Instant Pot Pasta – Creamy Garlic Parmesan Pasta
Published May 06, 2020
Updated Aug 27, 2024
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Instant Pot pasta in a jiffy! This Instant Pot creamy garlic Parmesan pasta recipe cooks in 8 mins. The recipe is so creamy, cheesy, garlicky and the best.
Instant Pot Pasta
Making pasta in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker is very easy.
In this recipe, I am going to teach you the step-by-step method and instruction on cooking pasta in an Instant Pot.
This Instant Pot pasta takes only 8 minutes of pressure cooking. Dinner is ready in a jiffy and you will have the creamiest and most delicious pasta ever!
How To Cook Pasta In Instant Pot
You can cook all kinds of pasta in an Instant Pot but linguine is my favorite.
Here are my tips for cooking pasta in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker.
- Break the linguine pasta in half lengths so they fit perfectly in the Instant Pot. This tip applies to spaghetti.
- Make sure you have enough liquid to cook the pasta on pressure cooking. I used 3 1/4 cups of liquid for this recipe.
- The pasta should submerge in the liquid so they will be cooked perfectly.
- VERY IMPORTANT TIP: make sure you use a wooden spatula to stir the pasta with the liquid before you start pressure cooking. Push the linguine to the sides of the Instant Pot instead of all pilling in the center. This will make sure that the linguine doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pressure cooker or Instant Pot. This will prevent the “Burn” error message on your appliance.
- Reduce the sauce using the “Saute” mode for 1 minute if it’s too runny.
Pasta In Instant Pot
This creamy garlic Parmesan pasta is one of the best Instant Pot pasta recipes!
It calls for simple ingredients that you already have at home: garlic, Parmesan cheese, heavy whipping cream, chicken broth, garlic and lemon.
This recipe takes only 5 minutes prep time. This is a quick dinner to make on busy weeknights.
Instant Pot Pasta Sauce
If you like extra pasta sauce, double up on the sauce ingredients of chicken broth and heavy whipping cream.
The cooking time is the same.
Do not overcook the pasta; the linguine pasta should be al dente, with a bit of a bite, not soggy and overcooked.
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe serves 3 people. It’s 709 calories per serving.
What To Serve With Creamy Garlic Parmesan Pasta
Serve this pasta dish with vegetable side dishes. For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for new updates.
Other Recipes You Might Like
- Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
- Instant Pot Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken
- Honey Sesame Instant Pot Chicken
- Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Piccata
Instant Pot Creamy Garlic Parmesan Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 oz (230g) linguine, I used Barilla brand
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 1/4 cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 3 dashes ground black pepper
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
- 1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
Instructions
- Break the linguine pasta into half lengths.
- Set the Instant Pot to Saute mode, add the olive oil. When the oil is fully heated, saute the garlic for 10 seconds. Add the chicken broth, garlic powder, lemon juice, salt, black pepper and linguine.
- IMPORTANT:Stir the linguine towards the sides of the Instant Pot, and make sure they are covered in the liquid.
- Cover the pot and select Manual and set to High pressure for 8 minutes. When it beeps, turn to Quick Release.
- When the valve drops, remove the cover carefully, stir the pasta and add the heavy whipping cream, Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley. If the sauce is too runny, turn on "Saute" mode to reduce the sauce, about 1 minute. Serve immediately. You may top with extra Parmesan cheese and/or lemon wedges.
Video
Notes
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I used a 6-quart Instant Pot. You may double the recipe but still cook for 8 minutes on high pressure. If you use spaghetti, cook for 6 minutes on high pressure.
If you want it to be more saucy, use 2 cups chicken broth
If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can make this Creamy Garlic Parmesan Pasta on a skillet using your stove top. You may refer to my Skillet Creamy Garlic Parmesan Fettucine recipe.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I got a 3 QT Instapot for Mothers day and I found this recipe. I followed it exactly. Perfect amount of liquid to pasta. I did not have heavy whipping cream, used milk and flour mixture. It worked well. Soupy, lemony, so flavorful!!! I timed for 8 minutes. Perfect!! Thank you!!!
Hi Wilma, I am so happy that you tried this Instant Pot Pasta recipe. :)
I’m wondering if I add uncooked chicken to this would I keep the cooking time the same?
Yes.
How would I do it if I wanted to add chicken?
You can add chicken with the pasta. Just add more liquid.
raw or cooked chicken?
Can I add raw shrimp with the pasta & cook as recipe says?
I made this, and also got the burn notice. Additional broth will not help. It is the cream. The cream has to be added after the pasta is cooked. With saute on, add the cream and stir constantly for a couple of minutes. Turn off, remove pot, let sit for a minute or two. That solves the burn problem! Otherwise, great recipe! Tastes great!
Hi Regina, I believe it’s also the noodles sticking to the bottom of the pot so I would suggest stirring the noodles so they don’t touch the bottom of the pot before pressure cooking.
I have made this twice and recommended it twice and will do again and again. I LOVE this recipe. I put chicken I though.so, so, so good!!!!!
Hi Julie, sounds yummy, chicken is always a good idea. :)
I wonder what the time would be for a 4.5 quart Instant Pot?
This was absolutely delicious! I’m new to Instant Pot’s so I wanted an easy, no fail recipe. This is definitely a winner!!! I followed the instructions exactly (ok, that’s a lie, I used fettuccine instead of linguine since that’s the box I grabbed in the supermarket)…..but it came out amazing!! I have to say, I am extremely confused how people got a burn message… it’s like they didn’t have enough liquid?? The only thing I can think of it that 8oz of pasta is 1/2 box, not the whole box…. maybe people are using the whole box? I felt I actually had too much liquid at the end still! I like thicker sauces so next time I will use only a cup and half instead of 2 cups of the chicken both. Can’t wait to make again. Oh, quick question, my mom is a vegetarian, do you think I can use a vegetable broth instead of chicken for her?
I added more liquid than the recipe asked for, and I added the exact amount of pasta. Not the whole box, just 8oz. I used all the tips from the comments to avoid the burning, yet i still happened. So… I thought I had too much liquid when I opened it up, but I stirred it and let it sit, and it thickened up very nicely and was perfect! I prefer thicker sauces, so I turned out well. I definitly think the problem is NOT the amount of liquid, because there was plenty.
The burn problem is because the pasta sinks to the bottom of the pot, and where it bulges upwards in the middle of the pot. The pasta sits directly on that upwards curve/bulge in the middle of the pot, and that’s where it burns. It wasn’t stuck on the sides at all, just the middle. Next time I’ll have to make sure the pasta sits around the edges and doesn’t sit in the middle of the pot..
Mine came out kinda soupy, so I think next time (there will be a next time! So good) I will cut the broth down a tiny bit, and add the Parmesan in after cooking. Also love the idea someone had about shrimp!!!
Mine turned out extremely soupy. I even used 1/2 cup less broth. I ended up putting it in safe mode and cooking it for another 10 mins to reduce volume. I also added another cup of parmesan.
Did you measure the ingredients properly? In any case, you can use saute mode to reduce the sauce if it’s too soupy.
Made this today. Doubled the recipe, used penne pasta bc that’s what i had. 8 minutes to cook, qr, threw in some precooked frozen shrimp that i had thawed and voila! Garlic bread and a green salad rounded it out quite well .
I will say that I found the flavor to be quite bland so next time I’ll add more garlic and lemon juice and maybe even some Cajun seasoning. Overall though, great recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Anna, thanks for trying this Instant Pot Creamy Garlic Parmesan Pasta. I love your ideas. Thanks!
Holy moly! This was fabulous! Everyone loved it. Topped it off with grilled lemon chicken. This recipe went against all of my Italian sensibilities (LOL–I shed a tear when I broke the noodles in half). I am still shocked that the noodles were perfect! Thank you!
Hi Lisa, thanks so much for your raving review. I am so happy that you love my Instant Pot creamy garlic parmesan pasta. :)