Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken Pasta—pasta, chicken, green beans and mushrooms are covered in a creamy, cheesy homemade sauce. An all-in-one-pot dinner that the whole family will love!
Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken Pasta
This cheesy chicken pasta an easy weeknight dinner idea that is super tasty! Chunks of chicken and fresh veggies add some extra nutrition to this pasta dish. This recipe makes a lot and can serve up to 8-10 people. The leftovers are really good and you can freeze them with good results.
Here are a few notes about the recipe:
I don’t like green beans or mushrooms can I use something else? Sure! Other ideas would be broccoli florets, asparagus, peppers and zucchini. Personally I would not pressure cook these other veggies because they will get too soft. You can steam them on the stove or in the microwave or even toss them into the pot raw and they’ll cook in a few minutes as the sauce thickens up.
Where do you find cavatappi pasta? I love this curly pasta. It comes out so well in the Instant Pot and doesn’t clump together like spaghetti and fettuccine sometimes does. I buy mine from Smith’s (Kroger) or in the bulk section of Winco for less than a dollar a pound!
I can’t find cavatappi pasta, can I use something else? Sure! This dish works well with penne pasta, rotini pasta or even elbow macaroni noodles.
What is half and half? Half and half is found in U.S. grocery stores next to the other dairy items. It is a mixture of cream and whole milk. If you want you can use heavy cream or whole milk instead of half and half. You could even use evaporated milk.
Can I use a different type of cheese? You totally can! I just used cheddar because that’s what I had. You can also use monterey jack, colby jack or even mozzarella cheese.
This recipe makes a lot, can I cut it in half? Yes you can. I always recommend that you read this article about how to halve recipes in the Instant Pot. It really is helpful to understand pressure cooking in general. The way that I would halve this recipe is halve all the ingredients and keep the pressure cooking time the same. There should be enough liquid in the recipe for the pot to come to pressure even if you cut it in half.
Can I make this recipe in the slow cooker? I wouldn’t recommend it. Pasta has mixed results in the slow cooker. A better bet would be to make this on the stove.
You might also like…
Instant Pot White Chicken Lasagna
Instant Pot Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta
Instant Pot Garlic Chicken Alfredo Pasta
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken 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 Cheesy Chicken Pasta
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8–10 1x
Description
Pasta, chicken, green beans and mushrooms are covered in a creamy, cheesy homemade sauce. An all-in-one-pot dinner that the whole family will love!
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 cup diced onions
- 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
- 1 1/2 pound boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bite size pieces (you can also use cooked diced chicken)
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 pound uncooked cavatappi pasta (you can also use penne, cellentani or rotini pasta)
- 3 3/4 cups chicken broth
- 12 oz fresh green beans, washed and trimmed and cut in half
- 1 cup half and half
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese (I like sharp for more flavor)
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute button. When the display says HOT add in the butter. Swirl it around until it is melted. Add in the onion and saute for about 3 minutes. Then stir in the mushrooms, chicken, salt, chili powder, garlic powder and pepper. Turn off the saute setting.
- Add in the pasta and then pour in the chicken broth. Add the green beans on top of the pasta in an even layer.
- Cover the Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure the valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When the time is up move the valve to venting. If foam starts coming out of the valve then move the valve back to sealing. Wait 20 seconds and try to move it to venting again. Once all the pressure is released remove the lid.
- Stir the half and half in with the cornstarch until smooth. Then turn the Instant Pot to the saute setting. Stir the half and half mixture into the pot. The sauce will thicken up fairly quickly. Then add in the grated cheddar cheese until melted (another option is to just add the cheese to the top of the pasta and let it melt instead of stirring it all together).
- Serve and enjoy!
- Category: Chicken
- 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.
This was well-received by my family! I used chicken thighs and increased the amount to about 2.5 pounds to feed a family of four. Since I had frozen green beans, I thawed them and added after cooking the chicken and sauce during the “saute” portion. They were tender-crisp- perfect! The only complaint was that the sauce was still relatively runny. I used two tbsp of corn starch, but it didn’t thicken as much I would like. Not a huge fan of corn starch, so I didn’t want to add more. Anyone else experience that issue? Maybe next time I will reduce the amount of liquid to just 3 cups instead of 3.75?
★★★★
I bet the liquid that comes off the chicken was the issue. Chicken releases a lot of moisture when cooking. So when you increased the amount of chicken you could have decreased the amount of liquid to add in too.
I made this last night with a couple of changes. I used zucchini and broccoli and left the cheese out for my husband and I to put what we wanted on it. It was delicious!. This will definitely go in my rotation.
Thanks so very much for all the recipes. Most are keepers, but I learned that my husband now hates anything Oriental and he has never much cared for anything Mexican. So, I will avoid those recipes and you do have a lot of them.
Really love your dedication to this form of cooking.
Thank you Joyce! Was the zucchini pressure cooked? Did it get really mushy!
Looks good. Is the meat cooked or uncooked? before adding to instant pot?
Hi Donna, it’s uncooked.
Could I use 2% milk instead of half & half? It’s all I have in the house but would like to give it a shot!
And if I kept broccoli and pepper chunks large, do you think I could do that vs green beans and mushrooms (which I love but husband does not)?
Thanks!
Hi Michele, you could use 2%. The broccoli and peppers would get super soft. I wouldn’t pressure cook them personally. You could try it though if you want!
Thoughts on asparagus vs green beans? Cream cheese vs cheddar cheese?
HI Jen, I believe that asparagus would be turned to mush if pressure cooked along with everything else. I would stir them in after the food has cooked. They’ll be a little crisp but personally I prefer asparagus that way. And I think cream cheese would taste amazing!!!
Hi Karen, I replaced the half and half with philidelphia lightest and helps keep the calories low. It is the business!
Sounds like a great idea!
Made this for my family this evening and it was delicious! I followed everything exactly except I added a sprinkle of smoked paprika and dried parsley, and used frozen French cut green beans. It got two thumbs up from my husband and kids!
★★★★★
yay! That is always a good feeling.
This was good. The pasta and green beans were perfectly cooked. Seems like it could have used a bit more flavor though. What herb or spice would you recommend?
★★★★
I’m not sure! Perhaps more of the listed spices?
If I don’t have an instant pot. Can I cook this on the stove ? It looks delicious and I can’t wait to make it.
I’m sure you could. I would cook the pasta like normal on the stove. Brown the chicken and saute onions in a separate pan. Add ingredients all together. I haven’t tried it myself.
Very good! Quick and easy with a good flavor! My daughter said she would prefer the green beans steamed separately and then just served on the side, but it was very good for a weekday meal!
★★★★★
Nice! I’m so glad you liked it 🙂
This is so delicious!! Only had canned mushrooms & frozen broccoli. Still so yummy! My super picky 4 year old is gobbling it up as we speak!
★★★★★
Great! So glad you liked it 🙂