Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta

Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta - Creamy Chicken Pasta made with dried pasta, sliced chicken breast, Sundried Tomatoes, Spinach, Cream Cheese and Parmesan Cheese.

Who would have though pressure cooking pasta will be so easy and delicious! Have you tried it yet? Oh you are absolutely missing out if you haven't!!

This pasta is so delicious- with the finger licking creamy garlicky sauce made with cream cheese , spinach and sun dried tomatoes.

It's a Super Easy Instant Pot spin on the classic Italian Tuscan chicken that's served with pasta.

I know pressure cooking pasta sounds funny at first but hear me out! Once you know the maths behind it, you will never slave over a stove of boiling pasta.

Especially when you are in a hurry and need a meal on the table stat! A meal that is appreciated by every family member - children and adults! Also! A big bonus is the veggies - especially spinach and mushrooms!

I know those are rare to come by! A dinner recipe that ticks all the boxes and some more!

What is Insta Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta?

This almost decadent creamy chicken pasta is so so good! Such an easy weeknight dinner which is ready in a jiffy!

Forget about the whole boiling pasta separately, making sauce in another pan, straining the pasta out, saving some pasta water etc.That's OLD News girl!(or boy!lol)

All you gotto do now is DUMP everything in to get this amazing dinner ready without hassles!

Well, technically- Dump,Pressure Cook and Dump again.Most of the ingredients are dumped together and pressure cooked, rest are added at the end!

Yes.it's that simple!

Ingredients for Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta

Here is what you will need to make this delicious Instant Pot Chicken Pasta

Chicken - You can either slice a chicken breast into 1 inch thin slivers or use pre sliced chicken. Make sure it's not thicker than ¼- ½ inch. You want the chicken to cook along with the pasta.

PASTA

If you don't have rotini pasta on hand, use any bite sized pasta like penne or shells. Cavatappi or cellentani noodles or elbow macaroni noodles will also work well here.You can change up the recipe by Changing the kind of pasta

The formula for Pasta is

Time= {(time on the package)/2}+ 1 minute

I would suggest you use bite sized pastas like Rotini or Campanelle pasta. So you can use different pastas but have to change the time accordingly.

Bare in mind, Using pastas which have a lesser that 6 minute of cooking time will leave the chicken undercooked.

Similarly using a pasta which has a long cooking time like whole wheat pasta- will leave the chicken overcooked.

So choose accordingly!

How to make Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta

Here is the step by step way to make this creamy pasta. Watch the video to understand the texture and finer details

Step 1:

Add sliced Chicken breast , dried bite sized pasta, chicken broth or water, Garlic, Italian seasoning and salt to the Inner pot of instant pot.

Gently push the pasta under the broth. Add mushrooms. Do not stir.

All the Pasta should be under the water. If not, it will not cook properly.

Step 2:

Add the mushrooms and the drained sun dried tomatoes. Dont mix. We are layering the pasta here so all elements cook perfectly.

Leaving the mushrooms on the top will make sure that it just steams instead of cooking.

Close the lid.Select PRESSURE COOK/MANUAL at High for 7 minutes with the valve sealed.Quick Release once the time is up.Open the pot.

If you prefer your pasta el dente, cook for 6 minutes instead.If using any other pasta use the formula = (Time on package)/2 - 1 minute.

Step 3

Do not let the pasta sit in "Keep warm " for long.It will get overcooked.

Quick release & Open the instant pot.We will use the residual heat to cook the spinach and melt the cheese.

Add Spinach & Cubed cream cheese .Close the lid and let it go to "KEEP WARM" for five to ten minutes. Open the lid, give it a mix and garnish with basil leaves.

When you finally open the lid and think the sauce seems runny then do these two things

• Wait for the pasta to cool a bit.
• if its really runny, sauté it for a bit to evaporate the extra liquid.

Variations of Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Pasta

Gluten Free - Use Gluten Free pasta alternatives like chickpea Rotini Pasta.Change the pressure cooking time to "Cooking time on package"/2 minus 1 minute.

Tricks & Tips

• If you are using the sundried tomatoes in olive oil. Use that oil to make the pasta. The taste & Flavor is insane!
• Cut the cream cheese into 1 inch cubes or simply use a spoon to drop it across the pasta. This will make the mixing so much more easy!
• Skip the mushrooms if you want the pasta to look prettier. Yes.. the mushroom do darken the otherwise white pasta sauce.

Looking for some more quick wins? Try my quick instant pot chicken parmesan pasta , Tuscan chicken pasta ,alfredo chicken pasta and our recent fav- truffle mushroom pasta.

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Healthier Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta

Use low calorie cream cheese and lots of vegetables to make this pasta healthier.You can substitute mushrooms with bell peppers and asparagus.You could also leave out the pasta all toghether to make this a high protein low carb recipe.

Chicken Thighs- Chicken thighs can be easily used instead of chicken breasts.Make sure you slice the chicken thin so it cooks in the same time as chicken breast bites.

Other Alternatives-If you don't have italian seasoning substitute with dried thyme, basil and oregano instead.

Use Chicken Broth for extra flavour, but if you can't find it, use a stock cube dissolved in water or just plain water.