How to Cook Pasta in the Instant Pot
Published Dec 10, 2019•Updated Jan 28, 2026
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Use these easy step-by-step instructions to cook perfectly al dente pasta in a 6-quart Instant Pot / pressure cooker. I tested this method with 20+ varieties of pasta to insure that it works every time. With over 1 million page views and 300+ positive reviews this method is tested and perfected.
Reader Julie says: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Three years after finding it, I’m still using this formula!
Pasta has been my Instant Pot nemesis ever since I fell in love with the kitchen gadget of the moment. In the past few years I’ve become pretty confident when cooking in the pressure cooker. It only took a few weeks to get over my fear of releasing the pressure valve. 😉
These days, I use the pressure cooker a couple times a week to make everything from rice, to a big pot of Crispy Pork Carnitas, to 20-minute weeknight meals like Chickpea Curry with Rice. But pasta is tricky.
That is, until I learned the Instant Pot pasta formula. It involves a tiny bit of math, but the payoff is perfectly tender pasta every time. Here’s how it’s done.
Why Cook Pasta in the Instant Pot
There are three reasons to cook pasta in the Instant Pot / pressure cooker.
- It’s a true one pot dish. No need to strain the pasta after it’s done because the pasta will absorb all of the water as it cooks.
- Set it and forget it. There’s no need to keep an eye on the pot to make sure it doesn’t boil over. Just turn the machine on and walk away.
- Keep the starch – Since the pasta isn’t strained, all of the natural starch from the pasta stays in the pot and serves as a natural thickener for any type of sauce you add – whether it’s marinara sauce (as in Instant Pot Chicken Spaghetti) or creamy cheesy sauce (as in Instant Pot Mac and Cheese).
Pin this now to save it for later
Pin It NowThe Instant Pot Pasta Formula
To cook any type of pasta perfectly in the Instant Pot (note: you do NOT need to do this math yourself – just wanted to show you how I did it):
- Find the recommended cook time on any box / bag of pasta.
- Take the lowest, even number in the range. (Example: if the range is 9 to 10 minutes, use 10 minutes. If only one time is given and it’s odd, round down. So 7 minutes becomes 6.)
- Divide in half.
- Subtract two minutes.
- Pressure cook on high.
- Use 5 minute natural release and then release any remaining pressure manually.
But there’s no need to do all that math. Just use the chart below:
**0 is a real setting on the Instant Pot / pressure cooker. For small pasta shapes with a short recommended cook time, set the timer to zero minutes. The pressure cooker will fully pressurize but won’t hold for any amount of time.
How Much Water to Use for Instant Pot Pasta
Use 2 cups water for every 8 oz of pasta. So…
- 8 oz Pasta + 2 cups Water
- 16 oz Pasta + 4 cups Water
- 24 oz Pasta + 6 cups Water
You can disregard this if you’re cooking pasta in a lot of liquid or sauce (like in a soup or ragu), but the cook times still hold true.
How to Cook Pasta in the Instant Pot
- Combine pasta and water (using measurement above) in the bowl of the Instant Pot. Give everything a stir so that the pasta gets a bit wet.
- Seal and lock the lid.
- Pressure cook on high. (Use the chart above to determine the cook time.)
- Leave the pasta on natural release for 5 minutes (do not let this sit any longer or the pasta may overcook) and then manually release any remaining pressure.
- Unplug the machine or check to be sure that all heating / warming functions are off.
- Open the lid and give the pasta a very good stir – about 20 to 30 times. Put some muscle into it so that the pasta gets really well incorporated with the small amount of water that remains. (Note: When you start stirring the pasta, there may still be a few dry spots on the pasta where it was sticking out of the water. Don’t worry – as you stir and let the pasta steam in the next step, it will continue to absorb the small amount of liquid in the pot.)
- Return the lid (no need to lock it just set it on top) and leave the pasta to sit for 5-10 minutes more. (Note: This step is the most important because the pasta will continue to absorb any remaining liquid and continue to cook just a bit in the residual heat of the machine. This is the key to pasta that is cooked, but not over-cooked.)
- Serve!
Cooking Spaghetti, Fettuccini, or Linguini in the Instant Pot
Long, straight pasta like spaghetti, fettuccini, and linguini can be a bit finicky to cook in the Instant Pot. The method for cooking these is slightly different than other shapes, though the cook time remains the same.
- Break the pasta strands in half before adding them to the Instant Pot so that they can easily be submerged in water.
- Pour water into the Instant Pot to completely cover the pasta (note: this is more water than you add for other pasta shapes).
- Do not stir before cooking. Resist the urge to stir the pasta. (Stirring it can cause it to stick.)
- Pressure cook pasta according to the time on the chart.
- Leave pasta on natural release for 5 minutes and then release any remaining pressure.
- After cooking, stir the pasta well to insure the strands are not stuck together.
- Drain well.
Gluten-Free / Alternative Pasta
There is no need to make any adjustment to the formula if using gluten-free, whole wheat, or alternative pasta. Because this method of cooking pasta is based on the recommended cook time on the package, any type of pasta can be cooked this way.
We tested this method with several varieties of whole wheat pasta and with several varieties of gluten-free pasta (lentil, chickpea, and black bean pasta).
More Instant Pot Pasta Recipes
Pin this now to save it for later
Pin It Now
How to Cook Pasta in the Instant Pot
Equipment
- Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 8 ounces Pasta, any type or shape
- 2 cups Water
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- First, determine the cook time for the pasta you are using. See the notes below to determine the right time.
- Combine pasta, water, and salt in the bowl of an Instant Pot. Give everything a stir. (See note below if cooking long, straight pasta like spaghetti, fettuccini, or linguini.)
- Close and lock the lid.
- Set the vent to “Sealing”.
- Pressure cook on high for the time determined in Step #1.
- Leave the pasta on natural release for exactly 5 minutes. (Note: Be very careful not to let it sit for any longer or the pasta will overcook.)
- Use manual release to release any remaining pressure. (Note: Hot and starchy pasta water may spray out of the pressure valve when you release it. Cover the valve with a dish towel as it releases to keep this contained and minimize the mess.)
- Open the lid and give the pasta a good stir, 20 to 30 times. (This will get rid of any dry spots that remained where the pasta was sticking out of the water during cooking. If adding sauce, stir it in at this point.)
- Return the lid to the top of the pressure cooker (no need to lock it just set it on top) and leave the pasta for 5-10 minutes more. (Note: This step is the most important because the pasta will continue to absorb any remaining liquid and continue to cook just a bit in the residual heat of the machine. This is the key to pasta that is cooked, but not overcooked.)
- Serve!
Notes
**0 is a real setting on the pressure cooker / instant pot. For small pasta shapes with a short recommended cook time, set the timer to zero minutes. The pressure cooker will fully pressurize but won’t hold for any amount of time.
Spaghetti, Fettuccini, or Linguini – Long straight pasta shapes like these (and angel hair, bucatini, etc.) need to be treated a bit differently than other pasta shapes.
- Break the pasta strands in half before adding them to the Instant Pot so that they can easily be submerged in water.
- Pour enough water into the Instant Pot to completely cover the pasta (note: there is no set amount, but only add water until every strand of pasta is submerged). Add salt.
- Do not stir before cooking. (This will help prevent the pasta from sticking.)
- Pressure cook pasta according to the time on the chart.
- Leave pasta on natural release for 5 minutes and then release any remaining pressure.
- After cooking, stir the pasta well to loosen any strands that are stuck together.
- Drain well.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thank you for this recipe! I cooked green lentil pasta (with zucchini and tomatoes) using these instructions and it turned out perfect! I added more water since I wanted more of a sauce. This version was better than the stovetop version I cooked last week. Now onwards I’m going to cook pasta always in the Instantpot!
Yay! I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks so much for your note.
Hi thank you for the info. My son just got me an 8 qt instant pot for Christmas and it is super new so I want to use it for everything! Lol.. Would everything stay the same for the 8 qt?
I hear you Kelly! I was the same way when I got my IP. Yes – everything should stay the same for the 8 quart, but you may find that it works best with larger quantities of pasta (1 lb and up) just because there is more space in the 8 quart and it will take slightly longer to come to pressure. A small batch of pasta will probably sit too long in water waiting for the machine to come to pressure. That’s the only issue you might run into.
Have tried cooking fresh homemade pasta. If so, does the process change?
That’s one type of pasta we didn’t test for! If you do try it, I’d love to hear how it goes.
Thank you so much for this!! Making chicken noodle soup with gluten free noodles and am trying this. It sure smells good. We use Andean Dream noodles and they are the best Gf noodles we have tried!
Thank you for this perfect past cooking formula! I have cooked penne, bow ties, macaroni, fusilli and spaghetti. and each time (with crossed fingers and short prayer), I started the IP. Each time I got a PERFECT result. I didn’t even use salt with the spaghetti and typically, I haven’t had to mix the smaller pastas more than 10 rounds before it sat to soak up more water. Still perfect! I’ll never use a huge pasta pot again nor have over boiling stains to clean up on my stove top. Yay!
The only question I have is that when you cook spaghetti (or any long noodle), after you break the strands in half, do you criss-cross the strands from the bottom of the pot upwards or just dump it all in as compactly as you can? I found that because I layered in the criss- crossed pattern, the pasta used up more space in the pot and thus I needed more water to cover it all. This meant heating up quite a bit of water and a resulting longer time for the IP to get to pressure. I did it this way because I was concerned that the strands would stick together if I just set them in as tightly as I could. Please advice.
Hi Dina – thanks so much for the note!
Such a good point / question about the spaghetti strands! I had to think a minute because I’m not very intentional about how I put them in. I usually just pour them in and separate them out a bit. I agree that if you criss cross them too much they’ll come up too high in the bowl and if they are all in one pile there’s a chance of them sticking together, but I typically just let them fall naturally into place. I’ll take a picture of it next time I do it and add it to the post, though the picture in this post is usually how it ends up looking (though this is obviously a pretty different cooking technique). – https://inquiringchef.com/easy-instant-pot-chicken-spaghetti/
Hello
Wondering if this will work the same for egg noodles?
Hi Lynn – it should work with egg noodles. I believe if you scroll through the comments, there are a few others who have used this formula with egg noodles and had success.
This clears up a lot of questions, thank you. Last night I used your formula to cook egg noodles. After they were done, and stirred, I added some left over cooked roast and gravy that I had cut up along with a single serve can of sweet peas and another single serve can of carrots and left the lid on for a few minutes. It was perfect. I cooked a whole package of egg noodle (12 oz) so I had plenty to share with a neighbor and still have some leftovers. It was great.
That sounds delicious Nancy – what a delicious combination of ingredients!
Hi Jess,
Thank you so much for this recipe! I even added a steamer basket of frozen shrimp on top of the pasta and seasoned the shrimp. I added an extra minute to the cook time as well as the natural release time, and it came out perfectly! Had dinner ready in 10 minutes!
That sounds fantastic Trisha – what a good idea for a two-in-one IP meal!
Trisha—what kind of steamer basket do you have? Does it have tall legs so that it sits well above the pasta? I need to find one like that.
Jess—thank you so much for this recipe!! I followed instructions exactly for 8oz of gemelli. They came out perfect!! I use my IP when camping my camper van at places without access to water or electricity. I’m always looking for ways to use less water and energy. This recipe excels at that! No need to use a lot of energy to boil a large quantity of water or pour most of it down the drain.
Yay! So glad this was helpful!!
Hi! I’m excited to try this and have a question – I’d like to add pasta to an IP chicken soup recipe. Any suggestions for putting the pasta in the soup uncooked? Or should I cook it first then add it later? Cook time for the soup is 10 minutes. Thanks~!
Hi Janine! I actually usually do often prefer to cook my pasta separately from soup just so that both are cooked just right. The other option is to pressure cook the soup for the 10 minutes your recipe lists and then release the pressure, remove the lid, and turn on the simmer / saute function. Then add the pasta to the cooked soup and simmer just until the pasta is cooked to your liking. Hope that helps!
I cooked 8 oz of farfalle pasta, came out with still a bit too much water, and had to be drained. Next time will use 1.75 cups water instead of 2 cups.