Instant Pot Pasta with Sausage, Spinach, and Tomatoes – with video

A complete pasta dinner, made in your Instant Pot! You’ll love this Instant Pot Pasta with Sausage, Spinach, and Tomatoes. You might have all the ingredients on hand already! It’s healthy, satisfying, easy, and versatile, and you’re going to keep making it again and again! 

My Instant Pot is slowly but surely finding a permanent place on my countertop. It always gets used for making boiled eggs and shredded chicken. I also love Instant Pot sweet potatoes and Instant Pot mashed potatoes. What’s your favorite use for your pressure cooker?

Naturally, I’m looking for more ways to use it, and I’ve been getting so many requests from you guys! You wouldn’t believe how many people ask me for more Instant Pot recipes, so clearly I’m not the only one with an infatuation.

I’m nearly as obsessed with one pan pastas as I am with pressure cooker recipes, so it’s probably no surprise that the two recipe categories were going to collide at some point. That point is now. 

About this Instant Pot Pasta

This Instant Pot pasta is cheesy, creamy, filling, and so flavorful. Would you believe that (per my non-RD calculations), it only has around 300 calories per serving? You really can have it all with this pasta.

To keep this one pan pasta super filling and still nutritious, I use whole wheat pasta, turkey Italian sausage, and lots of spinach!

Tip: Prefer pork sausage? Go for it, but make sure to drain the grease off before adding the pasta and the rest of your ingredients.

Start by sautéing the sausage and onions right in the Instant Pot. Add garlic, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, and oregano. These ingredients together form a fantastic sauce for the pasta. Since the pasta cooks right in the sauce, you’re left with a naturally creamy sauce thanks to the starch from the pasta.

Of course, I like it even creamier, so we’re going to go ahead and melt some mozzarella in there. The cheese also thickens the sauce a bit which helps it cling to the pasta.

If you guys liked my other one pot pastas — copycat Healthy Hamburger Helper, One Pan Rigatoni with Creamy Tomato Sauce, or Taco Pasta, you’re going to love this one too! Lately, my new favorite is Vegetarian Orzo with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Spinach. So good!

Tip: In a hurry? If you want to take a couple of minutes off the cooking time, you can add the spinach right on top of the pasta before you pressure cook it instead of wilting it in at the end. Don’t stir it in (you want the pasta to be submerged in liquid), just set it on top before securing the lid. It won’t retain its bright green color quite as nicely but it will still taste great. I like to do it at the end because we eat with our eyes first, but really, it doesn’t make a difference in taste, so do what works for your schedule!

Make Ahead Ideas

Want to make this ahead of time or turn it into a freezer meal? I’ve done this and it tastes delicious! Here’s how you do it:

Make as directed and then pour into a greased 9×13 inch pan. Top with more mozzarella cheese (1/4-1/2 cup) and cover with foil. Freeze or refrigerate until ready to bake. Place cold pan in cold oven (prevents it from shattering from the shock of cold to hot) and preheat oven to 350°F. Cook for an hour, uncovering in the last 15 minutes, or until heated through and cheese is melted. It may require slightly longer cooking time if frozen. If cooking from frozen, you may also thaw overnight in fridge before baking.

PS: Want to know which Instant Pot to get, along with tons of cooking tips for using a pressure cooker? Read my complete guide to cooking with a pressure cooker – you’ll also find lots of great Instant Pot recipes!

The next pasta recipe I want to try in my Instant Pot is this Instant Pot Cauliflower Mac and Cheese from my girl Erin over at Well Plated. I also can’t wait to try Ali’s Instant Pot Crispy Carnitas. What are you guys cooking?

More Instant Pot Recipes

I keep adding more and more Instant Pot recipes to my site. Here’s what I’ve been making lately:

• Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs (turkey meatballs) — Another one pot pasta dish for you!
• Instant Pot Pinto Beans — you start with dry beans, no soaking necessary!
• Instant Pot Jasmine Rice
• Instant Pot Tomato Soup
• Instant Pot Pot Roast Recipe
• Instant Pot Ribs — fall off the bone!
• Instant Pot Cauliflower Potato Soup
• Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Pasta

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!

Recipe

Get the Recipe: Instant Pot Pasta with Sausage, Spinach and Tomatoes

4.53 from 145 votes

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

6 servings

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A complete pasta dinner, made in your Instant Pot! You'll love this Instant Pot Pasta with Sausage, Spinach, and Tomatoes. You might have all the ingredients on hand already! It's healthy, satisfying, easy, and versatile, and you're going to keep making it again and again!

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 teaspoon olive oil
• ▢ 1 package (19.5 ounce) turkey italian sausage links, removed from casing
• ▢ 1 small yellow onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
• ▢ 1 clove garlic, minced
• ▢ 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth (see note)
• ▢ 12 ounces whole wheat penne pasta
• ▢ 1 can (28 ounce) diced tomatoes
• ▢ 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• ▢ 6 ounces baby spinach
• ▢ 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, extra for garnishing
• ▢ parsley, for garnishing

Instructions

• Heat Instant Pot to “Sauté.” Add oil, sausage, and onion. Cook, breaking up sausage into small pieces, until sausage is no longer pink and onions are translucent. Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes or until garlic is fragrant.
• Add chicken broth, pasta, diced tomatoes, and oregano. Stir to combine and make sure pasta is submerged in liquid.
• Set Instant Pot to “Manual” for 5 minutes. Turn valve to Seal. When the timer goes off, turn valve to Vent to Quick release the pressure.
• Keep Instant Pot on Warm and add spinach and place cover on (don’t turn to latch). Let wilt for 2-3 minutes, stirring as needed to help it along.
• Add 1 cup mozzarella cheese and stir to melt. If the sauce appears thin, let set for 5-10 minutes, it will thicken.

Notes

• I like sweet Italian Sausage but you can use spicy if you prefer a little heat.
• Make sure to use low-sodium chicken broth in this recipe. It can get salty quickly because of the sausage and cheese so you want to control it where you can.
• If you want to amp up the vegetables a little, you could add a diced sweet bell pepper or diced carrots when you sauté the sausage and onions.
• If you're in a hurry, you can add the spinach on top of the pasta before you pressure cook it instead of wilting it afterwards. It won't retain its bright green color as well, but it will still taste great.
• To make ahead or turn into a freezer meal: Make as directed and then pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Top with more mozzarella cheese (1/4-1/2 cup) and cover with foil. Freeze or refrigerate until ready to bake. Place cold pan in cold oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Cook for an hour, uncovering in the last 15 minutes, or until heated through and cheese is melted. It may require slightly longer cooking time if frozen. If cooking from frozen, you can also thaw overnight in fridge before baking.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1of 6, Calories: 229kcal, Carbohydrates: 30g, Protein: 15g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 21mg, Sodium: 279mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 2g

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

© Author: Rachel Gurk

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