Tasty Tuesday~Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta

Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta

 Recipe by 365 Days of slow cooking

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Prep Time: 10 minutes

•   Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus time to build pressure and a 5 minutes NPR)
•   Yield: 5 servings
•   Category: Pasta
•   Method: Instant Pot

Description

Curly pasta is enveloped in a creamy parmesan, basil and cream cheese sauce with bites of sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and tender chunks of chicken. 

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Ingredients

• 1 lb boneless, uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
• 8 oz cavatappi noodles (you can also use cellentani noodles or elbow macaroni)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 (8 oz) jar sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed, drained and chopped 
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 2 Tbsp fresh chopped basil (or 2 Tbsp of basil in the squeeze tube or 1 tsp dried basil)
• 2-3 cup baby spinach

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Instructions

1. Add the chicken, noodles, broth and butter to the Instant Pot. Try to cover the noodles as much as possible with the liquid. Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to “sealing.” Set the manual pressure cook button to 3 minutes.
2. When the timer beeps let the pot sit for 5 more minutes (the display will start counting up). Move the valve to “venting.” If foam starts coming out move it back to sealing and wait a few minutes to try again. Once all the pressure is release, remove the lid.
3. Turn the pot to the saute function. Stir in the garlic powder, cream cheese and milk. There will seem to be a lot of liquid in the pot but don’t worry. Once the cream cheese is melted add in the Parmesan and stir until melted. Add in the sun dried tomatoes, salt, pepper, basil and finally the spinach. Stir until the spinach is cooked down.
4. Scoop the pasta onto plates and serve.

Notes

This recipe can easily be doubled. The only thing that might be a problem is the pasta releasing foam into the valve when you try to do a quick release. Just let the pressure release naturally for a while until steam comes out clear without foam.
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
The noodles: I used curly cavatappi noodles that I bought at Kroger. I love their shape! You can also use cellentani noodles or elbow macaroni noodles.
The chicken: I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts that were uncooked. Before adding them to the Instant Pot I cut them into bite size cubes. I prefer to cut the chicken into cubes when the chicken is partially frozen. You can also use cooked and cubed chicken in this recipe if you already have it on hand. You could even use rotisserie chicken.
Sun dried tomatoes: I had a hard time finding sun dried tomatoes at the grocery store. But they are a MUST in this recipe. Sun-dried tomatoes have an intense sweet-tart flavor that’s much more potent than fresh tomatoes.
Parmesan: I used pre-grated parmesan that I bought at Costco in a big bag. You can grate your own parmesan or also use the stuff in the green can (although I don’t think that would taste as good).
Basil: I used 2 tablespoons of the basil in the refrigerated squeeze tube. You can use 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped basil or if all else fails you can add in 1 teaspoon of dried basil.
Spinach: I used fresh baby spinach and just stirred it in at the end. You could also use frozen spinach that has been thawed and squeezed of excess moisture.