Instant Pot Creamy Sausage Rigatoni

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You are going to love this recipe for Instant Pot Creamy Sausage Rigatoni. It’s very easy to make, and it’s perfect for a busy weeknight since it takes very little time from beginning to end.

Making Pasta in the Instant Pot

Instant Pot pasta recipes are my favorite to make! Maybe because it’s so easy and I love easy! My family loves pasta and I love creating new pasta recipes for the blog, so it’s a win-win. I’ve been wanting to make a pasta recipe using sausage and I finally got around to it. This Instant Pot Creamy Sausage Rigatoni is a new family favorite!

Making pasta in the Instant Pot is easy and fast. I especially love that you only have to clean up one pot when all is said and done. No need to strain the pasta! Sometimes when making plain pasta in a pressure cooker though, the release can get messy. I have a wonderful trick to avoid the mess, make sure you read it.

Ingredients for Instant Pot Creamy Sausage Rigatoni

You will need some basic ingredients for making this pasta recipe. Olive oil, a chopped yellow onion, a chopped red bell pepper, minced garlic cloves, white wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and of course, ground Italian sausage. I use red bell pepper so it visually blends in with the red sauce and the picky eaters won’t notice it. You will also need rigatoni pasta and a jar of marinara sauce.

Finally, to make this wonderful pasta dish even better, you’ll need heavy cream, parmesan cheese and parsley for garnish.

One final note on the ingredients: we like things a bit spicy at home so for this recipe I used hot Italian ground sausage. You can definitely use mild if you prefer, but if you like spicy at all, I highly recommend the hot Italian sausage.

How to Make Creamy Sausage Rigatoni

Making Instant Pot Creamy Sausage Rigatoni couldn’t be easier. You will start by turning on the Sauté feature on your pressure cooker and adjusting the heat level to “Normal”.

Once the display reads “Hot”, you can add the olive oil and allow it to heat up. Add the onions and toss and cook them until they become translucent. This only takes about 3 or 4 minutes. Next, add the garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds. This helps to develop the flavor of the garlic.

After that, you will deglaze the pot with the white wine vinegar by scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon until the vinegar is almost completely evaporated. Add the Italian sausage and break it down into small pieces as it cooks.

Once the sausage is almost fully cooked, you’ll mix in the salt and pepper and then continue sautéing the sausage until it’s cooked all the way through.

Finally, add the chopped bell pepper and mix everything together and cook for another minute or two to soften and extract the flavor from the peppers. Cancel out of the Sauté function and then pour the water into the pot. Deglaze the pot one more time.

Add the pasta to the pot and, using the wooden spoon, push it down into the water as much as possible. Next, pour the marinara sauce on top of the pasta without mixing it in.

Now it’s time to close your pressure cooker and set it to “Sealing”. Cook on “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” High Pressure for 7 minutes and then allow for a 2-minute natural pressure release. Once that’s finished, release the rest of the pressure manually.

When the pin drops, open your pot and add the heavy cream and cheese. Mix everything well and allow the pasta to sit on “Keep Warm” for another 5 to 10 minutes so the sauce thickens a bit. When you serve your pasta, top it with shredded parmesan cheese and parsley and enjoy!

I know you will love this Instant Pot Creamy Sausage Rigatoni. Let me know about it in the comments when you make it. And if you love pasta and want more easy recipes, check out my post with all my other delicious Instant Pot Pasta Recipes.