Instant Pot Creamy Pesto Pasta with Mushrooms

5 from 5 votes

Creamy Pesto Pasta with mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes made in the Instant Pot in less than 30 minutes! An easy vegetarian meal for busy days!

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Creamy Pesto Pasta with mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes made in less than 30 minutes in the Instant Pot.

This recipe requires a handful of ingredients and make restaurant style pasta in no time!

bowl of bow tie pasta with mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes and a bowl of pesto placed in the background

Pesto is one of my favorite sauces, it’s so versatile and I use it on so many things.

It’s a great sauce to use all the summer basil that might be over-growing in your garden. I tried growing basil at home last year but as with most things, I ended up killing that too.

Clearly, I don’t have a green thumb.

Anyway coming back to pesto, I love it because it can be used in so many ways like you can use it on pizza, pastas, sandwiches, eggs, salads and so much more! I usually make it at home, but sometimes I would also buy it from stores.

The store bought pesto sauce helps in putting a quick meal on the table on busy days. So, the other day I had a bottle of store bought pesto and ended up making this easy pasta in the instant pot.

It was so easy and so good and it took me less than 30 minutes!

I am all about easy meals and bonus if they can me made in one-pot. Ever since I have started using my instant pot for cooking pasta, I have rarely gone back to stove-top. It is just so convenient.

Sure, it takes a little time to get a hang of it but once you do, it’s just a breeze to make pasta in the IP.

This Creamy Pesto Pasta

✔is a one-pot pasta dish.

✔gets done in less than 30 minutes.

✔easy to put together with few ingredients.

✔makes the perfect meal for busy days!

This pasta was so “restaurant like” that it was hard to believe that it was done in such less time!

It definitely joins the list of my favorite Instant Pot recipes along with the creamy Tomato Basil Pasta.

Ingredients & Substitutions

This recipe requires only a handful of ingredients.

Mushrooms: I have used white mushrooms here and sliced them slightly thick (not very thick though).

Do not slice them very thin else they will over-cook.

You can also use cremini mushrooms here, they should work very well.

Pasta: I have used the bow-tie (farfalle) pasta here. If you use penne pasta, the cooking time should remain same.

A larger shape like the rigatoni will take more time, I will probably add 2-3 minutes of pressure cooking time.

I have use regular pasta here, if using whole wheat consider adding an extra minute or two while pressure cooking.

Pesto: you can use either homemade pesto or your favorite store-bought sauce. I often have store bought sauce on hand for busy days.

I like using basil pesto here but you can even use spinach pesto or any other pesto that you have on hand.

Sun-dried tomatoes: I used sun-dried tomatoes from Trader Joe’s- these were not submerged in oil and were just dry.

If you have the jar of sun-dried tomatoes with oil, then drain the oil, chop and then use them in the recipe.

Cream: the cream is what makes the sauce creamy. You can also use half & half, that should also work.

Other than these ingredients, you can also add veggies like peppers and spinach to this pasta.

Add peppers along with the mushrooms and pressure cooker. And add spinach once the pressure cooking is done along with the pesto and cream and let simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.

Instant Pot size: so this recipe has been tested in a 6qt DUO. If you are using a newer model or 8qt, you might need to add more water.

If your Instant Pot gives “BURN” message frequently or you have a 8 qt, probably add an additional 1/2 cup water.

I have never got a burn message warning in my IP till date and I have been using it for 4 years so it’s hard for me to say what to do to avoid it.

But since 8 qt has a bigger surface area and newer models are prone to this message, it would make sense to add additional liquid.

Make it Vegan

You can easily make this recipe vegan. First, make sure the pesto is vegan.

And then substitute the cream with either coconut milk or cashew cream.

Stove-top Instructions

This pasta can be easily made on stove-top. All you have to do it boil the pasta in a pot according to instructions on the package.

And then add it to the creamy pesto sauce. Please check the recipe card in the end for stove-top instructions.

pair of hands holding a bowl of bow tie pasta with mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes

More Instant Pot Pasta Recipes

Here are some of my favorite Instant Pot pasta recipes to try!

Instant Pot Creamy Tomato Basil Pasta

Instant Pot Makhani Pasta

Instant Pot Spicy Vegetarian Chipotle Pasta

If you’ve tried this Instant Pot Creamy Pesto Pasta with Mushrooms Recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram to see what’s latest in my kitchen!

Instant Pot Creamy Pesto Pasta with Mushrooms

5 from 5 votes
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Total: 25 minutes
Servings: 3
Creamy Pesto Pasta with mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes made in the Instant Pot in less than 30 minutes! An easy vegetarian meal for busy days!

Ingredients 

  • 1.5 tablespoons olive oil 22 ml
  • 3 large garlic cloves chopped
  • 8 oz white mushrooms sliced thick
  • 1.5 cups water 12 oz
  • 8 oz farfalle pasta around 4 cups farfalle pasta
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes or to taste
  • 1/3 cup +2 tablespoons basil pesto
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream 4 oz
  • 1/3 cup sun dried tomatoes chopped
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Instructions 

  • Press the saute button on the instant pot, then press adjust to set saute to "less". Once it displays hot, add the olive oil and then the garlic and mushrooms.
    Saute for 3 minutes until fragrant.
    mushrooms and garlic in a steel pot
  • Then add water, scrape bottom of the pot with a spatula to make sure there's nothing stuck at the bottom. Most likely there's will be nothing stuck since we sauteed on low.
    Add salt, black pepper, chili flakes and stir.
    mushrooms with water, pepper and chili flakes in a steel pot
  • Then add the pasta, press it with a spatula so that it's slightly wet.
    PS: you may need to add additional 1/2 cup water if you have a 8qt or your IP gives frequent BURN message.
    bow-tie pasta in a pot
  • Press the manual or pressure cook button and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes with the pressure valve in the sealing position.
    Let the pressure release naturally for 4 minutes and then do a quick pressure release by manually moving the valve from the sealing to venting position.
    instant pot display timer displaying the number 5
  • Open the lid and press saute again and use the adjust button to set saute to "less". Add pesto followed by heavy cream and mix well.
    pesto in a measuring cup being added to a pot of pasta
  • Then add sun dried tomatoes, toss everything and let the pasta simmer 2 minutes on saute.
    bow-tie pasta mixed with a creamy sauce in a steel pot
  • Serve creamy pesto pasta warm with a crusty bread. You may garnish the pasta with some fresh parmesan cheese before serving.
    bowl of bow-tie pasta with mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes

Stove-top Instructions

  • Boil pasta according to the instructions on the package and set aside. Heat a large pan on medium heat. Once hot, add olive oil and then add garlic and mushrooms to it. Cook for around 5 minutes until mushrooms release all their moisture and start turning golden brown in color. Then add the salt, pepper, red chili flakes, pesto and cream and mix everything together and let it heat up for 1 minute. Then add the boiled pasta, chopped sun-dried tomatoes and mix well. Let it all heat up for 2 minutes and then serve warm.

Notes

  1. You can use add other veggies like spinach, onion, peppers here. On the other hand if you want to make this pasta without any veggies, saute garlic in oil and then add the seasonings, water and pasta and pressure cook. Follow the rest of the steps as it is, 

Nutrition

Calories: 673kcal, Carbohydrates: 71g, Protein: 17g, Fat: 37g, Saturated Fat: 13g, Cholesterol: 57mg, Sodium: 788mg, Potassium: 870mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 1468IU, Vitamin C: 7mg, Calcium: 122mg, Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
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Hi, I’m Manali!

Bringing you easy, delicious vegetarian & vegan recipes! Eating veggies can be fun, you just need to get creative in the kitchen with the right set of ingredients!


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