This Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Pasta is pure comfort food with penne pasta and a cheesy creamy and delicious buffalo sauce. Best of all it takes less than 40 minutes to make.
If you enjoy Buffalo chicken, this is the recipe for you. We make a lot of different buffalo chicken recipes, like shredded buffalo chicken, because we’re a bit obsessed with it. Last year we perfected our recipe for Stovetop Buffalo Pasta, so we thought why not make it in the Instant Pot.
If you’ve never used your Instant Pot to make pasta, you’re really missing out on one of it’s top functions. In just 8 minutes, you can make perfect penne, ziti, farfalle, you name it. It takes just 6 minutes to make spaghetti.
So now my favorite method for making this Buffalo Chicken Pasta is in the Instant Pot. Dump everything in, set it to cook, stir and enjoy. It’s that simple.
» You might also like this Cheesy Taco Pasta and Instant Pot Stuffed Shells.
Ingredients You Need
- Cooking oil – I use olive oil. You can use any cooking oil you prefer.
- Onion – Use white or yellow onions. I often prefer to use sweet onions because I like their flavor and low bitterness.
- Celery – The perfect vegetable to use to add great aromatics and flavor.
- Garlic – Always use fresh garlic that hasn’t been kept in the refrigerator for too long. This has the best flavor and no bitterness that comes from older garlic.
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast – To save time, you can purchase cubed chicken pieces which you can just dump directly into the Instant Pot. You can also add the cubed chicken from frozen if you don’t have time to thaw it. It will just take one more minute to cook.
- Dried Penne – I like how the penne gets coated in the sauce, so I prefer it to other pastas, but feel free to use ziti, rigatoni, whatever you like.
- Crushed Tomatoes – Use a can of crushed tomatoes, which are already pureed into the right size so you don’t have large chunks of tomato, which you’ll get when using chopped tomatoes.
- Buffalo Sauce – I use Frank’s Red Hot Original sauce. There’s extra hot and Buffalo Wings sauce too, but the original is where it’s at.
- Cheese – We have use 2 kinds of cheese: Cream cheese and Mozzarella.
- Blue Cheese Dressing – If you are not a fan of Blue Cheese dressing you can substitute it for Ranch dressing.
I only buy pasture raised chicken and meats. I love Farm Foods Market online. They deliver hormone-free, non-GMO, antibiotic free chicken, plus all other types of meat, right to your door. You can order whatever you want, whenever you want – no membership or pre-selected box.
Equipment Needed
- Instant Pot – I use a 6-quart Instant Pot Duo Plus to make all of my recipes, but you can use any size or brand of electric pressure cooker. If you’re using an 8-quart pot, you will need to adjust the amount of liquid accordingly, as it requires more water to build steam.
Helpful Tips
- If you prefer more spice, you can amp up the heat with red pepper flakes. You can even add some sliced jalapeno peppers if you want.
- If you wish to add more vegetables, toss in some diced sweet bell pepper or diced carrots.
- If the sauce is a little thick, you can add a few tablespoons of water and stir it in to loosen it up a bit.
How To Store Leftover Chicken Buffalo Pasta
Refrigerate any leftover buffalo chicken pasta for up to five days in an air tight container. It’s great as leftovers! I don’t recommend freezing any leftovers, however because it doesn’t defrost properly due to the cheese. It will separate.
When you go to reheat your pasta, add a little dribble of water to the bowl and microwave for a minute or two. The water will help loosen up the sauce and make it creamy again.
Possible Substitutes To Make
If you don’t have raw chicken on hand, you can substitute with cooked chicken, however you’ll want to add it at the end, after the pasta is cooked, otherwise the chicken will cook again in the Instant Pot and become somewhat dry. This is a great way to use up leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken.
I prefer penne to other pasta because of the way it absorbs the sauce, but you can use ziti, bowties, or fusilli if that’s what you have on hand. Just make sure that you use dry pasta and not fresh or homemade because it won’t cook properly with this recipe. Also, long pastas like spaghetti or fettuccine doesn’t work well.
If you don’t like blue cheese, you can leave out the blue cheese dressing altogether or replace it with Ranch dressing. I really like the subtle blue cheese flavor. It reminds me of dipping buffalo chicken wings in dressing.
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Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Pasta
Note: Made in a 6-qt Instant Pot
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) cooking oil
- 1/3 cup (53 g) onion diced
- 1/4 cup (25 g) celery diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/2 pound (227 g) boneless skinless chicken breast chopped
- 1/2 pound (227 g) dried penne
- 1 can chopped tomatoes 15oz
- 1/3 cup (79 ml) buffalo sauce
- 2/3 cup (158 ml) water
- 4 ounces (113 g) cream cheese softened and cubed
- 1/2 cup (56 g) mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1/4 cup (59 ml) blue cheese dressing
- 1/2 teaspoon (1 g) red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Heat the oil in the Instant Pot on sauté mode. Once melted, add the onion and celery and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the chicken and saute for another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the garlic and saute another minute.
- Pour in the dried penne, then pour the tomatoes and buffalo sauce on top of the pasta. Don’t stir. Pour the water down the side of the pot so it flows under the pasta. Tip: using warm water will speed up the pressurizing time.
- Close the lid and set the valve to sealing. Press the pressure cook or manual button and set to cook for 8 minutes on high pressure. When the time is up, do a quick release of the pressure.
- Open the lid and stir the pasta. Add the cream cheese, mozzarella, and blue cheese dressing. Stir until the cheeses are melted and incorporated.
- Let it sit on Keep Warm for about 5 minutes, until the sauce is thickened. Serve while hot. Garnish with red pepper flakes, if desired.
Notes
- You can use other pasta besides penne, like rotini, farfalle, ziti, or rigatoni.
- If the sauce is a little loose, continue to cook on sauté mode until slightly thickened. It will continue to thicken when removed from the heat.
Nutrition
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Laura is a passionate home cook and the owner of A Pressure Cooker Kitchen. She is dedicated to helping people create delicious Instant Pot meals with ease. Laura is an expert at developing recipes that can be prepared quickly and easily using a pressure cooker.