This budget-friendly, creamy Instant Pot mushroom and chickpea pasta is a delicious meal for the whole family. It’s vegetarian yet high in protein and comes with plenty of fiber and nutrients. The best part, the whole recipe can be made for under $7. Step-by-step photo instructions provided below. Make sure to comment and rate this recipe once you make it.
If you’re looking for an affordable dinner the whole family will love AND that will provide many essential nutrients in one go, make sure to bookmark our creamy mushroom and chickpea pasta that can be made in the Instant Pot as a one-pot dish.
WHY we love this creamy Instant Pot pasta dish:
- It’s super affordable and uses ingredients you might already have in your pantry and refrigerator. Based on shopping at an affordable supermarket, our calculations come at just under $7 for the whole recipe (assuming you already have salt, pepper and cooking oil on hand).
- It’s vegetarian-friendly yet high in protein and very satiating. From pasta, chickpeas and frozen peas, you’ll be getting the complete amino acids, which you normally get when combining a variety of plant-based proteins.
- It feels creamy and decadent but is actually not that high in calories! We used sharp Parmesan cheese and light cream to give it that luxurious texture and flavor but a little goes a long way in this dish.
- It’s a one-pot dish and takes around 30 minutes, which means less effort and clean up on your part.
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED FOR THIS PASTA DISH
We’re using penne pasta but you could also do a differently shaped pasta of similar size. For the mushrooms, we used simple white cremini button ones but you could add a variety depending on your budget.
Chickpea or garbanzo beans are out of a can so you can add them right at the end. If you wanted to use dry chickpeas, you would have to pressure cook them first separately. If you do that, make a larger batch and refrigerate or freeze the leftovers for salads, soups or other dishes. More chickpeas Instant Pot recipes here.
The sauce is thickened and flavored with grated Parmesan, low-fat heavy cream and a little all-purpose flour. These ingredients are added after the cooking phase.
Below is the full recipe for this Instant Pot mushroom pasta or you can jump to the step-by-step photo instructions below for more how-to guidance.
MORE INSTANT POT RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE
- Instant Pot Vegetarian Mushroom Chili
- Instant Pot Orzo With Lemon, Parmesan & Spinach
- Instant Pot Tomato Sauce (With 10 Vegetables, Sugar-Free, VIDEO)
- Cheap Instant Pot Recipes: Dinner Ideas Under $10
WATCH OUR TOP 10 VEGETARIAN VIDEO RECIPES HERE
Creamy Instant Pot Mushroom & Chickpea Pasta
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Learn how to make a delicious, creamy yet light Instant Pot mushroom and chickpea pasta in about 30 minutes. This budget-friendly, vegetarian recipe is perfect for the whole family. It’s nutritious and rich in protein and fibre.
Ingredients
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, quartered and sliced
8 oz / 250 g button/cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 oz penne pasta (about 120 g)
2/3 cup frozen peas
3 cloves of garlic, finely diced
2 cups vegetable stock (about 450–500 ml)
To finish:
1 can chickpeas (14 oz / 400 g, strained)
1/2 cup light cream (you can add a little more if you like)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (you can use Cheddar or another hard cheese here)
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (for thickening the sauce)
Garnish with extra Parmesan and fresh parsley or chives
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot on and press the Saute button; it should say Normal heat setting. Allow the pot to heat up for a minute or two and then add the olive oil and onions. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring a couple of times, then add the mushrooms, salt and pepper. Stir and cook for 4 minutes until the mushrooms have softened up. Make to stir a couple of times.
- Press Cancel to stop the Saute process. Add the dry pasta, frozen peas, garlic and vegetable stock. Stir through well, press the pasta down into the broth with a spatula.
- Secure and lock the lid. Select Pressure Cook/Manual setting and adjust the timer to 1 minute at HIGH pressure. Yes, only 1 minute because the pasta will start to cook while the pressure is building up and we will use 10-minute natural release and the residual heat to finish cooking it.
- The Instant Pot will show ON on display and the pot will start to heat up and build the pressure, which will take about 5-7 minutes. Then, the 1-minute timer will display. Once the timer is done, allow 10 minutes for natural release (leave the Instant Pot alone). After 10 minutes, press the Quick Release button to manually let off the remaining pressure.
- Tip: The reason we are doing the 10-minute natural release is that it allows any foam built up from cooking starchy food like pasta inside the pot to settle, so it doesn’t eject when you release the pressure manually.
- Open the lid and stir the pasta. There will be some cooking broth on the bottom, which will incorporate into the sauce. Press the Saute button again. Add a can of chickpeas, cream and Parmesan cheese and stir through.
- To finish the pasta, we’re going to thicken that sauce slightly. Combine a tablespoon or so of all-purpose flour with 2-3 tablespoon of water or the cooking broth from the pasta itself and stir to dissolve. Return to the pot and stir through the pasta. This flour slurry will thicken the liquid and make the pasta even creamier. We like our pasta with a lot of sauce, but you could also strain some of that cooking broth first before adding cream and Parmesan.
- Press Cancel to stop the Saute sauce. The pasta is ready to be served. Top with some fresh parsley and extra Parmesan cheese on top.
Notes
Sauteeing: 5-6 minutes Pressurizing: 5-7 minutes Cooking under pressure: 1 minute Release: 10 minutes natural followed by a quick release.
Note on peas: The frozen peas will cook to very soft and disintegrate into the sauce, giving it a bit more starch and that lovely pea sweetness. If you prefer to keep peas more intact, defrost them in hot water first and then add them together with the chickpeas at the end of the cooking process.
Keywords: Pasta, Penne, Mushrooms, Chickpeas, Garbanzo Beans, Peas, Instant Pot, Pressure Cooker, Dinner, Vegetarian, Budget, Cheap
HOW TO MAKE THIS CREAMY INSTANT POT PASTA
There are 3 key stages to making this Instant Pot penne pasta. Find all ingredients you need above!
Sauteeing. Onions and mushrooms are softened using the Saute function of the Instant Pot first.
Pressure-cooking. Pasta, seasoning, peas and stock are then added and everything is mixed together and cooked at high pressure for 1 minute. We used natural release for 10 minutes, followed by a quick release. This method allows any built-up foam from starchy pasta to settle inside the pot before using the quick release function. This avoids unnecessary foam ejecting from the steam valve.
Finishing the pasta and sauce. Once you’ve released the pressure, open the lid and add a can of drained chickpeas. The final magic step involves mixing in the cheese and cream into the pasta broth. You can turn the Saute function on for a couple of minutes to reheat the pasta as the cheese and cream will cool it down.
To thicken the sauce even more, we combine a little all-purpose flour (you can also use cornstarch) with water and stirred it into the hot pasta right at the end.
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