Home › Recipe Index › Instant Pot

Instant Pot Chicken Broccoli Pasta

Instant Pot Chicken and Broccoli Pasta – 🥦🧀🎉 Juicy seasoned chicken with pasta and broccoli, all tossed in an AMAZING creamy cheese sauce! A family favorite EASY dinner recipe that’s perfect for busy weeknights! Made in the Instant Pot in 30 minutes and stovetop cooking directions are also provided.

A plate of chicken broccoli pasta in front of an Instant Pot. - 3

Easy Instant Pot Chicken Broccoli Pasta Recipe

There’s something about juicy seasoned chicken nestled in between al dente cooked penne pasta and crisp-tender broccoli all tossed together in a creamy cheese sauce that’s irresistible.

Actually, what’s almost more irresistible is that this is an easy instant pot pasta recipe , yes it’s a one-pot meal , and it’s ready in 30 minutes.

And the nice thing about using an Instant Pot is that the pasta cooks in the same pot you cook the chicken in , no separate boiling and draining required.

You also make the heavenly sauce with cream cheese, heavy cream, Colby Jack, and Parmesan cheese in that same pot too.

But don’t worry if you don’t have an Instant Pot or other similar pressure cooker, because stovetop cooking directions are also provided.

However you decide to make this cheesy broccoli chicken pasta recipe, it’ll be a guaranteed family favorite , especially on busy weeknights when you’re trying to get dinner on the table quickly and satisfy a variety of tastes and preferences.

Overhead image of two plates of Instant Pot chicken broccoli pasta. - 4

Ingredients in Creamy Instant Pot Chicken Broccoli Pasta

This Instant Pot chicken broccoli pasta recipe is made with simple pantry and refrigerator staples that you may already have on hand. Quick, easy, and inexpensive – what’s not to love?

Let’s take a look at your shopping list:

Unsalted butter or olive oil
Smoked paprika
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Mustard powder
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Boneless skinless chicken breast
Penne pasta
Reduced sodium chicken broth
Cream cheese – make sure to use full-fat cream cheese , nothing labeled lite, reduced fat, or spreadable as they aren’t great for making creamy cheese sauces
Fresh broccoli florets
Heavy cream – you could potentially get away with half-and-half , I don’t recommend using milk with less fat than that
Colby jack cheese – I like Colby Jack because it melts well and is pretty neutral as cheese goes, coupled with the Parmesan for a sharper bite and punch of flavor. However, other cheeses that you like such as shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack are also good choices
Parmesan cheese
Fresh basil, optional for garnishing
Crushed red pepper flakes, optional for garnishing

Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.

Ingredients for Instant Pot chicken and broccoli and pasta. - 5

Measuring Tip

If you’re making this recipe as intended and you’re going to make it in an Instant Pot, you need to measure and use exactly 1 pound of penne pasta, and 4 cups of chicken stock.

Because if you use too much or not enough of one ingredient you run the risk of everything from undercooked pasta to soupy chicken.

Close up image of Instant Pot Chicken Broccoli Pasta. - 6

How to Make Cheesy Broccoli Pasta with Chicken in an Instant Pot

This one-pot dinner recipe is a well-rounded meal that your pressure cooker practically much makes for you. It’s the definition of a hassle-free recipe with very little prep time when you follow my straightforward and simple directions:

Melt the butter in a 6-quart Instant Pot (or 8-quart Instant Pot or similar type of pressure cooker set to sauté. In the meantime, add the seasonings and chicken to a large zip-top bag, and shake to coat the chicken.
Add the chicken to the Instant Pot, and sauté uncovered for 2 minutes, stirring and flipping frequently. Add the uncooked pasta, pour the chicken broth on top, and stir to combine.
Place the lid on the Instant Pot, making sure the vent is sealed. Then, set it to high pressure for 3 minutes. When the timer finishes, do a quick release, and carefully open the Instant Pot.
Turn the IP back to the sauté mode, add the cream cheese, and push it down into the noodles to encourage it to melt. Place the lid back on for 2 minutes. Add the broccoli, stir to combine, and place the lid back on, allowing the broccoli to steam with the device off.
Add the heavy cream and both cheeses, and stir to combine and melt. Adjust the seasonings to taste, add additional parmesan, red pepper flakes, and/or basil if desired, and enjoy warm!

Images showing the process of making Instant Pot chicken broccoli pasta. - 7

Instant Pot Tip

It will take a little bit for the pressure to build up, and the food will be cooking while the pressure builds. So even though the Instant Pot is set for 3 minutes, it’s actually longer. It would be very tricky to cook chicken properly in only 3 minutes!

Seasoned chicken pieces in an Instant Pot. - 8

How to Make Chicken Broccoli Pasta on the Stove

If you don’t have an Instant Pot but still want to make this easy broccoli pasta with chicken, it’s fast and easy on the stove, too. It’s a two-pot recipe – one to cook the chicken, one to boil the pasta and broccoli – and it’ll all be ready in about 25 minutes.

For stovetop cooking directions, do as follows:

In a large skillet, melt the butter (or use 2 tablespoons olive oil instead), add the chicken, add the seasonings (or shake the chicken and seasonings all together in a ziplock beforehand like in the Instant Pot method), and cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring and flipping the chicken intermittently to cook evenly. Allow it to rest in the skillet when it’s done. Tip – Use as large and deep of a skillet as you have and check out my recommendations below.
While the chicken is sauteing, get started boiling the penne pasta separately in a pot of water and cook it according to package directions
In the last 3 minutes, add the broccoli florets. Drain the water when the pasta is al dente . Reserve 3 cups of pasta water. This is going to take the place of the chicken stock in the IP version.
Add the drained pasta and broccoli to the skillet with the chicken, add the cream cheese, heavy cream, Colby Jack, Parm, and stir to combine and allow the cheeses to melt.
Depending on how thin or thick you like your sauce, add the reserved pasta water, a little bit at a time, stirring as you go. Tip – You will probably only use 1 to 2 cups, max. Taste, make any necessary seasoning adjustments, garnish as desired, and serve!

Penne pasta being stirred into an Instant Pot. - 9

Serving Suggestions for Instant Pot Broccoli Pasta with Chicken

Colorful garden salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, corn, peas, lettuce, and bacon, served with a glass of milk. - 10

Colorful garden salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, corn, peas, lettuce, and bacon, served with a glass of milk. - 11

BLT Chopped Salad with Homemade Creamy Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

A colorful salad bowl containing roasted chickpeas, broccoli, snap peas, tomatoes, and kale. - 12

A colorful salad bowl containing roasted chickpeas, broccoli, snap peas, tomatoes, and kale. - 13

Smoky Roasted Chickpea Salad with Buttermilk Chive Dressing

A bowl of wheat berry salad with spinach, feta, and mixed berries. - 14

A bowl of wheat berry salad with spinach, feta, and mixed berries. - 15

Spinach Blueberry Superfoods Salad

A colorful kale salad with mixed beans, seeds, and crumbled cheese. - 16

A colorful kale salad with mixed beans, seeds, and crumbled cheese. - 17

Twelve Superfoods Salad

A block of cream cheese on top of chicken and pasta in an Instant Pot. - 18

Storage

Have leftovers? Not to worry. This cheesy pasta dinner recipe keeps airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Reheat it gently in the microwave.

Broccoli on top of creamy chicken and pasta in an Instant Pot. - 19

Large Skillet Favorites

Anytime you’re cooking and then mixing together a pound of pasta, a pound of chicken, and many ounces worth of cream cheese and cheese, you want to make sure you have a skillet or pot big enough for the job! In this case, in case you’re not using an Instant Pot , here are my 3 favorite large skillets:

LeCrueset 11.75-inches with Lid . The lid isn’t completely necessary for this recipe, but it’s a nice touch when you’re trying to get the cheese and cream cheese to melt by covering it.

All-Clad D5 Stainless Steel Essential Pan, 4-Quart . Another one that is a workhorse and my favorite thing to make in this pan is Chicken Pad Thai because it holds a ton!

Overhead image of Instant Pot chicken and broccoli pasta. - 20

For this recipe I use the classic 6-quart Instant Pot which was the original model. However, if you have the newer 8-quart it’ll work just fine. Other brands of pressure cookers will also work. I designed the recipe for use with the actual Instant Pot brand since it’s the most popular with my readers but you can improvise and adapt if you have another brand of pressure cooker.

You sure can! Make it on the stove by following what I outline above in the post body or in the recipe card.

I know it’s tempting to use other types of pasta shapes because you’re thinking, pasta is pasta, right? Well, not so fast. That’s because different sizes and shapes of pasta cook at much different rates. Angel hair pasta cooks in a fraction of the time of penne pasta which cooks much quicker than lasagna noodles or ziti. The recipe was tested using penne pasta so to be safe, use penne pasta.

I recommend using fresh broccoli florets. Frozen broccoli will be much mushier in the finished dish and it’s not a texture I enjoy so use fresh broccoli.

The vegetable star of the show in this recipe is broccoli. However, if you want to also add cauliflower, zucchini, small halved Brussels sprouts, sugar snap peas, sliced carrots, or whatever you’re into, you can give them a try. Or mix-and-match the vegetables. Some veggies may work better than others for cooking through completely but not becoming mushy so just be mindful in your selections – no potatoes, they won’t cook through! No

If you want to use boneless chicken thighs in place of boneless skinless chicken breasts, that’s fine. Thigh meat will probably take a bit longer to cook through than breast meat. However, it’s diced in bite-sized pieces which makes everything cook so much faster regardless

Instant Pot Chicken Broccoli Pasta. - 21

Troubleshooting Tips

We aren’t perfect and neither is cooking. If things happen to go awry, here are some common culprits and how to fix it:

Dry, hard, or undercooked pasta – means there was too much pasta AND/OR too little liquid.
To Fix – You could correct this by adding more liquid, sealing the machine, and cooking again until the pasta cooks through by absorbing the available liquid. However, it gets tricky to know how much liquid to add and how long additionally to pressure cook.
Very soupy pasta and chicken mixture – means that you added too much liquid AND/OR not enough pasta and all the liquid wasn’t necessary and wasn’t absorbed during the cooking process and some is still floating around with the pasta and chicken.
To Fix – You can correct this by allow the mixture to cook a bit more. I would saute it all, uncovered, to encourage the excess liquid to boil off as steam. However, you run the risk of drying out the chicken a bit.
Bottom Line – Measure correctly and exactly , set your Instant Pot to the recommended times , and simply follow the recipe the first time you make it before attempting to change it or make substitutions.

Collage of Instant Pot Chicken Broccoli Pasta images. - 22

Instant Pot Chicken Broccoli Pasta Pinterest image. - 23

Equipment

1 (6-Quart) Instant Pot

Ingredients

▢ 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
▢ 2 teaspoons smoked paprika , regular paprika may be substituted
▢ 1 teaspoon garlic powder
▢ 1 teaspoon onion powder
▢ 1 teaspoon mustard powder , the dry or ground seasoning, not actual liquid mustard
▢ 1 teaspoon salt , or to taste
▢ 1 teaspoon ground pepper , or to taste
▢ 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast , diced into bite-sized pieces
▢ 1 pound penne pasta , dry, uncooked
▢ 4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
▢ 4 ounces full-fat cream cheese , brick-style; not spreadable, whipped, lite, or fat-free
▢ 4 cups fresh broccoli florets , diced into bite-sized pieces
▢ 1 cup heavy cream , half-and-half may be substituted but don’t use any lower fat percentage dairy
▢ ½ cup Colby Jack cheese , shredded
▢ ¼ cup Parmesan cheese , plus more for garnishing if desired
▢ ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes , optional for garnishing
▢ Fresh basil , optional for garnishing

Instructions

To a 6-quart Instant Pot (or 8-quart Instant Pot or similar type of pressure cooker* See Notes for Stovetop Directions), turn it on to Saute mode, add the butter and allow it to melt.
While the butter is melting, to a large ziptop bag, add add the spices and seasonings, salt, pepper, add the chicken, seat the bag, and shake the chicken around with the seasonings to coat evenly.
To the melted butter, add the chicken and saute uncovered for 2 minutes; stir and flip very frequently.
Add the uncooked penne pasta, pour the chicken broth over it, and stir to combine.
Put the lid on the IP, making sure the vent is sealed.
Set the IP to HIgh Pressure for 3 minutes. Tip – It’ll take a few minutes for the IP to come up to pressure and the food will be cooking while this is happening so even though it’s only cooks for 3 minutes once it’s at the correct pressure, it is still cooking in the ramping-up-to-pressure stage.
When the timer finishes, do a quick release, and carefully open the IP. Cautionary Tips – I knock open the valve with the end of a wooden spoon, and with hot mitts on both hands, and a kitchen towel shielding my hands and forearms, I open the pot lid. Use caution because the steam that’s coming out is extremely hot and can burn you so be very careful!
Turn the IP back to Saute mode, add the cream cheese, and push it down into the noodles and bury it in the hot noodles to help encourage it to melt. Place the lid back on for 2 minutes.
After 2 minutes, turn the IP off, and open the lid.
Add the broccoli, stir to combine, place the lid back on, and allow it all to just sit there, machine off but with the lid on, for 5 minutes to allow the broccoli to steam.
After 5 minutes, open the lid, add the heavy cream, both cheeses, stir to combine, and continue stirring to help encourage the cheeses to melt, and for the the cream to warm up. Taste and make any desired flavor adjustment such as more salt, pepper, etc.
Garnish optionally with addtional Parmesan, red pepper flakes, and/or basil as desired before serving. Leftovers will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 4 months. Reheat gently in the microwave.

Notes

In a very large skillet, melt the butter (or you can use 2 tablespoons olive oil instead), add the chicken, add the seasonings (or shake the chicken and seasonings all together in a ziplock beforehand like in the Instant Pot method), and saute over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring and flipping the chicken intermittently to cook evenly. Allow it to rest in the skillet when it’s done.
While the chicken is sauteing, get started boiling the penne pasta separately in a pot of water and cook it according to package directions
In the last 3 minutes, add the broccoli florets.
Drain the water when the pasta is al dente . Reserve 3 cups of pasta water. This is going to take the place of the chicken stock in the IP version.
Add the drained pasta and broccoli to the skillet with the chicken, add the cream cheese, heavy cream, Colby Jack, Parm, and stir to combine and
Allow the cheeses to melt.
Depending on how thin or thick you like your sauce, add the reserved pasta water, a little bit at a time, and stirring as you go. Tip – You will probably only use 1 to 2 cups, max.
Taste, make any necessary seasoning adjustments, garnish as desired, and serve!

Nutrition

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.

↓ Click the Stars to Rate This Recipe ↓

Tried this recipe? Leave a review!

Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes!

More Easy Chicken and Pasta Recipes:

Lemon Butter Garlic Chicken Pasta — Buttery pasta with juicy chicken, flavored with lemon butter and garlic, and finished with Parmesan cheese! A family-friendly dinner recipe that’s ready in 20 minutes and it’s so EASY!

Chicken Chorizo Pasta — Tender pasta shells are mixed with chorizo and seasoned shredded chicken in a cream cheese and tomato based sauce for a truly FLAVORFUL comfort food dinner recipe! Ready in 45 minutes, EASY, and with just the right amount of heat to have everyone asking for seconds!

Parmesan Chicken and Spinach Pasta – EASY and ready in 20 minutes with comforting pasta, juicy chicken, a hint of lemon, and the PERFECT amount of Parmesan! Great for busy weeknights and the extra is good for meal prepping!

Parmesan Chicken and Spinach Pasta. - 26

Parmesan Pesto Chicken Penne — EASY, ready in 20 minutes, and every piece of tender chicken and pasta is coated in fresh pesto sauce and parmesan cheese! Great for easy weeknight dinners, planned leftovers, or for parties because it feeds a crowd!

Lemon Pepper Chicken Pasta — EASY and ready in 15 minutes with comforting pasta, juicy chicken, and there is so much ZESTY flavor from the lemon, basil, and spinach! A family favorite that’s perfect for busy weeknights!

Lemon Pepper Basil Chicken and Pasta. - 28

Honey Lemon Chicken Pasta – Ready in 20 minutes, making it the perfect weeknight meal! Pair with a simple salad or veggies and extra lemon wedges to amp up the lemon flavor. Your family will love this easy pasta recipe!

Honey Lemon Chicken Pasta in skillet with lemon wedges. - 29

One-Bag Lemon Chicken and Pasta – An EASY lemon chicken and pasta recipe that’s family-friendly and perfect for busy weeknights! Everything cooks in ONE bag! The chicken is juicy, the pasta is tender, and cleanup is a breeze!

Chicken Asparagus Pasta — EASY, ready in 20 minutes, and the asparagus, tomatoes, and basil keep this chicken and pasta recipe tasting LIGHTER and FRESHER!

Mediterranean Lemon Chicken Pasta Salad – This chicken pasta salad is loaded with flavor, ready in minutes, and showcases Mediterranean-inspired ingredients! It’s perfect for summer potlucks and barbecues (no mayo!) and feeds a crowd. Or make it as an EASY family dinner with planned leftovers!

Mediterranean Lemon Chicken Pasta Salad. - 32