Instant Pot Broccoli Alfredo–a one pot meal of fettuccine noodles, homemade alfredo sauce and fresh broccoli florets. The fastest and easiest way to make fettuccine alfredo with broccoli!

Instant Pot Broccoli Alfredo
One way I can always win points with my daughter is by making some alfredo based recipe. She is a sucker for that delicious, creamy white sauce. Aren’t we all? It really is a treat and although I wouldn’t eat it everyday it’s really good every now and then.
This recipe for fettuccine alfredo with broccoli has got to be the fastest and easiest way to make it! Add stuff to the pot, push a few buttons, walk away, add a few more ingredients, stir and eat. It’s a very hands-off method. The longest step for me was cutting the broccoli into florets. I hope you like it as much as we did!
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Butter
- Minced garlic
- Water
- Better than Bouillon Chicken Base–or vegetable base
- Fettuccine noodles–or linguine, penne or spaghetti. For penne or spaghetti only pressure cook for 4 minutes.
- Broccoli florets–I used fresh broccoli. You can also use frozen broccoli.
- Heavy cream
- Italian seasoning
- Garlic powder
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Parmesan cheese–fresh is best, pre-shredded is second and grated from the green can is third
Steps
- Sauté garlic: Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When displays says HOT add in the butter and let it melt. Add in the minced garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds. Turn off pot.
- Deglaze the pot: Pour in the water and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Stir in the Better than Bouillon until it it dissolved.
- Add noodles: Break the fettuccine noodles in half and lay in the pot in a criss-cross pattern.
- Pot-in-pot broccoli: Place a tall trivet* into the pot. Add broccoli and about 3 Tbsp of water into a pot-in-pot dish with a lid*. Place the covered dish on top of the trivet.
- Pressure cook: Cover the Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 8 minutes. When time is up move valve to venting and remove the lid.
- Make the sauce: Carefully remove the broccoli dish and trivet and set aside. Stir in the heavy cream, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, kosher salt, pepper and parmesan cheese.
- Stir in broccoli: Drain water off of broccoli and stir the broccoli into the pot.
- Serve: Season to taste and serve and enjoy!

Notes/Tips
- Serve with a side of garlic toast or breadsticks and a green salad.
- Can I add chicken to my broccoli alfredo? Sure! You can throw is some cooked, chopped chicken on top of the pasta before pressure cooking or after pressure cooking. If you’d like to use raw chicken then you’ll need to cut it into filets or bite size pieces. Add it on top of the pasta. You’ll probably want to salt and pepper the chicken a bit too.
- Why cook broccoli pot-in-pot? I find that if I cook the broccoli using the pot in pot method it doesn’t get overcooked. When I add it in with the rest of the ingredients it gets unrecognizable and more like pureed broccoli than broccoli florets.
- Equipment: I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot. I used a tall trivet* and a pot-in-pot dish* for the broccoli.
- What if I don’t have pot-in-pot equipment? If you’d like you can also cook the broccoli in some other way (the stove or microwave) and then stir it in after the pressure cooking time is up.
- Can I use a jar of alfredo sauce instead? Yes you can. Add the water, Better than Bouillon and noodles to the Instant Pot along with the broccoli. Then pressure cook. Instead of stirring in the cream, parmesan and seasonings stir in your jar of alfredo.
- How to spice up bland alfredo sauce: Spruce it up if needed with extra seasonings. Spices that taste great with Alfredo sauce are garlic, basil, oregano, marjoram, thyme, paprika, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice.
- How can I make alfredo healthier? Try using a can of evaporated milk instead of the heavy cream. Thicken up with a cornstarch slurry, if needed. You can also use whole wheat noodles. Double the amount of broccoli.
- Can I use cream cheese instead of heavy cream? Yes! It is a great substitution. I would use 4-8 ounces and I would add it on top of the noodles before you pressure cook. It will soften nicely and then you can just stir it in. You may have to loosen up the sauce with a little milk.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Other recipes you can make with the other half of your box of fettuccine are Instant Pot Parmesan Lemon Pasta and Instant Pot Italian Wonderpot.
8 More Instant Pot Alfredo Recipes to try…
Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Tortellini Soup
A creamy tortellini soup with chicken, vegetables and parmesan cheese. If you love chicken alfredo you’ll love this soup!
Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Spaghetti Squash
Chicken cooks in your instant pot at the same time as your spaghetti squash and then a luscious sauce is stirred together with the chicken and served over the top of the spaghetti squash “noodles.”
Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Meatballs
Chicken meatballs are served alongside pasta with an easy, homemade alfredo sauce. Pasta, meatballs and sauce are all cooked in one pot–your Instant Pot.
Instant Pot Skinny Chicken Alfredo
A lighter version of creamy, dreamy chicken alfredo that you can make all in one pot, your Instant Pot.
Instant Pot Alfredo Sausage Pasta
Flavorful bites of smoked sausage with a creamy sauce that envelopes spaghetti noodles.
Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken Alfredo
Creamy fettuccine noodles with tender bites of chicken and vegetables with a slight sweet and savory twist from teriyaki sauce.
Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Sandwiches
An easy dump and go Instant Pot recipe with shredded chicken in a creamy sauce, sundried tomatoes and basil served on a toasted bun. Your favorite pasta dish in a sandwich!
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.


Instant Pot Broccoli Alfredo
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 28 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
A one pot meal of fettuccine noodles, homemade alfredo sauce and fresh broccoli florets. The fastest and easiest way to make fettuccine alfredo with broccoli!
Ingredients
- 2 tsp butter
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 Tbsp Better than Bouillon Chicken Base (or vegetable base)
- 8 ounces uncooked fettuccine noodles
- 12 ounces fresh broccoli florets
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Sauté garlic: Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When displays says HOT add in the butter and let it melt. Add in the minced garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds. Turn off pot.
- Deglaze the pot: Pour in the water and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Stir in the Better than Bouillon until it it dissolved.
- Add noodles: Break the fettuccine noodles in half and lay in the pot in a criss-cross pattern.
- Pot-in-pot broccoli: Place a tall trivet* into the pot. Add broccoli and about 3 Tbsp of water into a pot-in-pot dish with a lid*. Place the covered dish on top of the trivet.
- Pressure cook: Cover the Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 8 minutes. When time is up move valve to venting and remove the lid.
- Make the sauce: Carefully remove the broccoli dish and trivet and set aside. Stir in the heavy cream, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, kosher salt, pepper and parmesan cheese.
- Stir in broccoli: Drain water off of broccoli and stir the broccoli into the pot.
- Serve: Season to taste and serve and enjoy!
- 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.
Hi. Do you have a video or picture of how you set the tall trivet up and pot in pot for this recipe? Thank you!
I don’t have a pic for this recipe but you can kind of see the vision from this recipe: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/instant-pot-smoky-mountain-barbecue-chicken/
Ok great. Thank you!
★★★★
Sounds good. I bet it would be good with cauliflower too – or both in the same recipe.
★★★★★
Um yes!!