Who knew you could make a version of a Instant Pot chicken parmigiana? I was able to cut down the cooking time, make a little bit “healthier”, and make it often in my home. Besides my Instant Pot cheesy chicken and pasta dish, this is one of my nephew’s and Angela’s favorite dish for me to make time and time again. Which I don’t mind because it’s so easy to make, and they clean their plates.
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You’re going to love my instant pot chicken parmigiana. I’m calling it instant pot chicken parmigiana light because the chicken tenderloins aren’t breaded, so you are getting a few less calories in your diet. Lawd knows that the pasta has enough of those yummy thigh stretching calories.
If you can’t tell yet, I’ve fallen in love with my Instant Pot. I have made 5 meals out of this past week! It’s a great time saver for busy people like myself. I love that I can put frozen chicken into the Instant Pot, and then 15 minutes later its done and ready to be served to my family.
So Many Questions about this Recipe (FAQs)
I made this meal in approximately under 30 minutes from start to finish (including time for your Instant Pot to come to pressure). The Instant Pot still amazes me with it’s functionality and helping feed my huge brood. Now that you’ve seen the pictures, let’s get to that recipe!
Can I use Other Types of Pasta?
This is a touchy question, but the general answer is yes…you can. BUT when swapping out pastas, you want to make sure that they have about the same density to pasta. Thinner pasta cooks faster and will overcook, so I wouldn’t use pasta like mafala, angel hair, shells, or elbow, for example.
With that being stated, you can definitely replace the pasta with a linguini, penne, and even lasagna noodles (You can break the sheets of lasagna noodles).
Can I use dark meat chicken instead of white meat?
Yes, you can! The only difference is that the meat can NOT be on the bone or have skin. Remove it from the bone and cube it. Skinless and boneless thigh meat is a great alternative to use in this dish.
The dark meat chicken doesn’t need extra time to cook, so there’s no need to worry about that! I love an easy one pot meal!
It’s a Great One Pot Pasta Dish
Whenever you have hungry bellies, and you don’t want to dirty every pot in the kitchen, or maybe you don’t want to use your stove – that’s when you can rely on your Instant Pot! It makes a great one pot pasta dish in no time!
Plus, you don’t have to worry about a mess in the kitchen sink. I love an easy peasy one pot recipe like this!
Can You use Gluten Free Pasta?
Okay, so this is a super tricky question…because you CAN use Gluten Free pasta, but the cooking times are so different. You would have to cook the chicken until it is almost done. Then you can add in your heartier Gluten Free pasta.
Then for cooking time, I would reduce it to cooking for only 2 minutes on Manual Pressure. Gluten free pasta is NOTORIOUS for turning into a mushy texture if it’s overcooked.
Instant Pot Chicken Parmigiana Light Recipe Ingredients
2 chicken breast – cubed
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
6 cups of your favorite pasta sauce
1 cup of grated parmesan
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
16 oz rigatoni pasta
2 cups of shredded mozzarella
More Instant Pot Recipes You’ll Love:
- Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Pasta
- Instant Pot Tex Mex Chili
- Instant Pot Pinto Beans and Bacon
- Instant Pot Monkey Bread
- Instant Pot Apple Cheesecake
Yield: 8
Instant Pot Chicken Parmigiana
You'll love how simple and delicious my Instant Pot Chicken parmigiana is to make!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Additional Time10 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breast - cubed
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 6 cups of your favorite pasta sauce
- 1 cup of grated parmesan
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 16 oz rigatoni pasta
- 2 cups of shredded mozzarella
Instructions
- Heat oil in the pot on SAUTE mode, and add chicken cubes. Cook for a few minutes, the chicken does not need to cook through as we will pressure cook it later.
- Add the pasta over the chicken. Then add chicken broth and be sure to scrape off any bits from the bottom that might have gotten stuck. Then you can add your pasta sauce, pepper flakes, salt, garlic powder, thyme, and oregano. DO NOT STIR! Leave ingredients layered as is.
- Close and lock lid, and be sure to set to sealing. Press MANUAL Button or PRESSURE COOK (this depends on what model of Instant Pot you’re using), and then set the timer at 5 minutes. Allow the Instant Pot to come to pressure.
- Once it’s done, do a Quick Pressure Release. It’s important to do a QPR, otherwise, the pasta will be overcooked. Remove lid and dd parmesan cheese, give it a stir and you're ready to serve!
- Serve with shredded mozzarella cheese on top.
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