Instant Pot Shrimp Alfredo Pasta

Instant Pot Shrimp Alfredo Pasta is a deliciously creamy and cheesy one-pot pasta dish with tender shrimp, parmesan cheese and fresh parsley. 

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe: This is a quick and easy Instant Pot pasta recipe that’s also a kid-friendly weeknight dinner that starts with frozen shrimp!

Alfredo pasta is a classic pasta dinner recipe. My family loves it for its creamy, savory and cheesy flavor and texture. And to add some protein to the mix, shrimp is the perfect addition. 

Making Instant Pot Shrimp Alfredo Pasta

This Instant Pot Shrimp Alfredo recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL. 

One of the best parts about this recipe is that you don’t have to remember to defrost the shrimp. In fact, the shrimp will cook to the perfect texture (not rubbery) along with the pasta. 

Before adding the pasta, quickly saute the garlic to bring its flavor to life in the sauce. Then do the same with the shrimp. Finally, when you dump in the pasta and cooking liquid, be sure not to stir. 

The shrimp should stay on the bottom of the pressure cooking pot, topped with the pasta and filled with enough liquid just to cover everything. This helps ensure that everything cooks evenly and doesn’t burn or produce too much foam. 

For extra flavor in the pasta, you can use low-sodium chicken broth. However, water will also work just fine!

Can I Use Other Pasta Shapes?

We love that the rotini soaks up a ton of sauce and flavor as it cooks. However, you can easily make Instant Pot shrimp alfredo with a different short pasta shape. 

As covered in our post about how to cook pasta in an Instant Pot, the general rule of thumb is to find the number of cooking minutes on the box, divide it in half, and subtract a minute. 

It’s best to cook the shrimp with a pasta shape that cooks at high pressure for 4 minutes, or 10 minutes according to the box. Generally speaking, other short pasta varieties work best. 

Ingredient Swaps

There aren’t many ingredients in this easy shrimp alfredo pasta recipe. However, it’s also forgiving if you don’t have everything on hand. 

You can substitute the minced fresh garlic for 1 tsp garlic powder. If you do so, skip the step to saute garlic and add the powder with the shrimp in step 2. 

Parmesan cheese adds the richest flavor to shrimp alfredo. However, a blend of parm and mozzarella or pecorino romano will also work. 

For a lighter sauce, you can use whole milk instead of heavy cream. 

And for garnish, we love parsley. However, fresh minced basil will also work. 

More Instant Pot Pasta Recipes

We love quick and easy weeknight pasta dishes that come together in a pressure cooker. If you do too, you’ll love:

• Instant Pot Pasta Primavera, which is light, springy and full of colorful vegetables. 
• Chicken Enchilada Pasta is a baked dish with a golden crust on top and tender pieces of chicken. 
• Instant Pot Chili Mac is a cheesy, meaty and just-spicy-enough weeknight macaroni recipe kids love. 
• Caprese Pasta Salad from Baraba Bakess is not technically an Instant Pot recipe, but you can easily cook the pasta in your pressure cooker and add in the refreshing tomato, basil and mozzarella to finish. 

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Instant Pot Shrimp Alfredo Pasta

Yield: 6 Servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 4 minutes

Additional Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 24 minutes

This easy Shrimp Alfredo Pasta is an Instant Pot dinner made with juicy shrimp and rotini in a creamy parmesan-garlic sauce. 

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Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3/4 pound raw frozen shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth or water, divided
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, to taste
• 1 pound rotini
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves (optional)
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

Instructions

1. Add the butter to the pressure cooking pot and select Sauté. When melted, add the garlic and sauté for about 1 minute, until fragrant.
2. Add the shrimp and sauté for another minute. 
3. Add 1 cup broth/water to deglaze the pot, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. Stir in the salt. Add the pasta and add enough broth/water to just cover the pasta. Do not stir. 
4. Lock the lid in place. Select High Pressure and 4 minutes cook time. When the cook time ends, turn off the pressure cooker. Use a quick pressure release. When the valve drops, carefully remove the lid. 
5. Stir in the parmesan a little at a time until melted. Stir in the heavy cream and parsley.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and 3 tablespoons of cold water. Select Sauté and add the slurry to the pot, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Instant Pot Duo Nova 6-Quart Pressure Cooker
• 
  Zyliss Classic Rotary Cheese Grater
• 
  The Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook: 200 Fast and Foolproof Recipes for Every Brand of Electric Pressure Cooker

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 472Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 189mgSodium: 1115mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 27g

Nutrition information is calculated by Nutritionix and may not always be accurate.

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