Instant Pot Penne Pasta is a delicious vegetarian recipe that will blow your mind! With passata, herbs and smooth creamy ricotta stirred through, this recipe is all about simple quick and easy cooking!
My Instant Pot Pasta with Jar Sauce is a game changer! Instant Pot Spaghetti Bolognese is LIFE CHANGING! Instant Pot Garlic Pasta is effortlessly easy!
Pressure cooking pasta is like going to the future and seeing how they do things there!
Instant pot recipes save time, energy and effort! So what we are going to do is take 2 loves of our lives 1) Pasta 2) Instant Pot and COMBINE THEM!
How do you cook Penne Pasta in an Instant Pot?
To cook penne pasta in an instant pot you can either cook the pasta (noodles) on there own, or do a 1 pot recipe with everything cooking at the same time.
For cooking only the pasta, you add it to the instant pot, cover it will water (so the pieces are just submerged) and then cook for ½ the time on the packet minus one minute.
Now I hear you saying, 'say what girl?', so I will expand a little. On the back of the pasta packet the instruction will be there for cooking that particular pasta brand and type on the stove. My penne in this example says '12 minutes'.
To cook pasta in the instant pot, we take that instruction, divide it in 2 and subtract 1. So we get 5 mins.
Cooking pasta in the instant pot is a breeze once you know how!
Can I cook Pasta in my Pressure Cooker?
Yes.
And you should.
As it tastes DELICIOUS!!!
The instant pot pasta water ratio is always so that the pasta is fully submerged in liquid
Ingredients
The ingredients for this recipe are shown in the photo below, you can refer to this on your phone at the shops, so you get everything you need in 1 shop!
As you can see we need:
- penne pasta
- tomato passata
- ricotta cheese
- sun-dried tomatoes
- dried basil
- dried oregano
- dried onion
- capers
- olives
- olive oil (reserved from sun-dried tomatoes)
- water
- parsley
- salt and pepper
As always, you can use fresh herbs in place of dried ones, but I find it almost always easier to use dried ones as I have them in the cupboard. Whereas I have to go and buy fresh ones.
Instant Pot Creamy Pasta
I wanted to give you guys a recipe for an instant pot creamy pasta, but the thing is, cream doesn't go so well in a pressure cooker!
So instead, we put our lateral thinking caps on and use ricotta cheese instead. It delivers with the creamy taste, smooth texture and out of this world to die for, need to eat pasta every day kindof vibe!
Instructions
Start with the 1 'hard work' step (which is super easy) of prepping your sun-dried tomatoes and go from there!
- chop sun-dried tomatoes, add oil, tomatoes and passata to the instant pot (photos 1-4)
The sun-dried tomatoes can be chunky and rough, to add texture to the dish. Do this quickly, no precision needed!
- add dried basil, onion, oregano and salt (shown in photos 5-8)
Using dried herbs is super easy, plus you won't have to run out and buy them!
- add ricotta cheese to the pot and stir thoroughly to combine (shown in photos 9-10)
- add dried penne pasta and use the empty passata bottle to add water (shown in photos 11-12)
Using the empty passata bottle ensures we get every last drop of the rich tomato passata out of the bottle. I find that 2 full pours which is around 1.4 litres is enough to cover my noodles!
- add ricotta cheese to the pot and stir thoroughly to combine (shown in photos 9-10)
- pour in dried penne pasta and use the empty passata bottle to add water (shown in photos 11-12)
Vegetarian recipes:
You might have come to have a read of this recipe as you love pasta, vegetarian food or all of the above. Some further inspiration for you for vegetarian or vegan recipes is below:
The 2 photos below are me favourite as they show you 'before' and 'after', so you really get the gist of how to cook the recipe.
Frequently asked questions
- this is a vegetarian recipe
- also a kid friendly recipe
- we use 500 grams uncooked penne pasta
- you can make this on the stove is you don't have a pressure cooker
- this is a super quick and easy recipe!
- the instant pot bowl is stainless steel (and not non stick)
- this recipe won't stick as we add enough liquid to make sure it doesn't
- it takes 5 mins of pressure cooking to make this recipe
- the instant pot will heat before it starts to pressure cook
- penne pasta is a freezer friendly recipe
- also a family friendly recipe
- this is an EASY recipe
Expert tips
These additional tips are so that you can master pasta in your instant pot from the 1st time you cook it:
- wait till you have ALL of your ingredients in your pot before adding the lid
- stir the sauce really well so it is consistently mixed together before adding dried pasta
- make sure each piece of pasta is covered by liquid before cooking
- once cooked, use a non scratch utensil to stir the mix a few times
- the sauce will thicken after you have finished cooking, wait patiently as it is magical!
To freeze this recipe, simply wait until it is cool, then portion out into zip lock bags. To reheat simply defrost and then microwave for 3-5 mins or until warmed through!
Serve your pasta with capers, olives and parsley. These ingredients don't need to be cooked, but add pops of flavour and color and are SO YUM!! I actually think this one is cheesy enough (haha!!!) without adding parmesan to it, but you go right ahead if you want!
Related recipes
- Instant Pot Spaghetti Bolognese
- Instant Pot Garlic Pasta
- Instant Pot Fudge
- Pressure Cooker Bacon
- Instant Pot Chicken Spaghetti
Or check out all of my spaghetti recipes for indulgent nights!
Adrianne x
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Penne Pasta
Equipment
- Instant Pot (or pressure cooker)
Ingredients
Instant Pot Penne Pasta
- 500 grams penne pasta Note 1
- 375 grams ricotta cheese
- 700 grams tomato passata Note 2
- 280 grams sun-dried tomatoes Note 3
- ¼ cup olive oil also see Note 3
- 1.4 litres water
- 1 teaspoon dried onion
- 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 50 grams kalamata olives Note 4
- 2 tablespoon capers Note 5
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- ¼ cup fresh parsley
- parmesan cheese to garnish (optional)
Instructions
Instant Pot Penne Pasta
- Use kitchen scissors to roughly chop your sun-dried tomatoes into pieces.
- Add oil, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, passata, basil, dried onion, oregano, salt, pepper and ricotta to the instant pot bowl.
- Use a wooden spoon (or other non stick utensil) to stir the ingredients together for the sauce.
- Add dried penne pasta
- Use the empty passata bottle and refill it with water, pour that water over the pasta until is is completely covered (I used 700 mls x 2 pours) Note 6
- Set your instant pot to 5 mins pressure cook and seal with the lid Note 7
- Let the pasta cook in the instant pot for the 5 mins then when it starts beeping to say it is finished, use tongs to release the pressure. Make sure the pressure is fully released (the value will drop down again). Then you can take the lid off
- Stir, stir, stir!
- Serve with kalamata olives, capers, parsley, cracked pepper and parmesan cheese (optional). Note 8
Notes
- Note 1 Penne is the short tubular pasta shown in the photos here, it is commonly found in the pasta aisle of the store.
- Note 2 This is usually in a tall jar labelled 'passata sauce'. It is thick, rich and perfect in pasta dishes. We use the whole bottle and then use that bottle to measure our water.
- Note 3 Sun-dried tomatoes when sold in a jar come with a delicious richly seasoned olive oil liquid. Instead of using additional oil for this recipe, we are doing to use the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes. If you buy fresh sun-dried tomatoes (often from the deli) then use ¼ cup olive oil.
- Note 4 You will be able to purchase the kalamata olives without pits (pitted). They are in the salad dressing type area of the grocery store.
- Note 5 The capers will come in a vinegary brine. We drain and discard that.
- Note 6 This is an important step as you need the liquids to cover the pasta, if it is a bit more that 1 .4 litres (6 cups) in your pot that is fine.
- Note 7 Yup, it is only 5 mins cook time woot woot and life changing. Your pot will take about 10 mins to get to the right pressure 1st.
- Note 8 This is a cheesy, delicious dish, I find that parmesan cheese is not entirely necessary, but you only live once and this is pasta so add if you please!
Ellen says
Pasta is such comfort food. Plus it's so delicious when made in the instant pot. Great recipe!
Adrianne says
I'm with you on those points Ellen!! Cheers for your input.
Ashley says
Oh yum!!! I had all these ingredients, and it was such a comforting (quick, too!) meal last night!
Adrianne says
Awesome, thanks Ashley!! Yes, nothing too difficult about this one. Cheers