This Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Pasta is so delicious and so easy to make, this is definitely going to be one of your go-to Instant Pot dinners! Flavorful chicken breasts, garlic, penne, real cream and real parmesan cheese, and the best part is it all cooks together in the Instant Pot.
This recipe is a variation of the One-Pan Chicken Alfredo I developed in 2013. That is still one of my family’s favorite recipes, and truly a reader favorite too!
Start by searing the chicken breasts on high Saute mode. You select high Saute mode by hitting Saute, then hit adjust until the indicator light shows More.
Then remove the chicken breasts, add minced garlic to the Instant Pot and sauté for about a minute. Follow with chicken broth, heavy cream, uncooked penne pasta, salt and pepper, as well as the chicken breasts. Lock lid and cook on Manual Mode, High Pressure for 6 minutes.
Quick Pressure Release and set aside chicken breasts to rest before slicing. Gradually stir in freshly grated parmesan cheese.
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- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 large chicken breasts about 1.5 pounds total
- 4 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 quart low sodium chicken broth
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 1 pound of uncooked penne pasta
- 8 oz of freshly shredded real parmesan cheese
- flat leaf parsley minced for garnish
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Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
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Set 6 Qt Instant Pot to Saute function and hit Adjust button until More is lit. This heats Instant Pot to highest heat for searing.
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Add olive oil to Instant Pot and sear chicken breast in Instant Pot for several minutes on both sides until evenly browned.
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Remove chicken from pot and set aside to be added back in with the rest of the ingredients.
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Add garlic to pot and cook for about one minute.
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Add chicken broth and use wooden spoon to scrape up browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
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Add heavy cream, uncooked pasta, a teaspoon of kosher salt and several turns of freshly ground pepper.
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Return chicken breasts to Instant Pot and stir all ingredients together.
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Hit off button to end Saute function, then lock lid in place with Pressure valve set to sealing.
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Cook on Manual, High Pressure for 6 minutes. Instant Pot with take 10-15 minutes to come to pressure and then countdown from 6 minutes.
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Once cooking is complete, use Quick Pressure Release.
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Since we are cooking a pound of pasta, there may be some starches and liquids that start to splatter. If that happens, use wooden spoon or an oven mitt to quickly close pressure valve. Wait one minute and try again.
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Once pressure pin drops, unlock lid and remove chicken breasts. Use a meat thermometer to ensure they have reached 165 F degrees. Set aside to rest.
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Stir pasta and cream mixture together and slowly add in freshly grated parmesan cheese.
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Slice chicken breast and combine with pasta.
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Serve with additional freshly ground pepper, shredded parmesan and chopped flat leaf parsley.
Important Recipe Tips -
Do not substitute milk, or half and half for heavy cream, it will not stand up to the high heat of pressure cooking.
For best results, use real parmesan cheese grated on a microplane. Store bought grated parmesan cheese will not melt properly and will stick to the bottom of the pot.
Sauce will thicken as it cools.
If halving the recipe, keep same cooking time.
5 Easy Dinner Ideas for Busy Weeknights
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- and...most important...absolutely DELICIOUS
Kimberly Baxter
March 24, 2018 at 7:19 pmThat looks really good! My kids love chicken pasta so much. Can’t wait to make this for them. Thanks for sharing!
Melissa
March 28, 2018 at 2:00 pmMy kids love chicken alfredo but the only recipe I know is the one you have to bake. I don’t have the time to make that recipe and I am always looking for something much easier(as I am sure many of us mothers are) I can’t wait to try this, it looks really yummy. Thank you for making something simple and delicious to try with my family.
Maureen
July 22, 2018 at 3:01 pmThis was my first recipe in my instant pot it was fantastic can’t wait to try more
Joy
September 25, 2018 at 9:36 pmMade this tonight to feed a larger group. Doubled the recipe and just needed to add on 4 minutes of cook time for the additional pasta. Also, instead of cooking the chicken in the recipe, I just used chicken that I shredded from a Costco rotisserie chicken. Everyone LOVED it! Thank you.
Erin Finley
November 28, 2018 at 2:24 pmI love you’re Cajun chicken and sausage Alfredo recipe! I just got an Instant Pot on Black Friday and I want to try this recipe with the sausage! Can I brown the sausage with the chicken and cook them together? I’m afraid the sausage won’t turn out well since it’s already cooked!
Christene
December 16, 2018 at 6:45 pmThank you so much for the warning about the sputtering. That’s the first time that happened to me and I think I would have freaked out without your warning! I handled it like a pro 🙂
I can’t say enough about this recipe. Made it for dinner tonight and we all had 2nds. Simple but delicious. Thanks for sharing!
Sherri
December 28, 2018 at 7:15 pmGot an instant pot for Christmas. Tried this recipe tonight, everyone loved it. It was very good! Had family coming in from out of town, there was plenty to feed everyone. I did use 4 chicken breasts, they varied in size. Second recipe I’ve made in my instant pot, it was fairly easy. I like the fact it’s a one pan dinner. Thank you for the recipe. It’s definitely one I’ll make again
Minnie
January 2, 2019 at 2:55 pmJust made this and my husband says it’s better than the Olive Garden and he loves the Olive Garden. Excited to try more of your Instant Pot dishes!
Liz
January 5, 2019 at 5:21 pmThis was REALLY good! My chicken didn’t quite hit 165° but I added the parmesan cheese and put the chicken in the sauce, closed the lid for about five mins and it came up to temp! (It was at 160°)
Mine was somewhat runny, even after letting it set up for a bit.. not sure why.
Linda Lender
January 23, 2019 at 7:59 amSounds fabulous but heavy cream is a no no in my kitchen due to dietary restrictions for my husband. This would be perfect in my beloved IP!
Liliya
February 10, 2019 at 5:58 pmAmazing recipe. We are making it for the 3rd time now, after discovering this recipe just a couple of weeks ago!
Camber
February 17, 2019 at 10:21 amMade this the other night for my family and got a phone call from one of my kids who hates everything I make, telling me that this was the best meal he’s ever tasted! That’s a win if you ask me. I also used rotisserie chicken instead of what the recipe called for and it turned out delicious! Keep the recipes comming!
Hilary
March 16, 2019 at 10:03 pmThis was excellent and quick!! My daughter inhaled it!
Thank you!!
Sami
March 23, 2019 at 12:10 pmSo easy and sooooo delish! I squeezed a half of a juicy lemon into the pot right before I served it and it gave it a nice brightness. This won’t last long!
Trudy
May 13, 2019 at 5:31 amMight be helpful to update the recipe to include the olive oil before searing the chicken breasts. My chicken stuck to the bottom of the pan and I kept wondering what I did wrong. Then as I progressed I wondered when I was going to add the olive oil and realized by then (to late) it should have been used to sear the chicken. Otherwise this was delicious, I’ll use more garlic next time as we like a lot of garlic. Will also add frozen peas when add the Parmesan cheese to get some veggies into an otherwise marvelous one pot meal!
Melissa
May 13, 2019 at 12:09 pmUpdated! Thanks for the heads up, Trudy!