Pressure Cooker Chicken Bacon Penne Pasta in a Garlic Cream Sauce

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This Pressure Cooker Chicken Bacon Penne Pasta is a quick, easy, one-pot meal that’s rich, creamy, and delicious! It’s pure comfort food that’s ready in less than 30 minutes. Your family’s going to love this one!

Pressure-Cooker-Chicken-Bacon-Penne-Pasta-In-Garlic-Cream-Sauce

Sigrid, a long time reader of Pressure Cooking Today, recently sent me an email:

When I saw this Food Network article today I thought of you. I know you regularly convert traditional cooking recipes to pressure cooking recipes. Given that this traditional recipe is the most re-pinned pasta recipe on Pinterest (2.8 million re-pins) and has been shared 50,000 times on Facebook, I suspect it would be a very successful post on your blog if it’s converted to a pressure cooker recipe. Also sounds like a delicious dish!

One look at the recipe and I knew Sigrid was right, my readers and my family would love it too. Especially if I transformed it into a quick and easy one pot pressure cooker meal. .

The original recipe, Chicken and Bacon Pasta with Spinach and Tomatoes in Garlic Cream Sauce, is from Julie’s Album where she shares easy-to-make weeknight dinner recipes.

Ingredients for Chicken-Bacon-Penne-Pasta

Making Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker Chicken Bacon Penne Pasta in a Garlic Cream Sauce

In addition to the chicken, bacon and pasta, you add spinach and tomatoes. The spinach and tomatoes add a great pop of color and good for you veggies to the pasta, so you can feel good about making it a one pot meal. If you wanted you could easily double the spinach and tomatoes.

The paprika in the recipe adds a pretty color to the creamy sauce and bumps up the smokiness of the bacon flavor in the dish.

Chicken-Bacon-Penne-Pasta in a red bowl

The original recipes uses boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I prefer using chicken thighs in recipes when cooking them in the pressure cooker, so I used chicken thighs when I made this pasta. Chicken thighs are more moist and tender when cooked in the pressure cooker.

Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are widely available in most stores now. I generally buy a large package of thighs at Costco to keep in the freezer.

But if you prefer breasts, either breasts or thighs will work well in this recipe.

Cooking Pressure Cooker Chicken Bacon Penne Pasta&nbsp in the Max.

My family absolutely loved this recipe. It’s flavorful and hearty. It reheats well and you can even freeze leftovers. I like to freeze it in individual portions for quick lunches.

Pin this recipe because you’re definitely going to want to give this pressure cooker recipe a try! Thanks Sigrid for suggesting I give it a try.

Update: This recipe has quickly become a reader-favorite and is one of my most-shared recipes this summer. Some readers have emailed me questions about the recipe, so I’ve created a video to show you how easy it comes together. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Pressure-Cooker-Chicken-Bacon-Penne-Pasta-In-Garlic-Cream-Sauce served in a red bowl.

Pressure Cooker Chicken Bacon Penne in a Garlic Cream Sauce

Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 3 minutes
Additional Time: 17 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

This Pressure Cooker Chicken Bacon Penne Pasta is a quick, easy, one-pot meal that's rich, creamy, and delicious! It's pure comfort food that's ready in about 30 minutes.

Ingredients

  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts or 1 lb. chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 6 slices bacon, diced
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 5 garlic cloves minced or pressed
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 can (14.5 fluid ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 package (1 pound) penne pasta
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 cup half and half
  • 1 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded plus more for serving
  • 1 cup baby spinach, roughly chopped
  • 1 cup grape tomatoes diced
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning

Instructions

  1. Add chicken, paprika and Italian seasoning to a Ziploc bag and toss to combine. Set aside.
  2. Select Sauté and add the bacon to the pressure cooking pot. Fry for about 5 minutes until crisp, stirring frequently. Transfer the bacon to a plate, leaving the bacon fat in the pot.
  3. Add the butter to the pressure cooking pot. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté for 1 minute. Add the chicken to the pressure cooking pot and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Stir in the chicken broth and deglaze the pot if necessary. Add the pasta and stir to combine. Add enough water to cover the pasta, about 3 cups. Lock the lid in place. Select High Pressure and 3 minutes cook time. When the cook time ends, turn off the pressure cooker. Use a quick pressure release, or if necessary, use an intermittent release to prevent liquid from coming out of the valve.
  5. When the valve drops, carefully remove the lid. Stir the mixture and taste penne for doneness. If needed, select Simmer/Sauté and cook for a few minutes more, stirring often, until the pasta is tender. Stir in the half and half and Parmesan a little at a time until cheese melts. Stir in the bacon, spinach, and grape tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 352Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 132mgSodium: 695mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 32g

More pressure cooker pasta recipes you might like:

Pressure Cooker Chicken Enchilada Pasta, Pressure Cooking Today
Pressure Cooker Bow Tie Pasta, Pressure Cooking Today
Pressure Cooker American Goulash, Pressure Cooking Today
Creamy Instant Pot Spaghetti, Wine and Glue
Instant Pot Chunky Pasta Sauce, Kalyn’s Kitchen

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Instant Pot Chicken Bacon Penne in a Garlic Cream Sauce

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