This Instant Pot crack chicken casserole is one of the most amazing pressure cooker cream cheese chicken and pasta recipe I have made thus far! Get ready for creamy cream cheese chicken with pasta.
I made an easy Instant Pot crack chicken casserole that took a total of 20 minutes from start to finish and it was amazing!! On top of the list of favorite Instant Pot recipes amongst the 5 of us. (affiliate links present)
Table of Contents
- Instant Pot Crack Chicken Pasta
- Cracked Chicken Casserole
- Ninja Foodi Crack Chicken Pasta
- Instant Pot Cracked Chicken
- Crack Chicken Pasta in Instant Pot
- Ninja Foodi Cream Cheese Chicken Pasta
- Instant Pot Cream Cheese Chicken and Pasta
- How to Make Crack Chicken Noodle Pasta
- Instant Pot Crack Chicken Casserole Recipe
Instant Pot Crack Chicken Pasta
If you need easy Ninja Foodi recipes, you can use that or the Crockpot Express pots instead. Any brand works, we have them all and there isn’t much of a difference other than the names of a few of the buttons.
All three of these have the saute function so you can brown your meat beforehand and high pressure to cook the noodles. Melts the cream cheese and everything stirred together makes the creamiest casserole on the planet. If you love our Ninja Foodi crack chicken recipe you’ll love this one pot meal for sure.
If you are new to pressure cooking we have a lot of easy one pot meal recipes for you here. To begin with let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then PRINT this —–> Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet that will help you understand how long meat, vegetables and beans take to cook in your pressure cooker.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot.
- You should know how to deglaze a pressure cooker after sautéing but it won’t have as many issues with this better liner.
For reference, this is the model I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.
Cracked Chicken Casserole
Making Instant Pot casseroles is the only way to do it during the summertime so you don’t have to turn the oven on. We make this one year round because it’s a creamy hearty casserole with tender pieces of chicken thighs or breasts and diced vegetables. Made in less than 20 minutes it’s always a winner for dinner!
We eat a lot of poultry. Especially when I can find it on sale I will buy a bunch and divide it up into portion sizes. Having a deep freezer saves the day many times. I can save trips to the store which saves me time and money as well as more money when meat is not cheap.
For this we are going to dice it up into bite size pieces so it’s easier for everyone to eat. If you can find boneless skinless then it will make this process a lot easier. Sometimes that is a lot pricier so I will buy it as is and trim it all off myself. Depends on what I can find or what I have on hand.
Here are a few questions you might have before you get started on one of our favorite quick and easy casseroles. If you have others just let us know below.
Why do they call it crack chicken?
Some people don’t appreciate the name, so you can call it whatever you want. It came about because of how addicting it is. When tried people just can’t get enough of it. You can make it with pasta like this or smooth like chicken crack soup instead.
Our favorite are Instant Pot casseroles. They’re made in no time at all using beef, chicken or pork. Incorporating noodles and vegetables makes it a one pot meal. Using the oven is another alternative.
The best quick way to make easy casseroles are ones that need the least amount of prep. To help you can use leftover chicken and skip the browning step, or rotisserie is great.
Ninja Foodi Crack Chicken Pasta
Like I said, any brand of electric pressure cooker will work here really. You are going to use the saute and high pressure function so as long as you have those you’re good to go. On Crockpot Express saute is labeled brown, it is the same thing. Allows you to cook everything together without dirtying more than one pot or pan.
Instant Pot Cracked Chicken
The basic ingredient to make this chicken and cream cheese dinner are those two ingredients. Everything is better with cheese and bacon too so we loaded up on the best bacon around. Noodles are a given when it comes to making a casserole, and I feel like you have to throw some type of vegetable in so we used petite peas this time.
You could really use any type of small diced frozen veggie inside this and I think it would be great. Gives it a little bit more texture, flavor, and incorporating veggies in every dish when you have kids gets them to appreciate the taste overall. That’s the way it worked in my house anyway.
One that I think turns out the best would be frozen peas. If my husband isn’t home that is what I use, if he is that is a big no no (childhood pea trauma, let’s not talk about it lol)
- I love one pot meals like this one and our pressure cooker chicken taco bowls. You just throw everything in, let it cook and do it’s thing and it’s ready!
- Very little prep and you have your protein, starch and vegetables all pressure cooked in one pot.
Crack Chicken Pasta in Instant Pot
Typically crack chicken recipes call for chicken breasts, but honestly I am a huge fan of chicken thighs!! For one thing they have SO much more flavor, are more tender, and are dirt cheap at the store…yes I am frugal, let’s be honest here.
So….I used thighs and I think it made for a tastier meal but that is totally up to you as well. Here’s what you need to make our easy Instant Pot crack chicken
Ingredients
- Pressure cooker is where this whole thing begins y’all
- If you have an Instant Pot I HIGHLY suggest you get a non stick pot too!
- Chicken thighs I love because it is the most tender and adds a lot of flavor
- Could use chicken breasts if you’d rather
- Cream cheese should be softened ideally, do not buy low fat friends
- Egg noodles work the best and soften very quickly, I like broad or wide version
- Chicken broth – can use water but it’s so much more flavorful with broth
- Bacon – optional but we’re not counting calories on this dish, we’re going for uber flavor y’all
- Ranch seasoning packet
- If you don’t have the packets above available you can make your own ranch seasoning
- Frozen peas – optional
- Diced onion – optional but at least 1/2 cup is good
There’s a recipe video within this post you can watch showing you how easy it is to make.
Ninja Foodi Cream Cheese Chicken Pasta
As noted in step 3 make sure you get all the small pcs. of cooked chicken off the bottom of your pot. If not it may trigger the burn message.
This has never happened to me but some pots are more sensitive than others and why I recommend this non stick pot. You can remove the chicken to make sure everything is off. Another tip is to make sure you quick pressure release. If not the noodles can get overdone and too soft.
If you’d like a crockpot crack chicken recipe we have that too! This is a real winner using frozen chicken or fresh. Just throw it all in when you leave for the day and it literally falls apart cooking by itself all day. That is my kinda’ meal. Just shred when you’re home, throw it on buns and you have a killer meal everyone will love.
Instant Pot Cream Cheese Chicken and Pasta
If you have leftovers it saves quite well actually. You want to keep it as moist as possible so scrape out all of that wonderful sauce and pour as much of it on top. A sealed container is best but if you don’t have that a freezer bag will work with all the air sucked out of it.
Transfer to a microwave safe bowl and heat in 30 second increments stirring in between so it heats evenly. It really is a complete meal so I don’t really serve it with anything else but you could pair with a side salad or roll.
Then after you do try our other favorite Instant Pot chicken recipes;
- Instant Pot sesame chicken is probably my favorite meal served over rice
- Easy Instant Pot butter chicken is amazing if you love Indian recipes
- We have this simple Instant Pot chicken thighs bone in recipe too
The cooking time is short so don’t go far away because you’ll need to cook on high and do a quick release right when it beeps.
How to Make Crack Chicken Noodle Pasta
If you wanted to make this more as a soup I would increase the liquid by another cup. Use broth for more flavor. Or cook as is and thin it out at the end so you can taste both versions and see which you like better. Total time is about 20 minutes to prep and cook it all until done to perfection.
Time needed: 10 minutes
Instant Pot Crack Chicken Casserole
- Saute
Set Instant Pot to saute and add olive oil and bacon. Cook for a few minutes until bacon is consistently sizzling and almost done. (add onion now if you want to add it)
Add cubed chicken thigh pieces and cook until outsides of chicken are no longer pink. Turn Instant Pot off/cancel so it can cool a bit before turning it to high pressure. Deglaze your Instant Pot after sauteing any meat. - Add ingredients
Sprinkle ranch seasoning packet on top of bacon and chicken and mix gently. Cut softened cream cheese into clumps and put on top of chicken mixture, followed by 1/2 cup of chicken broth.
- Cook
Close lid and steam valve and set to high pressure for 5 minutes.
Do a quick release, stir contents gently allowing cream cheese bits to become creamy and no longer clumped up. - Add more time
Add your frozen peas, then 5 measuring cups full of uncooked small egg noodles, and then your remaining 1.5 c. of chicken broth on top of your noodles. Gently stir just a bit.
Close lid and steam valve and set to high pressure for 3 minutes. Do a quick release, stir and serve!! - Thicken
If you want sauce a bit thicker turn IP to saute again to have liquid bubble for 1-2 minutes and stir gently while bubbling. Allow to sit and the longer it sits the thicker it will get.
Instant Pot Crack Chicken Casserole
Equipment
- 1 pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken thighs, boneless skinless, cubed – can use chicken breasts if preferred
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened, room temp.
- 3 strips bacon, diced
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 packet ranch seasoning, dry mix in packet
- 2 c chicken broth
- 5 c egg noodles, use measuring cup to measure 5 cups uncooked into pot
- 1/2 c peas, frozen, optional
- 1/2 onion, diced, optional
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to saute and add olive oil and bacon.
- Cook for a few minutes until bacon is consistently sizzling and almost done. (add onion now if you want to add it)
- Add cubed chicken thigh pieces and cook until outsides of chicken are no longer pink. Turn Instant Pot off/cancel so it can cool a bit before turning it to high pressure. Scrape remaining bits of meat off bottom of pot.
- Sprinkle ranch seasoning packet on top of bacon and chicken and mix gently.
- Cut softened cream cheese into clumps and put on top of chicken mixture, followed by 1/2 cup of chicken broth.
- Close lid and steam valve and set to high pressure for 5 minutes.
- Do a quick release, stir contents gently allowing cream cheese bits to become creamy and no longer clumped up.
- Add your frozen peas, then 5 measuring cups full of uncooked small egg noodles, and then your remaining 1.5 c. of chicken broth on top of your noodles.
- Gently stir just a bit.
- Close lid and steam valve and set to high pressure for 3 minutes.
- Do a quick release, stir and serve!!
- If you want sauce a bit thicker turn IP to saute again to have liquid bubble for 1-2 minutes and stir gently while bubbling. Allow to sit and the longer it sits the thicker it will get.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I have not made this meal in the crock pot yet but I am sure you could precook the chicken or use a rotisserie. If you’re shredding the chicken off an already cooked bird then you could skip the initial cooking step of that.
If you make it I’d love to hear at what temp. you turn the pot to, and how long you cooked it for.
- The noodles wouldn’t take long and would need to be added at the very end submerged in liquid. I would think 30 minutes would soften them well.
We received the Instant Pot mini as a gift. The first time I used it I was impressed. I love it. I want a 6 at. for larger portions for company. I’ve used another pressure cooker and converting recipes is difficult. The IP is so much more user friendly and I haven’t had any issues.
What is a general rule to know when making the instant pot recipes to half the recipe? Can’t wait to try this recipe
There shouldn’t be an issue when cutting it in half, I do that in my 3 qt. and it works well. Only potential issue for the 6 qt. cutting in half is it may trigger the burn notification if it senses there isn’t enough liquid…but that is a might.
I halfed it for my Mini and used broccoli instead of peas. I did use the onion. It was fabulous!
I deglazed my pot but it still burned. I ended up completely washing it and got every piece off and it burned again. Ended up cooking that part in pot on stove. Returned it to instapot to finish with noodles, etc. I added extra water besides broth just cuz Im afraid it will burn again, did high pressure for 4 minutes and most the noodles were not cooked? I added more water since im out of broth now and redoing that step. Any ideas what I’m doing wrong? I am new to this and uses my pot maybe 5 or 6 times so still learning but haven’t encountered so many issues before.
The chicken stage may not have gotten all stuck on pieces off, or I suspect you didn’t hit the off/cancel button after you sauteed and while you were deglazing so the pot could cool down. This will cause burn to show up if it’s not cooled using this method. As for the noodles it sounds like you didn’t submerge them into the liquid. 4 minutes is plenty for small noodles of any variety unless they are gluten free style.
The first time I madee crack chicken in th IP mine burnt too. The recipe I used only called for a 1/2 of liquid. My IP says 15 oz of liquid must be used so I have no idea how people are doing this & not getting burnt!!???????????
This recipe is a winner. Liquid also comes from the chicken when it is cooked initially so that adds to the overall liquid for the recipe. I never post recipes that have an issue so rest assured it comes out amazing.
I tried the crack chicken casserole and got through steps 1-6. While quick releasing the steam, I got a burn message. Any idea why?? My Instant Pot is an IP-DUO 7 in 1, 8 qt.
So it was done and during quick release it said burn?? That is strange, sounds like an error to me.
I got to step 10 and before it was even locked & pressure cooking it said burn. I opened it up & still had plenty of liquid I stirred it reckoned and set it to low pressure while building pressure it said burn again, it wouldn’t finish building pressure so I released again and noodles tasted cooked and casserole was yummy.
If it said burn before you even put the top on that means that it didn’t have enough time to cool off before switching from saute to pressure. As stated you need to make sure that right after the chicken is done you press off to avoid this. Also make sure to scrape the stuck on chicken on the bottom off to avoid it possibly saying this next time. You must give it a few minutes to cool off.
Soooooo good!! Thank you so much for this! It’s hard to cook with 2u2 and especially something delicious like this!! It was a huge hit at our house!! Can’t wait to try more of your delicious recipes!!
Happy New Year 2019
Please do try more, so glad you loved this one.
Does the chicken need to be thawed before sautéing ?
If I wanted to use a different kind of noodle would that change the cooking time?
If using a newer instapot; what setting would it be done on? I have a Lux, Pioneer Woman version.
Looks like that one has a pressure cook button. Push that. Then on the screen it should say high at the top.
What does “high pressure” on the instant pot mean? I have the Lux8 at. and a manual button, but no “high pressure” button?
The newer version pots are high for every button, the older version has the option of choosing low or high pressure.
would like to try this but we dont sell powered ranch dressing in uk ,could attempted to make it but cant find powered buttermilk what could i use as a n alternative
Try this one: https://www.yummly.com/recipe/Homemade-Ranch-Dressing-Mix-1210676#directions
If making ranch seasoning, how much would you put in to equal a packet?
1 oz.