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 Chicken Alfredo Meatballs
My daughter came home from school the other day with the idea for me to make meatballs with alfredo sauce. Apparently the hot lunch being served looked “soooo good.” It was meatballs with a creamy sauce and pasta. I told her I would do my best. I searched around the internet for a bit and combined a few recipes to make these Instant Pot chicken alfredo meatballs. My daughter was thrilled and thought it was amazing. My son took the leftovers to school in his mini crock* the next day and was the envy of his friends, apparently.
Some notes about the recipe:
- This particular recipes serves 4 people but you can easily double the recipe. Double the ingredients and keep the timing the same.
- I love using ground chicken but it’s sometimes hard to find. Ask the butcher if you can’t easily see it in the meat department.
- I like using curly cavatappi pasta for this recipe. I recently discovered they sell it in the bulk bins at Winco. If you can’t find cavatappi pasta you can also use penne pasta.
I think you’ll really enjoy these chicken alfredo meatballs and pasta! Try it out this week.
More recipes you’ll love…
Instant Pot Homemade Hamburger Helper
Instant Pot Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Meatballs 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.
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Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Meatballs
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4-5 servings 1x
Description
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.
Ingredients
For the pasta:
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 8 ounces uncooked cavatappi pasta
For the meatballs:
- 1 1/4 pound ground chicken (or turkey)
- 3/4 cup bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
For the sauce:
- 3/4 cup half and half, warmed
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- Optional: 1 Tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Add chicken broth, garlic powder and pasta to the Instant Pot in an even layer.
- In a bowl add the ground chicken, bread crumbs, egg, oregano, paprika, garlic cloves, parmesan, salt and pepper. Use clean or gloved* hands to combine the mixture. Form into meatballs. I made my meatballs fairly large, probably about ⅓ cup each. Place the meatballs on top of the pasta in one layer.
- Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure the valve is set to “sealing.” Set the manual/pressure cook button to 5 minutes on high pressure. When the time is up let the pot sit for 5 minutes (display will read L0:05). Move the valve to venting. Open the pot. Use a spoon to scoop the meatballs onto a platter.
- Turn the Instant Pot to the saute mode. Add warmed half and half, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper into the pot. Stir. If you want your sauce less runny you can thicken it with a cornstarch slurry. Mix 1 Tbsp of cold water with 1 Tbsp of cornstarch until smooth and stir the mixture into the pot. The sauce will thicken fairly quickly.
- Serve pasta and sauce with the meatballs.
Notes
You can easily double this recipe. Double all the ingredients and keep the cooking time the same.
I used cavatappi pasta but you can also use penne or cellentani pasta.
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of recipe
- Calories: 609
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 1313 mg
- Fat: 25 g
- Saturated Fat: 10 g
- Carbohydrates: 50 g
- Fiber: 1.5 g
- Protein: 45 g
- Cholesterol: 236 mg
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*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.
Um, ok, wow! First off let me say that I am always trying new recipes so I have become hard to please. The concept of noodles and meatballs at the same time intrigued me so I decided to give this recipe a try. I wasn’t so sure if the ingredients would provide enough depth and umami for me but I was wrong. I did use 2 cups of water with 2 teaspoons of “Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base” instead of the 2 cups of chicken broth called for (because I was out). Both my 22 month old baby and 4 year old loves this too so that was a win (for theirs I added organic frozen peas that I just microwaved real quick and threw in after everything was made. Something to note, for some reason some of the noodles got stuck in the meatballs. I made this in my 8 qt. and could see doubling the noodles but I’m not sure if I would double the meatballs (there seemed to be plenty as is). I also made the meatballs slightly larger than 1/3 accidentally but when I checked them with a thermometer they were totally fine. I’ll certainly be making this again but I am curious how it’ll taste with pre-shredded Parmesan cheese (I grated a wedge right before making this recipe so I could have fresh cheese without that powder stuff that’s usually costing the pre-shredded stuff). Oh, and I omitted the last 1/4 teaspoon of salt that was called for and I thought it was plenty salty. If I were to make this again I might top with fresh chopped parsley too.
★★★★★
…my kids loved* this…
… I accidentally made the meatballs bigger than 1/3 a cup in size*…
And incase I wasn’t clear, yes this recipe is delicious! 😊
★★★★★
Thanks Laura! good tips and I’m glad you loved it!
My mom and I loved this recipe. It was super easy to make and it tasted delicious. Cooking time was accurate. The sauce thickened up well.
I just suggest sautéing minced garlic to also include in the sauce. Also, I suggest making 1.5x or 2x the recipe size because you will want to eat extra.
★★★★★
Thanks for the tips Danielle!
I am an instant Pot newbie, used a pressure cooker for many decades. I am enjoying the gift of so many innovative people like you sharing your recipes.
I will be halving the recipe, only 2 of us and a 3 quart mini. Looking forward to seeing more of your recipes.
I liked this but found my pasta was not tender ( San Giorgio) and had to cook longer in sauté mode.
Okay good to know! Thanks for the note.
I am in my rookie year of instant pot cooking, I am a single guy and the instant pot has become my main cooking tool. This recipe, for me was one of the best tasting instant pot meals I have prepared to date.
I love the fact that it was prepared in a single pot. It had the right amount of spice to make me want another bite.
I decided to double the recipe. I also used a packaged ground turkey that was Italian seasoned. For cooking time I used 6 minutes instead of 5 and have no idea it that made a difference, but it didn’t ruin it.
Give it a try.
I always love your helpful comments Ken! You are on a cooking roll!
Made this for dinner tonight and my wife loves the meatballs. I can see many options with this both with on the pasta and the sauce.
Thanks for sharing
★★★★★
You’re welcome Dale! I’m glad you liked it. Yes there are probably lots of delicious options!
I wonder how this would be with falafel balls instead of chicken meatballs.
Me too. Not sure the falafel would hold up in the pressure cooker.
This looks amazing! Can I make this using gf pasta? Is the cook time the same?
Probably not. Gluten free pasta seems to turn to mush. The one I have heard works is Barilla gluten free elbows. If you do try it will you come back and comment and let me know? Thanks!
I only use gluten free and have had no problems. What’s interesting is that you would think it needs less cooking time, but some of mine have needed more time. I guess it just depends. I use Barilla brand.
I have not made this recipe yet, but it looks promising.
Thanks for your expertise Gail!
I have chicken tenders ready to go in, but no ground chicken. Any thoughts on how to use (timing) chunks of chicken vs meatballs? Sounds better with meatballs but just hoping to make small chunks mixed throughout to use what I have!
I’d keep the tenders (if they’re thawed) whole and just toss them into the pot. They cook in like 5 minutes!