Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti is scrumptious and easy to make. Essentially it's a dump-and-go recipe. Chock full of chicken, cheese, and other fabulous ingredients, this dish is hearty and filling.
My son always loved spaghetti. What kid doesn't? Well, he loved it, even more, when I switched up the tomato sauce to a creamy and cheesy sauce. Ken and Patrick gobbled this recipe in a record amount of time.
Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti
What is cheesy chicken spaghetti you ask? Well, it's similar to Mexican spaghetti I would say. Creamy sauce instead of tomato-based sauce, and chicken instead of ground beef or ground sausage. This recipe tastes nothing like traditional spaghetti but my oh my is it delicious.
Ingredients
This pressure cooker recipe requires a handful of ingredients but you should also have most of these ingredients on hand. One of the highlights of this recipe is that it's pantry-friendly!
- spaghetti noodles
- chicken breasts
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- Italian seasoning
- honey barbecue sauce
- diced tomatoes
- heavy whipping cream
- cheddar cheese
- Parmesan cheese
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Ready to make this family-friendly recipe? Follow these eight simple steps and you will have a delicious and tasty meal that your kids are going to love.
Step 1: Fill the instant pot
Place spaghetti into your Instant Pot in a criss-cross pattern. Add water. Place trivet above spaghetti.
Step 2: Season the chicken breast
In a large mixing bowl, combine chicken, olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon onion powder, and ½ tablespoon Italian seasoning. Stir until chicken is evenly coated.
Step 3: Cook the chicken and pasta
Place lid on and pressure on high for 6 minutes. Allow natural pressure release for 10 minutes, then quick release. Remove chicken. Brush with BBQ sauce, cut into small chunks, and set aside. Strain pasta.
Step 4: Stain the tomatoes
While still in the strainer, add diced tomatoes to the pasta. Stir, allowing the tomato juice to strain as well.
Step 5: Make the cream sauce
Pour heavy whipping cream into your empty pot with ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, ½tsp garlic powder, ½ teaspoon onion powder, and ½ tablespoon Italian seasoning. Saute on high.
Step 6: Add the cheddar cheese
Next, add 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese. Stir contents together and allow to cook for 3 minutes.
Step 7: Add remaining cheese
Add remaining 1 cup of cheese and stir together. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Allow to cook and thicken for about 5 minutes.
Step 8: finish the dish
Continue stirring often. Add pasta and tomatoes. Stir together until the pasta is coated with sauce. Add chicken and serve!
Substitutions
Don't have the correct ingredients on hand? Or want to change something up? Here are some helpful tips for you to change this Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti Recipe.
- Rotel- want to add a spicy kick to your chicekn spaghetti use rotel instead of diced tomatoes. If you are usiing rotel don't drain it.
- BBQ Sauce - Out of bbq sauce? Skip it all together your dish will still turn out great.
- Milk - don't have heavy whipping cream? use milk in it's place.
Variations
Want to personalize this cheesy chicken spaghetti recipe? Here are some of my tried and true tips for changing up this recipe.
- Spicy - add chili pepper flakes to your sauce to add even more of a kick.
- Chicken- boneless skinless chicken thighs will work for this recipe if you are out of chicken breast
If you love recipes like this, you may also enjoy this Instant Pot cheesy broccoli rice recipe.
Equipment
You only need four kitchen tools to help you make this family-friendly Instant Pot casserole recipe. Once you make this recipe you will want to add this to your regular meal plan rotation.
- instant pot
- spoon
- trivet
- collander
Storage
Do you have leftover chicken spaghetti? That's an amazing feat, as we never have leftovers in our house. Have no fear, you can store the leftovers in the fridge in an air-tight container for up to three days.
Tips
Want to make sure that your recipe turns out well? Here are my best tips for this Instant Pot recipe.
- If your chicken breasts are extra thick you may need to add some cooking time at the end of making this recipe, or chop them up very small.
- Have leftover rotisserie chicken? Use that shredded and skip the steps about cooking the chicken. Just make sure you still cook the pasta!
FAQ
Do you have questions about instant pot cheesy chicken spaghetti? Here are some of the most commonly asked questions about this kid-friendly instant pot recipe.
Reheat leftovers in the microwave for one to two images or until completely warm.
Sadly, no this recipe requires too much dairy to be frozen.
Yes! You will want to cook the chicken and the pasta separately and then combine and cook the sauce but making this old-fashioned cheesy chicken recipe on the stovetop is possible.
Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti Video
More Instant Pot Recipes
Do you like Instant Pot recipes? Here are some recipes you may also like to try
Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti
Ready to get cooking? Remember that you can print this recipe if you would like.
Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti
Equipment
- Instant Pot
- trivet for instant pot
Ingredients
- ½ lb spaghetti uncooked
- 4 cups water
- 4 chicken breast boneless and skinless
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt divided
- ½ teaspoon pepper divided
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder divided
- 1 teaspoon onion powder divided
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning divided
- ¼ cup honey BBQ sauce
- 14 oz diced tomatoes
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Gather and measure all the ingredients.
- Place spaghetti into your Instant Pot in a crisscross pattern.
- Add water.
- Place trivet in above the spaghetti.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon onion powder, and ½ tablespoon Italian seasoning.
- Add chicken and adjust until chicken is evenly-coated.
- Place chicken on the trivet above the pasta.
- Put lid on and pressure on high for 6 minutes.
- Allow natural pressure release for 10 minutes, then quick release.
- Remove chicken.
- Brush with BBQ sauce.
- Cut into small chunks, and set aside.
- Strain pasta.
- While still in the strainer, add diced tomatoes to the pasta. Stir, allowing the tomato juice to strain as well.
- Pour heavy whipping cream into your empty pot with ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon onion powder, and ½ tablespoon Italian seasoning.
- Saute on high.
- Next, add 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese. Stir contents together and allow to cook for 3 minutes.
- Add remaining cup of cheese and stir together.
- Bring to a boil, stirring often. Allow to cook and thicken for about 5 minutes. Continue stirring often.
- Add pasta and tomatoes.
- Stir together until pasta is coated with sauce.
- Add chicken.
- Serve.
- Enjoy every bite.
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