Instant Pot Firefighter’s Spaghetti–an all-in-one pot chicken spaghetti casserole with a creamy, cheese sauce.

Instant Pot Firefighter’s Spaghetti
I made my own version of a recipe called firefighter’s chicken spaghetti that I found on Taste of Home. The original author says, “I’m always in the kitchen making dishes for my family, neighbors or the local fire department to try. My husband is a firefighter in our town, and this chicken spaghetti recipe is a favorite there.” The original recipe requires boiling pasta on the stovetop, it uses pre-cooked chicken, calls for cream of chicken and mushroom soup and is baked in the oven. My version requires one pot, your Instant Pot. You can use pre-cooked or uncooked chicken. And I make my own creamy sauce with sour cream, seasonings and cream. I’m sure both versions are great! But I guess it just depends on what you like and how you like to cook. I prefer the Instant Pot for easy clean up and easy hands off cooking.
What ingredients you need to make Instant Pot Firefighter’s Spaghetti:
- ¼ cup butter for sautéing the veggies and for the cornflake topping
- 1 cup diced onion for flavor
- 2 ribs of celery, sliced for crunch and flavor
- 8 oz mushrooms, sliced for texture and bulking up the dish
- 1 tsp garlic powder for flavor
- 1 tsp kosher salt for flavor
- 1 tsp black pepper for flavor
- 1 tsp poultry seasoning for flavor
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning for flavor
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth for boiling the spaghetti noodles and bringing the pot to pressure
- 8 oz spaghetti you can use angel hair, thin noodles or normal spaghetti. Whole wheat or white both work.
- 1 to 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs or you can use cooked rotisserie chicken
- 1 cup sour cream for the creamy sauce
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch so the sour cream won’t separate
- ⅓ cup heavy cream for the creamy sauce
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella for the creamy cheesy sauce
- ¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese for flavor
- Optional: 1 cup cornflakes, crushed for a crunchy topping
How to make Instant Pot chicken spaghetti:
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When display says HOT add in 3 Tbsp of the butter and let melt. Add in the onion, celery and mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes. Add in half of the garlic powder, kosher salt, pepper, poultry seasoning and Italian seasoning. Stir well.
- Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking (to prevent burn message). Turn off Instant Pot.
- Break the spaghetti in half and lay it in a criss-cross pattern on top of the veggies and broth. (This will prevent the spaghetti from clumping up while cooking).
- Cut the chicken into bite size pieces (scroll down to see the best way to do that) and lay it evenly on top of the spaghetti. Sprinkle the chicken with the other half of the seasonings. (I used chicken breasts but thighs would bring lots of flavor. Another choice is to use already cooked rotisserie chicken–don’t change the cooking time.)
- Cover the Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When time is up let the pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Combine the sour cream and cornstarch together and stir well. Stir the mixture and the heavy cream into the Instant Pot. Stir the mozzarella and parmesan into the pot. Taste test and add salt and pepper to taste.
- If desired, make a cornflake crunchy topping. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter and stir it together with the crushed cornflakes. Sprinkle the cornflakes over the top of the spaghetti. Use an air fryer lid at 400° F for 2 minutes to crisp up the topping. If you don’t have an air fryer lid you can bake the cornflakes separately in the oven on a baking sheet under the broiler for 3-4 minutes. Then toss them on top of the finished pasta.

- You can double this recipe. Simply double all ingredients but do keep the same cooking time. You will need a 6 or 8 quart pot in order to double the recipe. To halve the recipe cut all ingredients in half and keep the same cooking time.
- How to store the leftovers: store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Try using another type of pasta for this recipe. To find out the correct cooking time take the cooking time listed on the back of the package (ie 12 minutes) and divide by 2 and subtract 1. 12 minutes/2 = 6 minutes-1 minute = 5 minute pressure cook time. Use a 5-10 minute natural pressure release with pasta so that it doesn’t foam all over.
- Tip for getting tender chicken bites: When you cut the chicken breasts make sure to slice across the grain. Then cut each of those wider strips crosswise into bite size cubes. All muscle has a grain to it. The placement of your knife to this grain will determine the length of the muscle fibers in an individual slice of meat, which in turn will have a profound effect on how tender or tough that meat is. I love using this little paring knife* for cutting fresh chicken breasts.

More Amazing Instant Pot Pasta Recipes…
Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta
Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Primavera
Instant Pot Chicken Stroganoff
Instant Pot Chicken Florentine Pasta

Want More Tried And True Instant Pot Recipes?
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Instant Pot Firefighter’s Spaghetti
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 5-10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
An all-in-one pot chicken spaghetti casserole with a creamy, cheese sauce.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter, divided
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2 ribs of celery, sliced
- 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp poultry seasoning
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 8 oz spaghetti
- 1 to 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs (or you can use cooked rotisserie chicken)
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- Optional: 1 cup cornflakes, crushed
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When display says HOT add in 3 Tbsp of the butter and let melt. Add in the onion, celery and mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes. Add in half of the garlic powder, kosher salt, pepper, poultry seasoning and Italian seasoning. Stir well.
- Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Break the spaghetti in half and lay it in a criss-cross pattern on top of the veggies and broth.
- Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and lay it evenly on top of the spaghetti. Sprinkle the chicken with the other half of the seasonings.
- Cover the Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When time is up let the pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Combine the sour cream and cornstarch together and stir well. Stir the mixture and the heavy cream into the Instant Pot. Stir the mozzarella and parmesan into the pot. Taste test and add salt and pepper to taste.
- If desired make a cornflake crunchy topping. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter and stir it together with the crushed cornflakes. Sprinkle the cornflakes over the top of the spaghetti. Use an air fryer lid at 400° F for 2 minutes to brown up the topping.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot/Air fryer lid

*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.
If I use rotisserie chicken instead of raw, will it dry out or cook too much with the 3 minutes of pressure cook?
nope in my experience it turns out great!
Hi Karen!
Poultry allergy chick here, LOL. I asked you before about substituting beef or vegetable broth for chicken. You said sure! Now on this recipe I’m asking if you can substitute ground beef or boneless pork cut up and bite-size pieces. So many of the recipes with chicken sound so so good and I can’t have them it’s very frustrating. My wife doesn’t eat seafood and I can’t have poultry so basically we’re a beef and pork household and it gets very old finding recipes. When I found you you were a lifesaver I bought your book immediately and I use my instant pot almost every chance I get. I also get your emails of recipes everyday and I print them off LOL I can’t thank you enough for being the queen of the instapot!
Yes you can totally use pork cut up. It will be like the chicken as far as cooking time goes. Thanks for following along!
Is there anything I could substitute for the sour cream? Husbands not a fan but this sounds sooo good! Maybe he wouldn’t know ha ha!
cottage cheese or yogurt?
If you don’t have an air fryer, is there another way to complete the recipe using corn flakes?
If you don’t have an air fryer lid you can bake the cornflakes separately in the oven on a baking sheet under the broiler for 3-4 minutes. Then toss them on top of the finished pasta.
Do I cook the chicken first? Three minutes does t seem like enough time to cook chicken.
Because the chicken is cut into bite size pieces 3 minutes is plenty of time.
Second time I have made this. First time didn’t realize the pot sized spaghetti was 16 ounces. Came out a little thick when I added the cheese. This time I doubled the recipe and left out the cheese (I added parmesan to my own bowl) and it came out perfect! It’s definitely in my rotation now!
★★★★★
So glad to hear that you like it! And that you figured out how to make it best for you.
great recipe. made it without corn flake topping. hubby loved it
★★★★★
Thank you Denise!
Without an insta pot how can I make this?
I pity the poor folks that have never had this… in my opinion, this is the best meal I’ve ever had, and believe me when I say, I’ve had a lot at 79 YO. So very simple and fast. I diced the onions and cut up the chicken, then went and played in a poker tourney, got done with that, threw everything into the pot, per instructions, then sat down to eat in about 15 minutes… lost the tourney, but sure won on the dinner… if you haven’t tried this, do yourself a huge favor… great job Karen… this is sure to become a fan favorite
★★★★★
Haha! I’m so glad to hear you loved it! Sorry about the poker tourney though!