A meal you can pull together in 20 minutes, no thawing chicken or boiling the pasta. This Chicken Pasta recipe is a must-try!
20 Minute Frozen Chicken Pasta
Maybe you’ve seen the hype about pressure cookers around the web? It’s all over the place. As a result of curiosity and a desperate need for more time, I wanted to introduce you to my new BFF…. the Power Pressure Cooker XL.
This is one fabulous appliance to have in your kitchen, friends. Ohhhhhh, the possibilities. From slow cooking to making rice to canning! There are also lots of cookbooks out there to get you started too.
Sometimes time doesn’t play in our favor, so expediting a meal is a win-win. Can I get an amen? Maybe you’re feeling inspired to try your hand at having a pressure cooker.
If so, I say “go for it!” I’m fairly certain you won’t regret it. My only problem is finding a place to store its awesomeness. Haha!
As a result of needing more time, I thought it was time to try my hand at this Chicken Pasta recipe. Would you believe it went from frozen and raw to ready-to-serve in 20 minutes!?!
So, as you can imagine, it was super easy. But better yet, absolutely delicious! Enjoy!
20 minute Frozen Chicken Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 oz dry pasta use your favorite
- 24 oz quality tomato sauce I used Red Gold
- 4 small frozen chicken breasts
- Sea Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 garlic clove chopped
- Basil optional
- Parmesan cheese optional
Instructions
- Place the inner pot into the pressure cooker and add all of your ingredients.
- Place the lid on the pressure cooker, lock the lid and switch the pressure release valve to closed.
- Press the Soup/Stew button and then press the Time Adjustment button until you reach 20 minutes.
- Once the timer reaches 0, the cooker will automatically switch to Keep Warm. Switch the pressure release valve to open. When the steam is completely released, remove the lid.
- Garnish with basil and cheese, optional.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Hugs + Blessings,
jeanie says
I can not wait to try this. Thank you so much for putting a Print on your recipe. Most don’t and it is such a hassle to try and print off. Thankis
Kelly Rowe says
Thanks Jeanie! …and your welcome on the print of the recipe. I know it can be a hassle otherwise. 🙂 Enjoy. I’m sure you’ll love it!! HUGS.
Shari says
Hi! I’ve just bought a pressure cooker, and tonight’s my first go at it! This recipe looks fabulous! I need to increase portion size for my growing family of 5. I’ll need probably 6 breast halves, and at least 12 oz of pasta. Can you tell me how I should adjust the cooking time? Thanks so much!
ha says
I just tried this recipe, i was hoping it would be a quick and easy dinner. But it came out burnt on the bottom and the pasta was not cooked. So I added 1 cup was chicken broth and tried it again and the pasta come out unevenly cooked and still burnt on the bottom. Please tell me what I’m doing wrong!
Kelly Rowe says
I’m sorry it didn’t turn out. I’m not sure how I can offer any help… did you follow the recipe or make any changes?
Brandon Nasser says
What I have found is if you put the sauce and chicken first and cook that for the 20 minutes. Then add your noodles and cook for an additional 6 minutes.
Mandy Dominguez says
Thank you. I browned the frozen chicken breasts in some oil first then cooked with sauce for 20 min. Released presure, cut up chicken, then put back into sauce, put pasta on top, added a little chicken stock to make sure all pasta was covered with liquid, then cooked for 7 min (using whole wheat pasta). Trick is not to mix in pasta with sauce & chicken.
Came out perfect.
Jason L McKay says
Thanks Maria, saved me some hassle.
Krista says
Mine came out burnt too :-/
Heather says
Should this recipe use a liquid like water or chicken broth to cook the pasta? Other recipes I have seen that call for pasta also call for a liquid.
Kelly Rowe says
Hi Heather. No water or chicken broth are necessary, the tomato sauce serves as the liquid. Let me know what you think!
Brittney says
I’m really disappointed- I followed the recipe but the chicken was still frozen after all that time and didn’t really come to pressure. So now I’ve wasted 4 chicken. breasts, a box of pasta, and a big jar of marinara. And we have to find something else for dinner 🙁
Kelly Rowe says
Hi Brittney. I’m so sorry to hear this. I’m not sure what could have gone wrong. I made this recipe as-is and it turned out perfectly. Did you use a different pressure cooker? Maybe the cooke time would vary a bit. On other recipes that I’ve made and appeared undercooked, I would turn the cooker back on. I do appreciate you letting me know. I have a couple of different pressure cookers, maybe I’ll try this recipe in the other to see if it does vary.
Brittney says
I used an Instant Pot 6 qt duo pressure cooker. I added a little bit of water to thin out the sauce too because I was nervous about it not being able to come to pressure.
Mark says
I just tried this and couldn’t believe how great this turned out. I followed it exactly. But my pressure cooker has a button for soup and a different button for stew. So i used the stew option. Turned out great. this is a keeper. Thanks!
Kelly Rowe says
Wonderful news, Mark! Thanks so much for letting me know how much you enjoyed it — and what setting you used. Cheers!
Kimball says
This was an absolute disaster the chicken was raw. The cooking time of 20mins ended up being more like 40. As I had to re pressure cook twice. The sauce was acidy yes I used Red and Gold Sauce. Absolutely awful recipe. Worst pasta sauce I’ve ever eaten.
Kelly Rowe says
Hi Kimball. I’m so sorry to hear yours didn’t turn out. The cook time must vary depending on the pressure cooker that is used. I’m getting such mixed reviews, that I can only assume that is the issue. It really is a delicious (and easy) dish.
Emily of www.elevengables.com says
I just made this for my family and made a few adjustments because I “know” my pressure cooker. (Same one that is pictured above). I put a tablespoon of oil on the bottom of the pot because I have problems with meat sticking to the bottom. Then I put my salted chicken in and poured 1/3 cup of white white over it. I added my pasta and the jar of pasta sauce with a couple tablespoons of “spaghetti seasoning” and a sprinkle of red pepper. Next I filled my pasta jar about 1/2 full of water and poured that over the pasta. 20 minutes of the stew/soup setting and everything came out perfect! To anyone reading this, you’ll have to make adjustments as you experiment with your pressure cooker. Don’t give up! I keep a better box of white Chardonnay available when I cook chicken with my pressure cooker just because it makes it so moist and delicious. Pasta without some form of liquid just hasn’t ever worked for me, so I always add at least a cup of water to any pasta recipe. Happy Eating!!
Connie Perry says
I just prepared this recipe, frozen chicken and no added liquid. I turned out great. My pressure cooker has solved dinner issues many a night. After it was done I thought about not having a vegetable with dinner so I tossed in some frozen spinach and left it on warm until everyone was ready to eat. Thanks for the idea. I was about to get take out because I forgot to thaw some meat for dinner. Storing it out the way, I sometimes forget I have it.
Michelle says
Made this tonight and everyone loved it!! Coated the bottom of the pot with olive oil. Used 3 chicken breast, large can of crushed tomatoes, garlic, sea salt, basil and shell pasta. Made sure the pasta was covered by the tomatoes then drizzled a little more olive oil on the top. Cooked for 20 mins on the soup/stew setting. Chicken and pasta were both cooked well. Served with freshly grated Parmesan. Will definitely make again. Thanks!!
Hollie says
I have a soup/broth or meat/stew option so I choose the meat stew. It never seemed like it built the pressure like it normally does and after 20 minutes the chicken was raw in the middle and pasta not cooked.
Sharon says
Same thing happened to me. Disappointing. My Meat/Stew did not pressurize.
Stacy Eads says
I used frozen chicken it browned the bottom ND was very dry… Spaghetti was gummed together…I used jar of Alfredo and added can of water and about 1/4 cup of pesto…Was very disappointed
Kris says
I tried this recipe for my first run with my Instant Pot. Four frozen boneless/skinless chicken thighs, two cans of tomato sauce (15-oz cans so I added a bit more pasta), and my normal seasonings for homemade spaghetti sauce. Other than a couple of noodles sticking to the bottom, and a couple of “well done” spots on the chicken, it was a success! I think I may put a thin layer of olive oil (only thing missing from my sauce) on the bottom before putting the chicken in next time, and see if that helps. Otherwise, I couldn’t be happier. As it was cooking I was “cooking up” plan B and deciding where we were going to go to eat. LoL Not necessary!
Amy says
I just got my pressure cooker and this was my first recipe. I wish I’d read all the comments first. The recipe as posted does not include enough liquid, or maybe it needs oil. The tomato sauce burned and blackened the bottom of the inner pot. I guess I have a lot to learn about my cooker. Still, the unburned parts were pretty good, and it didn’t take long to cook from frozen. I’ll keep trying!
jenny says
I just made this last night, and it came out almost perfect. I used more pasta and an extra chicken breast, so I added extra water and 3 extra minutes on the cook time. I had some burned spots with the pasta, but not much.
I wonder if the order of ingredients or how it all is mixed together could account for some of the poor reviews. I originally put the pasta (elbows, it was all I had) on the bottom, then sauce, then chicken. I ended up stirring it all together, but I can see where the pasta could burn badly if the sauce wasn’t stirred in.
Also, I’m wondering if some pressure cookers use their “soup/stew” setting more like as slow cooker, or might use lower pressure. Maybe try it again, but use a setting that you know uses high pressure.
Just wondering…
Julie Kelly says
I have found that the order you put the ingredients in the pot makes a huge difference, I always put the pasta on top of anything I cook and it comes out great. When you put it in don’t stir it just press it into the liquid, making sure it’s covered in liquid.
LB says
Mine was also burned on the bottom and the chicken was raw inside. The pasta is partially cooked but we are chewing it so all that money isn’t a total waste. This has taught me to read the comments before trying a recipe.
Kelly Rowe says
I’m sorry yours didn’t turn out as expected. All Pressure Cookers are not created equally, meaning that cooking time may vary, additional liquids may be necessary and so forth. I hope you’ll try it again and have a great success… it’s a delicious dish!
Mary says
I REALLY wish you adjust this recipe because I didn’t read the comments first either (like many others), followed your recipe, and indeed mine, too, was really burned on the bottom and pasta stuck together. Definitely not giving this one another go round.
Kelly Rowe says
Hi Mary. I’m sorry you had a poor experience with the recipe. Unfortunately, I can’t adjust the recipe to work for every pressure cooker since they all work differently. I did add a note that you might add additional liquid; however, this recipe worked without fault for me in my pressure cooker. Again, my apologies for your experience.
cb says
Too bad with a bit of adjustment you could have had a fantastic meal! Whatever happened to positive not snarky criticism?
Marion says
My husband found this recipe last night after we had to pull frozen chicken out of the freezer since the thawed one we had out smelled bad. He followed the instructions and has used the IP a few times. The chicken was cooked all the way through, but the noodles were not and gummy together. Will definitely try again with some of the suggestions above. We are still pretty new to the IP. Everyone loved the chicken and hubby ended up using pasta sauce since we didn’t have tomato sauce.
Julie Kelly says
I made this tonight but added 2 cups broth, which is usually what I add with 8 oz pasta. Was a little too soupy but delicious! I’m sure as the leftovers sit they will absorb any extra liquid. Next time I think 1 cup broth will be perfect. You just have to experiment with your particular brand of cooker. Very tasty! Thanks for the recipe!
Kelly Rowe says
Thanks so much, Julie!! Glad you enjoyed it. Have a great weekend. HUGS!
Angela says
Hi Kelly. If I wanted to do 16oz of pasta, basically the entire box. How long should I adjust the time for? Should I use 2 jars of sauce? And a full jar of broth? I did try the recipe, just as posted, about two weeks ago, didn’t even add extra liquid, the pasta was a little dry, but the chicken was perfect.
Kelly Rowe says
Hi Angela. Thanks so much for stopping by. I would definitely add more liquid/sauce if you add more pasta — and you may need to add some time as well. I would check it at 20 minutes and add time as necessary. I hope that helps. Enjoy!
Ashley says
I wanted to share how I tweaked this recipe just a bit because mine turned out perfect!! I have the pressure cooker xl, not the instant pot but here’s what I did…
2 cups of dry pasta, 24 Oz of sauce, 1 cup of water, 2 large frozen chicken breasts. And cooked for 22 minutes
* put the water in the bottom, this will prevent the noodles and chicken from sticking to the bottom and burning.
Christine says
Kelly, you should make some adjustments to the posted recipe if so many people are having problems with burnt pasta and chicken. Mine was a disaster, costing me both money and the time spent to scrub the burnt pasta off the bottom of the pot. At a minimum, you should say to either add oil to the bottom of pot, or stir everything first. Maybe that would have helped. Also, I have a stew button that is separate from the soup button, so you could say which is preferred if you have both. I picked soup, likely the wrong choice.
Sonya says
Does anyone know what setting to use if your pressure cooker does not have a soup/stew function? High pressure or Low pressure? There is also different rice cooking functions and Steam function, but I wouldn’t think any of those would work for this recipe.
Jill says
I have the 6 qt. Instant Pot Duo and followed this recipe as instructed, also read some of the reviews and set mine to “Stew.” It read “burn” on the display and has not turned out.
Lynda Ross says
Exactly what happened to me. I added 2 cups of chicken broth, and am still waiting to see if it cooks properly.
Andrew says
I tried this recipe in an instant pot, with the extra chicken broth, and couldn’t get it to come to pressure at all. Everything ended up burnt and stuck to the pot. Wish I read the comments before trying this.
cb says
Instant Pots are preprogrammed to turn off immediately if something is starting to burn. And if you weren’t able to get it to pressure the problem still doesn’t lie with this recipe. Second of all how could you even burn anything if you couldn’t get it to pressure?!! Next time just cook for 20 minutes on high. Make sure you have enough liquid to cover the pasta. You’ll have to wait for the pressure to release before you can even open your pot. Finally how did everything end up burned if your pot has a feature that automatically turns it off before scorching anything. All you had to do is just do a natural release and let the steam help you melt off the burnt. I over cooked this recipe until now. But had NO issues getting the BROWNED pasta off the bottom of my pot once I let it steam a bit…just do a quick release next time and when all the steam is released leave the lid on. And now I have a good recipe that I can use that I’ll adjust for my cooker. Not hers. That’s all!!! Then you won’t feel you have to complain about having “burnt” ??!! food in an Instant Pot that is programmed to turn off before scorching! And finally, if you have some thoughts and they aren’t positive might you not be so ruthless and just offer a solution. Crikey…it isn’t as if you’ve offered your own recipe. She gave it her best. Her cooker is different than yours. Do you get into a BMW and expect it to drive like a Ford Fiat? No…so then why not show some grace here and figure you’ll need to adjust your liquid and cook times. Also if you are living in the Rocky Mountains you might know cook times are different and so are the amount of certain ingredients. Just program your pot to do the adjustment without having to calculate. But in the meantime…work with your cooker first to see what you couldn’t even get it to pressure??!! Honestly how you got anything to burn with NO PRESSURE is a curious thing to me. Considering she isn’t using an Instant Pot that’s part of your problem. Not hers.
Steph says
I have to agree with the other reviewers that said this recipe was a disaster. I wish I’d read the comments before wasting chicken, pasta, and sauce. I have a Crock Pot Express, and after 3 E6 errors and a cup and a half of added liquid, all I have is chicken that is simultaneously burnt and raw, and a variety of over cooked and uncooked ziti.
cb says
A crock pot express isn’t a pressure cooker and if it is it isn’t the brand she is using…therefore, you can’t expect her results to be the same?!! What’s with that. If you know your Slow Cooker and you know how it cooks then couldn’t you have adjusted this recipe? We in the Rocky Mountains adjust recipes for altitude baking all the time without criticizing the person who offered the recipe even if they’ve never had a fallen cake because of the altitude. Criticism is so easy to give and yet not one kind word was offered. And finally haven’t you cooked enough with your Express to adjust to any recipe you might read and not just hers. This is for a Pressure Cooker and maybe your crock pot has a pressure cooker feature but they are NOT the same and your assumption that they should behave the same is not proactive. I bet you could offered a positive solution but then you’d be pro and not a negative…it’s a choice.
Don says
Burnt, burnt, burnt
cb says
Then you aren’t using an Instant Pot because they have a preprogrammed feature that immediately turns off the moment food is being burned. That means only a bit of food is burnt. Not the whole “burnt, burnt, burnt” as you say…unless your model is old I can’t imagine that your Instant Pot didn’t turn off. It’s always easy to offer criticism. But frankly your lack of success did not stop me from using my Instant Pot to the success of this recipe. Even if it got a little brown I easily waited until the steam slowly released the browned bits…they added a beautiful nutty flavor cause my Instant Pot automatically turns off! Just saying. Maybe you could adjust for recipes as we do here in the Mountains for altitude for many of the recipes we get that NEVER offer adjustments. We don’t get exact recipes most of the time because someone in the South never has to think of altitude…again that’s a feature you can program into your pressure cooker. But unless you can offer something more than three words of criticism without offering particulars it’s a comment with no guts.
Cole says
I really wish that I had read the comments also. This recipe does not work in a modern InstantPot.
It’s completely burned on the bottom and the chicken is not cooked at ALL. I would love to know what pressure cooker the chef of this recipe is using.
cb says
You’re completely WRONG Cole. It does and you can’t completely burn or scorch with an Instant Pot they have a feature that automatically turns it off as a safety feature. THE VERY MOMENT IT SENSES SOMETHING IS BURNING IT AUTOMATICALLY TURNS IT OFF…EVEN IF YOU WERE TRYING TO COOK BLACKENED FISH YOU’D HAVE TO SAUTE IT FIRST. Cause it turns off pretty quickly and let’s you know it did and tells you it is burnt but it doesn’t burn the whole pot – it literally CAN’T. Perhaps you got some black and brown but it was NOT completely burned. And her cooker isn’t an Instant Pot didn’t you notice. So then if you’ve never used your Instant Pot I get it you didn’t know how to adjust. But saying something without being kind when someone is offering you a recipe that has worked for them is just a poor effort on your part. If you wanted to cook in your OWN cooker with chicken that was cooked through and through all you had to do is pull out your Instant Pot instruction book. As the instructions constantly elaborate with the booklet you THAT YOU MAKE SURE you had enough liquid to cover the pasta. I cooked the chicken with the sauce for about 20 minutes then did a quick release added the pasta and chicken broth and boom! Just like that another six minutes and only one pot for the cleanup. It’s a great recipe. Familiarize yourself with your cooker. She doesn’t have an Instant Pot just that simple. It isn’t her job to know how every cooker works out there. It isn’t even feasible. So adjust!
Bob Volk says
Needs some tweeking tried this on my power pressure cooker xl 10 qt. followed it to a T. 21 min. chicken was raw.
Kelly Rowe says
Thanks, Mom!!! Here’s to many more batches of Thumbprint Cookies made together. Love you!
Hailey says
Horrible recipe. Everything burnt and clearly does not work in an instantpot. Waste of money and waste of time. Do not use Kelly’s recipes. “My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.”
cb says
It isn’t a horrible recipe at all. And it clearly DOES work in an Instant Pot…as I just finished enjoying it. Finally everything can’t be burnt in an Instant Pot it has a turn off feature to prevent the whole pot from being burned for SAFETY purposes if nothing else and I suspect you know that. But might I offer if you don’t think a recipe works or you have adjustments might you show some politeness and offer you adjustments with out the arrogance? If all it takes is a recipe that didn’t work for you to ruin your whole day I’d suggest it isn’t really the recipe that is the problem. Outside of the melodrama of your ruined day…why is it you offer criticism without noticing her cooker isn’t an Instant Pot…and since you obviously use your pot…how come you couldn’t make adjustments. And no I’m not asking you a question. Just offering what is obvious. I adjust recipes with high altitude all the time and I don’t make the person who offered me a recipe and who has never cooked at altitude the snark…I just adjust it…what happened to your kindness. If you have criticism why offer it with a smirk? A whole day ruined over a failure of a dinner…will NEVER be enough to ruin any day of mine. No matter how difficult the day was before or becomes after…a ruined recipe is the least of my problems. And I’ve NEVER had a burned (partially) recipe I couldn’t fix in my pot. Simply because it turned off before the whole thing could be ruined. In fact it just made the flavor of my recipe enhanced and more nutty in the browned bits that were overcooked in my last pot of pasta in the Instant Pot. Just that simple. It’s a DESIGN FEATURE. For a REASON! So you don’t burn down your house. And that would actually REALLY ruin your day. Instead of blaming someone else for your emotional state over something so petty as someone trying to offer you a good recipe. Geesh! Manners peeps. Nothing wrong with criticism it is HOW you do it that counts.
Jonny Gieselman says
In defense of our great host of this recipe. Please keep in mind this notes and with them you will find your recipe to turn out just fantastic! As Live mentioned all pressure cookers do vary and this is no more than so with our fabulous ‘Instant Pot’ Brand cookers. Please be sure to add the additional wine and or chicken broth as mentioned in the end of the recipe and also be sure to al all the liquids ingredients first (on the bottom( before layering the solid/frozen ingredients to the inner pot. Lastly and also vert important is the make sure you pressure cook the ‘soup/broth’ temperature on the middle heat point and not on the maximum setting. The maximum setting is the root cause for many burning episodes from this and many other “burn signal’ recipes I have heard of… trust me turn it down and liquid your recipes accordingly remembering liquids first unless it is very specifically mentioned on the recipe on the layering/heat levels.
Buen Provecho!
Jonny
cb says
Bravo John. Talk about a lot of rude comments . Criticism can be an awesome thing but it rarely works with arrogance. Some folks said they have an Instant Pot and burned the recipe completely which is actually NOT possible in an Instant Pot (having burned things myself) because once a bit of something starts to burn the Pot immediately turns off. And while I value the negative comments I don’t value the way many of them were offered. Lots of good kind folks offered adjustments according to their cookers and their efforts but a good many folks were just mean. In the end I love this recipe. It’s uncomplicated and I adjusted it to work for the Instant Pot according to the instructions the Pot itself offers which says you have to cover your food with enough liquid if you want to prevent burning. But more importantly I didn’t expect my cooker to act like her cooker when they are two different models. Thanks for being a gentleman and keeping the manners and kindness in your comment. Snark is so boring. So predictable and other than the occasional laugh it is usually very destructive and unhelpful. I support your kindness. This recipe was so yummy topped with Parm/Asiago and some cracked pepper…a few basil leaves on top. Mangia my friend Mangia!
Jordyn says
HEY! This sounded so good I had to make it! But I didn’t have tomato sauce so I used Alfredo instead… And OH MY GOSH! it was amazing!! I didn’t add the bay leaf either because I forgot but I was not disappointed! My two boys and fiance LOVED IT! I also added about 1/3 cup of water just because Alfredo is a bit thicker than tomato sauce. All I did was pepper and Seasoning salt for the chicken and not very much.
Must try with Alfredo!
Riley says
Loved it! I was sooooo hungry but didn’t have time for food before my dance class, so I dumped this in my Instant Pot Duo Mini and delayed the start until I got home. Surprisingly, everything fit with the original instructions! I used Prego marinara and frozen chicked cubes. Dumped the whole can in, the filled it about halfway with water and dumped that in. Stirred in pasta, chicken, and spices and left! The sauce was bubbling when I opened it and there was very little, easily movable brown/burnt spots. So happy I found this recipe! Incredibly easy
Hanna says
Just came across this recipe. I think that the problems people are having might be due to using pasta sauce instead of tomato sauce. That’s what threw me off. My cooker turned itself off after not having enough pressure from lack of liquid. I added water and it’s cooking just fine now.
John says
Wish I’d seen the note at the bottom about burning before making this. What a mess. Ended up being WAY more trouble than it’s worth to salvage after the burn notice. If you’re going to make this, add some broth or water to avoid burning. Not sure how else to avoid it.