We’re talking about perfectly cooked pasta today that involves no stirring, watching, or foamy overflows all over your stove top. All made possible by my true love, the Electric Pressure Cooker, AKA Instant Pot.
Why make Perfect Pressure Cooker Pasta when the most common method is simply a matter of boiling water? Let me tell you.
Nothing drives me more crazy in the kitchen then dealing with a pot of pasta on the stove that WILL NOT STOP FOAMING! You stir, stir, stir, and when that doesn’t work, you take it off the heat, let it settle, only to put it back on the heat and have it quickly foam to the top and you repeat the entire process all over again.
I’ve tried all the gizmos, the wooden spoon trick, the oil trick, etc etc and I have resolved to loose the stove top pasta battle.
To my rescue, totally awesome pressure cooker!
I can throw the pasta, salt, and water in and walk away. In fact, I can even have my daughter do it while I take a nap!
There are several different times and water to pasta ratios out there, and after a lot of experimenting, I’ve finally narrowed it down to my ideal time.
Let me leave a caveat here and say that this method may not work on every single pasta variety out there. There’s lentil pasta, quinoa pasta, buckwheat pasta, and on and on and on. HOWEVER! I do think this is a perfect starting place for all of these kinds of pasta. If you find your favorite version of pasta was slightly under or overdone, than just make a note to add or subtract a minute the next time. Easy Peasy.
HOW TO COOK PASTA IN THE INSTANT POT
2 CUPS OF LIQUID FOR EVERY 4 OZ OF PASTA
This is enough liquid to cook the pasta, but not so much that it takes the pot forever to reach pressure-thereby preventing overcooked pasta. The liquid could be salted water (I like 1 teaspoon of kosher salt for every 4 cups water) or broth.
COOK PASTA FOR HALF THE LOWEST PACKAGE COOKING TIME, MINUS 1 MINUTE
This can get a little confusing since there are often ranges of time on the package. Here are a few examples so you can get the idea.
The Whole Wheat Spiral Pasta here said to cook for 7-9 minutes. I took the lowest time (7 minutes), decreased it to 6 to get an even number, divide in half (3 minutes) and subtract 1 minute = 2 minutes cooking time.
The Brown Rice Macaroni Pasta here called for 15-16 minutes. I took the lowest time (15 minutes), decreased it to 14 to get an even number, divide in half (7 minutes) and subtract 1 minute = 6 minutes cooking time. By the way, this Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta is my FAVORITE pasta of all time. It’s whole grain and gluten-free and has the best texture of any pasta I’ve ever had!
The Whole Grain Penne pasta here had a cook time of 10-12 minutes. I took the lowest time (10 minutes), divide in half (5 minutes) and subtract 1 minute = 4 minutes cooking time.
Make sense?
ADD OIL TO DECREASE FOAMING
This tip helps, but it’s not bulletproof. I still get some foaming when I add butter and oil, but it definitely helps.
QUICK RELEASE THE PRESSURE-CAREFULLY!
My favorite method for pressure release is to flip the valve open and let the pressure come out until some of the foamy, starchy water starts coming through the knob, at which time I’ll quickly flip the knob back to a sealed position. Then I will either release the pressure in 2-3 second spurts by bumping the knob with my finger, or I turn the knob so it’s just letting out a light amount of pressure/steam at a time. This part takes a bit of babysitting, but will prevent overcooked pasta.
I’ve tried every trick I can think of to get rid of the foaming that comes out from the valve on a quick release. If you know the secret, do tell and I will name this recipe after you! Some people throw a towel over the lid and let er’ rip, but that makes such a big, starchy mess, I’m not a fan (and most manuals discourage this as well). Some flip the valve to seal and let it cool down more until everything settles (but by that point my pasta is overcooked).
DRAIN PASTA
Drain your pasta and it’s ready to go! Depending on your recipe you may want to reserve some of the starchy cooking water. If not using the pasta right away, rinse it with cold water to stop it from cooking anymore.
And that’s it! Perfect Pressure Cooker Pasta without the babysitting.
There are some pastas that are discouraged when it comes to the pressure cooker. Here is a great read on that by Hip Pressure Cooking.
Here are a couple of my own rule of thumbs:
– Small delicate pasta like alphabet pasta, overcook too easy
– Gnocchi and stuffed pasta like tortellini and ravioli end up breaking apart too much. Same with homemade pasta – don’t even go there!
-Long strand pasta like fettuccine and spaghetti work okay, but you need to break them in half and go ahead and plan on them sticking together a bit. But when I need a quick and easy dinner on the fly, slightly stuck together spaghetti with store-bought marinara and meatballs is JUST FINE!
So there is my Perfect Pressure Cooker Pasta spiel! Hopefully I’ve made eating carbs somewhat more enjoyable.
And now that you’re a master at pressure cooking pasta, put this flavor bomb Healthy Whole Grain Mac and Cheese and this Pizza Mac and Cheese at the very tip-top of your menu! I taught a pressure cooking class this past weekend and people just go bonkers over this Mac and Cheese!
For my favorite pasta sauce of all time, see this Sweet Corn and Tomato Sauce.
Tools used to make Instant Pot Pasta
*This post contains affiliate links. Thank you!
Enjoy!
PrintPerfect Pressure Cooker Pasta
Cook your pasta to perfection without stirring, watching, or spilling starchy water all over your stove top! Pressure Cooker to the rescue!
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 2-10 minutes
- Total Time: 2-10 minutes
- Yield: varies
- Category: Entree
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- pasta
- water – 2 cups for every 4 oz of pasta
- kosher salt – 1/2 teaspoon for every 2 cups of water (can increase to taste)
- 1/2 tablespoon oil or butter for every 4 oz of pasta
Instructions
- Add pasta, water, kosher salt and oil or butter to the pressure cooker pot (see ratios in ingredient list).
- Secure the lid and turn pressure release knob to a sealed position. Cook at high pressure for half of the pasta package cooking time minus 1 minute (see post for examples of this).
- When pressure cooking is complete, use a quick release. If liquid sprays from the knob, close knob. Continue to release pressure in 2-3 second spurts or just barely turn the knob so it’s releasing a small amount of steam.
- Use pasta immediately or rinse with cool water to stop the cooking.
Notes
- Nutritional Facts are for 1 cup of dry whole wheat pasta. Facts will vary depending on what kind of pasta is used.
- Cook time and Total time will also vary with different pasta.
- Cook time Examples from above for easy reference:
- Whole Wheat Spiral Pasta cook time: 7-9 minutes. I took the lowest time (7 minutes), decreased it to 6 to get an even number, divide in half (3 minutes) and subtract 1 minute = 2 minutes cooking time.
- Brown Rice Macaroni Pasta cook time: 15-16 minutes. I took the lowest time (15 minutes), decreased it to 14 to get an even number, divide in half (7 minutes) and subtract 1 minute = 6 minutes cooking time.
- Whole Grain Penne Pasta cook time: 10-12 minutes. I took the lowest time (10 minutes), divide in half (5 minutes) and subtract 1 minute = 4 minutes cooking time.
Keywords: pressure cooker, instant pot, instant pot pasta, easy pasta, perfectly cooked pasta
Thanks for this…I’ve been struggling to get this just right for a while! So excited to try your formula! Love you guys!
★★★★★
Jill, We love you too ????. I hope it works good for you!
Have you tried a splash of vinegar? On the stove top it keeps the pasta from boiling over.
Clara, I haven’t tried that! But I’m gonna! If it works I’ll be updating the post and praising your name!
That foam you’re getting is starch and extra flour from the outside of the pasta. When it’s shipped, it rubs and jostles together and starch ends up covering the outside of the pasta, just like it does to rice. You simply need to rinse your pasta a few times before you cook it, just like you should with rice, and that should reduce the amount of foam. Have a happy day!
Tina, that I have never tried! I will try this out the next time! Thank you!
I am new to the instant pot world. The few things I have made state a set time but, nothing is ever done. What am I doing wrong?
Made simple sweet potatoes wrapped in foil.
Time stated 15 minutes, I did 20 because they were a little bigger. I ended up doing 15 minutes more. Total of 35 minutes. They were done beautiful and were amazing but, why the time difference.
I want to do pasta now but I am afraid of under/over cooking.
Can you help?
Mary, That can be so frustrating! I do think it takes time to learn the ins and outs of pressure cooking and what works and what doesn’t for you. I do medium size sweet potatoes and russet potatoes for 25 minutes, unwrapped, for fluffy, wonderful potatoes every time. I believe the foil would slow the cooking process a bit. I bake my pasta with these instructions every time and it hasn’t failed me yet. I’ve done it with white pasta, whole wheat, brown rice pasta, lentil pasta, etc, and it works perfectly. Be brave! Give it a go!
Mary if you are located over 2000 ft above sea level you have to adjust your cooking time by increasing by 5 percent for every 1000 feet (starting at 3000 ft). Don’t know if this is your problem but thought it may be your problem.
Loved the recipe, my spaghetti noodles came out perfect, my daughter loves her pasta with butter, parsley and grated parmesan. Thank you for sharing.
★★★★★
Juanjo, I’m so happy to hear that! I love plain ol’ butter and parm pasta too, smart girl 🙂
I used some industrial insulation experience to deal with the quick release of steam.
I wet one washcloth and let it rest over valve, and used another sorta rolled up as my insulatior to depress valve…the wet cloth absorbed the starchy stuff and the bit of run down was taken care of with the dry one.
Your formula for cooking time was dead on!
Oh! My pasta was good old fashioned penne…
If I get the recipe name can we collaborate? Got a Craft Beer BBQ sauce you might like
Hi. I just cooked red bean penne pasta for 1 minute and then let it come down naturally (probably took about 6-7 min). I kept it on warm and opened the lid at about the 10 minute warm mark (so a total of 11 minutes in IP), and it turned out great. The stove top recipe calls for 8-10 minutes. Also, I use chicken broth and just put enough to barely cover the penne (sorry, no measuring) so that I don’t have to drain. I used this same pasta to liquid ratio technique in the rice cooker (pre-IP) and it always worked out perfectly.
TT, What a great idea, I’m going to try this!
Stupid question…are you measuring 4 oz by weight or by volume (4 oz = 1/2 cup)? I have a pack of pasta that’s 750 g…..
D, By weight. Good question!
I’m not giving any stars because I haven’t tried your method. I use only one cup of water for 4 ounces of noodles. 1 pound package, 4 cups of water.
I cook white pasta 4 minutes and wheat pasta 5 with quick release. I live at sea level. I don’t know if that makes a difference.
Jamie, Thanks for sharing!
I tried this today with vegetable pasta. Your directions were spot-on! I have an IP mini and cooked 8 oz. of pasta with 4 cups water. I only cut the time in half believing that no way could pasta be done in 4 minutes, but you were right. The pasta was a little over-cooked for my taste so I will subtract the extra minute as you suggested.
I don’t know what it is about cooking in the IP but everything comes out so evenly done with perfect texture.
Thanks for your tips. I’m signing up!
★★★★★
Cyndi, That is so great to hear! I’ve tried it on every kind of pasta and it always works! I’m crazy about my IP. It really just makes cooking fun 🙂
I made pasta for the first time last night. It was as simple as cooking pasta on the stovetop except that I was freed up to tend to other tasks. The orecchiette pasta was perfectly al dente. The releasing of the steam in spurts was rather disconcerting. Does anyone have any tips?
Tess, I love cooking it in the pressure cooker for the hands off, no overflow factor. But I agree, the spurts are a bit annoying sometimes. I’m still on the hunt for getting rid of pasta foam once and for all!
Any tips for making 1Pound of dried Orzo pasta in the Instant Pot? Thanks for your help!
Suz, I’ve never tried orzo, it’s possible it’s too small. If I tried it I would use the same method I talk about in the post of cutting the box directions in half and subtracting another minute. I’ve also read before that smaller pastas can clog the vent when pressure is released, but I’ve done couscous before and it was fine.
I just used this method for making a cold macaroni salad, and it is cooked perfectly. Thanks!
★★★★★
Nancy, Thank you so much for letting me know! I use this method all the time!
Very good. Next time I will cut the salt in half for the pasta. I tasted the pasta before adding the cheese, and it already was too salty, IMO. And of course, the cheese adds more. But very tasty. And I’m enjoying cooking pasta in the IP. Yesterday I made fettuccini for a asian cold noodle salad, and it came out great. I subscribed yesterday, but continually get asked about subscribing again (?) Thank you! I’m going to try Cami’s Chicken Salad recipe next. 🙂
★★★★
Add on to previous review…
And it did stick a bit… But was able to stir it all up, and everything turned out good. FYI
★★★★
I am really confused. I just opened mu instant pot, cleaned, tested, and am ready to try to cook pasta. With the formula I need to cook it for 6 minutes. When I go to pressure cook and set timer it stops at 4 min. I feel stupid. What am I doing wrong?
RaeAnn, That is strange! What kind of pressure cooker do you have? I’ve never had my instant pot or fagor do that.
Great recipe, thanks for sharing.
Vinh, Thank you 🙂
I put the pasta in the instant pot and pour a jar of spaghetti sauce over it, then fill the jar with water and pour that over it. When I do the quick release there is no water to drain off. It’s ready to eat. I cook at high pressure for 4 minutes for regular pasta. (You can also saute onions and brown ground meat first in the instant pot and add the pasta, sauce, and water on top of that.)
I just made Jovial penne brown rice pasta and it took 5 minutes which is exactly what you said. The box said 12. I forgot to rinse the pasta as someone suggested. I would definitely rinse it the next time.
Jeanette, I have yet to try rinsing the pasta first, I forgot about that tip! Jovial brown rice pasta is hands down my favorite pasta brand.
Jeanette, Yum! I’m going to try this, thank you!
I am planning on trying this very soon but I am a little confused. Is the cooking time “lowest package time minus one minute” as stated in directions or “lowest cooking time, minus one minute to make an even number, divide by two and subtract one” as stated in the examples you give???
Nicole, the recipe card directions says to cook it for half the package cooking time minus one minute. Is that what you’re referring to? I only subtract a number in the examples to get it to an even number
Hi Marci,
Yes. That is what I am referring to. I tried it last night with a rice penne pasta from trader joe’s that i have had success with in the old method.
It says 7-10 min. I subtracted the 1 minute and had I cooked it for the 6 minutes described on the recipe card, it would have been mush.
Within the article, you give some examples where you subtract the minute from a pasta whose directions say a minimum of 15 min t get it to an even number. Now you have 14 minutes but then in the article you go on to say that you half that time and subtract another minute. That is what I did with mine. 7 minutes less 1 minute is 6 minutes. Half of that was 3 minutes less one more was two minutes. That is how I cooked it and it was fine. The recipe card only says to subtract one minute from the lowest cooking time, again that would have been mush at 6 minutes. Good thing I read your entire article.
Nicole, I’m making myself crazy reading my directions over and over to see if I missed something, haha! The directions in the recipe card say “Secure the lid and turn pressure release knob to a sealed position. Cook at high pressure for half of the pasta package cooking time minus 1 minute”. Does that not clarify enough what I say in the article?
If this helps: copied directly from the article: I will put into all caps indicating where I got confused, I’m not yelling LOL 😉
This is in the article in all caps not the source of my confusion: ” COOK PASTA FOR HALF THE LOWEST PACKAGE COOKING TIME, MINUS 1 MINUTE
This can get a little confusing since there are often ranges of time on the package. So here’s a few examples so you can get the idea.”
“The Whole Wheat Spiral Pasta here said to cook for 7-9 minutes. ”
(BELOW IS WHERE I WAS CONFUSED, BUT I USED THIS FORMULA AND COOKED MY RICE PASTA 2 MINUTES FROM A 7-10 MINUTE PACKAGE DIRECTIONS)
“I took the lowest time (7 minutes), decreased it to 6 to get an even number, divide in half (3 minutes) and subtract 1 minute = 2 minutes cooking time.
The Brown Rice Macaroni Pasta here called for 15-16 minutes. I took the lowest time (15 minutes), decreased it to 14 to get an even number, divide in half (7 minutes) and subtract 1 minute = 6 minutes cooking time. By the way, this Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta is my FAVORITE pasta of all time. It’s whole grain and gluten-free and has the best texture of any pasta I’ve ever had!
The Whole Grain Penne pasta here had a cook time of 10-12 minutes. I took the lowest time (10 minutes), divide in half (5 minutes) and subtract 1 minute = 4 minutes cooking time.
Make sense?”
Nicole, I’ll put some examples directly in the recipe card. Hopefully that will help clear things up better. Thanks for helping me out on this!
Glad to help. I like the additions you made to help overthinkers like me ;P
Nicole, haha, thanks for your feedback!
This worked wonderfully. Thanks!
★★★★★
Danielle, it’s a great trick, right?!
Hi! I followed your method and cooked Trader Joe’s red lentil pasta. WOW! It was perfectly cooked! Much better method than stove top! Thank you SO much for sharing!! Can’t wait to try it again!
★★★★★
Lisette, Isn’t it such a great trick!? I haven’t ruined a package of pasta since doing it this way. It works great on bean pastas
Great article and website. I just bought a electric pasta maker and before discovering this website. Are you telling me that my homemade pasta will break up and fall apart in a pressure cooker; that I shouldn’t even try? I was thinking about applying a wet then a dry cloth when quick releasing the pressure or try to develop a formula for natural release of pressure as one other commenter suggested. By your experience, is my heart broken and should not try?
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Harold, I’ve actually never tried cooking fresh pasta in the pressure cooker but since it only takes just a minute or 2 to cook it, I think the pressure cooker would destroy it. If you decide to go for it, please let me know your experience!
Just made this with Banza Chickpea pasta and I was amazed at how perfectly it turned out – even better than when I’ve made this same pasta on the stove! I didn’t have any issues with starch coming out of the valve which was nice not to have to worry about or babysit! Thanks for the post! I’ve bookmarked it for next time.
★★★★★
Lindsay, I love Banza! And I love that my kids love it. I haven’t sat over a boiling pot of pasta for over a year 🙂
Hi! Going to try this this week. If I need to make 2+ boxes of pasta at the same time (cooking for 8 adults) do I change the amount of time?
Jill, No, I would leave the cook time the same, just adjust the water and salt amounts.
I only make pasta shapes (not long pasta like spaghetti) and I add enough water so it just peeks through the dry pasta. It’s a bit inexact but it works for all shapes-the amount of water filling the gaps seems to be just enough to cook it perfectly. Because of the minimal water there’s no draining and I find that half the time on the box works for me. My time at pressure is longer but it makes sense since it’s not in contact with the heating water while coming to pressure which is why your shorter times work. Same difference, really. I have very little splurting on QR.
I’ll try your way next time. Not saying my way is better, just sharing my experiences.
Also do the sauce +water method for sauced pasta.
I really love my IP, well, both of them, I have two.
Diane, Thank you! I love to hear others experiences. And 2 IP’s (at least) is a must!
I didn’t read through all the recipes to see if someone had suggested it yet, but I’ve been taking a trivet and turning it upside down over the pasta and that seems to help a little with the foam coming out. You still get some but it does help 🙂
Sarah, Whatttttt! That’s so smart! I can’t wait to try this. You are a total genius. What type of trivet? Like, does it have small holes or one of the racks with wide spaces?
I don’t think I will ever make pasta on the stove top again, super yummy! I put the oil in first, 1 cup of water, then pasta, the 1 more cup of water. No foam with quick release method. It was gluten free pasta, but I’ve tried it with regular pasta and no foam. Hope it helps!
★★★★★
Wendy, that’s interesting, I’ll have to play around with that. Thank you!
I have read your cooking times for making pasta in the instant pot. It all makes sense. But what is the cooking time and water amount for the instant pot when I am making homemade pasta with my pasta machine?
Beth, I’ve never tried it with homemade pasta, but I have read that you shouldn’t pressure cook homemade pasta because the cook time is so low. So jealous of your homemade pasta situation though!
Hi Harold.
I also have been using a pasta machine for about 5 years now and have no plans to go back to “the boxes” on the shelves!
A few weeks ago I bought an IP and use it every day. However, my fresh pasta brings me to a standstill and I was wondering if you found a solution.
Thanks
Vinnie, I wouldn’t use the IP for that pasta gold you’re making. I really need to learn this skill!
Another trick to ditch the foaming: Rinse the pasta 3 times… as in put the pasta in a bowl, submerge, agitate with your fingers a little, pour out water, repeat 2 more times. This gets rid of the bulk of the starch that causes the foaming in the first place.
Also, your timing formula is perfect for al dente pasta. If someone wants slightly softer pasta, don’t subtract the last minute. So 7 minutes would be 3 minutes instead of 2. We do a lot of gluten free and heartier pastas so that extra minute helps but if I were doing macaroni, I would definitely subtract the extra minute.
Laurie, Great tips! Thank you a million times. I’m so excited to try this.
I am new to electric pressure cooking, or any pressure cooking to be honest. My mother surprised me with the Pampered Chef Quick Cooker ( I had been considering the Instapot, and would never have shelled out the money that Pampered Chef costs.. insanity! ). Looking for recipes I go to Instapot. I love my PC QC so I’m thrilled to be able to try new & fun things. I saw your post about pasta, and I just so happened to have needed a bag of wide egg noodles for dinner tonight. Your recipe is spot on. ( though, like you, I had to release the steam in spurts due to foam). Then the big reveal ( which needs some type of amazing drumroll each time I open it ) and it was the very best looking pasta I had ever seen. Nothing stuck together. I drained it and went immediately to assembling my casserole. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I’m so glad I searched pasta cooking with electric pressure cookers and your recipe was the first that popped up. I will be coming back for more recipes. ( if you find a solution to the foam, please let me know. ). God Bless you & yours!
★★★★★
Juanita, So happy to hear you’re loving the pressure cooker! There are some great suggestions from others in this thread I plan on trying such as rinsing the pasta or putting a tall trivet in the pot to help stop the foam from rising. I plan on testing these out.
I have to cook spaghetti pasta (no sauce) for approximately 50 people. How much can I cook in the pressure cooker at one time? I have an 11 quart nesco.
Samia, Oh boy, that’s hard to know there. I’ve had issues with spaghetti pasta clumping in the past so I think that could be a bit risky to do that kind of volume. Personally, I would stick with the stove top on that one.
I tried this tonight and I think I messed it up. I followed the recipe (I think) and it was mushy .and just awful. I used Orecchiette (hat noodles) and the minimum is was 13 mins so I did 5. I used12oz pasta and 6cups water and the butter and salt… idk what I did wrong?! Help please!
Anna, That’s the time I would have done as well. Hmmm…was it regular pasta or a speciality pasta like gluten-free, bean, lentil, etc? Did you make it in a 6 or 8 quart pot? Did you let the pasta soak in the water for a while before you cooked it?
Followed recipe exactly. Used bow tie pasta and it was terrible. Very over cooked. Going to try a lot less water next time and maybe even less cook time. Only did it for 4 mins so maybe 2 mins next time.
Danielle, dang! What was the cook time on the bag? Did you do it in an 8 quart pot by chance? I’ve done bow tie a few times without problems. Was it just regular pasta?
Thank you for the recipe and tips! I packed lunch for the work week.
★★★★★
Susab, way to be on the ball!
The reason for the foamy release is the superheated water starts to flash boil when the pressure drops. My suggestion is lower your time to like 2 minutes or even a minute and do a natural release. Or wait 4-5 minutes after your time expires to release the pressure. But as long as that water’s temperature is higher than its normal unpressurized boiling point (212deg f) it will always flash boil when you release the pressure, so the foam thing may he uncontrollable unless you adjust your times very low and natural release which will likely always result in overcooked pasta. The towel over the valve thing is probably the best solution.
Christopher, great tips, thanks. I’ll have to play around with this more. What confuses me is I never have a problem with my mac and cheese recipe foaming. I’ve tried to figure out what about that one is different but so far I haven’t cracked it. Thanks for your input!
This was literally the best pasta I have EVER made. I made wheat fusilli and it turned out perfectly!! Thank you so much!! I’m going to use this all the time now.
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Katie, it’s a great trick, huh!? I haven’t boiled pasta on the stove top for a very long time!
Used egg noodles, took the lowest cooking time 10mins/2 = 5 -1 = 4mins and they were absolute PERFECTION! The best way to cook pasta. Thanks so much Marci!
★★★★★
Danille, works like a charm doesn’t it 😉
This was the very first thing I cooked in my InstantPot, I didn’t have the foaming issue at all! I used vegetable oil and released in spurts until it was a lower steam release. Voila’ perfect elbow macaroni for chili! We put our chili in
★★★★★
LuAnn, it’s a magical thing, isn’t it!
Tried this on Knorr fettuccine in chicken flavored sauce. Package said 4.3 oz and 2 cups of water for 7 minutes. So 6/2=3. Put the contents in with 2 cups of water for 2 minutes in my IP 3qt Mini.
I love these noodles and make them all the time. However, these came out better than ever. Only a couple were loosely stuck together and done perfectly.
I did quick release but let them sit in the pot a couple minute to thicken as the package suggested.
Larson, fettuccine can be tricky so I’m so glad to hear your feedback!
Thought I’d add that I tried the spiral cheesy noodle from Knorr, too. Mostly to see how th IP would do with a recipe involving milk 🙂 I
think they need 3 minutes as 2 was just a little under done for my tastes.
Larson, good to know, thank you!
I have one of these: http://www.kuhnrikonshop.com/product/kochblume-spill-stopper-black.
It works perfectly to stop pasta from foaming over.
The timing method was great thanks! Another way to say it would be just to divide the lowest cooking time by half and round down. That would take care of the odd numbers and probably be less confusing.
Also I am a total newbie to instapot cooking so for anyone else out there who is as well, I put the water pasta salt and oil in and clicks the rice setting. and you can’t just set your timer for X minutes because it is not actually cooking until you hear the pressure start. I did not realize that my pressure cooker timer would automatically start once it is “cooking,” but that is when you start counting the time you calculated. I haven’t quite figured out how to change the minutes on the instapot because the plus/minus buttons don’t seem to adjust it. Any way for now I just watch the timer or turn on the stove timer.
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Rocky, yes, I like that rewording. Thanks! Do you have the Instant Pot brand? I’m a little confused by what you meant there. I never use the rice setting to time things.
I’m curious… I’d love to try making pasta in my InstantPot, but we prefer angel hair. The regular cooking time is only 3-4 minutes. Therefore, making it an even number and taking half of the lowest would be only one minute and subtracting one would leave you with nothing. Is it not possible to cook angel hair in an InstantPot? 🙁
Melanie, I’ve never actually tried it, but I doubt it would work out very well. Quick cooking pasta will be overdone by the time the pot builds up pressure. I’m a little curious if it would work to cook it for 0 minutes (the Instant Pot brand allows you to cook things for 0 minutes in case you’re wondering what I’m talking about). It might just work and when I try it, I’ll let you know! In the meantime, if you give it a go, report back please!
My pasta was complete mush and I followed the instructions exactly. What did I do wrong?
Jenna, what kind of pasta was it? What’s the cook time on the box?
I made wheel pasta with 7-9 min noted in directions on the box for al dente pasta. Added water to the instapot pot, placed trivet, kept a steel bowl on the trivet with grated carrots and pasta on top. Added water just enough to cover the pasta. Manual/pressure cooked for 2 mins. Natural pressure release for about 10 mins and then did quick release. Then added some milk, cream cheese and salt. Pasta turned out perfectly, thank you so much!! Don’t want to cook pasta on stove top anymore!
★★★★★
Sushma, so you cooked the pasta inside a bowl, inside the pressure cooker pot?
Yes Marci, pot in pot. That way I don’t have to clean up the big instant pot pot, lazy me 😊
Cooked the same thing again this morning and it works like a charm!
Wow, that’s a great idea. How did you determine your cook time? I would think it took longer where it wasn’t in contact with direct heat.
Went with your formula for cooking time. Instapot manual suggests cooking rice using manual mode for 6 mins. I tried pot in pot for rice for 6 mins and that worked everytime. So I guessed pot in pot would work out for pasta too, and it did! Also, I usually let pressure release naturally when cooking pot in pot. That might have helped too.
I used to avoid making pasta for lunch since it takes long time on stovetop. Thank you Marci, you have made packing pasta for lunch a lot easier now!!!
You’re sweet and you’re so welcome:). That’s a great trick, thanks for sharing it with me!