Pressure Cooker Lemon Chicken Casserole

This pressure cooker lemon chicken casserole is great! Using fresh chicken thighs (not frozen chicken in the Instant Pot this time) mushrooms, and pasta you too can make this hearty meal for your family tonight. Get our your Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Crockpot Express y’all!

Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Pasta

Yes we are a bit obsessed with Instant Pot casseroles. If I can throw everything in all at the same time and come out with a bowl of comfort food, I’m all about it! Makes dinner easier which means we can eat together more often.

You can make this in your Ninja Foodi machine or Crockpot Express too. The brand doesn’t matter because they all offer the saute and high pressure functions.

Instant Pot Lemon Pasta

The great thing about pressure cookers is that you don’t have to cook the noodles separately. That is a game changer for me. No precooking required means less prep work and a faster meal. That makes family dinner night a lot easier to do regularly.

Similar to our pressure cooker chicken and rice dish, you could use chicken breasts or thighs really. You can also choose which style of small noodles you prefer. I generally choose what’s on sale.

Pressure Cooker Lemon Chicken Casserole

I haven’t tried this with whole grain or gluten free noodles yet, so I don’t have timing recommendations for those. If you make it and can share how long it took for you to make the noodles tender, please share. This is like our Instant Pot lemon chicken but with your side dishes cooked together.

1. Pressure cooker
   1. If you have an Instant Pot I HIGHLY suggest a non stick pot
2. Boneless skinless chicken thighs – diced into bite size pieces
3. Pasta – we used these noodles
4. Bell peppers – diced
5. Mushrooms – I love baby bellas if I can find them
6. Onion

1. Garlic
2. Garlic salt
3. Lemon – freshly squeezed is best
4. Salt and pepper
5. Chicken broth
6. Heavy whipping cream
7. Cornstarch to thicken sauce at the end

It’s been one of our favorite October Instant Pot recipes.

Ninja Foodi Lemon Chicken Pasta

Differences between Instant Pot vs Ninja Foodi when cooking this pressure cooker recipe. Literally there’s no difference if you have a Crockpot Express or Ninja Foodi other than the first says brown on the button instead of saute.

Can you put a casserole dish in an Instant Pot?

If you’ve been using your pot for a while you know that all Instant Pot recipes will work just the same.

• You don’t need to!!
• All you need is the inner pot.
• Just throw all the ingredients in and it’s done in just a few minutes!

Can you put frozen chicken breasts in the Instant Pot? You can but I wouldn’t recommend it for this recipe in particular.

Instant Pot lemon chicken pasta

Here are some tips for success:

• Once you add the olive oil or butter into your pot and press the saute function, add chicken that’s been diced into bite size pieces.
• Diced onions and bell peppers small so they can soften together. Minced garlic is great too.
• Just brown the chicken on the outside, it doesn’t need to cook all the way through.
• Make sure to then turn pot off after sauteeing.

Remember to not overcook it, you want it to be tender, juicy and full of flavor when done. I just saute 2-3 minutes until outsides of chicken pieces are no longer pink.

Here are quick step by step directions but there is a printable recipe card at the bottom of this post too.

Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta

Add your butter to the pan, press the saute function, then add your diced chicken thighs. Once pan is hot add your diced onions and bell peppers and saute until outside of chicken pieces are no longer pink. Add minced garlic and stir, turn pot off/cancel.

1. Squeeze 1/2 of your lemon into mixture, pour in quartered mushrooms and sprinkle in your garlic salt (and pepper if you’re adding that).
2. Pour in your uncooked noodles and pour your broth on top of them, do NOT stir. Gently push your noodles down until some are submerged in the liquid (it’s okay if not all of them are).
3. Close lid and steam valve on Instant Pot and set to pressure high for 4 minutes. Do a quick release, turn off/cancel and then hit saute again if you want to thicken your casserole.
4. In a small bowl whisk together your whipping cream and cornstarch until smooth.
5. Pour this into your Instant Pot and gently stir allowing mixture to bubble and thicken, cook for 1 minute or so. Squeeze in your remaining 1/2 lemon zest lemon juice if you want more acidity.
6. Turn pot off once achieved so it doesn’t continue to cook. Will continue to thicken as it sits. Serve with a bit of parmesan cheese on top if you like.

And that is our complete Instant Pot dinner done in less than 30 minutes flat people! Looking for more easy Instant Pot chicken recipes?

Our Instant Pot crack chicken casserole is probably one of our most popular recipes.

1. If you want enjoy Instant Pot chicken thighs a lot, we have another idea here for you.
2. Our Instant Pot chicken parmesan casserole and air fryer lemon pepper chicken wings are great.

Want to make Crockpot lemon pepper chicken that’s keto friendly too? Do it!! They’re a bit different from one another but delicious just the same.

What do you eat lemon chicken with?

Well if you’re making our pasta dish it’s kinda’ all encompassing. I don’t serve a side dish with that. If you’re making the other version though without the noodles I would suggest vegetables and rice all the way. 

• Greens are great like some Instant Pot spinach, Swiss chard, or kale
• Green beans steamed or cooked with some butter work
• Served on top of some roasted or mashed potatoes is my husband’s favorite
• My favorite is Instant Pot white rice, purely simple and naturally gluten free

Either one you choose to make I guarantee your family will smile. I just love an easy Instant Pot chicken pasta dish with all the ingredients cooked together personally. 

Make sure to follow recipe notes carefully when it comes to stirring, when to do so and when not to avoid burn notice.