk. Maybe use a block of cream cheese and cut out the cornstarch?
I think it would taste completely delicious!
Can you use a different type of noodle for this recipe? Like elbow or small shell? Also, I don’t think I have 2 cups of parmesan, can I substitute Mexican Blend for the extra cup?
Yes elbows or shells would be great! Yes mexican blend is great or you can just use whatever parmesan you have left.
I like the way you made it. I usually make my own this way, except for some tiny differences. Anyway, it looks delicious and thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome!
Karen, I love your recipes so much, but I’m having trouble making anything with pasta or rice in it. Every time I try to follow the directions explicitly, about 10 mins. into the IP coming up to pressure, it beeps and says burn on it. I was able to make your spaghetti, ONCE. Please help! I read everything I could about this situation and it looks like I need to mix the partial liquid with water or broth that I’m using, but I’m not sure. The last recipe I tried was this past Sun and it was your BBQ Chicken and Rice. I put all ingredients into the IP in the same order of the recipe (I made 2x the recipe). I did not mix the BBQ sauce with water or the broth before putting it in; I simply added the sauce to the top of everything. Is this where I’m going wrong? Should I be diluting it with the broth before putting it in? The rice was of course touching the bottom since it was put in right after sautéing the onion and peppers.
Thanks for any help you can give… very sad in Saint Augustine, FL
SAD!! What kind of pot are you using?
This info may help you:
“To avoid getting a burn warning on your pot or a countdown without pressure, or if you get one and need to fix it, you just need to understand the basics of how pressure cooking works. The liquid inside the pot boils, which creates the steam and ultimately the pressure because it’s in a sealed pot where the steam can’t escape. So to successfully cook in it, you need liquid that can boil without scorching….it needs to be on the bottom and water consistency. Burn problems come in when you start adding things that thicken and stir them into your liquid (examples would be tomato sauce or other tomato products, cream soups, thick sauces, etc). When you do that, now that liquid is too thick to boil without burning on the bottom of the pot. Once that happens, the pot will never come to pressure until you scrape off anything burned on the bottom and add more liquid to thin it out.
One helpful way to think of it is this: could I put this on the stove in a pot and bring it to a boil and never stir, and not have it burn? If the answer is no (lasagna, chili, spaghetti sauce, gravy, etc) then it won’t work in the Instant Pot either without some work-arounds.
One of the best work-arounds (besides pot-in-pot or PIP) is layering. So for something like spaghetti, you put your meat in the bottom, then your pasta, then your water, then pour the sauce on top and don’t stir. This lets you cook with a thick sauce without it thickening your thin liquid and keeps it off the bottom of the pot.
Keep in mind that casserole-type dishes (thick, layered dishes like lasagna, taco pies, egg bakes, etc.) do not work directly in the pot because they just absorb your liquid, leaving nothing to pressurize the pot. You need to do them pot-in-pot, which means in another dish inside the pot on the trivet, with water in the bottom.”
Hopefully this information helps you if you get the BURN error message on your Instant Pot! I know it helped me to understand better.
What would I change if I didn’t want to use so much spaghetti?
Do you want to halve the recipe? https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/how-to-halve-instant-pot-recipes/
This looks so good! Do you think it would work with gluten free spaghetti noodles? What change in cook time would I need to make?
Possibly. I have heard you decrease gluten free by 1 minute. Try it and let me know!