Instant Pot Chicken Pot Pie Pasta is another delicious pasta meal that you can make entirely using your Instant Pot. This one-pot dish has all the amazing chicken pot pie flavors, without all the hard work. The pasta replaces the pie crust and it’s coated in the most amazing, creamy sauce.
The chicken is tender and juicy, while the veggies are crunchy and chewy. This dish is so easy to make in the Instant Pot, way easier than the skillet version and I am not even talking about the baked pie version.
Ever have those times when you need to get something ready for dinner, but you have limited time – ya know… perhaps you got home from work late, your kids are screaming for dinner, there was an after school practice or event and the kids are home later than usual – and to boot, you forgot to take something out of the freezer that morning.
Never happens to you, right?
You’re staring at a package of frozen solid chicken breast & rock hard whole sweet potatoes.
A pizza delivery could get on the table faster than that, right? There goes the healthy, money saving weeknight dinner goal. Ugh…
Guess what? Think again!
With your Pressure Cooker, you CAN get that healthy meal to the table! And, you can get it there dirtying only one pot, without thawing anything, without turning on the oven, and you can do it in about 35 minutes TOTAL – including prep, cook time and pressure release time!
** have thawed Chicken breasts?Good for you for remembering to thaw them out… you can still make this! Cut sweet potatoes in half and cut cook time down to 10 minutes.
One Pot (Frozen) Chicken & Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
about 1.5 lbs frozen, boneless chicken breast (about 3 large)
Pour 1 cup cooking liquid, water or broth, in bottom of pressure cooker insert. Place short trivet over cooking liquid.
Remove frozen chicken breast from packaging and place on trivet. Drizzle with 1-2 T olive oil and seasoning liberally with seasonings of your choice.
I used salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, crushed red pepper and dried thyme, & plenty of it, on BOTH sides of my frozen chicken breast – season well!
Clean sweet potatoes well. Do not puncture skin.
Rub skin with 1-2 T olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place around pressure cooker insert, directly over chicken.
Close lid to pressure cooker & close vent knob. Select High Pressure cook setting and adjust cook time to 15 minutes. It will take about 10 minutes for your pressure cooker to come to pressure then cook time countdown will begin.
For Instant Pot, close lid, turn vent knob to Sealing, Press “Manual” button and use “+/-“ buttons to adjust cook time to 15 minutes. Display will show as “On” until pot comes to pressure, then cook time countdown will begin.
Using thawed Chicken breast? Cut cook time down to 10 minutes and cut sweet potatoes in half for even cooking.
When cook time is complete, allow natural pressure release for 5-10 minutes then quickly release remaining pressure (QPR).
Open lid of pressure cooker and feast your eyes on your just-in-time, healthy, FAST, from FROZEN Chicken and Sweet Potatoes!
Carefully remove sweet potatoes and chicken with tongs.
Do you SEE that browning on the chicken?! I did NOT sear them beforehand – that is all from the magic of the pressure cooker! And, the generous amount of seasoning!
Serve immediately, perhaps alongside an easy salad or quickly steamed veggies.
If desired, top sweet potato with butter & a sprinkle of cinnamon – I like mine plain!
I previously posted making a Whole Chicken in my Pressure Cooker using a Bundt Pan – I am TELLING YOU, the bundt pan is SO clutch. Is it NECESSARY? No. But it is GENIUS? Yes.
This One Pot Chicken and Potatoes is the same concept as my previous recipe for Whole Pressure Cooker Bundt Pan Chicken – but this time, I added potatoes to make a complete One Pot Meal and it worked PERFECTLY!
There are 2 secrets to my Whole Pressure Cooker Chicken:
1. A Bundt Pan
2. Compound Butter
The Bundt Pan allows the chicken to keep its shape, and it also allows you to capture the juices rather than them running into your cooking liquid at the bottom of your pressure cooker. Capturing the juices makes for a KILLER gravy.
The Compound Butter allows the chicken to stay incredibly moist and gives it so much flavor – compound butters are full of seasonings of your choice. You can really add anything you want to softened butter, mix it up, and call it compound – compound will flavor!
Prepare potatoes – clean and cut in half lengthwise.
Prepare chicken, and dry the skin as best as you can with paper towels. Place chicken in bundt pan, placing hole of chicken around foiled center of bundt pan.
Rub 2-3 T Lemon Pepper compound butter all over chicken and let some fall inside chicken, and under the skin… everywhere you can get it.
Sprinkle on a little salt and pepper (I use about 1/4 t of each)
Pour 1 1/2 cups water in bottom of pressure cooker insert, then place trivet over water. Place bundt pan with chicken in pressure cooker on top of trivet.
Spread remaining Lemon Pepper compound butter on cut potatoes. Scatter them around chicken in your pressure cooker pot.
From lemon you zested and juiced for butter, squeeze remaining juice over chicken and potatoes and stuff the chicken with the lemon peels.
Close lid of pressure cooker, close vent knob and choose High Pressure cooking option. Adjust cook time to 6 minutes per pound of chicken – I used a 4.5 lb chicken, so I set my cook time to 26 minutes.
For Instant pot, close lid and turn vent knob to “Sealing”, press Manual button, then use “+/-“ buttons to adjust cook time to 26 minutes.
When cook time is complete, allow pressure cooker to naturally release pressure (NPR) for 15 minutes – quickly release any remaining pressure (QPR).
For Instant Pot, to QPR, turn vent knob to “Venting” position.
Open lid of pressure cooker.
Prepare a baking sheet with foil.
Use tongs to carefully remove potatoes, and place on foil skin side up.
Carefully remove chicken and place it on baking sheet breast side up.
Place chicken and potatoes in oven under broiler for 5-10 minutes to crisp skin of chicken and potatoes. Look at the beauty – Yum!
Carve that juicy, scrumptious chicken.
Serve with potatoes – they will have the wonderful lemon pepper flavor and will be cooking to tender perfections.
Add some quick steamed green veggies or a salad on the side, if desired.
DO NOT FORGET about the amazing juice you captured in your bundt pan!
Carefully remove bundt pan from pressure cooker insert – this juice is MAGICAL.
Use as a simple drizzle over chicken and potatoes, thicken with slurry of 1-2 T cornstarch plus 1-2 T water over medium heat in sauce pan if desired, or just reserve the liquid for cooking soup, rice, etc!
When chilled, just look at this cooking juice — it turns into an amazing, gelatinous broth.
I love pesto! Pesto has so much flavor, and it is great with pasta. It makes for a super simple dish that is full of flavor. I think its especially great with chicken! Even better, you can find a ton of pre-made pesto at your local grocery store – so no worries about making your own! If you want to, more power to ya!
I love the idea of a One Pot Pressure Cooker meal – I love even MORE the idea of a meal that only takes *5 ingredients to delicious! *5 ingredients – not counting the water, salt and pepper – 5: pesto, chicken, pasta, butter/oil, spinach
This meal is fast! It only takes 4-5 minutes of hands on work, and cooks in under 20 minutes total from start to serving!
Another WIN about this meal is that my (super picky) 7 year old daughter ate it and complimented it – I honestly didn’t think she’d eat it (simply because its got green in it!), but I was pleasantly surprised this One Pot Pesto Chicken Pasta was kid-approved!
The hubby was happy with this meal, I was thrilled & the kid ate it.
Total wife & mom win!
One Pot Pesto Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
2 T olive oil
1 1/2 pounds chicken, cubed into 1 inch pieces
salt and pepper to taste (about 1/2 tsp each) to season chicken
1 box (1 pound) pasta, choose a substantial noodle like rigatoni or cavatappi
Turn on Pressure Cooker to Sauté or Browning setting, then add 2 T olive oil. Add chicken and season with salt and pepper to taste (about 1/4-1/2 t each).
Sear chicken for 2-3 minutes. Do not cook through.
Add pasta, water, 1/2 t salt, plus 1 T butter cut in small pieces.
Stir lightly. Close lid, and close vent knob – on Instant pot, turn vent knob to “Sealing”.
Set cook time to 4 minutes on High Pressure – for Instant Pot, press Manual and adjust cook time with “+/-“ buttons to 4 minutes.
Pot will take 5-10 minutes to come to pressure, then cook time countdown will begin.
When cook time is complete, quickly release pressure (QPR) and remove lid.
You may have some water left in the pot – that is okay! It will help make your sauce.
Press cancel or off on your pressure cooker. Turn on sauté or browning function.
Add pesto and stir.
Then add spinach and stir. Spinach will take no time at all to wilt!
After pesto blends well and spinach is wilted, turn cooker OFF.
Serve, and garnish with parmesan cheese, cracked pepper and/or crushed red pepper, if desired.
My husband grew faith in my Chinese abilities, and I set out to make Honey Sesame Chicken.
Traditional Honey Sesame Chicken recipes call for frying the chicken before saucing – no thanks, and no frying in my Instant Pot.I am not a huge fan of fried food – #1, its a pain in the arse to cook at home – I hate that lingering “just fried” smell. #2, who needs all that fat?
Other recipes, including those I found specifically for pressure cookers, call for TONS of brown sugar and honey – they just seemed to be an amount I would want in dessert, not for dinner.
I set out to make my own Honey Sesame Chicken, and I have to say… Bravo. ?
This Honey Sesame Chicken is not only easy, but it is delicious. It’s the perfect amount of savory Umami-ness and the perfect amount of honey-sweet.
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds chicken, 1-2 inch cubes, can use breast or thighs
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey, plus 1 T
1/2 cup chicken broth (can sub water, but add extra 1 t soy sauce)
1 t fish sauce
1 T sesame oil
2 t rice vinegar
2 t. ginger (I use jarred)
1 t. garlic, minced (1 clove)
2 t. Sesame Tahini, or sub peanut butter (yep, I use peanut butter and its delish – I don’t always have tahini on hand, but I do always have peanut butter)
1 T sesame seeds
1 T brown sugar
pinch salt and pepper
1-3 t Sambal Oelek chili paste, optional for spice
2 T cornstarch
1 T water
1-2 T toasted sesame seeds, garnish
Sambal Oelek chili paste, optional garnish for spice
In mixing bowl or Instant Pot insert, mix soy sauce, honey, chicken broth, fish sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, ginger, garlic, peanut butter, sesame seeds, brown sugar, salt, pepper and Sambal Oelek. Whisk until well combined. Add cubed chicken. Marinate according to how much time you have… anywhere from 15 minutes – 12 hours.
I do this the morning I plan to make Honey Sesame Chicken. I throw it all into my Instant Pot insert, cover with saran wrap and store in my fridge. When its time to cook, the insert goes right into my IP!
Place insert in Instant Pot, and add marinated chicken (if not already in your insert like mine was). Close lid, turn Vent knob to “Sealing”.
Press Manual button and adjust cook time using “+/-“ buttons to 8 minutes.
Instant Pot (IP) display will show as “On” until IP comes to pressure. Then, cook time countdown will display and begin.
While Honey Sesame Chicken cooks in your Instant Pot, toast your Sesame Seeds for your garnish. Toast sesame seeds in dry pan for 3-5 minutes on medium heat, moving seeds in pan often. Toast oil they just turn golden and fragrant. Set aside until ready to serve.
When cook time is complete, IP will beep and automatically change to “Keep Warm” setting. Allow NPR for 5 minutes.
While NPR is taking place, mix a slurry of corn starch and water in small bowl – this will act as a thickener for your Honey Sesame sauce.
After NPR, release remaining pressure by turning Vent knob to “Venting” (QPR).
Open lid.
Press “Saute” button on IP (browning button on other pressure cookers).
Add slurry while stirring. Allow sauce to thicken for 3-5 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds or so.
Turn IP Off by pressing “Keep Warm/Off” button.
Add about 1 T of honey, stir.
Why the extra honey here? I think it gives a fresh, fragrant honey taste perfect for right before you serve.
Serve and top with toasted sesame seeds & Sambal Oelek (if desired for spice)
