Follow our Instant Pot chicken alfredo recipe and you can make the pasta you love much quicker than before.
Anyone who has never fallen in love with chicken alfredo must not have heard of it. It has creamy noodles, chewy mushrooms, golden chicken — basically everyone’s favorites.
Today, we’re adding an Instant Pot to the equation. This cooking equipment cooks your food more quickly and results in fewer items to clean at the end of it.
Is Cooking Chicken Alfredo in the Instant Pot Healthy?
Our answer to this question is no, but it may not be for the reason you’re thinking.
All the Instant Pot does is speed up the cooking process using high pressure. It’s no healthier than boiling, steaming, roasting, or stir-frying.
However, it’s considered a healthier cooking method compared to deep-frying. Deep-frying cooks food by exposing it to hot oil, and in the process, it soaks up fatty oil and also forms a cancer-promoting substance. If you find that you prefer it, you can view more of our chicken breast recipes featuring the instant pot.
Another thing is chicken alfredo is often unhealthy, because its sodium and saturated fats levels are often too high. A healthy diet, according to the USDA, should be low in these nutrients.
To solve this problem, we used just enough salt and a milk-cream mixture instead of full cream. This allows for a satisfying eat that has a sound nutritional profile as well.
If you’re afraid that the dish might be less flavorful, the ingredients list might change your mind.
Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Ingredients
Let’s take a look at the ingredients:
1. Choosing the Right Chicken Cut
For chicken alfredo, chicken breast is often the go-to cut. It’s easy to get them skinned and deboned, which saves plenty of prepping time.
Health-wise, chicken breast is the leanest part of the bird. It’s one of the protein options that comes with the least saturated fat.
We also appreciate how the chicken breast can be cut into bite-sized pieces, making for a fuss-free meal. Selecting other cuts doesn’t affect the flavor, but you’ll likely get a different experience.
2. Getting Creative With the Noodles
Fettuccine has long been the traditional noodle option when it comes to chicken alfredo. It has the right length to fit onto your fork in just one swirl or two, and the right surface area to sop up that delicious cream sauce.
This isn’t to say that there are no other options to choose from. We’ve tried plenty of those options in our chicken alfredo recipe.
3. Seasoning Chicken for Chicken Alfredo
Chicken alfredo is supposed to be comforting and light, so strong seasonings are off the table. We used just the basics: garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and a little paprika (for a light kick).
If these seasonings don’t sound exciting enough, don’t worry — the cream sauce is another matter entirely .
How to Make Chicken Alfredo in the Instant Pot
The main sauce flavors come from the way you treat the ingredients themselves.
Specifically, we first gave the chicken a good sear, then stir-fried the mushrooms in the same pot until golden brown. You’ll notice plenty of caramelized bits sticking to the pot; that’s what makes the cream sauce special.
Next, we glazed the pot with chicken broth, and then added raw noodles. We placed a steaming rack over the noodles and put the chicken on the rack so both get cooked through simultaneously, saving time and electricity.
You’ll notice that the rack isn’t perfectly balanced because of the raw noodles, but that’s okay. As the noodles cook, the chicken-holding rack presses them down, balancing itself.
Finally, we add the cream, milk, and finishing touches to complete the meal.
Here’s a summary:
Season the chicken
Sear the chicken and set aside
Stir-fry the mushrooms and set aside
Glaze the pot and add pasta, milk, steaming rack, and chicken to cook
Set the chicken aside and make the cream sauce
Cut the chicken up and serve it with the creamy pasta
The above is just to give you an overall idea of how easy and quick this chicken alfredo can be. We have more detailed instructions in the Instant Pot chicken alfredo recipe card below, along with the ingredient list and clearer timing.
Storing and Reheating Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo
Refrigerated chicken alfredo can be kept for up to 5 days. Longer than that and you need to place it into the freezer.
As a rule of thumb, always place your food in airtight containers or Ziploc bags before storing. If you have neither, place it into a bowl and seal it all with cling wrap.
It’s even better to divide the food into portions first, because you may not want to reheat all of it at once.
To reheat, place the noodles and chicken into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 7 minutes or until there’s steam. Alternatively, you can place everything into a non-stick skillet along with a tablespoon of water and heat until everything is bubbling.
For more instant pot recipe ideas, have a look at our healthy instant pot dinner roundup.
Side Dishes for Chicken Alfredo
Naturally, we paired this with a salad and a glass of juice.
We chose our burrata salad, which involves a ball of cheese, peppery arugula, and a wonderful dressing. This may seem like plenty of fat, but as long as the nutrition facts check out, there’s no problem.
To cut the richness, we picked lime juice from among our homemade beverages. It’s easy, highly available, and simply completes the meal.
We understand that making all of these dishes can seem overwhelming, but it’s really easy once you get the hang of things. Our trick is to plan the meals, run the necessary errands, and finish the prep work on Sunday, so making side dishes won’t seem intimidating on the following days.
We hope that our recipes are helpful to you, and look forward to sharing new experiences with you. The road to healthy eating might have curves and obstacles, but we’re here to walk it with you.
If you want to include more salmon in your diet, have a look at our healthy chicken recipes and top 20+ chicken thigh roundup.
Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Recipe
This Instant Pot chicken alfredo recipe makes easy, delicious comfort food very quickly. Plus, you'll end up with fewer dishes to clean.
- cook TIME 25 mins
- prep TIME 5 mins
- total TIME 30 mins
- COURSE Main Course
- CUISINE Italian
- SERVINGS servings
- CALORIES 503 kcal
INGREDIENTS
- 24 ozskinless boneless chicken breast
- 0.5 tsponion powder
- 0.5 tspgarlic powder
- 0.5 tspsalt
- 0.5 tspground black pepper
- 0.5 tsppaprika
- 1.5 tbspolive oil (divided)
- 0.5 tbspunsalted butter
- 8 ozwhite mushrooms
- 2 tspgarlic (minced)
- 4 ozonions (finely chopped)
- 0.5 cupunsalted chicken broth
- 0.5 cupwhole milk
- 4 ozfettuccine (uncooked)
- 2 ozgreen peas
- 0.3 cupheavy cream
- 1 ozparmesan (grated)
- 1 tbspparsley (finely chopped)
INSTRUCTIONS
Place the chicken in a bowl along with onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, paprika, and 1/2 tbsp olive oil. Rub the chicken to season it thoroughly.
Select the “sauté” mode on the Instant Pot and heat the remaining olive oil. Add the chicken and sear for 10 minutes (5 minutes per side) or until both sides are golden.
Add butter, mushrooms, garlic, and onion and sauté for 5 minutes. Then remove everything and set it all aside.
Add chicken broth and milk to the pot and scrape the bottom to release any browned bits. Add pasta. Insert the steaming rack that came with the Instant Pot and place the chicken on top of the rack. Select “meat stew” and cook for 7 minutes.
Set the chicken aside and remove the steaming rack. Add your cooked mushrooms, green peas, heavy cream, and parmesan to cook with the noodles for 2 minutes.
Cut the chicken into slices. Plate the noodles, place the sliced chicken on top, and sprinkle with parsley to serve.
NUTRITION
Luna Regina
Founder
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN, LD
Nutrition Reviewer