This pressure cooker cheesy chicken spaghetti was a real hit for dinner tonight! If you love easy Ninja Foodi and Instant Pot recipes this is a weeknight dinner you’ll want to make.
I’m here with pressure cooker cheesy chicken spaghetti to add to our long list of easy Instant Pot recipes. If you’re ready to amp regular Instant Pot spaghetti up to the next level with cheese and a bit of a kick this is the next dinner you need to make! (originally published 10/18, affiliate links present)
Instant Pot chicken spaghetti
…..is also done in less than 20 minutes!!! That means it’s a real winner. The only real prep is to cube chicken breasts and dice your onion up. The rest you can just dump in, pressure cook, lift the lid and stir!
That’s my kinda’ easy pressure cooker recipe.
I got the idea for our pressure cooker cheesy chicken spaghetti recipe from a viewer actually! She messaged me on The Typical Mom Facebook page and asked if I had a recipe for easy chicken spaghetti and I didn’t. I said it was a great idea though and I would attempt it the next week.
- I made my first version which I share at the very bottom of this page.
- Then on the second go around I switched things around a bit and used Velveeta instead of shredded cheese. That is a substitution you can make too for a much richer flavor. I include both recipes below.
The Velveeta version has more of a kick to it (a bit of heat) because I swapped out some chicken broth for another can of Rotel. You can decide which recipe you’d like to try. They’re both yummy.
Watch the video that’s embedded in this post first, then follow these simple written steps:
- Add onions and cubed chicken into your pot, spread out across the bottom
- Pour 1 can of Rotel over this mixture
- Break your noodles into 3 equal parts (so they’re shorter) and sprinkle them on top
- don’t throw in in big chunks because they’ll come out clumped too, sprinkle
- Then pour your 2nd can of Rotel over the noodles
- In a bowl whisk together cans of cream of chicken, mushroom, and broth until smooth
- Carefully pour into your pot
- Close lid and steam valve and set to pressure cook, high for 8 minutes
- Quick releasing the pressure when done cooking the chicken and noodles is best
- Remove the lid after cook time and steam is released
- Stir in cheese until melted, serve
Here is what you will need to make our pressure cooker cheesy chicken spaghetti using Velveeta
- Pressure cooker
- If you have an Instant Pot I HIGHLY recommend getting this non stick pot. Great for all recipes & to help prevent burn notice.
- Velveeta – half a block, or I found a package with 5 smaller blocks and used 3 of the 5 pieces, about 10 oz.
- Rotel
- Cream of mushroom
- Cream of chicken
- Onion
- Spaghetti noodles
- Chicken breasts – boneless, skinless, diced
- 1/2 cup diced bell peppers could be added if you’d like
Other version using shredded cheese and very little heat is below this recipe card.
After this try our pressure cooker jambalaya too!
If you’re looking for a milder version of cheesy Instant Pot chicken spaghetti here is another recipe you can try which is good as well.
This is a picture of the above recipe that has real cheese in it versus velveeta and doesn’t have a kick like the first recipe does.
- I would say if I had to choose from the 2 I would opt for the velveeta version but honestly I usually use what I have in the house so it depends on the night.
There is a decent amount of sodium in packaged cheese so salt and pepper is not necessary. There will not be a lack of flavor for sure.
Looking for more pressure cooker chicken recipes?
- 3 ingredient Instant Pot recipes make things easier when you’re a busy family
- You need to try our easy Instant Pot butter chicken with some Naan some night
- Instant Pot brussel sprouts could be a great side dish with any protein
- You could make pressure cooker bread to serve with this
- How to cook fresh or frozen Instant Pot chicken is shared here
If you love traditional Instant Pot spaghetti we have instructions for that too. It is the ONLY way I make this “old fashioned” dinner because it takes no time at all. This too requires no boiling and is all cooked in one pot.
These two recipes specifically will help you answer the question: can you cook spaghetti noodles in an Instant Pot?
- You can really use your Instant Pot to cook any type of pasta. Just sprinkle it in with liquid or other ingredients like our chicken spaghetti and set to 9 minutes.
- This will ensure it will come out just a touch al dente. Nobody likes mushy noodles!
- Take note that the Instant Pot will spend about 10-11 minutes heating up before it begins to reach pressure and start to cook
- SO, if you set it for 4 minutes, the whole process will take about 15 minutes.
You can find many more Instant Pot pasta recipes here as well, enjoy friends!
Printable recipe for Instant Pot chicken spaghetti is below.
Pressure Cooker Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts approx 1 lbs., boneless, skinless, cut into cubes
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 cans rotel
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 8 oz spaghetti noodles uncooked, broken into thirds (basically half a box you'd find in the store)
- 8 oz velveeta or 3 blocks if you buy the 5 block pack
- 1/2 c chicken broth
Instructions
- Add your cubed chicken, diced onions, and 1 can of rotel into your Instant Pot. Stir so everything is mixed well.
- Break your noodles into 3 equal parts and sprinkle on top of your chicken mixture.
- Pour your 2nd can of rotel on top of your noodles. Whisk together your cans of cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup and chicken broth, pour on top of noodles but do NOT stir.
- Close your lid and steam valve and set to high pressure for 8 minutes.
- Do a quick release and lift lid.
- Stir contents and break up any noodles/chicken pieces that may be stuck together a bit. Turn your pot to saute. Serve now if you don't want cheese, it's delicious as is.
- Dice your velveeta into smaller chunks of cheese and add into your pot. Stir until cheese is melted and sauce thickens.
- * Honestly the longer this sits the better it gets and is amazing the next day as leftovers.
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David says
Just made this. Used entire (16 oz) spaghetti; 2 cans “hot” Rotel plus rest of recipe as written. Pressure cooked 8 minutes, quick release, stirred. Had some clumpy spaghetti, and the pasta wasn’t cooked to my desired tenderness. So I added a cup of water and pressure cooked for 5 more minutes. After that, noodles were just right (and only had one small clump). Added Velveeta and a little cheddar per recipe. To finish, put a good handful of shredded cheddar on top and air crisped for a few minutes.
End result: super cheesy, spicy, chicken spaghetti.
J Hensley says
Can I use chicken that is already cooked in this recipe? What changes would I have to do?
The Typical Mom says
Yes you could, just skip sauteeing at the beginning.
Mactempest2 says
I did it that way. It worked great! I also was out of total so I used Hunt’s petite diced with sweet onion and a can of diced green chilis. Yum!
Nancy
AJ says
Awesome recipe! I doubled the chicken breast since my marine son came over. And I added ripe olives when I added the cheese. I’ll definitely make this again.
Heather says
I’m not from the US and so am like “what the h$&% is Rotel?” I clicked the Amazon link and am still not really sure. Is it just extra spicy diced tomatoes?
Thanks,
Heather
The Typical Mom says
Yes it is basically petite diced tomatoes with diced jalapenos it.
Lynn says
It’s actually green chilis, not jalapeno.
Sandy says
This is an excellent recipe, I have made it every week since I found t. One Sunday my kids came over I had to make another pot of it. It’s so easy, that was not a problem..
The Typical Mom says
Yay!!!
CarlaC says
I made something similar years ago and wanted to try this in my Insta pot. It was good however I would make two changes the next time I make it. First, two cans of rotel is way too hot for me. I would use one can of rotel and one can of petite diced tomatoes. Also I would use less cheese. I thought it was a little overdone with cheese. That would cut down on the cost too. But overall a great addition to my instant pot recipes.
Traci says
This recipe was a great one! My husband and nephew loved it! We used one can of HOT Ro-Tel as we like it spicy. I used a full 16-oz of Velveeta and it worked out great! Thank you!
Jessica says
Did as recipe instructed but added more liquid than called for (to avoid burn notice) and still got a burn notice. What did I do wrong? I am using a 6 qt Instant Pot Duo 🙁
Bekah..6 says
Is there anyway this can be done in a crock pot?
Valerie says
Crockin Girls have a great crock pot recipe. In fact that is what I was going to make today but came here to look for an IP recipe instead.
The Typical Mom says
Hope you enjoy this one.
Sydney says
Hi! I’m new to the instant pot life. I’ve got the lux series. Can you tell me what setting it’s supposed to be on when I start it?
Jan says
Made this today and put in frozen chicken breast in the bottom and then layered up everything else on top. Then I set the delay start for it to come in close to dinner. It came on, it cooked and when it was done to took out the chicken breast and cut them in cubes and back in they went. Then added the velveta cheese and some extra salsa. It turned out great for a day I had been outside pressure washing all day! Thanks for the recipe it was really good and glad it turned out so well. Plus that delay start on the Duo 6 qt is awesome!!!!!
The Typical Mom says
Great idea to use the delay function!
Brenda says
How long did you cook it? I would think frozen chicken breasts would take longer than 3 minutes. I want to try it with frozen chicken. I’m just not sure how long to cook???
The Typical Mom says
If it is already diced it would take about the same time. If they’re whole breasts there would need to be a lot of differences as noodles can’t be put in at the same time. 12 min typically for whole frozen.
Angela Sparks says
Has anyone tried to double this in a 6 qt instant pot?
Jan says
I put in extra chicken and a whole package of skinny spaghetti. There was enough to feed at least 8 to 10 people. With everything in the pot it filled it up pretty high which was ok since it wasn’t liquid that came up past the full mark and everything cooked down when it was done. It turned out great. I still used 1 1/2 broth, 21 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 can cream of celery soup and 2 cans rotel along with a whole big block of velveta cheese. I did add a little extra salsa at the end.
Jan says
Oops used one can cream of mushroom soup!!
Pat says
How long does it take for the Instant pot to come to pressure?
The Typical Mom says
I would say approx. 5-10 min
Bonnie says
Can you double this recipe? And would you cook it as long or longer?
The Typical Mom says
I haven’t tried that so I am unsure. I have the 6 qt so typically I don’t double because it will make it too full.
Dara Michalski says
Can you say comfort food?! I love that this came together so quickly in my Instant Pot.
wilhelmina says
This is such a great recipe for busy nights! Love it!
G says
Great recipe. I didn’t use rotel instead added 1/2 cup of chicken broth. I used 2 cans of cream of chicken instead of cream of mushroom. I’m going to try cream of broccoli next. Left out Velveetab when serving , added shredded cheese.
The Typical Mom says
Glad you liked it.
TD says
Made with the Rotel and Velveta and turned out great. Very easy and very very tasty. Was a hit.
The Typical Mom says
Glad you enjoyed it too!
Julie says
I wanted a more Italian taste so I subbed Italian diced tomatoes with oregano, basil, and garlic. I also put in a half a jar of sun dried tomatoes with a half cup chicken broth. Would probably decrease blocks of Velveeta to two instead of three. Yum!
The Typical Mom says
🙂
Billie R. Dorries, Jr says
I had a stove top recipe for Cheesy Chicken Recipe that my wife and I really liked so when I saw your IP recipe I had to try it. The IP recipe blew away the old recipe! My wife raved over the creaminess and I really enjoyed it also. I’ve used many of your recipes since and enjoyed them all. My next step is to see if I can convert some of my other stove top recipes.
The Typical Mom says
So glad it was a hit!
Michelle Ford-Copley says
I did this but I added a quart of chicken broth, it smells and looks delish so far!
The Typical Mom says
Hope you loved it too.
Rachel says
What size IP did you use? I have the mini IP is there a way you can adjust it to the smaller size? By the way this looks super yummy and I’m excited to try it
The Typical Mom says
I use a 6 qt. so just cut all of my recipes in half and they should work just find for yours.
Jeff says
With the Rotel I used my liquid was minimal. I added 2 cups of chicken broth and it turned out perfect. My kids love this recipe.
Nicole says
Jeff- did you use both cans of soup in addition to the 2 c. chicken broth? Thanks!
Russell Brackeen says
What other options are there instead of onions? My BIL does not like onions. I have made this recipe and it is awesome. This weekend fixing it at the deer lease and trying to keep it edible for him.
Thanks
The Typical Mom says
I would just leave them out entirely then. Wouldn’t be an issue.
Amanda says
What is the best setting to choose for pressure cooking on high?
Jo Ellen says
What can I use instead of Rotel?
Emma Jean says
Salsa, or diced tomatoes
Kevin says
Cant read the recipe wìth real cheese. Is it nother place on the net?
Brittney says
My spaghetti was all clumped together and not cooked all the way. What did I do wrong??
The Typical Mom says
Must ensure all noodles are submerged in liquid before putting lid on, also when breaking noodles make sure you sprinkle them in as you see in video and not throw in in one big clump. Breaking into 3 or 4 equal parts rather than 2 works best too.
Irus says
I thought the Instant Pot required liquid is actually be what I meant to say..
The Typical Mom says
Yes there is liquid in the cans of Rotel and soup, it works great. Others have had success too, no issues.
Irus says
How is that you can cook this with no liquid? I thought it required it…
Lisa says
Such an easy way to get dinner on the table quickly. I love how it all cooks up in one pot.
Nellie Tracy says
I love recipes that you can just throw in the IP and have done in no time! So yummy!
Beth says
What a fun idea. There is a lot I can learn from this recipe about the layering that I can apply to other Instantpot recipes!
The Typical Mom says
Layering is key.