Instant Pot March Madness Casserole–An easy, dump and go rigatoni dish with artichokes, tomatoes, bacon, spinach, garlic and a creamy alfredo sauce.
Instant Pot March Madness Casserole
Who’s excited for the NCAA basketball tourney to start today🙋? Me! We love watching as much basketball as we can this time of year. To celebrate I made this amazing artichoke bacon spinach pasta! I got audible ooohs and ahhhs from my kids. They loved it so very much. It was a slam dunk (pun intended). Luckily it made a lot and there were leftovers for the next day. It was a super fast and easy dump and go recipe. The main thing is just having cooked bacon on hand. If not, you can easily fry some up. I had some leftover bacon in my fridge that I used. I also had some frozen rotisserie chicken that I added to the pot and that stretched the dish even further. Try this recipe I think you’ll really love it!
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon Chicken Base
- Rigatoni–penne or bowtie pasta
- Canned artichokes
- Petite diced tomatoes
- Bertolli creamy basil alfredo sauce–or another brand you like
- Garlic
- Spinach–fresh or frozen
- Optional: chopped, cooked chicken–I used rotisserie chicken
- Bacon–packaged or cooked and crumbled
- Parmesan cheese
Steps
Add in broth and pasta. Pasta won’t be completely covered by broth.
Dump in artichokes, tomatoes, alfredo and garlic.
Finally add in the spinach and chicken (if using). Don’t stir.
Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 2 minutes for rigatoni or 4 minutes for penne or bowties. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
Stir in the bacon and serve each dish topped with a bit of parmesan cheese.
Notes/Tips
- This was an all in one pot meal for us but you can add a side of garlic bread and a green side salad if you’d like.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in an 8 quart pot. Halve the recipe for a 3 quart pot.
- 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 spinach are Instant Pot Creamy Tortellini, Spinach And Chicken Soup and Instant Pot Spinach Artichoke Dip.
More Instant Pot Recipes with Bacon
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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 Artichoke Bacon Alfredo Pasta
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 17 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
An easy, dump and go pasta dish with artichokes, tomatoes, bacon, spinach, garlic and a creamy alfredo sauce.
Ingredients
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 (16 oz) package rigatoni, penne or bowtie pasta
- 1 (14 oz) can whole artichokes, drained and chopped
- 1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 (15 oz) jar Bertolli creamy basil alfredo sauce
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2–3 cups chopped spinach
- Optional: 2 cups chopped, cooked chicken
- 1/2 cup crumbled bacon (packaged or cooked and crumbled)
- Parmesan cheese, for serving
Instructions
- Add ingredients into pot in order: broth, pasta, artichokes, tomatoes, alfredo, garlic, spinach and chicken (if using). Don’t stir.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 2 minutes for rigatoni or 4 minutes for penne or bowties. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the bacon and serve each dish topped with a bit of parmesan cheese.
- 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.
Question Really. In these type of recipes I believe that the cook time is for the Pasta. I have never been comfortable with cooking Pasta/Rice without being able to see it cooking so prefer to cook it separately, (I have a Dish Washer, his name is James :-), so I am not bothered about howmany Pans I use). So if I cook the Pasta/Rice Separately what sort of cooking time would I use.
btw. I am also of the opinion that breaking Spagetti in half to fit anywhere is a capital offence :-), so you can understand perhaps my reluctance to cookthat in a Pressure Cooker..
Yes, you are right for this recipe the cook time is for the pasta. You may want to do this entirely on the stove since the chicken is pre-cooked there isn’t much need to use the Instant Pot.
I am using whole wheat rotini pasta. How long should I cook that?
I would do 3 minutes
Thank you!!
I made this last night with the WW Rotini and did it for 3 minutes like you suggested but it came out a bit overcooked. I like al dente. Will cook for 2 minutes next time.
okay good to know! Thanks!
Karen,
Can you substitute Italian sausage for chicken?
Sure! I bet that will add lots of flavor.
Karen,
Do you think you could substitute shrimp instead of chicken?
Yes but I would not pressure cook the shrimp because it cooks too quickly and will get rubbery.