Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker Bow Tie Pasta
Pressure Cooker Bow Tie Pasta is the perfect weeknight meal—quick, easy and delicious! The pasta cooks in the sauce so you only have one pot to clean up.
Bow Tie pasta is the very first pasta I ever made in the pressure cooker. I love the way these little pastas collect the sauce. Plus, the fun bow tie shape is well suited to the pressure cooker and is less likely to clump than thin spaghetti-like pastas. This Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker Bow Tie Pasta is one of my most popular pasta recipes on the site. I’ve updated this post with a video and fun new pictures, along with tips and tricks I’ve picked up since it was first published in 2012.
Several years ago, Cook’s Illustrated did a story on pressuring cooking and included a ziti pasta recipe. That gave me the little push I need to try cooking pasta in the pressure cooker. And I’m so glad I did. Now I’m in love with cooking pasta in my pressure cooker, and I’ve never looked back!
Making Pressure Cooker Bow Tie Pasta in an Instant Pot
An Instant Pot is one of the most popular brands of electric pressure cookers. They are easy to use and your Instant Pot can help you create this delicious Bow Tie Pasta!
I’ve mentioned before how much I like cooking pasta in the pressure cooker vs. on the stove. With the pressure cooker, I don’t have to worry about the noodles boiling over or tomato sauce bubbling and making a mess on my kitchen backsplash.
You can use any type of Bow Tie (farfalle) pasta in this recipe—including gluten-free and whole wheat pasta varieties. (For these varieties, you may need to adjust the cook time based on the formula outlined in my How to Cook Perfect Pressure Cooker Pasta post.)
Pressure Cooker Bow Tie Pasta Cooks in the Sauce
For this Pressure Cooker Bow Tie Pasta, I combined the Cook’s Illustrated recipe with my quick pasta sauce recipe.
This is my go-to pasta sauce because I always have crushed tomatoes and spices on hand. It’s a forgiving recipe, so I can throw in grated carrots, fresh tomatoes, corn, baby spinach, and any other veggies I have on hand.
(Stir in quick cooking veggies like spinach and corn for after pressure cooking.) And it cooks up quick and delicious.
In this recipe, I make the pressure cooker bow tie pasta right in the sauce. I love having only one pot to clean on busy nights, and if you want to add ground beef or sausage to the sauce, you can saute it in the same pan, transfer the ground beef to a paper towel–lined plate, and then start this recipe.
If your pasta sauce is more watery than you like (different pastas absorb different amounts of water), Cook’s Illustrated recommends simmering the pasta for a few minutes after it’s been pressure cooked so there’s no worry about overcooked noodles. However, I find I rarely need to do that these days.
If you prefer to control your sauce levels (say you have picky kids at home) and would rather cook the sauce separate, follow the guidelines in the How to Cook Perfect Pressure Cooker Pasta post.
Pressure cooked pasta is on a regular rotation at our house. I hope you’ll give it a try too.
Pressure Cooker Bow Tie Pasta
Pressure Cooker Bow Tie Pasta is the perfect weeknight meal—quick, easy and delicious! The pasta cooks in the sauce so you only have one pot to clean up.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground sausage (I used chicken sausage)
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes in puree
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 1/2 cups water
- 16 oz. Farfalle (Bow-Tie Pasta)
Instructions
- Put olive oil in the cooking pot and select browning or sauté. When oil begins to sizzle, sauté sausage, onion and garlic until meat is no longer pink and onion is tender, about 10 minutes, drain if necessary. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
- Select High Pressure. Set timer for 5 minutes. When beep sounds turn pressure cooker off and use a quick pressure release. When valve drops carefully remove the lid.
- Stir mixture. Select Simmer and cook, stirring often, until pasta is tender, 2 to 5 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 424Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 46mgSodium: 967mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 4gSugar: 8gProtein: 16g
Nutrition information is calculated by Nutritionix and may not always be accurate.
More pressure cooker / Instant Pot pasta recipes:
- How to Cook Pasta in the Instant Pot
- Pepperoni Pizza Pasta
- Chicken Bacon Penne Pasta
- Chicken Enchilada Pasta
- Bow Tie Pasta
- American Goulash
Instant Pot / pressure cooker pasta recipes in The Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook:
- Baked Cheese Ravioli (page 124)
- Spaghetti with Ragu (page 125)
- Anytime Spaghetti and Meatballs (page 126)
- Creamy Chicken Pesto Pasta (page 165)
- Linguine and Clam Sauce (page 181)
- Bow Tie Pasta with Sausage (page 182)
- Monterey Chicken Pasta (page 183)
- Pasta Primavera (page 184)
- Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo (page 195)
- Spicy Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti (page 197)
- Tuscan Garlic Chicken Fettuccine (page 198)
- Grown-Up Mac and Cheese (page 268)
This was so delish and easy peasy! Thanks for an amazing recipe.
Thanks for the awesome review Ally!
Hello. Can I used ground pork if I don’t have sausage? If so, should I adjust seasonings? Thank you.
Hi Sharon – yes, you can make it with ground pork or even ground beef. I’ve made it with ground beef before without making any changes. If you want to spice it up a little bit, you can add more red pepper flakes. Enjoy!
Hi Barbara…do you add any water to the Instant Pot along with the 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes in puree?
Will be trying this tonight for supper!
Hi Barbara – yes, the water is listed right above the pasta – 3 1/2 cups. Enjoy!
Oh now I see… 3.5 cups of water…! 😉
Hello there, I’m loving all the recipes and ideas on your website. I’m in Australia and ground sausage isn’t readily available, can I substitute ground beef?
Thanks Fay! Yes, ground beef would work well in this recipe too. Enjoy!
Made this for dinner tonight. It was *insanely* easy and delicious. I used mild Italian sausage. I halved the recipe ’cause it was only for my son and myself and my son won’t eat leftovers. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly and no adjustments were necessary! This is definitely being added to my repertoire!
Hello!
I have got a brandnew Instant Pot Duo and wanted to try this recipe. But I can’t find any Simmer or Cook button on it. Sorry if this is a stupid question. Could tha button have any other name ?
Hi Inka – that’s exciting! To simmer on the Instant Pot, you adjust saute to law. Have fun!
Hi Barbara,
I don’t have farfalle pasta but do have penne rigate. Can I substitute this pasta? I’ve never made sauce/pasta in my IP but want to try it tonight.
I appreciate any help you can give me.
Stay safe during this most difficult, sad time in our lives!
Thank you,
Susan 🙏
Hi Susan – you can absolutely switch out the pasta. You may have to change the cook time slightly. Cook it for half the time on the package minus 1 minute. So if the cook time is 10 minutes, you would cook it for 4 minutes, etc.
Question – many pasta/tomato sauce recipes instruct not to stir, in order to avoid a burn error from the sugar in the tomatoes. Instructions might be to layer spaghetti on top and pour the sauce over it but not stir, which is what a I’ve done, or to push the pasta just under the sauce but again not stir, I trust your super recipes but wondered about the difference. Thanks!
Hi Beth – often the recipes suggesting layering the pasta sauce on top use jarred pasta sauces that are already thick and may have thickeners in the sauce, so it is best to layer the sauce on top. if your prefer, you could put the tomatoes on top of the pasta, but I haven’t found that necessary in this recipe. Enjoy!
Thank you for the continuing education!
Is it really 28 oz tomatoes and 3.5 c water? It seems like a lot of liquid. I’ve never done pasta in IP though. I’m about to make this and want to make sure it’s right.
Hi Elli – yes, you need to cover the pasta with water when you cook pasta. Here’s more tips on cooking pasta https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/how-to-cook-pasta-in-the-instant-pot/
Hi Barbara – thanks for the recipe! Weirdly, we can’t find ground chicken or turkey sausage anywhere, and don’t eat pork. However, Whole Foods has many varieties of chicken sausage that are whole and ready to heat up – not raw. Would mincing them and adding them after sautéing the onions and garlic for a while work? IOW they’d be browned, just not cooked as long as the onions since that would be overkill. Or if the flavor wouldn’t be as intense as with ground, uncooked sausage, maybe I could add a little ground turkey with the onions, and then the minced sausage. Thoughts? Meanwhile, we’ll keep looking, and do have an organic butcher shop not that far away that might be able to accommodate. Thanks!
Hi Beth – I think you could do it successfully a couple of ways. In my Cajun bean soup recipe https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/instant-pot-cajun-15-bean-soup/ I brown the sausage, then brown the onion int he drippings and stir the sausage in after pressure cooking. But if you wanted to dice up the chicken sausage, skip the browning and add the sausage with the other ingredients after sauteing the onion and galric, I think that would work well too.
Can you use mini bow ties?
Hi Patricia – yes you can substitute mini bow ties, the cook time will be half of the cook time on the package minus 1 minute. So if the cook time on the package is 8 minutes, you would use a pressure cook time of 3 minutes. Enjoy!
Thank you!
Hi.. making this for a dinner party. We are serving close to 14 people. This may be a silly question, but If I double the recipe should I double the time and cook it for 10mins?
Hi Alisha – pasta can be tricky because it foams you cannot fill the pressure cooker more than 1/2 full. So unless you have an 8 quart or larger pressure cooker, you won’t be able to double this recipe. Also, when you double the recipe, it will take longer to come to pressure, so you’ll need to reduce the cook to compensate for the additional time it takes to come to pressure.
My wife and I are always happy to try out a new pasta recipe! haha thank you, this looks delicious!
Could you half the recipe and still cook for the same amount of time?
Hi Kate – yes, you can cut this recipe in half and use the same cook time.
Could I use marinara or tomato sauce instead of tomatoes?
Hi Christy – Yes, you can use marinara or tomato sauce, but pour it on top of the pasta and don’t stir it into the water.
Such a tasty dinner that is easy to get on the table!
I kept getting the burn notice each time I made it. I eventually started removing meat/onion mixture before adding remaining ingredients and then layered it back onto top. Then it cooked properly without the bush error.
Hi Shelby – maybe do the water test again. https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/instant-pot-water-test/ Are you seeing steam coming out around the edges of the lid? Are you letting your pc heat up so it’s hot before you brown the meat? Is the meat sticking to the bottom?
I tried this last night and got the “burn” error, have you encountered this and do you have any recommendations? Used the same amount of water recommended in the recipe…
Hi Jenny – I haven’t gotten the burn notice when making this before. Do you use a 6-quart pressure cooker?
Hi Barbara,
Quick question? I find the flavor of Italian sausage off-putting, for some reason. Would this work with a breakfast sausage that isn’t one of the sage-forward brands, or would ground beef give better flavor?
I’ve used breakfast sausage in pasta before with good results. Let me know how it goes.
This is a great recipe. I have made it twice and my family loves it! What about doubling the recipe? I have an 8 quart Instant Pot. Do you think it could handle the doubling?
Thanks Laurie – yes, I think you could double it in the 8 quart but I would reduce the cook time a minute or two because it will take longer to come to pressure. Let me know how it goes 🙂
Just made this and am having it for dinner now- used sweet italian sausage from sprouts. Left the red pepper out as I don’t like things too spicy. Cooked perfectly and tastes hearty & delicious!
Oh I saw your book at the bottom of the page, and I’m waiting for the Kindle version!
Thanks so much Karen!
It was very easy and came out delicious.
I used a Breville electric pressure cooker and worked fine.
Great – thanks John!
This is an Instant Pot recipe, not a pressure cooker recipe. Please label as such so internet searches do not waste time.
Hi Renaldo – an Instant Pot is an electric pressure cooker – one of many electric pressure cookers available today. All my recipes are written for the electric pressure cooker. Electric pressure cookers are more popular than ever and are definitely pressure cookers. Anything you can cook in an electric pressure cooker, you can also cook in a stove top pressure cooker.
Just bring your pressure cooker to pressure on the stove then way you normally would and then start the cook time when your pressure cooker is at pressure. An electric pressure cooker doesn’t start counting down the time until it’s reached pressure. Then adjust your stove top to maintain pressure the way your normally would. Just be sure and use enough liquid for your stove top pressure cooker, because you regulate it, you often need more liquid.
Just tried this and it’s good! I’m fairly new to the Instant Pot though and wasn’t prepared for the spattering with the quick release. Would it be okay to let the pressure come down naturally for a period of time or what is the trick to quick releasing something without spraying tomatoes all over? Thanks!
Hi Linda – you definitely don’t want liquid coming out of the valve when you quick release. Every brand of pasta cooks just a little bit differently, so if you know the pasta you use foams a lot, then it’s best to reduce the cook time a minute or two and then use a natural release for a few minutes so the foam won’t come out of the valve. Oil also helps keep the foam to a minimum. Glad you enjoyed it!
I dont have the instant pot , but a different brand electric pressure cooker. Will my time be the same ? I paid a lot of money for the one that i have , cant afford to buy an instant pot. However im interested in using recipes 😉
Hi Jennifer – yes, your time should be the same on all of the recipes.
On the Instant Pot, I am not sure what setting equals “Simmer” for Step 3 of this recipe since there is no setting called “Simmer” on that brand of pressure cooker. What setting do you recommend? (Keep Warm?)
Hi Ronda just use the Saute button. If you have the Duo or Smart, you can adjust the button to less which is the same as a simmer button on other brands. This post should help https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/instant-pot-duo-and-smartcooker/. Enjoy!
I made this tonight with Jovial brown rice pasta (caserecce) and gluten free. The cooking time for the pasta was 9 minutes so I cooked it 4 minutes. I used less water (1/2-1 cup at least) of which at least 1.5 cups was homemade chicken bone broth. No red pepper flakes. Turned out wonderful–al dente! (I really love Jovial pasta. Their rice pasta holds up very well and I don’t think most people could tell the difference from wheat. Their whole wheat pasta is delicious also–not that heavy taste of other whole wheat products.)
Forgot to add that my pasta was only a 12 oz. box–so reason for using less liquid.
Thanks for sharing. I’ll have to look for it.
Any tips on cooking gluten-free pasta in the pressure cooker?
Hi Suzanne – I’ve never cooked gluten-free pasta. Some people have had success, but I’ve also seen others comment that it was just a soggy mess. If you wanted to try it, I would start with a cook time of less than half the time recommended on the package and then simmer it in the pressure cooking pot until the pasta was your desired tenderness.
I know this is a few months old, but thought I would chime in on this for others who have the same question.
If you are using gluten free pasta (Rica pasta) put in a little less water than you would for regular gluten pasta. Turn your cooker on to any setting, the idea is just to get it to pressure. Once pressure is reached turn off the cooker and let sit for a couple mins and then do a quick release. Stir well. If the pasta still needs a bit more time just put the lid on, leave the cooker off. I have had pretty good doing it this way so far. It’s easier just to pop it on the stove, but if your recipe calls for you to add the pasta at the end of the cook time to suck up all the extra liquid (like one pot stroganoff) then this method is great.
I hope this helps those out there who cannot have gluten or are taking a dish to a friend who cannot have it.
*a year, not few months!
I did quinoa pasta bc we are a gluten free family…big FAIL! I noticed someone asked about using gluten free. It ended up being super super thick & all stuck together! Just a sticky mess! So sad :(. Made me miss regular noodles!
Thanks for sharing Michelle – sorry it didn’t work.
Excellent meal. Easy to make quick prep and kid approved. Thank you
this is yumtastic.
Making tonight again, but with jarred spaghetti sauce. Will wing it a bit with the water. Just a fabulous recipe. I have it in my crisis cooking file because it’s so quick.
Thanks!
Thanks Elizabeth! I love that you have a crisis cooking file and that this recipe is in it. Glad you enjoy it so much.
I just made this recipe for supper for the first time. I had never tried making pasta in my pressure cooker. I have a stovetop cooker. The pasta itself turned out great and I loved only having one pot to clean. However, this particular recipe was way too spicy for me. Next time, I will probably leave out the red pepper flakes and maybe make it with hamburger instead of sausage. Very easy to make though.
Thanks for the feedback Natalie. So glad you liked the ease of cooking pasta in the pressure cooker.
Hi Barbara ~ I just found you here & on Facebook & Pinterest today, & I’m looking forward to trying out your recipes with my Deni Electric Pressure Cooker (which also steams, slow cooks, browns & warms). Do the non-gluten versions of pasta — rice, corn, etc. — hold up to pressure cooking, or do they just become mush? Thanks!
Hi Christena – I’m sorry I haven’t tried gluten free pastas on the stove top nor in the pressure cooker. Perhaps just try a handful with some water and see how it holds up. Let me know. Thanks for the question.
How do I convert this recipe to a non-electric pressure cooker? I’ve used a p.c. for years, but am now just seeing recipes for electric cookers. Thanks so much!
Hi Beverly – based on the Cook’s Illustrated recipe, here’s how I’d cook it in a stovetop pressure cooker: Cook the sausage, onion and garlic over medium high heat until meat is no longer pink and onion is tender, about 10 minutes, drain if necessary. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
Lock pressure-cooker lid in place and bring to high pressure over medium-high heat. As soon as pot reaches high pressure, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes, adjusting heat as needed to maintain high pressure.
Do a quick pressure release.
Bring mixture to simmer over medium-high heat and cook, stirring often, until pasta is tender, 2 to 5 minutes.
Looks delicious Barbara! Can’t wait to try your recipe. That’s a good idea to cook the pasta less and then simmer it. 6 minutes does seem to overcook some pasta just a tad sometimes…
My kids love bowtie pasta! I knew I should’ve put pressure cooker on my wish list!
What a great quick meal this will make-especially during the final countdown to Christmas……..which is comin’ TOO fast for me.
I would have never thought of cooking pasta in the pressure cooker-what a super idea! If it’s thumbs up from Cook’s Illustrated and you? I’m convinced-can’t wait to give it a try. I’m still using my stove top pressure cooker so will cut back a little on the time the first time to see how it goes….hopefully as delicious as yours.
Thanks Barbara-and Merry Christmas to you and your family.
This recipe looks great and I’ll probably try it soon. However, do you have any recipes for sauce that don’t involve tomatoes or lots of cheese? My great-grandson likes pasta but he doesn’t seem to like tomato/spaghetti sauce and he gets way too much mac and cheese. What else could one make like this recipe (one-pot) only without the tomato? He’s only two so it’s a little early for the “take one bite before you say no” business. Maybe I’ll just have to wait until he is old enough for that but if I could find a sauce he would eat that is healthier than a bunch of melty cheese and could be cooked like this recipe, I’d be very happy.
Hi Gayle – picky eaters are tough. Laura has a couple of recipes he might like http://www.hippressurecooking.com/2011/10/pressure-cooker-pasta-pipe-cacio-e-pepe.html or http://www.hippressurecooking.com/2011/09/pressure-cooker-pasta-casarecce-ai.html although kids often don’t like green things either. Good luck!