So creamy, so rich, so amazing yet so much healthier Instant pot pasta with tomato cream sauce made with a secret ingredient. You will never miss the cream!
Creamy, orangish, velvety, luxurious tomato cream sauce.
But, without any cream! The best healthy instant pot pasta recipe
Don't get me wrong, I truly love creamy pastas like Instant Pot Chicken Fettucino Alfredo or one pot mac and cheese recipe.
And this cream loaded 😊 Instant Pot Creamy Tuscan Soup
I'd love to serve healthier, lighter version on weeknights.
The secret?
Drum roll, please.....coconut milk!!
Sounds weird? Trust me, no one will ever know. You don't taste the coconut milk at all and it makes an orange pasta sauce without any cream.
But, if you love coconut milk then here are a few recipes for you to check out:
20-Minute, One Skillet Coconut Curry Shrimp
Instant Pot Thai Chickpea and Spinach Curry
Instant Pot Chicken and Kale Curry
Here are the team players in this instant pot pasta with tomato cream sauce:
- Penne or any shape that is similar in size so that it'll be perfectly cooked at the given time.
- Store bought marinara sauce
- No-cream <---- coconut milk
- And the usual suspects - butter, onion, garlic, parmesan, fresh basil, salt and pepper.
How to make creamy tomato pasta in instant pot?
Step-1: Set Instant pot to hot. Saute chopped onion and garlic in some butter.
Step-2: Add penne, marinara sauce, coconut milk, water, salt and pepper. Cook.
Step-3: Finish with parm and basil.
I told ya, easy peasy.
Check you this Instant Pot Shrimp Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce <---- Very similar but with shrimp. Love orange pasta sauce recipes.
This is a play on one of the most popular Instant Pot pasta recipes on Kitchen@Hoskins - Instant pot chicken parmesan pasta.
Make it for dinner and pack leftovers for lunch.
Or, make it in the morning <--- Effortless pasta recipe.
Check out this another effortless Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches, Baked spaghetti and meatball cups or this Butter Chicken Pasta (Indian Chicken Pasta Recipe)
And this hugely popular Instant Pot Chicken Fried Rice and Instant Pot Shrimp Fried Rice
Check out more Instant Pot Recipes
More healthy dinner ideas like this best healthy instant pot pasta recipe:
Instant Pot Pasta with Chicken Meat Sauce
Instant Pot Chicken Fried Rice
Authentic Tandoori Chicken in Oven
4 Ingredient Salsa Chickpeas Meal Prep
Easy Instant Pot Cashew Chicken
Instant Pot No-Cream Pasta with Tomato Cream sauce
Ingredients
Group-1
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 2 garlic garlic, minced
Group-2
- 8 ounces penne pasta
- 1 and ¼ cup marinara sauce, I used Prego (Tomato basil garlic)
- 1 cup coconut milk, I used canned Choakoh coconut milk
- ¾ cup water
- ¾ teaspoon salt or as required, refer notes
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Group-3
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- chopped fresh basil, to finish
Instructions
- Set Instant pot to saute setting. When hot, add butter and then chopped onion and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently for 2 minutes, until translucent.
- Press cancel and then add all group-2 ingredients and stir well. Close and lock lid (making sure that valve is set to sealing). Select manual setting (or pressure cooker) for 7 minutes.
- After 7 minutes, let Instant pot in the warm mode for 10 minutes. Turn valve to venting to release pressure. Open lid, stir group-3 ingredients and serve.
- Sauce might look a bit thin as soon as you open lid, but it will thicken in couple of minutes.
- The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools. Just stir some water to loosen it up. Enjoy hot or let cool and pack into meal prep containers with garlic bread on the side (if desired).
Notes
- Salt will depend on your taste level and the type of marinara sauce used. I used Prego, tomato basil garlic and used ¾ teaspoon salt.
- Please use only canned coconut milk and not coconut milk beverage. I used Chaokoh canned coconut milk <--- shake can well before opening.
- I used 3-quart size Instant pot.
- If you want pasta to be al dente, then cook for 6 minutes and then 10 mins of warm instead.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third party calculations, should be considered estimates and not be construed as a guarantee. Varying factors such as product types, brands purchased, produce, the way ingredients are processed and more change the nutritional information in any recipe.
Recipe loosely adapted from Pioneer Woman's recipe
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Lewis Johnson
I love creamy pasta.
Maria Doss
Me too:)
Jayceebee
This was so easy and a huge hit in my family. Instead of coconut milk, I used 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup water, in addition to the water listed. Not so healthy but so good. I also skipped the entire first step and went to the pasta. Thank you!
Maria Doss
That sounds great, glad you liked it:)
Rudy
I’d like to double this recipe for the family. Can I simple double it or should I make some changes to the quantities?
Thanks
Maria Doss
Hi Rudy, I would recommend doubling if you are using a large Instant pot (preferably a 8 quart). Else, we would recommend cooking in two batches. Wishing you a wonderful holidays and new year - Maria
Jennifer Beglin
Made this tonight and it was a huge hit! My husband told me to add it to weekly rotation and he couldn’t believe it had coconut milk in it- you definitely can’t tell!
Maria Doss
Hi Jennifer, that sounds wonderful! Wishing your family a very new year, Maria