How to Cook Pasta in the Instant Pot
Ever wondered How to Cook Pasta in the Instant Pot? We're sharing everything you need to know to make virtually any shape of pasta quickly in the Instant Pot!
Ingredients
- 12 to 16 ounces dried pasta
- Big pinch of salt
- Water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil optional, see note
Instructions
- Add any pasta (at least 12 ounces but no more than 16 ounces) to the liner of your Instant Pot. Add enough water to nearly cover the pasta (a few pieces of pasta sticking above the water line is ok). Add in salt, and oil, if using.
- Close the lid and set the valve to sealing.
- Cooking on high pressure for 0 (zero) minutes with a 3-minute natural release (see note about gluten-free pasta).
- Release the pressure. If at any point starchy liquid starts to come out of the knob, close the knob for 20 seconds. Then release the pressure again. Repeat closing the knob if necessary until all the pressure has been released.
- Stir the pasta immediately and use as desired. You can drain the pasta and use in any recipe, or you can keep the starchy water to use to help make a sauce for the pasta.
Notes
Do you normally add oil in with your boiling pasta? If yes, it's safe to add it in here too.
If using gluten-free pasta, especially brown rice pasta, let the pressure naturally release for only 2 minutes. Gluten-free pasta appears to have the biggest problem with starchy water releasing from the pressure knob. Because of this, you’ll need to close the valve usually at least once or twice when you are releasing the pressure, to prevent the starch water from spraying out of the release valve, so the overall cooking time will increase a bit since it takes longer to release the pressure.
In addition, gluten-free pasta leaves very starchy water behind. For most recipes, it is too starchy, and the pasta should be rinsed before using. But this is based on your preference.
If your pasta is too long to fit in the Instant Pot, such as spaghetti, simply break it in half.
This recipe was tested on 3 different Instant Pots. We know that there are a few models out there with a different pressure release valve that has a plastic cover on it. We have not tested this recipe with that valve, and are unsure of how it works. This recipe relies on the ability to control the pressure release, as needed.