Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo
by Chungah
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A one pot, no fuss, no babysitting dinner! Even the uncooked pasta cooks right in the IP, soaking up all that creamy goodness!
Featured Comment
reasons to make instant pot chicken alfredo
- Super speedy dinner. With a short ingredient list with pantry staples, this homemade alfredo comes together very quickly in just 30 min, start to finish. Perfect for busy weeknights that the whole family will love, even the little ones will gobble this up!
- No babysitting, no fuss. Thanks to the Instant Pot, this is truly a one pot dinner where even the uncooked pasta gets cooked right in the IP soaking up all the saucy, cheesy goodness.
tips and tricks for success
- Choose a wine you will drink. A dry white wine (pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc) is great here – it does not have to be anything fancy or overpriced. Just something you don’t mind sipping on since you will have an open bottle.
- Use good-quality stock. The better quality your stock, the better your alfredo sauce. Many brands love to pack in the salt so always opt for unsalted or a lower-sodium variety. Homemade stock is even better.
- Freshly grated cheese goes a long way. While pre-grated Parmesan cheese will save a few minutes in the kitchen, freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano or domestic Parmesan is ideal. This gives the favorited rich, nutty flavors of alfredo sauce, creating a smooth, creamy consistency.
- Mix it up. Swap out the fettuccine noodles for penne or rotini, use chicken breasts (or tenders) instead of thighs or add in some broccoli florets for sneaked-in veggies.
- Use a bigger Instant Pot when doubling. When doubling the recipe, opt for an 8-qt Instant Pot® instead to allow for enough room, filling just before the max line.
pro tip
Let the pressure naturally reduce for a few minutes.
Letting it sit for about 5 minutes will help avoid a sudden burst of starchy water from the release valve.
what to serve with chicken alfredo
Tools For This Recipe
6-qt Instant Pot®
Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, chicken breasts can absolutely be used here but chicken thighs have more dark meat and a higher fat content which will yield juicier, more flavorful chicken.
Additional chicken stock can be used for white wine as a non-alcoholic substitute.
Heavy cream (or heavy whipping cream) has one of the highest fat contents with about 36-40% fat. Half and half or whole milk are suitable substitutes, but will yield a lighter result.
Penne or rotini would work very well here!
Pasta is very starchy, causing foam to spray from the valve. Natural release for 5 minutes first, then carefully pulse the steam release valve to allow the foam to settle until the pressure is fully released.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, adding a splash of chicken stock as needed when reheating.
Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 8 ounces fettuccini noodles, broken in half
- 3 ounces freshly grated Parmesan
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Season chicken with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
- Set a 6-qt Instant Pot® to the high saute setting. Melt butter; add chicken, and cook, stirring often, until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute; set aside chicken.
- Stir in wine, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Stir in chicken stock, heavy cream and pasta; top with chicken. Select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 6 minutes. When finished cooking, natural-release for 5 minutes first, then quick-release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions.
- Stir pasta; let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until half the liquid has reduced, about 3 minutes.
- Stir in Parmesan until melted, about 1 minute; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Equipment
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This was amazing. I made a mistake and put the pasta in before using the pressure cooker setting. I stopped it, pulled out the pasta then restarted it. It still turned out wonderful. The entire family loved it.
You’re supposed to pressure cook the pasta.
I have all these ingredients in the pantry and this looks amazing. I’m wondering if it can be done with a crock pot? Would anyone have any suggestions to adjust to crockpot or stove?
Your blog is amazing… And such awesome photos and recipes! Chicken Alfredo looks super delicious! Waiting to try! Can you suggest a replacement for white wine…
Chicken or vegetable broth.
Sounds delicious! I can’t wait to try it. Even though I am an excellent cook taught by my mom and that meant everything had to be made from scratch cause that’s the way she taught herself. Honestly I don’t know any other way but I want to learn other ways and try new recipes. I want to cook this in my new pot called an 8 quart pressure cooker if I can. Its a gift and I’m not sure if I know how to use it compared to home canners which I have no problem using. Can I use it to make this recipe?
Yes
Sounds delicious! I will try it. Even though I am an excellent old fashioned cook only by scratch cook cause that’s the way my mama taught me, I don’t know any other way but I want to try new recipes. I want to cook this in my new pot called an 8 quart pressure cooker if I can. Its a brand new gift and I’ve never heard of such a thing. Can I do it with this recipe?
Great recipe! Made this with chicken breast and added broccoli. I also used light cream because I didn’t have regular and the sauce still came out great. I cooked the broccoli separately and stirred it in at the end. Super easy, will definitely make it again!
I don’t know what exactly happened, but this was the first recipe I tried to make in my IP…and it burned. I used medium frozen chicken breasts so I set the cook time on manual to 13 min. It seemed to vent steam from the very beginning, it never started the countdown timer, and after 20 minutes I got the dreaded “burn” message. Most of the food was inedible; I ate one very dry chicken breast that didn’t have too much burnt sauce on it. Help?
If it let off steam during the cooking time, you must not have had it sealed. Either your vent was open or you didn’t have the seal inside the lid or something. And since it never counted down, it must not have come to full pressure, which makes sense if it wasn’t properly sealed. Then, because you lost steam, you lost liquid and that’s why it burned and was dry. Also, you didn’t need to increase the cook time for frozen chicken. It just would have taken longer to come to pressure.
But don’t give up! Once you get the hang of it, using the pressure cooker is great!
So quick, easy and delicious! My quarantine kitchen adaptations were: chicken breasts, rotini, pre-shredded Parmesan/Fontina/Asiago cheese mixture, and I added a little more chicken stock to replace the white wine (I’m sure the sauce would be even better with that!) Thanks for another great InstantPot recipe.
Can I double this recipe in an 8qt? Would I need to change the cooking time? Thank you!
I made this tonight and it was amazing. I used chicken breasts because that’s all I had. Otherwise, I followed the recipe, exactly as written. If I had broccoli in the house I would have cooked It and added it at the last second. This is a quick, easy, amazing meal.
I love this site and your recipes!
How can fettuccine cook in 3 min when it’s not under pressure, and takes 9 min to cook in boiling water?
Really? You might need to read the cooking directions again because the directions are very clear.
This was great! Both my kids ate it and said they would eat it again!
Never made pasta in the instant pot before. It all stuck together and the dairy curdled. So make sure you don’t try to substitute the heavy cream. I used evaporated milk which should have been fine. Flavor was fine. Luckily the kids believed me when I said the curdled milk was extra cheese. I used chicken breasts since that’s what I had in the fridge. I might try pasta on top since it stuck to the bottom and I got the burn message.
The pictures and the overall recipe look amzsing and I just can’t wait to try it
This looks yummy! Can I use frozen chicken breasts? How long would you set time at? Thank you!
Can this be frozen?
I’m obsessed with this recipe! It was one of the first things I tried out using my instant pot and now it is my go-to alfredo recipe. I add a little condensed flour and heavy cream at the very end to thicken the sauce a bit.
One of my girlfriends is coming over tonight and I want to make it but she does not eat chicken so I was going to use shrimp. Has anybody tried this? I know shrimp cooks quickly so I was thinking of cooking it separately and throwing it in at the very end. Any ideas?
This looks delicious – can I use half and half if I don’t have heavy cream?
I used half and half and though it tasted okay – the cream curdled and it didn’t look very nice. I had to add a little bit of butter for flavor and some flour to thicken.
Taste was great but the cream curdled. I used half & half so maybe that was the problem?? Flavor was great but the sauce was a little thin.
Can’t wait to try this recipe! It looks so good and making with Instant pot must be very easy, thank you so much!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing! I used chicken breasts and bowtie pasta (b/c #quarantinelife). I did have to let it simmer on saute after pressure cooking to further reduce the sauce beyond just letting it sit for 3 minutes, but once I did that it was perfect! We threw in a handful of spinach at the end for a veggie. My husband’s words after trying two bites were “when are we making this again?” Thank you for an awesome recipe!
Made this for dinner tonight, and it was so delicious! Will definitely make this again
Directions for this recipe for the stove, thanks
Hi. This recipe looks delicious! Can I use whole-wheat pasta?