How to Build Your Own Pasta Dishes || Instant Pot Shortcuts
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- Опубліковано 26 січ 2025
- Here are the basic measurements I use when building my own pasta dishes in my Instant Pot (Instant Pot-sta!)
1lb of cooked meat of choice (if your meat is raw you can brown it on the "saute" setting in the Instant Pot before adding the rest of the ingredients)
32oz of sauce/soup of your choice
1lb of dry pasta
about a teaspoon of salt
3 cups of water
Stir ingredients and lock lid. Set release valve to "sealing". Cook on "Manual" setting at high pressure for 5 minutes. Quick release all the pressure as soon as the cook time is finished. Stir pasta and serve immediately.
I used my 6qt Instant Pot (IP-DUO60 7-in-1) in this video. You can find it on Amazon here: amzn.to/2ii6tIK (affiliate - thanks!)
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I love the way you pack so much info into a short time. One other very nice lady takes about 30 minutes to say what you say in two.
Elaine Root very diplomatic!
Plus all of the extra tips. With clear simple instructions. Plus she has the recipe info in the description box below. So helpful.
Indigo Nili rules!!!!!
You inspired me I just made dinner it’s sooo soo good. I thawed 4 hamburger patties in the microwave sautéed onions and garlic in my
Instant pot in some avocado oil /and a little olive oil Added about 1/4 cup of beef broth to help clean the bottom of the pot then added 2 1/2 cups of water, 32 ounces of traditional Prego, added penne pasta , a little salt a little Italian seasoning , cooked for 5 minutes , quick released and stirred it up it was perfectly cooked a little al-dente and then added some cheddar cheese stirred it in.. I’m on my second bowl lol
Thank you!
the pastabilities are endless
I came on looking for Instant Pot and someone using Tri colored Rotini pasta...and there you ARE....it's just the best ever Nili...you're the answer to EVERYTHIING ~ thank you sooo much for all you do...you do SOOO much...it's awesome. I'll make this later today for sure... Hugs !
Your limiting yourself - just use "pressure cooker ______________" because that's all that the Insta Pot is. You can find much more info out there :)
I just want to thank you for sharing this. I've done this countless times after watching your video and it has been a game changer!
Thank you thank you. I make instant pot pasta all the time now, this is a really helpful video!!! Recipes online and other videos don’t lay it out as simply.
I'll so glad to help!
I love making pasta in my instant pot, turns out great. I like to add a cup of mixed veggies in it and I add about a half of teaspoon of Italian seasonings and garlic powder in it too. 🤗
Half the boil time for pasta is all the time u need to cook it in an IP, incl for whole grain pasta
Use ur sauce jar for a measure for ur extra water for pasta added (so I use 29-32oz crushed tomatoes w/added spices n the grease from my meat instead of spaghetti sauce, so 29-32oz is what goes in my pot)
Adding extra salt for the pasta water is a good tip!
Also WHOLE GRAIN PASTA (we don’t buy refined, white pasta, only whole grain or lentil/chickpea pasta (sometimes rice for a wheatfree kid, which ISNT wholegrain):
**Only use 1/2-2/3 the pasta called for if u use whole grain**. It’s just too much pasta in there otherwise. It drinks up all the sauce!
For anyone interested, making ur own spaghetti sauce is simple, 30oz can crushed tomatoes, 15oz can diced tomatoes, herbs n spices u like, plus brown ur meat w/onion, garlic & green pepper in the pot first and don’t drain grease. No EVO needed now. I usually add raw sliced mushrooms in with the sauce ingredients. U don’t need sugar either. I’ve heard a carrot, shredded will take acidity away but we like it just fine w/o it so I rarely do it.
Go price a jar of sauce compared to crushed tomatoes! The jars are only 2.5 cups now too!
4:26 is my favorite time of day, and that is when your were making this video according to the clock on your range.
I keep coming back to this video to make pasta dishes in my electric pressure cooker. Your method is fantastic, and I have now become a subscriber to your channel. Thank you Nili :)
Thank you so much, as a new owner of an IP it's been difficult finding measurements. Could have saved myself hours if I found this video first.
Your eyes are amazingly hypnotic and thks for the info on the pasta dishes. Look forward to trying some of your ideas.
I looked at several instant pot pasta videos and I'm choosing to make yours. Nice job, thank you!
As a single person, I bought the 3 qt Instant Pot. Having found your wonderful channel, I ordered the 6 at, arriving today, along with colder weather. Soup or pasta will be on tonight. Thank you, and God bless your family.
Why did you decide to try the 6 qt? Curious. I love the 3 qt
My husband bought me a instant pot for Xmas can't wait to try this out
Thanks a bunch, just the info I was looking for! I almost passed it by because I am whole food plant based and didn't want the meat, but in this case, not a problem to just omit it!
+Char Covelesky Yes! This is a totally customizable technique!
Char Covelesky....that's just what we did..and now it's a staple & we add diff't veggies, etc... this was just the best intro to pasta making in the Instant Pot for us...it has gone a longggg way to bringing lots of enjoyment to those we love! :)
Hey, Nili! That was me who shared this video on Instagram! I do the store's Instagram account and we just started selling the Instant Pot so of course I thought of you. ( I've been a fan of your channel for a while! :)) Your videos are perfect for the beginner and your healthy cooking is just what our customers love. In a word, you're awesome!!
I just purchased my instant pot. I love your videos! I started with your video on unboxing my instant pot and have watched many others since then. Your videos are easy to follow and inspiring. Thank you!
That's great! Thanks for watching! Glad I could help get you going! ☺️❤️
I love your videos. I’m new to the instant pot and you are so helpful.
+judy kay Slowey-Sly I'm so glad too help! 🙂
After yesterday’s ‘water test’, today I cooked cauliflower and cabbage, glass bowl, 1 cup of water, three minutes. You should have seen the fear in my husband’s eyes when I vented.🤣
+Linda Friend Lol! Glad everyone made it out alive!
The “pasta”bilities are endless. 😂
I'm going to try to cook just pasta first then I'm going to put everything together wish me luck thanks for sharing your videos I learned a lot
That saved me so much time, specially with 3 little ones at home. Thank you!
This was great. I just needed an extra 2 minutes for the rigatoni I love.
Thank you!
Thank you for showing how to cook so many things in the instant pot!!
You're welcome! ☺️
Made it tonight for dinner! Hubby loved it!
I can say that this video made dinner delicious thank you Indigo and thanks for taking the time to make this video!!!
Wow that was super easy and fast, and i can understand specially when you have hungry children like you do. Thank you for the recipe ☺
Hello, I just wanted to thank you for your videos. I have been learning to cook for years and I can never get the hang of it. I recently purchased an instapot and out of all the videos on the subject I think yours have been best. Thank you!!!
I'm so glad I could help! :)
Thank you for this video. I'm trying several foods I'm my mini I P, that is new. I haven't been able to get the proportions for plain pasta (to add to a salad). It always get with lots of water, or too much dente... I'll try your suggestions. Great to have found you, I've watched some of your videos, and are great. Concise and very useful 🙏🙏🙏
Aha! 5 min + QR sounds much more reasonable for pasta than 10 min I just saw on another channel. Thank you! :-)
Thank you for posting this and many other recipes. I've had my instapot for over a year and intimidated to use. This will help me out a lot. Thanks again. 😊
Don't be intimidated! So worth it
Thank you! I have been so nervous trying pasta. This was brief and informative. I am gonna try this.
Hey Indigo Nili...thanks for the post. I've watched several of your videos (just got my Instant Pot three months ago and I love it) and you have been very helpful....Keep the good work flowing!
Great video, great tips! Thank you.
thank you so much for putting these how to videos up. this is a complicated machine and since i got mine before Christmas of 2018, i have yet to even plug the thing in to figure out how its supposed to work. Thanks to you, I now have a reference guide to look at while messing with this piece of equipment.
I'm so glad to help!
Bought an IP recently, but am a bit overwhelmed and haven’t used it yet. I think could do this👍
Linda Friend don’t feel bad. I bought my instapot on Black Friday 2015. I haven’t cooked anything in it. I was really afraid of it which is weird because I used a stovetop pressure cooker in my younger days!! I am just discovering the UA-cam videos. This channel really does explain everything so well. I am going to introduce myself to my instapot. Wish me luck.
Corinne Brown I did the water test thing yesterday. It’s official, I can cook water in the Instant Pot!
I did the same...didnt use the Instant Pot, watched YT videos, got inspired, still inspired and now have two Instant Pots!
Another super helpful Instant Pot video! Thanks and please keep them coming. I love mine so much, but I'm still new with it and appreciate what you are teaching us.
You have one more subscriber .. Thank you for your recipes.🙂👍
Hi NilI: Made this tonight for dinner and it was great. My husband loved it said it was one of the best meals I have made. It's great and will be keeping recipe. Thank you!
Finally, an Instant Pot pasta recipe that gives me perfect al dente pasta!!! TY Nili, video liked, channel subscribed to. 🙂
Love this ❤️. Penne Pasta works well too! Instant Pot rocks!
Is the cook time still the same with Penne (5min)?
Do you use 3 cups water for plain pasta in a 3 quart mini ip?
Thanks. I just bought my instant pot and am looking for "the basics" to start out with. I think this sets me up for the pasta end of things. Pretty blue eyes too...
Great video. Very informative. Thanks for sharing.
solid insight. Thanks for putting it out there.
Awesome video and very informative. Thank you for the effort, much appreciated!
*I love the instant pot so much! I have made quinoa, chicken, chili, asparagus **MyBest.Kitchen** and yogurt in it so far. The only thing that didn't work great was the asparagus. I cooked it for 1 minute and it was still overdone. It is a timesaver and uses much less energy than my gas stove.*
Just what I was looking for, thanks Nili ;)
This is amazing! You're the best! Can't wait to get home and try this tonight!
A lot of crock pot type meals say to add olive oil to rice, beans etc. and just wondering if you have to do the same with pasta.
Thank you this was so helpful and I like the different ideas you throw out
Hi! 😊 Now that you have an 8 quart I’m interested in hearing if your pasta cook time switches to 4 minutes. I’ve found that 5 min in a 6 qt works best and 4 min in 8 qt works best. Maybe it’s elevation - don’t know. Egg cook times are much less as well. I do 24 eggs in 8 qt for 3 minutes for “hard boil”. Love your channel! Thanks for all the tips!
I haven't done pasta in my 8qt yet but I did notice a cook time change with eggs! I tried to do my soft boiled eggs fro 3 minutes like I did in my 6qt and they came out almost hard! I now do 2 minutes and they're great.
@@IndigoNili Any change in time for the 3 quart?
I cook in an 8-qt and have not changed times on any of the pasta recipes I've made
Straight to the point, and easy to follow!new subscriber! Thank you xxx
So three cups of water per one pound of pasta right? So what I'm I'm only doing eight ounces of pasta? Do I cut the water in half? I don't know because that doesn't seem like it'll be enough water.
Yes, halve the water and sauce for 8oz of pasta
@@IndigoNili Thanks for the speedy response. I just bought an IP and my first attempt at dried beans with rice was a complete flop. I'm hoping I'll have better luck with pasta which is one of my favorite foods. I plan on using one pound of ground beef along with your suggestion. I'll assume five minutes cooking time is still needed even though I'm splitting my serving by half?
Yes, same 5 minute cook time!
OOPS!!! I should have read the comments before making mine. I see that you did cook the meat first. Love, love, love your videos. I have been binge watching them.
I love making pasta in my IP. Tonight I'm adapting a recipe from a book. I'm going to cook the pasta plain, strain it and then cook it with all the cheeses asked sauce ingredients on Saute. I'll cook the pasta 1 min less originally so it doesn't overcook on saute.
Maybe a silly question, but did you cook the meat before adding it to the pot?
Yes, meat is cooked first
Nili! I can't get my new IP Duo to cook pasta for the life of me. I have tried a few times and I keep getting the Food Burn error/the IP won't pressurise. I'm following the recipe approximately (as I'm Australian), using 500g of beef, 1kg of sauce, and 3 - 4 cups of water. What am I doing wrong?
Alfredo is something you tried? I thought you couldn't do a cream sauce, under pressure?
I just made it with Spam....so yumiiiiii! Thanks for this video! ❤️
THe meat can be cooked in the instant pot on saute then add the other stuff to it. It says it is the one pot for the whole meal
Awesome tip Ms. White. If you’re short on time, want to avoid extra dishes, or just want convenience, you can definitely cook the meat first and then cook the pasta over it. Meat is much more robust than pasta, so it should hold up through the second “cook”.
Thanks for instructions on making pasta in instant pot!
I'm a new Instant Pot user and I love your recipes but I've been reading that higher altitudes affect cooking time in the Instant Pot just like normal cooking. I'm at 4200'. What altitude are you so I know how much to adjust (if any). Thanks for your time ; )
Try adding +10% according to Pressure Cooker google search I did. it would be 30 seconds acc to math. Try 6 min for rounding up.
so do not let it do natural release of pressure? release pressure right away?
Yes, releases it right away or the pasta will overcook
how many people does your rceipe feed? going on a camping trip with 8 people. would that be enough for this group or should i double everything?
A general rule is 1lb of pasta will feed 4 people. So, yes, double everything 🙂
Tried this with a small pasta and came out great. Would this work for spaghetti? Thanks for great tip!
Do you make any vermicelli in the instant pot and how long please thank you for this recipe
Another video says cook the pasta for half the time printed on the pkg. If for 10 min then cook it for 5 min. I made vermicelli and threw everything in it, fresh garlic, chopped onions, marinera sauce, some garlic powder, italian seasoning, mushrooms and bay leaf. My mistake was not really knowing how much spaghetti to put in it. I eyeballed it. Came out tasting great but too much spaghetti for that amt of sauce.
question: can you use frozen cooked meat on the bottom and the rest of the ingredients on top? Have you tried it? It'd probably change the cooking time, right?
This is extremely helpful. Thanks for posting.
Thanks Nili, just did it perfect.
I noticed other videos suggest browning meat on sauté mode before adding everything else. This video didn’t. I prefer not to as I truly want something fast. Does anyone know if it really makes a difference?
Pound of ground meat for pasta sold as is?
Have you tried this with using boiling water to start with ? I have one of those electric water kettles that boils it in a minute. Pasta might come out better?
I have an instant Pot Duo Mini! I DOESNT have a manual button! I cant figure out how to use most recipes I find - any suggestions?
The "Pressure Cook" button is the same as Manual. 🙂
@@IndigoNili Wow wish they say that in the manual! Thanks I appreciate that - now maybe I wont be afraid to use it - Love your Utubes - they are very helpful!
Was the meat used already or slightly cooked before tossed into the Instant Pot?
The meat was already cooked. If you're starting with raw meat you can brown it up in the pot using the saute setting before adding the rest of the ingredients
All the extra water doesn't dilute the taste of the sauce?
No, the pasta absorbs all the water
Ah. Thank you 😊@@IndigoNili
If I wanted to halve this should I halve all ingredients including the water? Want to try this in my new mini. Is the pasta al dente? I like my pasta more tender than that. Add more time?
Somewhere in a comment above, Indigo Nili says for halving, half everything including the water. In a Mini IP, you might have to add a minute to the time. Indigo Nili says that in an 8-quart IP [see Lori Hathaway - 7 comments up], she has to change the time to 4 minute, so I am assuming that in a smaller pot, one has to add a minute more to the pressure cook (manual) time.
I need to make plain pasta. How do I keep it from sticking to the bottom? Thanks!
I add just a little olive oil before cooking. Also, it will stick if you don't include enough water.
With plain pasta, I would rather drain off a little water after cooking than to not have enough.
For pasta dish with other sauces, spices, etc, I am more precise about water amount as I don't want to drain off any flavor.
I make my own spaghetti sauce - HUGE pot and freeze it in pint size plastic ware. I wonder if I put a container of the sauce frozen into the Instant Pot, water and pasta how that would turn out. Would you recommend that and maybe do 7 minutes or so because it’s frozen or should you thaw the sauce out first ? I’m looking to save time and dishes ! Thanks in advance for any advice.
Also curious why you cooked your ground sausage in a pan instead of the sear feature in the Instant pot to save dishes. You can see I’m not a fan of doing dishes. Laugh Out Loud !
Does 5 minutes make the pasta al dente? Should I reduce the time if it’s not?
It depends on the thickness of the pasta. I used pasta that was thin at one end and wider at the top. The wide part was perfect al dente. You may have to reduce the time by a minute. Then you have the option of cooking it for 0 or 1 minute if it is still hard. I would try 0 minutes if it just needs a little more cooking and 1 minute if it is noticeably hard.
Hey how do you cook rice so it doesn't come out mushy? I did even cups of rice per water on high pressure for 6-8 mins. Even with Basmati it comes out mushy idk why. Any ideas or tips?
I do a 1 to 1 ratio of rice to water and cook for 4 minutes on high pressure with a 5-10 minute natural pressure release.
Does someone know how many cups of water when using the 8qt pot with spaghetti, Last week I cook the pasta on your video, gave me the burn notice but was still good (family like it)!! Today I try it with spaghetti, burn notice and the spaghetti was stuck in the bottom and not cook all the way. So I deglaze the pot and try it again, burn notice show again. Has any one here successfully cook spaghetti in the 8 qt pot?
I am a single guy with the small instant pot... Can I half this...? ! 1/2 water with half the sauce and of cource 1/2 the pasta...? Still cook for 5 minutes...?
+ZiggZagg11 Yup!
I would imagine it would cook in less time with it being halved?
@@TT-de7wb No, the time stays the same. That would be like boiling your noodles on the stove for less time because you have less noodles? That wouldn't work either, because your noodles (regardless of the amount) still need to cook through. The same thing applies here.
Just made this with veggie burger and corn. Wish I'd known about this long ago. Yum and so easy. Actually, the Instant Pot probably wasn't invented yet.
Do you precook meat. Like hamburger would be too greasy if not cooked.
Yes 👍🏼
I have a question for you.
I like my pasta tender would you suggest six minutes?
I don’t like it al dente
Yes, 6 minutes would probably work great!
I have an 8 qt IP Duo and would like to make a larger batch of spaghetti than you show here. Would it be possible to double the ingredients in the 8 qt and what would the cooking time be? If not able to double how much more do you think I could use? Also, are regular spaghetti noodles ok to use or do they get to soft because of being thin? I just started using my Instant Pot and I’m trying to get more experience and success under my belt. I find your videos some of the easiest to follow and i like you tips you give along the way. Thanks.
+Bill Paul I haven't tried a double batch but I see no reason why it wouldn't work as long as all the ingredients were doubled including the water. As far as spaghetti noodles... As long as they aren't angel hair spaghetti I think cook time would be the same as in this video (I haven't tried though so this is just a guess!) Just make sure that the noodles are separated when you put them in and not in a big clump. I would probably break them in half to make that easier.
If you do try it please let me know how it turns out!
How can i save or copy the printed recipe for future use??
That looks yummy! Thank you for the simple explanation. Whenever I cook pasta in my IP I have issues with water spewing everywhere when I QR. It only happens with pasta, so it's not a stuck valve or anything like that. Do you know why that could be happening?
+peggyil That's strange! Are you cooking more than a pound of pasta at a time? Or using more that 3 cups of water? That's all I can think of that could cause the problem!
Hmmm, the last recipe I did was instant pot macaroni and cheese. The recipe calls for 16 oz. of pasta and 4 cups of water. So could it be too much water? It all absorbs after the pressure is released, and I add the other ingredients.
peggyil try releasing in short burst until pressure is almost gone. It works for me 😊
I put a dish towel over the vent to prevent water from spraying all over.
Peggy, the package for pasta usually says more water than you need as you pour the water off. In Indigo Nili's version, there is no water to pour off. It is all absorbed by the pasta. That is why she says to use 3 cups of water with 32 oz. of sauce, instead of 4 cups of water (same as a quart).
Thank you. Yours and six sisters stuff is really good. I just wanted the goddamn facts and now I have them. I’m just doing a simple macaroni thing tonight and I wanted to just be able to do this quick.
Can this be doubled for larger families?
Would it be half the amount of water for half pound pasta and also does that change if the meat is omitted, and I use half the amount of sauce?
+AUM 8118 Yes, for 1/2lb of pasta halve all the other ingredients including water. Omitting the meat doesn't change any of the other measurements
Nili, HELP!!! My 8qt V2 version of the Instant Pot does not have the manual button. Should I use the Pressure Cook button? G instead?
+Gary Dutko Yes, "Pressure Cook" is the new "Manual" 😄
Can't wait for my pot to arrive.
I prefer to use egg pasta. It does not overcook easily..
I plan on making some basic pasta tonight for Lent (meatless, so I'll just add some broth and carrots, nothing special). The last time I made pasta in the instant pot (it was browned ground meat + sauce + water), when I did a quick release, it made quite the mess... any idea how to avoid making a mess when making pasta and QR? I am wondering if I had too much liquid.
You wrote that several years ago and may know the answer already, but if not: don't do a full release all at once. Move the switch back and forth in short bursts, slowly increasing the length of the bursts.
I would love to try jarred alfredo sauce or other jarred sauces with cream with pasta but I am afraid too since I am afraid it might curdle.. Can you do a video on this?
Pris S Mix those in the pot AFTER you pressure cook the pasta for 5 minutes. Itll go to keep warm setting. Then add the cheese or alfredo sauce and stir. The heat will melt it.
I use Alfredo sauce all the time. no problem
Hi Nili, I did my first pasta dish with Kielbasa which was already smoked and cooked. It was fantastic. Now I want to do another batch but with Johnsonville Italian Sausage which is uncooked. Does the sausage have to be cooked first before doing the pasta dish? Thanks, I love my 8qt Instant Pot!
I would cut the sausage and cook it in a iron frying pan in a little oil. I do it this way mainly to avoid the BURN message. It is hard to keep the little crumbs of sausage from sticking to the bottom of the IP. If you saute the sausage there, then you have to put some liquid in the pot and use a wooden utensil to scrape those little pieces free from the IP bottom. They invariably give the BURN message.
Doesn't the three cups of water dilute the sauce down and loose its flavor ? Watered down sauce?
+BijouLover8 No, because the pasta absorbs all that water when it cooks.
Question for you: Whats the minimum amount of dry pasta I can use in the instantpot and how much water for that amount? Im just one person and dont want to cook up a box of a pound of dry pasta per day. I also dont want to burn my instantpot, so scared to use too little. PLEASE ADVISE! BTW I mean plain pasta (no sauce)
PUT IN THE AMOUNT OF PASTA THAT YOU WANT TO EAT...COVER WITH WATER,..SET I.P. TO REQUIRED SETTINGS...TAKE PASTA OUT...PUT WHAT YOU WANT ON IT...YOU DON'T HAVE TO FOLLOW OTHER RECIPES,..JUST GET IT IN YOUR FACE...