Instant Pot Pasta with Spinach and Mushrooms

Instant pot pasta with spinach and mushrooms is one of the one-pot recipes perfect for busy families. If you are looking for an easy weeknight dinner recipe, this pressure cooker pasta is it! Ready on your table in 25 minutes.

How to make instant pot pasta with spinach and mushrooms

Turn on your electric pressure cooker. Make sure the stainless-steel insert is in. Then, press the SAUTE button and pour oil in. Add onion and mushrooms and saute for about 4 minutes. Make sure to stir from time to time.

Next, add minced/crushed garlic and stir for about a minute so that the garlic does not get burnt. Add Worcestershire sauce, stock, olives, pasta, oregano, salt and pepper.

Give everything a good stir and spread the pasta around evenly. Lock the lid into its position and press MANUAL (or PRESSURE COOKING) and cook on high pressure. The time needed to pressure cook this instant pot pasta needs to be set according to the formula that is explained in the recipe card or under How do you cook pasta in instant pot section.

Once the cooking cycle finished, press SAUTE again and add half and half. Cook to reduce the liquid for about 2 minutes before adding spinach and cheese. Turn off, taste it and add more seasoning, if needed.

What pasta shape is best to use?

When making this instant pot pasta I recommend using short-cut pasta like penne, farfalle (bow ties), rigatoni or the ones I used.

The reason for this is that this type of pasta can be evenly spread in the sauce which helps even cooking.

How do you cook pasta in an instant pot?

Cooking pasta in pressure cooker takes less time so it’s important to know how much time is needed.

So how long do you cook pasta in instant pot pressure cooker you ask?

This is the formula that seems to work with cooking instant pot pasta:

Check the pasta packaging to see the cooking time.

Divide this time by 2.

Subtract 1 minute.

Say it takes 12 minutes to cook your pasta on the stove. Cooking pasta in instant pot will take: (12:2) – 1 = 5.

Please note that I live at a sea level so if you live in a higher altitude, you might need to add some more time. If not sure or need help, I recommend this post: Pressure Cooker High Altitude Cooking.

Now for this instant pot pasta recipe you can subtract 2 minutes because we will be reducing the sauce at the very end, so the pasta will still be cooking in the sauce for a while.

Tips for making the best instant pot pasta with spinach and mushrooms

• The pasta will not be covered in water completely but don’t worry about that. Try to push them down with a wooden spoon and make sure everything is spread evenly.
• I only added a little bit of salt before I pressure cooked this instant pot pasta. The reason is simple: Different stock/broth brands contain different sodium levels which means some of you can end up with a saltier dish while others will add more salt. Also, cheese is salty as well, so I recommend tasting this instant pot pasta at the very end and seasoning it only when it’s needed.
• Try adding cooked bacon or pancetta cubes (add them at the beginning with onion) for extra flavor.

Ingredient substitutions

Stock – you can use chicken stock (if you are not vegetarian) or vegetable broth or stock cubes combined with water to make this instant pot pasta. You can also try making Instant Pot Chicken Stock, if you like. My recipe contains almost no salt so you would need to add more.

Oil – I used extra virgin olive oil but you can use sunflower oil, vegetable oil or normal olive oil for cooking instead.

Worcestershire sauce – If I don’t have this one on hand I use soy sauce as a substitution.

Green Olives can be substituted with black olives or completely omitted, if you don’t have them on hand or you don’t like them.

Parmesan cheese – lately I’ve been using Parmesan cheese a lot but you can substitute it with shredded cheese of your choice (use what you like).

Dried oregano – you can use dried marjoram as well. Other alternative is dried basil. Please do not use fresh herbs. They tend to lose their flavor when cooked on high temperature.

More Easy Instant Pot Recipes:

• Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff
• Instant Pot Tortellini Soup
• Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
• Instant Pot Chicken Chasseur

Want to see how to make Instant Pot Pasta with Spinach? Watch the video!

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5 from 4 votes

Instant Pot Pasta with Spinach and Mushrooms

Instant pot pasta with spinach and mushrooms is one of the one-pot recipes perfect for busy families. If you are looking for an easy weeknight dinner recipe, this pressure cooker pasta is it!

Prep Time4 mins

Cook Time10 mins

Total Time14 mins

Servings: 2

Calories: 731

Author: Julia

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon Oil , see note 1
• 1 Small Onion
• 6 ounces Button Mushrooms , see note 2
• 3 Garlic Cloves , minced
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce see note 3
• 2½ cups Vegetable Broth , see note 5
• 6 ounces Short-Shaped Pasta (180 grams)
• ½ cup Pitted Green Olives , see note 4
• 1 tablespoon Dried Oregano
• A Pinch of Black Pepper
• A Pinch of Salt , generous
• ½ cup Half and Half (120 ml)
• ½ cup Sweet Corn
• 3 Handfuls Fresh Spinach
• 1/3 cup Parmesan Cheese (25 grams)

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Recommended Products

• My Favorite Instant Pot

Instructions 

• Pour oil into the stainless-steel insert. Turn on the SAUTE function. Add minced onion and quartered mushrooms. Saute these for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add minced garlic and stir for a minute so that the garlic does not burn but has time to release its flavor.
• Then add Worcestershire sauce, olives, stock, pasta, oregano, black pepper and salt. Mix well. Push down the pasta with a spatula (they will not to be completely submerged as there is not that much liquid but make sure they are evenly distributed in the pot).
• Close with a lid and lock it into its position. Press MANUAL (or PRESSURE COOKING) and set the timer according to this formula: check pasta packaging for cooking time. Divide this time by two and subtract 2 minutes (see note 6).
• When the cooking cycle is finished, release the pressure manually. Remove the lid and press SAUTE again. Pour in half and half and cook until the sauce thickens a bit (note that even though it will still look quite thin, it will thicken, once cooling down).
• At last, stir in sweet corn, spinach and Parmesan cheese and remove the insert from the pot (to stop it from cooking).
• Enjoy!

Video

Notes

1. Oil – you can use either sunflower or vegetable or olive oil.
2. Button mushrooms – use either white or brown.
3. If you don’t have Worcestershire on hand, you can use soy sauce instead.
4. Green olives can be substituted with black olives or omitted completely.
5. Use either chicken stock/broth or vegetable broth. Stock cubes diluted in water will also work well.
6. The cooking time for pasta will depend from brand to brand so you might need to adjust the pressure cooking time.
7. If the packaging says 10 minutes cooking time, then you should set the timer to (10:2)-2 = 3 minutes.
8. Half and half (US) = single cream (UK).
9. This recipe was developed for a 6-quart/6-liter instant pot pressure cooker.
10. The overall cooking time does not include time needed for the pot to come to pressure. Count with extra 10 minutes.
11. Be extremely careful when releasing the pressure manually.
12. For more tips, substitutions and detailed information or if in doubt, I recommend reading the full post.

Course: Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Pasta Recipe

Nutrition Facts

Instant Pot Pasta with Spinach and Mushrooms

Amount per Serving

Calories

731

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

29

g

45

%

Saturated Fat

 

11

g

69

%

Cholesterol

 

42

mg

14

%

Potassium

 

1069

mg

31

%

Carbohydrates

 

93

g

31

%

Fiber

 

8

g

33

%

Sugar

 

11

g

12

%

Protein

 

29

g

58

%

Vitamin A

 

5557

IU

111

%

Vitamin C

 

22

mg

27

%

Calcium

 

544

mg

54

%

Iron

 

5

mg

28

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

** As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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