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. 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. 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 bullet proof. 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 over cooked 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 since I get this question on a daily basis, my favorite pressure cookers (and I’ve gone through a lot of them!) is this Instant Pot and this Fagor Lux Multicooker.
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
Instant Pot or
*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.
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!
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.