Trust Me Casserole–penne pasta with a pumpkin parmesan cream sauce, chicken and bacon crumbles. It’s made in minutes with your Instant Pot!
Trust Me Casserole
Just trust me on this one! You’re going to love it. You may think “I don’t want pumpkin in any savory dish…I only like it in desserts.” I was with you until I tried this delicious pumpkin bacon pasta. I didn’t even tell my son that it was pumpkin for fear of what he might think. He loved it and scarfed it down in 2 seconds. (Plus you’ll have just enough of the pumpkin left in the can to make pumpkin cookies…try the recipe linked in the notes section below).
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Butter–or olive oil
- Onion–or shallot
- Garlic cloves–or 1 tsp garlic powder
- Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon
- Penne pasta–or another short cut pasta
- Chicken breasts or thighs–or tenderloins
- Kosher salt
- Rosemary leaves
- Rubbed sage
- Thyme leaves
- Nutmeg
- Black pepper
- Garlic powder
- Pumpkin puree
- Bacon crumbles
- Heavy cream
- Parmesan cheese
- Mozzarella cheese
Steps
Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the butter and let it melt. Add in the onion and saute for 4 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute for 30 seconds.
Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
Sprinkle in the penne evenly. Add the chicken on top of the pasta. Sprinkle the chicken with the salt, rosemary, sage, thyme, nutmeg, pepper and garlic powder. Spoon the pumpkin puree into the pot. Don’t stir.
Cover 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 pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
Stir in the bacon, cream and parmesan. Sprinkle the mozzarella on top and let it melt.
Serve and enjoy!
Notes/Tips
- Serve with a side of roasted broccoli or a green salad.
- Try sprinkling the top with toasted buttered panko breadcrumbs for a crispy element. Another option is to stir in some toasted pine nuts.
- You can use another type of pasta like rigatoni, rotini, macaroni, cavatappi, etc.
- If you’d rather fry up some bacon than use a package of bacon crumbles you can do that in the Instant Pot before you start the recipe. Cut the bacon into half inch pieces and use the saute setting to cook until crispy. Place the bacon on a paper towel lined plate and set aside until you stir them in at the end of the recipe. Use a couple tablespoons of the bacon grease to saute the onions instead of using butter. This will add lots of flavor.
- I like to use my air fryer lid* to melt the cheese.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 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.
- With your leftover pumpkin puree make these pumpkin cookies! They are so good!
More Instant Pot Recipes with Pumpkin…
Instant Pot Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cake
A dense and moist, almost bread pudding-like cake with the popular flavor combo of pumpkin spice and chocolate. This delicious cake is the perfect choice for a fall treat, or any time of year that pumpkin craving strikes!
Instant Pot Pumpkin Bites
Mini crustless pumpkin cheesecakes cooked quickly in your pressure cooker.
Instant Pot Pumpkin Pie Crisp
Pumpkin pie and crisp together. Doesn’t that sound like a perfect treat for a fall day? With this Instant Pot/Crockpot recipe, it’s easier than ever to enjoy pie and crisp in the same dessert. Let’s get started!
Instant Pot Pumpkin French Toast Casserole
An easy way to make french toast! With pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice and streusel brown sugar pecan topping this is the perfect fall breakfast or treat. You can make this in the Instant Pot, slow cooker or the oven and can be prepped the night before and baked in the morning.
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.
Trust Me Casserole
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 23 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Description
Pasta with a pumpkin parmesan cream sauce, chicken and bacon crumbles. This is made in minutes with your Instant Pot!
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 8 ounces penne pasta
- 12 ounces chicken breasts or thighs, cut into cubes
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp rosemary leaves
- 1/2 tsp rubbed sage
- 1/2 tsp thyme leaves
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup bacon crumbles
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the butter and let it melt. Add in the onion and saute for 4 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute for 30 seconds.
- Pour in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Sprinkle in the penne evenly. Add the chicken on top of the pasta. Sprinkle the chicken with the salt, rosemary, sage, thyme, nutmeg, pepper and garlic powder. Spoon the pumpkin puree into the pot. Don’t stir.
- Cover 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 pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the bacon, cream and parmesan. Sprinkle the mozzarella on top and let it melt. Serve and enjoy!
- 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.
What if your chicken is frozen? how do you adjust the time?
You can use bite size frozen chicken but you won’t be able to use whole pieces of frozen chicken or else it won’t cook at the same rate as the pasta. Keep the same cooking time.
If I double this recipe, would the cook time change? It sounds delicious but I’m afraid it won’t be enough to feed a family of 5. What do you suggest?
Yes double the recipe and reduce pressure cooking time by 1 minute. Should be amazing!
Are the herbs dried or fresh?
dried
This sounds so good. Can this be made in a slow cooker?
I haven’t tried this one in the crockpot…not sure how it would work. I’ve had mixed results with pasta dishes in the past.
i made this tonight and it was delicious! I used fresh pureed pumpkin instead of canned, and omitted the heavy cream to save calories. It was still creamy and so good.
fresh pureed pumpkin made it even better, I bet!