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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!
Hi. I would like to make this recipe with 16oz of pasta. What exactly would I need to do or add to get the recipe right?
Hi Alicia- Double all of the ingredients and then just follow the directions as written. 🙂 No need to change the cook time.
There seems to be an inconsistency i the recipes. I the text with the pictures you mention using the instant pot with sauté but in the actual recipe this is left out. Does either work?
Yes, either works. I usually don’t turn it onto sauté but have that detail in so people know that it is an option if they would like to do that.
Would this work with milk or no?
No, the milk will curdle. Maybe give this method a try with the milk! https://cookingwithkarli.com/instant-pot-skinny-creamy-ziti/
Made this for dinner tonight. Both my husband and I loved it! We added a Cajun sausage ring that we sliced. It was precooked so we just tossed it in with the noodles at the beginning. It gave it a little bit of a spice that would otherwise be missing. Will definitely make again.
Made this tonight and flavour was very good! I thought i added the cheese slowly but it clumped and had to be removed. Im going to try again but just sprinkle cheese on the bowls after! Great flavour and both kids enjoyed. Going to double the recipe next time so we can all share!
Delicious and quick. I used on hand rigatoni and marinara leek sauce. The cheese does lump together. Need to figure out how to avoid it. Great meatless Monday meal.
Hi Mary- I am glad you enjoyed this dish! To avoid the cheese clumping, I would suggest shredding your own cheese vs purchasing pre-shredded from the store. The pre-shredded cheese has additives that actually keep the cheese from sticking together and melting properly.
Okay you had me at one cup of parmesan! I’ve been needing some quick recipe to make after work and this looks incredible, so I’m definitely putting this on my weekly menu coming up! Great photos!
It is one of our favorites around here! I hope you and your family enjoy this recipe as much as we do. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
I used whole wheat penne and the cook time was the same! Very yummy! I’ve made this a number of times with regular ziti, but wanted to try a different option. I also add browned ground beef after it’s all done cooking.
Thanks for coming back and commenting! I am sure many other readers will appreciate your insight on making this with whole wheat pasta! Thanks, Emily. 🙂
If I double do I need to adjust cook time on instant pot?
Hi Bianca- Cook time will stay the same.
Does it matter what red pasta sauce i use? New to the cooking game, so i dont know what my options are. #newlywed
Hi Sandy! You can use any pasta sauce. Just whatever you usually use with spaghetti will work great! 🙂 ps. congrats on the newlywed status!! 🙌🏻
I added seasoned ground venison and it was yummy. I just browned it first then added the other ingredients as instructed. Before cooking, I added 1/2 of the pasta sauce to insure the noodles were covered.