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. I couldn’t stop eating this one!
Instant Pot Chicken Margherita Pasta
I am in love with margherita pizza…there’s just something about mozzarella, tomatoes and basil. They are just made for each other. I decided to use these flavors as an inspiration for a one pot chicken pasta dish. It was a really good idea. And then the addition of balsamic vinegar was just icing on the cake. It all came together so beautifully on the plate and in my mouth. I will definitely be making this instant pot chicken margherita pasta again soon.
A few notes about the ingredients:
- The chicken: I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts. In order for them to cook at the same rate as the pasta I cut them into bite size pieces. Therefore, I don’t think you should use frozen chicken for this recipe. Also, if you want to saute the chicken a little before adding in the other ingredients I believe it would give this dish even more amazing flavor.
- The pasta: I used a package of penne rigate and it tasted amazing. I also think that orecchiette pasta, my favorite cavatappi noodles, or cellentani noodles would be perfect.
- The basil: I used 3 tablespoons of the basil from the refrigerated squeeze tube that I had leftover from when I made instant pot tuscan chicken pasta. This is a perfect solution for me since I always let fresh herbs go bad in the refrigerator before I can use them all. The squeeze tubes seem to last much longer. You can find them in the produce section of your grocery store. If you prefer you can use 3 tablespoons of fresh chopped basil.
- The cheese: I used grated mozzarella cheese from a big bag I had from Costco. It tasted great. However if you really want to up your dinner game then stirring in fresh mozzarella would be fantastico!
More one pot pasta recipes you’ll love
Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta
Instant Pot Sausage Pepperoni Spinach Ravioli
Instant Pot Bacon Chicken Alfredo
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Chicken Margherita 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.
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Instant Pot Chicken Margherita Pasta
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 14 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
Description
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!
Ingredients
- 12 ounces penne rigate uncooked pasta (I used my digital scale* to measure my pasta)
- 2 1/4 cups chicken broth (or 2 1/4 cups or water and 2 1/4 tsp of better than bouillon chicken base*)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small bite size pieces
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 3 Tbsp fresh chopped basil or 3 Tbsp of basil from the squeeze tube
- 1 1/2 cups halved grape tomatoes
- 3/4 cups grated mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Pour pasta into the bottom of your instant pot. Add in the chicken broth. Try to cover most of the pasta with the chicken broth. Pour in the olive oil. Place chicken pieces on top. Salt and pepper the chicken.
- Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to “sealing.” Set the manual button or pressure cook button (depending on your instant pot model) to 3 minutes for al dente pasta and 4 minute for pasta that is a little more soft. Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes and then release the rest of the pressure by moving the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Turn the pot to the saute setting. Stir in the vinegar, basil, tomatoes and cheese. When cheese is melted turn the pot to the keep warm setting.
- Serve the pasta as soon as possible and enjoy!
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*
Stovetop Directions: I don’t have a slow cooker version of this recipe because I don’t love how pasta turns out in the slow cooker. You could however make this on your stovetop. Here are the directions: Cook the chicken in the olive oil in a pan. Salt and pepper. Set aside. In a large pot cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain off the water. Reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water. Return pasta back into the pot. Toss in reserved pasta water. Stir in the chicken, vinegar, basil, tomatoes and cheese. Let the cheese melt. Serve immediately.
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Instant Pot
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6 of recipe
- Calories: 415
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 460 mg
- Fat: 10 g
- Carbohydrates: 46 g
- Protein: 35 g
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Hi there. I would love to make this but wonder if the chicken should already be cooked?
If it’s not cooked, and you use chicken bites cut up, would you put this item on the bottom? Then the noodles and broth?
I love anything with balsamic vinegar so this looks yummy!
yes uncooked chicken and put it on the bottom!
I Can’t do dairy could I leave the cheese out? If so should I add anything else?
yes leave it out. it will still be good.
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I made this and it was good kinda blah so what I will do next time is add some red pepper flakes to kinda spice it up a bit .
Another winning recipe! One thing I did different was I roasted my cherry tomatoes (olive oil, salt, pepper and minced garlic)! Not sure if it changed the taste much but it got my husband to actually eat tomatoes!!!! Will be adding this to the dinner rotation!
★★★★★
YUM YUM YUM! I love roasted tomatoes.
I’d like to cook this without the pasta. How would I do that?
I would add 1/2 cup of broth to the pot. Add in the chicken and then the rest of the ingredients. Then cook for 4 minutes.
I absolutely loved the sauce that was created but the chicken pieces were a little tough. Next time I will sauté the chicken first. I wondered about using canned chicken. Overall, it was wonderful.
★★★★
Not a lot of taste, pretty blah
I added 1 teaspoon of minced garlic and a half teaspoon of red pepper flakes. It was very tasty. Not at all blah.
Good to hear Heather.
If doubling do you double the liquid as well?
Yes ma’am!
I just got my IP on Prime Day and have been waiting to try this recipe. Wow!!! It was so worth the wait!!!! I used whole grain penne to make it more PiYo/21 Day Fix friendly and I’m already looking forward to eating the leftovers tomorrow!!!!
★★★★★
Hooray! I’m so glad you got an Instant Pot!
I made this tonight and it was wonderful! The mozzarella made it creamy so it seemed that I made a creamy sauce for it–when I really didn’t! My husband suggested that I throw in some marinated artichoke hearts with the tomatoes next time—or maybe broccoli florets. It was a quick meal, colorful and delicious.
★★★★★
Yum I like those suggestions!
What about using frozen boneless chicken breast?
The issue with that is the chicken wouldn’t cook at the same rate as the pasta. If the chicken was frozen bite size pieces that would work but a whole frozen chicken breast wouldn’t be cooked through.
If I wanted to add asparagus to this would I add it at the start or toss it in afterwards?
definitely toss it in afterwards. It cooks in like 0 minutes so it would definitely be mushy if you threw it in at the beginning.
Maybe you have info somewhere to adapt your recipes for the smaller 1-2 person size instant pot? I’d assume I can cut the ingredients in half but not the time? or do I have to have a minimum amt of liquid? and if so, what is the amt of liquid the smaller one needs?
Hi Callie,
I would cut ingredients in half. If you have a 6 quart you need at least 1/2 cup of liquid…so for some recipes you won’t be able to cut the liquid in half. Keep the same amount of time.
Do you think any adjustments would need to be made for spaghetti noodles instead of penne? My husband has an… aversion to any non-spaghetti noodles. 😛
Hi Emily, I do think that the spaghetti will cook much quicker then the penne. It might get overly mushy if you cook it for the recommended amount of time. However I’m not sure the chicken will get cooked through if you cut down the cooking time. In order to remedy this I would saute the chicken first in the pot with a little oil. Then only cook for 2 minutes with a 5 minute natural pressure release. Let me know how it goes!
Just demonstrated the pressure cooker for my class using this recipe! They are 8th graders and they loved it! Thanks
Oh how great Beth!!! I think it is so fun that you do this 🙂
I don’t find if this cooked on HIGH or LOW pressure?
Also, I am assuming the chicken is NOT precooked?
high pressure and the chicken is raw