Shortcut Chicken Alfredo
This Instant Pot Shortcut Chicken Alfredo is made with jarred sauce, chicken breasts, and bowtie pasta for a quick and easy one-pot weeknight pasta dinner.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe: If you love creamy pasta dishes but don’t want to build an alfredo sauce from scratch, this recipe gives you all the richness and heartiness of homemade alfredo without the work! Plus it has a quick 5-minute cooking time.
We have a popular recipe for shrimp alfredo on the site and have always had requests for a chicken version, so we’re excited to share it!
While we made a from-scratch alfredo sauce on the shrimp alfredo recipe, we wanted to include a shortcut version for jarred sauce. If you prefer a from-scratch sauce, you can use the sauce in that recipe: add butter and garlic before pressure cooking the chicken and the other sauce ingredients afterwards.
This is a popular weeknight chicken dinner recipe, right along with Instant Pot Butter Chicken, Instant Pot Chicken Tacos, and Instant Pot Honey Sesame Chicken.
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED
Here’s what you need for the best Instant Pot chicken alfredo:
- Chicken. We use boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
- Pasta. We recommend bow ties (farfalle).
- Seasonings. Flavor this easy pasta dish with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Broth. You can use low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth.
- Cornstarch. This is necessary for thickening up the Alfredo sauce.
- Alfredo sauce. Use your favorite jarred sauce.
How to Make Shortcut Chicken Alfredo Pasta in an Instant Pot
✅ This easy recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.
Whenever you’re cooking pasta in a sauce in an Instant Pot, it’s key to layer everything properly. So start by adding the olive oil, chicken, and seasonings to the pot. Then place the pasta on top, and cover everything with the chicken broth and water. Cook this on high pressure for five minutes.
When the cooking time ends, use a quick pressure release and remove the lid. Give everything a good stir, then transfer the chicken from the pot to a plate and shred it into small pieces.
In a separate bowl, make a slurry with the cornstarch and water. Then carefully push the pasta in the pressure cooking pot to one side and slowly add the cornstarch mixture to the pot, stirring constantly to fully incorporate it. Let the mixture come to a simmer and thicken.
Now you can turn off the pressure cooker and add the chicken, alfredo sauce, and fresh parsley. Stir everything together and serve it up!
Important Tips for Making Chicken Alfredo
- When cooking pasta in a pressure cooker, things might get a little foamy. When releasing the pressure, you may need to do a stop-start where you manually open the steam release, then quickly close it to let the foam subside and repeat a few times until foam is no longer coming out.
- Before you remove the chicken from the pot, check that it’s fully cooked. It should reach 165°F on an instant-read thermometer. If not, continue cooking using the Sauté feature until it’s fully cooked.
- We prefer shredded chicken in the pasta, which is why we cut the chicken breast into two or three pieces before pressure cooking. Chicken diced into bite-size pieces would cook much more quickly than the pasta. If you prefer chunks of chicken, you can dice it instead of shredding it.
- We chose bow tie pasta for this recipe because it has a longer cook, which works great with shreddable chicken.
- Use your favorite brand of alfredo sauce. When it goes on sale, we get Rao’s alfredo sauce. Otherwise, we usually get Bertolli.
Frequently Asked Questions about Shortcut Chicken Alfredo
Any jarred sauce that you like will work! When it goes on sale, we really like Rao’s alfredo. Otherwise we use Bartoli’s.
We chose farfalle/bowties because it will be done at the same time as the chicken. Smaller pasta will get mushy and larger, longer shapes may not cook all the way through.
Store leftover chicken and pasta alfredo in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools, but you can always add a splash more liquid (broth or water) to loosen it up if necessary.
MORE Instant Pot Chicken Pasta Recipes
Try these other quick and easy chicken and pasta dinner recipes next:
- Chicken Bacon Pasta in a Garlic Cream Sauce is a rich and hearty dish with tender chicken breasts and smoky bacon.
- Instant Pot Chicken Enchilada Pasta has a bit of a kick to it, tamed by a gooey melty cheese topping.
- Chicken Pesto Pasta is covered in everyone’s favorite green herby pasta sauce.
- Zucchini Tortellini Soup, from our friends at InstaFresh Meals, sneaks in extra veggies in the broth and fills it out with easy frozen tortellini.
Do you LOVE this recipe?
Leave us a review below to tell us why!
Shortcut Chicken Alfredo | Instant Pot recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts about 1 lb, cut into two or three equal-sized pieces
- 1 package (16 oz) farfalle bow-tie pasta
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper plus more to taste
- 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons cold water
- 1 jar (15 oz) alfredo sauce
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- Finely chopped fresh basil for serving
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese for serving
Instructions
- In the pressure cooking pot, add the olive oil, chicken breasts, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Pour the pasta in an even layer on top. Carefully pour in the chicken broth and water over the top. Lock the lid in place. Select High Pressure and 5** minutes cook time.
- When the cook time ends, use a quick pressure release. Keep in mind that pasta can foam or spit, so you may need to seal the pot, wait a few seconds, then open it again. Repeat as needed until all the pressure is released and the valve has dropped. Carefully remove the lid and stir.
- Use a fork to remove the chicken breasts from the cooking pot. Use an instant read thermometer to ensure it is above 165F. Use two forks to shred the chicken. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and cold water. Push the pasta to one side of the bowl and slowly add the cornstarch mixture to the cooking pot, stirring constantly. Select Saute and stir until the mixture boils and thickens. Turn off the pressure cooker and stir in the alfredo sauce and parsley until well combined.
- Serve immediately topped with basil and cheese.
Nutrition
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what changes would I make if the chicken breasts are frozen?
Great recipe! We just made this and it turned out so flavorful and was very easy for a quick dinner. Thanks!
That’s so great to hear – thanks Amy!!
I have a Power Pro XL and absolutely love it. I made this recipe in that but did a 10-minute natural release so as not to be hit in the face with hot food – I usually do this with all meals cooked in the pressure cooker – have been doing that for over 40 years especially on my mom’s old stove top pressure cooker. I did make 2 substitutions – Better than Bouillon Chicken base – low sodium and no MSG and Bertolli Alfredo Sauce in a jar. Also served Crusty French Garlic bread instead of pieces of basil on the top. Great dish – thanks for posting.
“Select High Pressure and 5** minutes cook time.” I’m unable to find the **footnote that I assume goes with the cooking time given in the recipe. Please help, as this seems key to ensuring that the chicken is done (or perhaps, what to do if the chicken has not reached 165 degrees in a 5 minute cook time). Thanks!
Sounds so tasty. There’s only two of us. I’ll follow your recipe though.