This Instant Pot Chicken Pasta is a reader favorite! All the flavors of chicken parmesan are combined with pasta to make an easy instant pot dinner that is ready in 30 minutes. So so good!
5 Star Reviews
Jeri Lynn says "My family loves his recipe and we've probably had it a dozen times. Thank you for this recipe!" ★★★★★
Paula says "This is one of my families favorite meals. We probably cook it once or twice a month." ★★★★★
This instapot chicken pasta brings all the classic flavors of chicken parmesan into a quick, one-pot meal. With tender chicken, perfectly cooked pasta, and plenty of melty cheese, it's an easy and comforting dinner you'll want to make again and again.
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❤️ Reasons to love
- No-fuss jarred sauce – Skip the simmering! This pressure cooker pasta recipe uses your favorite jarred marinara for convenience.
- Flavor-packed pasta – Cooking pasta in the instant pot allows it to soak up every bit of that rich tomato and chicken goodness.
- Chicken Parm meets comfort food – All the crave-worthy flavors of classic chicken parmesan, but tossed into a cozy pasta dish.
- One-pot, 30-minute dinner – A true weeknight hero! Quick, satisfying, and minimal cleanup.
- Cheesy, melty topping – Finished with a layer of gooey, melted cheese—because what’s Chicken Parm without the cheese?
Ingredients you'll need for instant pot pasta with chicken
Scroll down to the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and amounts.
- Chicken – Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are my preferred cut because they stay juicy, tender, and flavorful under pressure cooking. Unlike chicken breasts, thighs are less prone to drying out, making them perfect for one-pot meals.
- Pasta – Use a sturdy, medium-sized pasta shape like penne, fusilli, farfalle, or rigatoni, which can hold up to pressure cooking without becoming mushy.
- Marinara Sauce – I love using Prego’s Tomato Basil & Garlic marinara sauce for its naturally sweet flavor and balanced seasoning. Feel free to use your favorite jar sauce.
- Cheeses – A combination of shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese gives this pasta its signature cheesy chicken parm flavor.
- Olive Oil – A splash of olive oil not only adds authentic Italian flavor but also enhances the texture by coating the ingredients and adding richness to the final dish.
Instant Pot Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 and ¼ cups marinara sauce I used Prego, tomato, basil and garlic
- ¾ cup water
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ to ¾ teaspooon salt, refer notes I used ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite sized chunks
- 8 ounces penne pasta
- ½ cup grated mozzarella cheese
- 3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- chopped parsley or basil, to garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Set Instant pot to saute setting. When hot, add olive oil and then chopped onion and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently for 1 to 2 minutes, or translucent.
- Press cancel and then add marinara sauce, water, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and chicken.Stir well to combine.
- Add the pasta on top and gently press it into the sauce, using the back of a spoon, making sure that they are mostly immersed into the sauce.Pro tip: Don't stir the pasta! Placing the pasta on top of the sauce will help prevent triggering the "Burn" warning. The sauce acts as a protective layer between the bottom of the pot and the pasta, reducing the risk of scorching.
- Close instant pot, making sure that the valve is set to sealing, and cook for 5 minutes on manual mode and then let it be in warm mode for 4 minutes.
- Turn valve to vent and release all remaining pressure, open instant pot and sprinkle the mozzarella and parmesan on top. Close with the lid for 3 to 5 minutes, allowing the cheeses to melt. Stir to combine.Pro tip: Give a good stir before serving! This allows the cheese to combine with the pasta, redistribute all ingredients, and bring the flavors together.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information, based on third-party calculations, should be seen as estimates, not guarantees, as various factors like product types, brands, processing methods, and more can alter the nutritional content in recipes.
How to make instant pot chicken pasta?
You can find full printable recipe below, but here is a quick overview of the procedure along with step-by-step photos.
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- Set the instant pot to saute mode. When hot, add olive oil.
- Saute chopped onion and minced garlic until it turns translucent.
- Press cancel, pour in water and marinara sauce.
- Add chicken, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.
5 & 6. Stir all ingredients together, until well combined.
7 & 8. Add the pasta on top and gently press it into the sauce, using the back of a spoon, making sure that they are mostly immersed into the sauce.
9 & 10. Close instant pot and cook for 5 minutes on manual mode and then let it be in warm mode for 4 minutes.
11 & 12. Turn valve to vent and release all remaining pressure, open instant pot and sprinkle the mozzarella and parmesan on top. Close with the lid for 3 to 5 minutes, allowing the cheeses to melt. Stir to combine.
Recipe tips
- Pasta swaps – While penne is a classic, any medium-sized pasta like fusilli, rigatoni, or farfalle works just as well. Choose shapes that hold sauce well and won’t overcook in the pressure cooker.
- Chicken options – You can substitute boneless, skinless chicken breasts for thighs if preferred. Just be mindful that breasts cook faster and can be slightly less tender than thighs.
- Salt to taste – The amount of salt needed will depend on your marinara sauce. I used Prego Tomato, Basil & Garlic and found that ¾ teaspoon of salt was just right.
- Don’t stir the pasta before cooking – Layer the pasta on top of the chicken and sauce without mixing. This helps prevent the dreaded “Burn” warning by keeping the pasta from sitting directly on the bottom of the pot.
- Give it a good stir before serving – Once the pressure is released and the cheese is added, stir everything well to melt the cheese evenly.
More instant pot pasta recipes
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Deepika|TheLoveOfCakes
I love when I have a yummy dinner on the table in the least possible amount of time..I love it more when I have less dishes to was :). Bookmarking this amazing recipe for those days Maria!! The Pasta looks too good!
Maria Doss
Thank you dear:)
Lex
Followed the recipe as directed and even tried cooking the chicken for longer before doing the rest of the steps as chicken DEFINTELY was not cooked in 2 minutes; chicken was still raw..trying to save as we speak but I might have to throw it out. 🙁
Maria Doss
Hi Lex, Chicken cooks for about 2 minutes initially and then CONTINUES TO COOK along with the pasta for the remaining cooking time. So, I don't really see a reason for chicken not being cooked. Not sure where it went wrong, Maria
S
Lol did you forget the pressure cook step? 7 minutes at high pressure and your chicken is going to be cooked for sure
Lex
No as stated in my comment (if you read it completely so your assumption was a bit off putting) I followed the recipe as worded (except I did the chicken prior to doing the 7 pressure cook for about 6 minutes in the saute mode) and still a lot of pieces cooked through. Either way dinner was thrown out last night as I couldn't save it
I'm going to cook the chicken seperately when I try again tomorrow. I find I like doing it better that way with some instant pot recipes
Maria Doss
Hi Lex, I'm having trouble understanding the exact problem, however I'm so sorry that you had to throw away the pasta.
This pasta recipe does not use any stock and relies on the chicken being cooked along with the pasta for flavor. So, I will suggest cooking both together.
My sincere apologies again, Maria
Clancy
@Lex, I made it using the 7 minute cook time after sautéing and it came out perfectly cooked and steaming hot. I’ve been wondering what could have happened to yours? Had I not read, re-read and re-read, I would have missed the instruction to cut chicken in bite-size pieces. I caught that part when I was about to sauté the second side. I find that happens to me a lot that I’ll either miss a step or miss an ingredient. I hope I’m not the only one who does that.
Kelly @ Kelly Lynns Sweets and Treats
I love that this is made all in one pot!! I so need to get me an Instant Pot! This pasta looks so hearty and filling too 🙂
Kristie
Add a little more liquid. My noodles kinda burnt alittle. BUT so so so yummy!!!!
Nicole
My instant pot says food burn so now what?/
Maria Doss
Hi Nicole, press cancel and turn valve to venting position and release steam. Open, check if the pasta has cooked.
May I ask what size instant pot are you using?
S
it sounds like something is wrong with your instant pot
heather (delicious not gorgeous)
this sounds perfect! and i can imagine how happy my younger self (let's be real, even my today self) would have been if my mom packed the leftovers in a warm thermos for my lunch (:
Maria Doss
Thank you Heather:)
Ashika | Gardening Foodie
This recipe sounds amazing Maria. Really makes a perfect weekday meal, so full of delicious flavours 🙂
Layla
Made it. Love it. Great recipe. Thank you!!!!
Maria Doss
Thank you so much for trying. So glad that you liked it 🙂
Jody
I don’t have an instant pot but I do have a crockpot.
Would this still turn out okay with the crockpot?
Maria Doss
I have no experience with a crockpot, so I'm very sorry that I can't be of much help to you.
However, if you are interested in making it on the stovetop then here is the method that you can adopt - Choose a pan with a tight fitting lid - Proceed step 1 in the pan. then add 8 oz pasta + 1 1/4 cup marinara sauce + 1 1/2 cup water + other seasonings in step2. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook over medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes, until pasta is cooked to your liking. Stir in cheese to finish. Hope it helps:)
Sam
How would you change this if you wanted to increase the number of servings? I would like to use 12.5 oz of pasta and ~2 pounds of chicken.
Maria Doss
Here are the measurements for 12 ounces of penne -
4-5 boneless skinless chicken thighs
4 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups marinara sauce
1 cup to 1 1/2 cups water (1 cup for al dente)
12 ounces penne pasta
3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
3/4 to 1 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 cups grated mozzarella cheese
slightly heaped 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Proceed with the same instructions
Hope it helps:)
Sam
Thanks!
Maryann
I made this with the increased measurements. It turned out very good, but I would use the entire bottle of Marinara (24 oz) next time, also I did use the 1 1/2 cups water, but the pasta was al dente and I like it more tender so next time I will increase the water by 1/4 cup. Also I had chicken tenders. I used 8 (I think), maybe this was more meat than 4-5 thighs, that may be why I needed more marinara sauce. Over all, a great recipe, thank you!
Maria Doss
So glad that you loved it Maryann and thank you for all the suggestions. It really helps 🙂
Steve
Quick and tasty little dish worked out very well - I used spelt pasta and tomato pasata just added extra garlic and oinion to flavour up.
Also had no parma cheese so went the stretchy option of mozzarella.
Maria Doss
Mozzarella sounds delicious, so glad that you liked it:)
CJ
Is the setting for 7 minutes in lower or high pressure?
Maria Doss
High.
Kate
Any thoughts on doing this with frozen chicken?
Maria Doss
Hi Kate, sorry I didn't understand. Do you mean frozen, raw chicken or frozen cooked chicken nuggets/chicken fingers ??
Britt
I would also like to know your thoughts on doing this with frozen raw chicken
Maria Doss
Though it is convenient to cook chicken in an Instant pot from a frozen stage, my guess would be that it might not work when working with pasta. Since, the cooking time of frozen chicken and pasta will vary, one might be undercooked or overcooked. Hope it helps:)
Seather Fusko
I'm so happy I found this recipe!
Maria Doss
YAY!! Hope you love it 🙂
Jen
Loved it. I added fresh mushrooms to mine.
Maria Doss
YAY!!!!
Robin
WOW I am so impressed with this recipe. It came out perfect! The chicken was very tender and nothing stuck to the bottom of the pan. My company loved it! I used 2/3 cup water and pasta cooked absolutely perfect!
Maria Doss
Thank you so much Robin, so glad that you liked it)
Melissa O'Toole
When do you cook the pasta. I'm sorry, I'm new to the instant pot and didn't see when to put it in. Maybe I missed it?
Thanks!
Mel
Maria Doss
In step 2. You add the sauce, water, PASTA and seasoning. Hope it helps:)
Kim Papenhausen
Could I use chicken breast cut up instead of thighs?
Maria Doss
Totally!!!
Shell
I could not decide on what to make for dinner, and it was getting late....so, I stumbled upon your recipe on Pinterest and I tried it. I haven’t cooked pasta in my instant pot yet so I was nervous. I used chicken breasts because that is what I had defrosted. I followed the recipe and the flavor was awesome. I have one question... I used rigatoni noodles because that was all I had and I used 1 cup of water and 1 1/4cups of sauce.....some of my noodles were a little hard on the edges....could this be because the noodles are a little bigger than penne? Should I have used more water or smaller pasta? Or, is this how pasta comes out? The flavor was awesome and so convenient only using one pot! Thanks!
Maria Doss
Hi Shell,I'm so glad that you tried the recipe and liked it. My guess would be because of the size of rigatoni when compared to penne, hence cooking a minute or two longer might have solved the uneven cooking. Hope it helps:)
Jackie
Am i suppose to let it naturally release pressure for 10 minutes? Then quick release any pressure afterwards?
Maria Doss
Hi Jackie, After 10 minutes at warm mode, you quick release pressure. How it helps:)
Lilya
@Maria Doss, hear and in one place above you state 10mins, but in the printable version of the recipe it says 4mins on warm and then pressure release. So which is the right version?
Maria Doss
Hi Lilya,
It is 4 minutes as instructed in the recipe card. BTW, thank you for pointing that out, will make the necessary correction, Maria
Shawna Pace-Powers
If I double the recipe, how does that affect the cooking time?
Maria Doss
From my Instant pot experience and from all the information that I have gathered, you will NOT need to change the cooking time, but instant pot might take bit longer to build pressure. That being said, I would try it with caution the first time, to make sure it works the same. Hope it helps:)
Scott Roinson
Best ever so easy no hassle. Tastes great.
Maria Doss
So glad that you liked it:)
Andrew
I have an 8 quart instant pot and we doubled the recipe. I brownen the chicken in 2 batches. I then placed all the ingredients into the instant pot and set the appropriate time. However, I never could get the instant pot up to pressure because it kept going in to burn. Each time I would open it up and stir it up and make sure that the bottom was clear. After the third time I checked the noodles and they seemed to be tender and chicken was done so we ate it. It tasted really good but there was a lot of burnt food (I'm guessing pasta) stuck to the bottom of the pot. Any ideas how I could avoid the burn issue in the future?
Maria Doss
Hmmm.... this is new to me! My guess would be to check if the valve was sealed properly. I'm not able to thick of any other reasons. Sorry that I was not able to be of much help. Mu suggestion would be to try the exact recipe measurements next time to see how it goes. Happy holidays Andrew:)
Clarence Dold
My first "burn" message ;-(
I also have an 8 quart IP-Duo-80
After saute, all other recipes remind me to scrape the bits off the bottom.
I don't know why I didn't detect the burned parts on the bottom when I was stirring in the pasta and sauce.
I did a pressure release, scraped the bottom with the contents in the pot, until I couldn't feel the bumps. This is the same as I've done when deglazing by removing the contents and deglazing with broth, except that I could see what I was doing.
I added another 1/2 cup of water, and tried again.
"burn"
I transferred the contents to a different pot.
There was quite a bit of pasta burned to the bottom of the Instant Pot.
Some WebWisdom about "burn" said to not mix pasta all the way to the bottom. Another recipe for "Hamburger Helper" said not to stir in the pasta, but just press it into the top of the sauce.
It turned out fine. I figured with two heat-up cycles, it was cooked as well as it needed to be.
I will try it again, but making sure that the bottom is free of burnt bits after sauteing the chicken, and I won't stir the past in, just press it in.
Maria Doss
Hi Clarence, I'm sorry that it did not work out well for you. I'm not sure the reason for burnt bits to begin with, but this method of not stirring the pasta in, sounds very interesting. Will try it next time:)
Clarence Dold
This is my third batch, now.
Batch two, penne pasta, just pressed into the liquid, was perfect. Today, we have Wagon Wheel pasta. I've never been sure what the different shapes mean, anyway.
I used to have Wagon Wheels and butter as a kid.
Maria Doss
How wonderful, thank you Clarence:)
Catherine LaRue-Thebault
I had the "Burn" message as well. After reading a couple of comments here, I depressurized, scraped the bottom to unstick all the burnt bits, I added 1 cup of water and restarted the 7 minutes. Not only was it perfect, it didn't taste like burnt food at all! 🙂
Carly
Hi! Does the 7 minutes account for pressure building time? I’m new to instant pot and didn’t know this was a thing 😂
Maria Doss
Hi Carly, First sorry for a late reply. You set to 7 minutes (the instant pot will take time to build to pressure and then automatically cook for 7 minutes). Hope it helps and again apologies for a late reply. Wishing you a very happy new year - Maria
Nancy
Will this work in my 3 quart instant pot?
Maria Doss
Yes!!! I have a 3 quart and use it all the time. (Personally, I prefer it to the bigger sizes - it is perfect for a small family, convenient, easier to clean and doesn't take up too much counter space) - Maria