Instant Pot Marry Me Pasta
All the crave-worthy flavors of Marry Me pasta are made even easier with this Instant Pot version. Even the pasta cooks in the Instant Pot!
Serve this incredible pasta with a green salad and garlic bread (or breadsticks!) for an easy meal that tastes like you put in far more effort than you actually did.
Why You Should Make This Pasta ASAP
Are you familiar with the flavors of “Marry Me” pasta? This super popular pasta marries together the delicious flavors of: sun-dried tomatoes, basil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and cream.
The flavor profile alone is enough to make it, but here are a couple other reasons why this pasta should go on your menu plan immediately:
- This meal is completely hands-off while the pasta cooks. You don’t need to watch over a boiling pot of water or drain the pasta or worry about it sticking together. Literally, the Instant Pot handles it all.
- The recipe is fast and easy enough for a weeknight. Pasta cooks VERY quickly in the Instant Pot. The longest part of this recipe is waiting for the Instant Pot to come up to pressure.
- This recipe has really good roots. I took all the good parts of this Instant Pot ziti recipe to create this Marry Me pasta version and improved it even more so that you can completely avoid the dreaded “burn” warning.
- You won’t even miss the meat. The creamy sauce, Parmesan, and hearty pasta make this a delicious, filling meal even without meat.
Pro Tip: You can easily stir in cooked, chopped chicken at the end. Rotisserie chicken meat works great, or while the pasta cooks, season bite-size pieces of chicken breasts, thighs or tenders, and cook in a bit of olive oil in a skillet until golden and cooked through.
Rule of Thumb for Cooking Pasta in the Instant Pot:
- Always add at least one cup of liquid with the pasta.
- Take the al dente cooking time on the pasta package, cut the time in half and subtract two minutes. For example: if the al dente cook time is 12 minutes, the Instant Pot cook time will be 4 minutes.
- Don’t let the pressure naturally release all the way or the pasta will be over cooked.
Keep In Mind…
➡️ For this recipe, the broth, pasta, seasonings, and sun-dried tomatoes cook together in the first step. After the cook time is done, release the pressure and stir in the Parmesan cheese and half-and-half mixture.
➡️ When you first take the lid off the Instant Pot, you may be a bit underwhelmed. The pasta and sun-dried tomatoes may look a bit stodgy. But after the cheese and creamy ingredients are stirred in, this pasta transforms into an absolute vat of creamy pasta goodness.
➡️ This pasta is best served pretty quickly after serving for optimal creaminess.
My family goes crazy over the Instant Pot ziti recipe (which I make all.the.time), and we are all thrilled to have another version to change things up a bit.
I’ve yet to get the burn warning for this Instant Pot Marry Me pasta, and the flavors are seriously just so yummy. Make this one soon!
What to Serve With This:
- 1-Hour Breadsticks or Cheesy Breadsticks
- Green salad or this Harvest Apple Salad or this Caesar Salad
- Skillet Green Beans
Instant Pot Marry Me Pasta
Ingredients
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- Pinch black pepper
- 16 ounces penne pasta
- 1 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes, patted dry (one 4.4-ounce jar)
- 1 cup half-and-half or heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ to 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Lightly grease the insert of a 6-quart Instant Pot.
- Add the chicken broth, basil, salt, oregano, garlic powder, and black pepper.
- Add the pasta and sun-dried tomatoes. Gently stir and flatten out (don’t aggressively stir).
- Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes (to figure out the exact cooking time, take the al dente cooking time on the package, cut in half and subtract an additional 2 minutes).
- Let the pressure naturally release for 5 to 10 minutes and then quick release the remaining pressure.
- Stir the pasta to break it apart a bit and recombine the ingredients.
- Whisk together the half-and-half and cornstarch and stir into the hot pasta (see note). Add the Parmesan cheese and stir until melted and well-combined.
- Serve immediately. Pasta will continue to thicken as it rests.
- Garnish servings with additional chopped sun-dried tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, and fresh basil, if desired.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
Finally had a chance to make this, it was easy, quick, and delicious. This will be on rotation from now!
Yay for making the rotation!
No words can quite explain how much I loved this! It’s crazy how fantabulous this tasted for how little effort was required. I used mini penne and threw in some rotisserie chicken and it was exquisite. The flavors were simply gorgeous. Perfect for meal prepping.
Thanks for the comment and review, Parker!
I love the Instant Pot alfredo pasta, but this is even better! My husband isn’t the biggest fan of pasta, but he really liked this! It isn’t often he tells me I should make a pasta dish again, but he did with this one! The favor was so good!! Super easy to make! I added rotisserie chicken when I added the cream and parmesan cheese, and it was the perfect meal! This will definitely be going into our regular meal rotation!
Thanks, Jen!!
Is it really 1 cup sundried tomatoes which equals 4.4 Oz jar? I’m looking at a 8.5 Oz jar 5.3 dry it. And that looks like 1 cup to me. When you say 4.4 Oz are you referring to the dry weight?
*Dry wt(weight)
I use a 4.4-ounce (sometimes can be labeled as 4.5-ounce) jar for this and it gives me a loosely packed 1 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes. You could definitely add more if you like though!
This was phenomenal. You really must make it if you haven’t yet. Thank you for the recipe!
Thanks for the review, Kristen – so, so happy you liked this!
This recipe was so easy – and forgiving! I accidentally almost doubled the chicken bouillon (I thought I was using a half teaspoon but it was a full 😅 – I scooped some out and skipped the salt). I used Costco jarred sundried tomatoes and was too impatient to pat them dry so just strained off the oil as well as I could and called it good. And I’m dairy-free, so I used plant-based heavy cream and a solid shake of nutritional yeast in place of parmesan. Served with optional spinach, chicken nuggets, bacon bits, real parmesan, and hot sauce for the family. Everyone found a way to eat it that they liked! I’ll make it again doing a better job of following the instructions 🙂
P.S. if you ever need a dairy-free recipe tester, I volunteer as tribute!
Kensie, you are amazing! I so appreciate the dairy-free details and know others will, too. Thank you!! Be careful what you offer – I might take you up on that!!
Hi Mel!
I made this last week and I am happy to report my husband of 33 years agreed to stay married to me haha!
I cut the amount of pasta in half and added half the broth – kept the other ingredients the same. I cooked 2 chicken breasts in a pan using some of the sun dried tomato oil while the pasta cooked. I think I would add 1 more minute to the cook time – my pasta was a little too al dente, but after stirring it and adding the cream, it cooked more in the hot liquid – just some of the pasta on top was a little undercooked. I sliced the chicken and served it on the side. Yum! Thanks again for another wonderful IP recipe!
Hahaha, well that’s a relief, Patricia!! 🙂 I’m so happy you both loved this and thank you very much for including your changes for halving the recipe and adding chicken. You’re the best!
I love the instant pot ziti – it’s one of our go to recipes! This one turned out soupy for me even after adding the cheese and cream/cornstarch mixture. Any suggestions??
Hi Cheri – sorry to hear that. What type/brand of pasta did you use?
I should let it naturally release pressure right? In the beginning you say to release right away so it doesn’t overcook, but the directions below say natural release
Thanks for catching that, Heather…use the instructions in the recipe (I’ll edit the post). It helps to let the pressure naturally release for a few minutes so liquid doesn’t spurt from the valve.
I did not have sun-dried tomatoes, so I roasted two red peppers, cut up on a sheet pan, at 425 for 30 minutes, and tossed those in with meat from half a rotisserie chicken. It worked well and most of the family liked the peppers! I also put a few tbsp of tomato paste in the sauce to give the deep tomato flavor.
That sounds amazing, Stephanie! Thanks for detailing what you used in place of the tomatoes. Your other changes sound delicious, too!
This was so delish!!! Maybe even better than the baked ziti version!
Ok, ok!! Love to read this!
Make this now! So delicious and fast and easy. Definitely a crowd pleaser. So much flavor. I didn’t bother adding chicken or any other meat and my family didn’t mind, just raved and gave compliments.
I’m thrilled to read this, Wendy! Glad it was a hit with everyone.
Made it tonight and it was a hit! Even my meat eaters loved it! So delicious. Thank you so much for recipes Mel. We love every thing of yours that we make.
Thank you so much, Heidi!!
This was delicious! No one would suspect how ridiculously easy it is. I grated part of a wedge of Parmesan and added some fresh basil and served it with your rustic bread. Will definitely make again, next time I’ll probably add some chicken to change it up.
Thanks for the report, Stacey! Very happy you enjoyed it!
A yummy, quick, weeknight pasta! My family all liked this one (which is saying something, for a family of 7) and the Hubby loved it. Served with your air Fryer Chicken and some roasted asparagus – yummy!
That sounds like an absolutely dreamy meal, Kimmy. I appreciate you taking the time to comment and let me know what you guys thought about it!
Delicious! I love the instant pot ziti recipe so I was excited to try this. I used protein pasta, and it worked great.
Yay! Thanks for the report back, Hailey!
Ooh this looks so good. Any chance you’ll make it oven friendly instead of instant pot?
I’m not sure how this would work oven-baked…hopefully someone will give it a try and report back!
Printed version doesn’t have the title.
There was a glitch yesterday morning, but it’s fixed now.
I will be making this very soon!
The baked ziti is one of my favorite recipes on this website (we eat it SO OFTEN), I need another yummy pasta recipe to change things up a bit!
I am so excited to try this! My family absolutely loves your instant pot ziti.
Question: what do you do when you get the burn warning when you’re making something?
Hi Ashley, usually if the recipe starts with enough (thin) liquid, the burn warning doesn’t happen. And interestingly, it happens more often/less often depending on the Instant Pot. I have two 6-quart Instant Pots. One from WAY back when the IP first came out and a newer one I bought a few years ago. The newer Instant Pot gets the burn warning far more often with recipes my old IP never triggers the burn warning for…so all that to say is that it’s hard to totally figure out the burn warning. When I get it, I usually open the Instant Pot (make sure it hasn’t come to pressure), give it a good stir, scraping up whatever triggered the burn on the bottom, and then add more liquid if needed (reseal the lid and try cooking again).
Would love to try this with protein pasta- any tips?
Hi Heidi, you could experiment by taking the al dente cook time on the protein pasta, cutting it in half and then subtracting 1 to 2 more minutes. I haven’t used protein pasta frequently, so I’m not sure if it’ll work the same (i.e. if it absorbs liquid the same), but I think it stands a good chance of working out.
I use protein pasta, and it worked great. I cooked the 14.5oz barilla penne box for 3 min.
I don’t love sun dried tomatoes. Any ideas of what I could use as a substitution?
My family is going to be so excited! We make the instant pot ziti all the time and they will be thrilled to have a bit of variety! Making this asap!
Hope you love it, Sarah!
Gina, I would LOVE to cook this on the stovetop. Unfortunately, I don’t have an Instant Pot.
Hi Peggy, I have another instant pot pasta recipe that is wildly popular (this ziti one) and lots of people have made it on the stovetop. Here’s one comment from that post that may help: “I made this on the stovetop. Dumped everything in the pot at the start and simmered for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The pasta (I used ziti) seemed to cook slower than if I had boiled in just water. It was fantastic! Even the kids gobbled it up. Don’t think twice about cooking on the stovetop instead of instant pot if you don’t have one, like me.”
That could be a good starting place with this recipe. This Marry Me pasta has you adding the cream and cornstarch at the end (rather than cooking it all together), because in my testing, the cream curdled when adding to the Instant Pot at the beginning. But on the stovetop, you’ll need more liquid for cooking, so you may try adding the cream with all the other ingredients and reserving cornstarch at the end to add only if needed.
No reason I couldn’t cook this on the stovetop right?
Hi Gina! You absolutely could! I have another instant pot pasta recipe that is wildly popular (this ziti one) and lots of people have made it on the stovetop. Here’s one comment from that post that may help: “I made this on the stovetop. Dumped everything in the pot at the start and simmered for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The pasta (I used ziti) seemed to cook slower than if I had boiled in just water. It was fantastic! Even the kids gobbled it up. Don’t think twice about cooking on the stovetop instead of instant pot if you don’t have one, like me.”
That could be a good starting place with this recipe. This Marry Me pasta has you adding the cream and cornstarch at the end (rather than cooking it all together), because in my testing, the cream curdled when adding to the Instant Pot at the beginning. But on the stovetop, you’ll need more liquid for cooking, so you may try adding the cream with all the other ingredients and reserving cornstarch at the end to add only if needed.