In under 10 minutes, this Chicken Pesto Pasta can be ready to serve using the Instant Pot! Only 7 ingredients needed, this is one simple meal to make!
As you can tell simply from scrolling through my blog, I LOVE my Instant Pot! Sure, I was skeptical when the hype first started, but after one use….I am pro Instant Pot all the way! I have made so many different main dishes, side dishes, desserts, and more in a fraction of the time! Plus, I truly believe the Instant Pot enhances the flavor of dishes due to how its cooked! Life changing, I promise!
A few weeks back, I was having one of those days where I was scatter brained. You know the kind where you think you did something you didn’t, you put something in one place only to realize its somewhere else, or heck, the bag of chips ends up in the fridge instead of pantry. Hopefully I am not the only one that has those type of days, haha!
Well, I thought I had taken beef out to thaw for burgers. Come mid afternoon, I realized that wasn’t the case, I had merely moved the beef from my outside freezer to my inside freezer, lol! When I realized this, I immediately racked by brain for alternative dinner ideas since I didn’t want to mess around with trying to thaw the beef quickly. I found some chicken I had bought the previous day and luckily, I had put it in my refrigerator to stay chilled until I used it a few days later. After rummaging through my pantry, I also found some jarred Pesto. Using the two, I changed the meal plan from hamburgers on the grill, to chicken pesto pasta!
I had this meal ready to serve in under 10 minutes! Impressive, right?! That allowed me plenty of time to help the kids with homework, pack lunches for the next day, and put my pj’s on earlier, enjoying a glass of wine!
I’m telling you, the Instant Pot is a game changer! Gone are the days of stressing over dinner! Check out more of my Instant Pot recipes here, https://thecookinchicks.com/category/instant-pot/
If you love Pesto, chicken, and pasta…..or just a simple, tasty meal….you’ll love this!
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Instant Pot: https://amzn.to/2WezTGZ
Instant Pot Chicken Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 lb chicken breasts, boneless/skinless, diced
- 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 lb rotini pasta
- 1 cup Pesto (I used jarred, but you can use homemade if preferred)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- Parmesan cheese, shredded or grated
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to saute. Add butter.
- Season meat with Italian seasoning and add to the pot.
- Saute until sides start to turn golden brown.
- Add in the uncooked pasta and chicken broth.
- Place cover on Instant Pot and ensure valve is in sealing position.
- Turn off saute feature and set to manual, high pressure, 4 minutes.
- Once done, do a quick release.
- Remove lid and add in the Pesto and tomatoes.
- Stir to full incorporate and serve with Parmesan cheese on top!
Amanda
I’m always nervous with new instant pot recipes that aren’t tried and true, because it feels like I’m rolling the dice with dinner! But this came out perfectly so it’s officially going into my rotation. The consistency is just right. I even used some strange pasta I had on hand- raddiatore which has about the same cook time as rotini. After adding the tomatoes and pesto I put the lid back on for a few minutes so that the tomatoes would cook with the residual heat. So good.
Kristin
Yea! So glad to hear you enjoyed this! I’m always afraid of testing new recipes out too, the epic fails are typically quite terrible in my kitchen haha!
Melissa
I am new to the instant pot. I tried this tonight and when the lid came off there was still tons of liquid in the pot. I had to remove the noodles and chicken to a bowl to stir in the pesto. Any suggestions of what I might have done wrong? Thank you!
Kristin
Hmmmm, I’m not sure as the pasta should’ve absorbed most of the liquid as it cooked. Was the pasta tender? Are you at a high altitude? If the pasta was tender and you aren’t at a high altitude, try reducing broth by about 1/2 cup and see if that helps! It may also take a few minutes on sauté at the end to absorb the remaining liquid.
Jen
I think using sun dried tomatoes in this instead of the cherry tomatoes would be good.
Kristin
Oh yes, that would be great too!