Dump and Start Instant Pot Creamy Ziti is saucy, cheesy and delicious. 20 minutes is all you need to make this creamy red sauce pasta dish!
Don’t have an Instant Pot yet? HAVE NO FEAR!! One Pot Creamy Ziti Recipe is here!! Check it out!
Dump and Start Instant Pot Creamy Ziti is a favorite at my house! I’ll be honest, it totally reminds me of Olive Garden’s Five Cheese Ziti dish. AKA the only thing I ever get while visiting Olive Garden.
I think I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve actually gone to Olive Garden though.. and most of those occasions were for the end of season formal dinner for the high school tennis team. (I was totally JV. All 3 years.)
There are two reasons why we hardly ever choose to go out to eat at Olive Garden. 1. I am cheap. 2. I can make the exact same thing, just as good without having to get dressed. I’d call that a win win.
Also, every single person in my family enjoys this for dinner. That right there is a miracle, people. If you have kids, were a kid a some point or haven’t been living under a rock you’ll know that is nearly impossible.
How to Make Creamy Ziti
‘Dump and Start’ are a funny combination of words to be on my favorite word list.. but it’s there alright. This dish is so easy! Dump and Start easy. If you like dump and start recipes as much as I do, check out Top 25 Instant Pot Dump and Start Recipes.
Broth, cream, garlic, s&p and pasta go into the Instant Pot. Make sure that the pasta is covered with liquid.
Pressure cook for 6 minutes, NPR for 6 minutes and then QR the rest of the pressure. The sauce will be very liquidy, totally normal.
Turn the Instant Pot onto sauté, then in goes some red pasta sauce.
Slowly add in the parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. This will thicken the sauce nicely for you. Once the sauce has thickened, turn the Instant Pot off and serve immediately.
See, I told you it was easy.
Don’t have an Instant Pot yet? HAVE NO FEAR!! One Pot Creamy Ziti Recipe is here!! Check it out!
Looking for a lighter version?? Try my SKINNY CREAMY ZITI!
Try out these other Recipes!
- Instant Pot Cashew Chicken and Noodles
- Dump and Start Instant Pot Alfredo
- Pulled Teriyaki Chicken Sliders
- Teriyaki Chicken Bowl
- Instant Pot Chicken Pot Pie
- Chicken Alfredo Stuffed Shells
- Chicken Wraps
- Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings
- Alfredo Sauce
- Pressure Cooker Steak
- Instant Pot BBQ Chicken
- Asiago Bagel
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Dump and Start Instant Pot Creamy Ziti
Ingredients
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- 1 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp minced garlic dried
- salt and pepper to taste
- 8 oz dry ziti pasta
- 1 cup red pasta sauce
- 1 cup parmesan cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
- Add the broth, cream, garlic, salt, pepper and noodles to the instant pot in that order. DO NOT STIR, but make sure all noodles are covered. If you need to move some noodles around, thats okay.
- Set your Instant Pot to Manual for 6 minutes. Let it naturally release its pressure for an additional 6 minutes then quick release.
- Add the red pasta sauce to the Instant Pot and give it a stir.
- SLOWLY add in the cheese while stirring. The cheese will melt and thicken the sauce. The sauce will also thicken as it cools.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Dump and Start Instant Pot Creamy Ziti
Dump and Start Instant Pot Creamy Ziti is saucy, cheesy and delicious. 20 minutes is all you need to make this creamy red sauce pasta dish!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp minced garlic dried
- salt and pepper to taste
- 8 oz dry ziti pasta
- 1 cup red pasta sauce
- 1 cup parmesan cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
- Add the broth, cream, garlic, salt, pepper and noodles to the instant pot in that order. DO NOT STIR, but make sure all noodles are covered. If you need to move some noodles around, thats okay.
- Set your Instant Pot to Manual for 6 minutes. Let it naturally release its pressure for an additional 6 minutes then quick release.
- Add the red pasta sauce to the Instant Pot and give it a stir.
- SLOWLY add in the cheese while stirring. The cheese will melt and thicken the sauce. The sauce will also thicken as it cools.
- Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
This is a very saucy dish- If you like yours with less sauce, just cut back on the red pasta sauce at the end.
Serve alongside some Oven Roasted Broccoli!
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Erin Minich says
So easy and yet sooo good. Doubled the recipe for leftovers. This will be in our rotation now.
Kandace Jones says
Made this tonight for the first time. I sauteed spicy italian sausage first, then added the ingredients in order and kale on top . Got the burn notice 😳 and it never came to pressure but luckily, it came out perfect! So, so good! Everyone loved it so we will definitely be adding this into our regular rotation!!! Thanks Karli!
Karli Bitner says
Hey Kandace- did you brown the sausage in the Instant Pot? If so, that’s why you got the burn notice. If you brown something in the Instant Pot, you’ll need to deglaze the pot before pressure cooking. This just means pouring some liquid in (like the broth that the recipe calls for) and scraping the bottom of the pot really well so nothing is stuck onto the bottom of the pot prior to pressure cooking. Glad you still enjoyed the dish!
Amanda says
The video says 1 1/2 cups of cream yet the written recipe says 1 cup of cream. Which should it be? Also, I don’t have minced dried garlic, what would you suggest using instead? Thanks in advance!
Karli Bitner says
Hi Amanda- I like mine extra saucy, so I use 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream generally but it works great with 1 cup. You can either substitute for garlic powder or fresh minced garlic. Hope you enjoy!
Amanda says
Thank you so much! I actually made this before you replied. I used 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream and no garlic. It was excellent. Definitely a recipes I will be keeping and making often! 😁
Cooking with Karli says
I’m so glad that it worked out for you. Sorry it took me so long to get back to you, thanks Amanda!
Martha says
YUM! Made the recipe exactly as written….delicious. Then made it again tonight substituting red sauce with half a can of San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand, on top all the other ingredients so the tomatoes would cook some. At the end I used cottage cheese instead of mozzarella (trust me, it melts like a dream if you take the time to stir) and a big handful of chopped fresh basil. It’s hard finding dump and go recipes for the Instant Pot that actually taste delicious but this one is a winner!!!
Stacie G. says
I accidentally added the pasta sauce, and I started cooking the chicken without thinking on sauté. I stopped it once I read the instructions again, but I may have some burn notices soon. I have made this before without chicken, and it’s a huge hit. I maaaaay have ruined this batch. We shall see!
Ann says
Beat instapot pasta!
Cooking with Karli says
Thank you Ann!!
Rylla says
This is my all time favourite instant pot recipe!!!
So I would love to double it, can I just double all the ingredients?
Karli Bitner says
Yes, double all ingredients. Cook time stays the same.
Erin says
I made this the other evening for my husband and myself. We both loved it! If I want to make a bigger batch to feed more people, could I just double all the ingredients and increase the cook time? I’m new to pressure cooking, so I’m not sure how it all works yet! Thank you!
Karli Bitner says
Hi Erin! I am so glad you and your husband both loved this so much! You can double the recipe by simply doubling all of the ingredients. No need to change the cook time. 🙂
Kate says
Is there a way to double the amount of pasta to use a full box? Would you just double everything else as well because that starts to seem like a lot of liquid! Thanks!!
Karli Bitner says
Yes, just double everything! Cook time will stay the same.
Amber says
Absolutely delicious!!!
Dawn LaFleche says
Made this and the whole family loved it. Quick easy and delicious.. i used half an half instead of cream and it still came out amazing.
Darlene P says
Going to try it with gluten free pasta-wish me luck!
Abbie says
Is the red pasta sauce referring to marinara, spaghetti sauce, or basic tomato sauce? Thanks!
Karli Bitner says
Marinara or spaghetti sauce work great!
Scott Maile says
I used freshly grated Romano cheese instead of Parmesan as that is what I had on hand. I also doubled the recipe. I used Ragu traditional as the red sauce. Truly the best version of the Olive Garden 5 cheese Ziti ever! Couple this with a iceberg salad with Olive Garden dressing and croutons and top it off with the other veggie fixings from your grocery store, and this will result in an amazing meal.
Amy B says
This is one of our go to meals! So easy and so delicious! I started omitting the mozzarella and it is just as good without. My favourite pasta sauce to use is the Classico Italian sausage, peppers and onions. So, so good!
Lexie says
Awesome! Add a little more cream and ragu but soooo delicious!
Jessica Hill says
As if this dish didn’t have enough positive reviews I’m gonna leave another one. If you make this dish even once, your whole family will be hooked. You included since its so easy to make! Oh but one piece of advice, double it. Cause everyone is gonna want seconds (or thirds)
Natasha says
Does this freeze well?
Karli Bitner says
You can- but it doesn’t warm up quite the same. It is best eaten fresh.
katie Thornley says
This is a family favorite and a quick go to that tastes amazing!! If you want to know a secret.. I once lied to my husband that I had dinner planned and it was cooking,,in reality I was deep into a Netflix series and couldn’t muster the strength to pause it. When I got that dreaded text ” headed home” I quickly ran to the fridge to see what I could throw together. To my amazement I had just about everything to make this fabulous dish,,I was shy on the full amount of cheese so I just cut back 1/4 cup of pasta sauce to help just incase it turned out liquidy . It turned out amazing and my husband even gave me a pat on the bum and said he appreciated me as I pretended to wipe sweat from my brow from the long night in the kitchen;) I would give this recipe an extra star if I could just for that!
Vanessa L says
I’m new to the IP world and don’t understand what “Manual” means. I don’t have that button. I am choosing “pressure cook” and set the timer for 6 minutes. Fingers crossed it works. I don’t have mozzarella cheese on hand so I will sub with white smoked cheddar as my kids are currently obsessed with it. Hoping this works well so I can make it more often. Looks and sounds delicious
Karli Bitner says
Pressure cook was the correct button! Hope you loved it!
Vanessa L says
Update: my kids LoVED it and I made it twice in one week. Second time I doubled it and we ate it for 2 days. My boys have it a million out of 10. This recipe will definitely be a go to from now on. Thanks for posting it!