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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? StoveTop 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.
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.
I love how this pasta dish pairs nicely with all sorts of sides to make it a meal, you could do a garden salad, garlic bread or even a crisp Fruit and Vegetable Salad. Whatever you serve it up with, your family will love it!
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!
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Dump and Start Instant Pot Creamy Ziti
Equipment
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!
Video
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!
If I wanted to add frozen meatballs, how should I adjust the recipe?
My instapot comes TODAY and I think this is going to be the first recipe I try 🙂
Hi Callie- just toss those frozen meatballs in on top of the pasta and cook everything together! No need to adjust time. 😊
I have made this twice now. First time noodles were not cooked all the way. So this time I set pressure time to 8 minutes instead of the 8. Noodles still not done. What do you recommend?
Hi Denise- are the noodles covered up by the liquid before pressure cooking? If the noodles aren’t covered in liquid, they won’t cook. Sometimes by mistake an entire package of pasta is used when the recipe calls for 1/2 package. Could that have accidentally happened?
How would I go about doubling this? Double all ingredients, but what about cooking time? Do you think it would work?
Thanks!
Hi Jenelle- yes, doubling works great! Double all ingredients, the cook time will stay the same. 🙂
Have you added chicken before? I assumed just put on bottom so it cooks correctly, but just wondering if you’ve tried that?
Hi Julia- You can actually just toss frozen chicken tenderloins on top of the pasta and cook everything at the same time. Works like a charm!
The first time I made this it was delicious. Everytime since then, it’s been super watery and the cheese is all clumped together no matter how slowly I add it. And I’ve never done anything differently from the first time I made it. The taste is sooo good but I can’t seem to get the sauce consistency right or the cheese to melt properly. What am I doing wrong?
My next question is, the recipe calls for 8oz of dried pasta. But in your comments I noticed your have 1/2 package. A whole box of penne or ziti is 1 pound. I one batch of this only 1 cup(8oz) or a half package? Maybe tks is why it’s been so watery. I’ve tried cutting back the liquid but it didn’t seem to help and I have to double the recipe since I’m feeding 4 people. Tonight I’m gong to do one batch at a time but I still want to know if 1/2 box of pasta is 1 batch.
Hi Nicole! So you are correct, you will use 8 oz or 1/2 package of pasta. 1 lb of pasta is 16 oz so the 8 oz is the same as 1/2 package. I hope this helps!
The total amount of pasta is more than 1 cup. 1 cup would be an 8 oz liquid measurement, but you need an 8 oz weight measurement. I’m positive that will fix your problem. Good luck! This recipe is amazing!!
Have you been shredding your own mozzarella off of a block by any chance? This recipe works great with pre-shredded mozzarella from a bag, but I also get the same gooey clump of cheese in the middle when I try to shred my own fresh cheese. I think I it’s because bagged cheese is coated with an anti-clumping ingredient and obviously a block of cheese wouldn’t have that. That would also be why it’s watery. The cheese is what makes it thick, so if your cheese isn’t incorporating properly, it won’t get thick.
This recipe is ridiculously good. Turned out perfect. Do you think I could cut down on the amount of heavy cream and add more stock? It’s a really rich meal. Thanks!!
Yeah, you could do that if you’d like!! Just keep the total liquid amount the same and you should be golden!
I really want to try this as is!
However, my husband thinks he needs meat in it. lol
So, can I make this with ground chuck and just add all the other ingredients ?
Our husbands sound similar.. 😉 Yes, you can definitely add ground meat! I would just brown it first. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
I can’t believe how easy this was and how good it came out. I doubled the recipe, used penne pasta because I like it better, and threw in some Italian seasoning and then some pre-cooked chicken and fresh basil at the end. As good as any restaurant pasta dish I’ve had.
I am so happy to hear this, Melinda!! Thanks for the comment!
Is it possible to triple the recipe?
Hi Vanessa- if you have an 8qt you should be able to triple the recipe with no problems!
Can I use half and half instead of heavy cream? Trying to avoid an extra trip to the grocery store 🙂
Hi Jill- half and half may curdle, see above in the post for more details on what to do if you only have half and half for the adjustments you’ll need to make. 🙂