Instant Pot Crack Chicken Pasta is a rich, cheesy, and addictive one-pot meal you can make in less than 10 minutes!
You are gonna dance out of excitement for this crack chicken pasta!
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
This delicious Instant Pot Crack Chicken Pasta recipe allows you to cook your pasta right in the pot with the ranch, chicken, and other ingredients.
Because of this, your pasta will soak up all the ranch flavor, so each bite is incredibly flavorful.
Instant Pot Chicken Pasta has all the things you love most and flavors that perfectly complement each other… chicken, cheese, bacon, and ranch! This chicken pasta recipe is seriously dynamite, you will love it and want to make it again and again.
Recipe Video
Recipe Ingredients
Chicken – opt for boneless skinless chicken. Breasts or thighs both work equally well. You could even use leftover cooked chicken as long as it is mildly seasoned.
Cheddar cheese – I prefer to use sharp white cheddar, but any kind of cheddar is fine.
Dry ranch dressing – dry ranch dressing powder or ranch seasoning blends are a mix of buttermilk powder, dried dill, garlic powder, and more. It’s all the flavors of ranch dressing in powdered form!
Penne pasta – you can substitute many varieties of pasta, and they all will end up great. I’d recommend using a more small-sized pasta shape like Penne, Elbow, or Bow-Tie.
Cream cheese – this is the star ingredient that makes the creamy sauce! Go for sticks of cream cheese rather than spreadable cream cheese tubs for optimal texture.
Bacon – this is the ingredient that makes this Instant Pot Crack Chicken Pasta recipe so addicting in my opinion. Be sure to cook the bacon in advance, or purchase pre-cooked bacon!
How to make
Take your Instant Pot and pour some Olive Oil.
Put the chopped chicken into the Instant Pot.
Add Dry Ranch and set the pot to Saute for 3 minutes.
Cook until the chicken turns opaque, then add Penne Pasta.
Add Water.
Add Chicken Broth.
Cover the lid and set the pot to High Pressure for 6 minutes.
Do a Quick Release once done.
Add Cheddar cheese, cream cheese, and cooked Bacon and stir well.
Dish out the Pasta. Garnish with some fresh parsley, and that's it!
Delicious Instant Pot Crack Chicken Pasta is ready 🙂
Recipe Notes
- To keep with the idea of a one-pot meal, the Instant Pot can be used to cook the bacon before starting this recipe. Set your Instant Pot to sauté mode first, then add raw chopped bacon, cook until crispy, and remove from the pot. Then you can continue the recipe by cooking the chicken and following the recipe, adding the cooked bacon back at the end.
- This recipe is meant for dried pasta. Avoid using homemade fresh pasta in this recipe, as it will not hold up well in the Instant Pot.
How to Serve
As is!
You can always serve a fresh salad on the side if you want to feel healthy.
Recipe FAQs
What else can I add to my recipe?
Add in frozen veggies such as a mixed vegetable blend or broccoli. I would avoid canned veggies, as they don’t hold up well under pressure.
Or, try sprinkling on some hot sauce over the pasta dish when you are ready to serve for a kick of heat. This recipe is flexible—the possibilities are endless!
Can I store it and reheat it?
Yes—you can even freeze this Instant Pot Crack Chicken Pasta if you have too much leftover (though I highly doubt that will happen!) Simply place it in a freezer-friendly container and store it in the cooler for as long as two months.
It’s possible that the cream cheese in the recipe might separate a little after freezing and defrosting, yet the flavor will still taste awesome. Any leftovers can be reheated on the stove or microwave.
Pasta Recipes
If you’re interested in trying more delicious pasta recipes, here are some of my favorites:
Chicken Dinner Recipes
Instant Pot Chicken Burrito Bowl
Instant Pot Crack Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb Chicken chopped
- 1 ½ cup Cheddar Cheese Shredded
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 oz Dry Ranch Dressing
- 1 lb Penne Pasta
- 2 cup Water
- 3 cup Chicken Broth
- 8 oz Cream Cheese
- ¼ cup Bacon Cooked
- Parsley Garnish
Instructions
- Add oil to the Instant Pot and press saute.
- Add the chicken and the ranch dressing and saute for 3 minutes.
- Add penne pasta, water and chicken broth.
- Cover the lid and cook on high pressure for 6 minutes.
- When cooking time is complete, do a quick pressure release.
- Add cream cheese, cheddar cheese and bacon and stir well.
- Take out the pasta, garnish with parsley and serve 🙂
Nutrition
Video
Notes
- The Instant Pot can be used to cook the bacon before starting this recipe. Set your Instant Pot to saute mode first, then add raw chopped bacon, cook until crispy, and remove from the pot.
- This recipe is meant for dried pasta. Avoid using homemade fresh pasta in this recipe, as it will not hold up well in the Instant Pot.
- You can add in frozen veggies such as a mixed vegetable blend or broccoli. I would avoid canned veggies, as they don’t hold up well under pressure.
Addictively Delicious Crack Chicken Pasta
If you use already cooked chicken do you still saute it for 3 minutes with the dry dressing?
Good question, no you can skip that step and just mix everything together.
900 calories? Death by instant pot but I'm sure the flavor is amazing.
It's definitely a very hearty meal! But it does taste amazing! You could always lighten it up by using light cream cheese, turkey bacon, less cheese...
Our pasta didn’t cook, it came out hard. What did we do wrong. We read directions multiple times and cannot figure out what we did wrong
Hmm that's odd... maybe a different brand of pasta and takes longer to cook than what is typical? If this happens, I would cook for 5 more minutes. And if you wait for a natural release, the steam will further cook and soften the pasta. Hope that helps!
Followed recipe exactly. I have found with my instant pot I need to add about 2 minutes with most quick cooking recipes. 8 minutes was perfect! Very tasty! Family enjoyed it. Thank you for an easy meal!
Mine came out very watery. Is it really supposed to be 2 cups water and 3 cups broth?
Mine did too, but I just let it sit with the lid open on keep warm for about five min, stirred about two separate times throughout and it thickened up over time. The flavor was better as well.