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.
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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.
Essential Items
Here are some essential prep tools, utensils, and appliances I used to make this recipe.
Featured Items
Here is a list of the products featured in this post or products similar to those featured in this post:
- Flexible Cutting Mats
- Instant Pot
- Chef’s Knife
- Measuring Spoons
- Stackable Measuring Cups
- Pinch Bowls
- Small Food Prep Bowls
- Garlic Press
- Wooden Utensils
- Meat Masher
- Liquid Measuring Cups
12 Must-Have Instant Pot Cookbooks
If you’re looking for a cookbook with easy and reliable Instant Pot recipes, then check out my list of approved Instant Pot Cookbooks.
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.
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Instant Pot Creamy Sausage Rigatoni
RIGATONI PASTA, ITALIAN SAUSAGE, AND RED PEPPERS IN A CREAMY MARINARA SAUCE
Essential Equipment
Ingredients
for the Sausage
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 pound Italian sausage I prefer hot Italian sausage
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 large red bell pepper(s) chopped
for the Pasta & Sauce
- 3 cups water
- 1 pound rigatoni pasta
- 1 jar marinara sauce 24-ounce jar
to add After Cooking
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup parmesan cheese grated
to add as Garnish
- Italian parsley fresh
- parmesan cheese shredded or grated
Instructions
sauté the Onion and Garlic
- Sauté Onion: Turn on ‘Sauté’ and adjust the heat level to ‘Normal’. Allow the pot to heat up until the display reads ‘Hot’. Add the olive oil and allow it to heat up. Add the diced onions to the pot and toss until thoroughly coated in the oil. Sauté, tossing occasionally, until they become soft and translucent. About 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add Garlic: Add the minced garlic to the pot and continue to sauté for another 30 seconds.
- Deglaze Pot: Deglaze the pot with the white wine vinegar and cook until it almost completely evaporates. About 1 or 2 minutes.
cook the Sausage
- Add Sausage: Add the Italian sausage to the pot and cook, breaking it apart into smaller and smaller pieces as it cooks. Continue for 4 minutes. Add the salt and pepper and mix into the sausage. Continue cooking until cooked through, about another 2 or 3 minutes.
- Add Bell Pepper: Add the bell pepper and mix into the sausage. Cook for another minute or two, tossing occasionally. Turn off ‘Sauté’.
add the Pasta & Sauce
- Add Rigatoni: Add the water to the pot and deglaze the bottom of the pot once more. Then layer the rigatoni pasta over the sausage and, using a large wooden spoon, push it down into the water as much as you can.
- Add Marinara: Pour the marinara sauce evenly over the top of the pasta. Do not mix.
set the Cook Time
- 7-Minute Cook Time: Close the Instant Pot, set the pressure release valve to ‘Sealing’ and set the pot to cook on ‘Manual’ or ‘Pressure Cook’, ‘High Pressure’ for 7 minutes.
- 2-Minute NPR: Once the 7-minute cook time has completed, allow for a 2-minute Natural Pressure Release. When the 2-minute NPR has finished, release the remaining pressure and then open the pot.
add the Cream and Cheese
- Add the heavy whipping cream and parmesan cheese to the pot and mix them into the pasta. Allow the pasta to sit on ‘Keep Warm’ for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.
- Serve and enjoy!
Do you think I could add a can of diced tomatoes? Or will it make it too watery?
Hi Kelly! You could either drain the can of tomatoes or if you add it with the liquid, reduce the other liquid by about half a cup. Add the tomatoes on top and don’t mix them until after cooking. Hope this helps!
Thank you, it was amazing!
Hi Kelly! Glad you loved it! Thanks for stopping by!
I’ve made this a bunch of times with different meats/sausage and its amazing each time!
Hi Louise! I’m happy you love this recipe so much! It’s one of my favorite pasta recipes! Thanks for stopping by the blog!
How would I do this without an instant pot?
Hi Nicky! You would saute and cook the onions and ground sausage just as the instructions say, except on the stove. You would then make your pasta in a separate pan per the instructions on the box. Drain your pasta and mix it with the sausage. Then add the marinara sauce, parmesan cheese, and heavy whipping cream and mix everything together. Let me know if you still have doubts. Enjoy!
When you deglaze the pot with the white wine vinegar, are you removing the ingredients from the pot, or leaving them in the pot?
Hi Angie! You leave the ingredients in. Just use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan. Hope this helps!
This was absolutely delicious!!!!
Hi Luisa! I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Thanks for stopping by!
Second recipe I tried in our new instant pot. Easy and delicious, definitely a comfort food.
Hi Jeff! So happy you enjoyed this! Thanks for stopping by!
Do you have to add the cream? Can we use any type of pasta?
Hi! The cream makes it very creamy, but you can leave it out. Some people have used cream cheese or milk, but it will definitely change the recipe and its texture. Let me know if you try it. As for the pasta, the cooking time will change depending on the pasta you use. Rigatoni is usually cooked longer than elbows, spaghetti, etc. Thanks for stopping by!
Tried this from memory cutting the ingredients in half for my wife and me after printer failed just before ingredients page, had the sausage , onion, pepper and garlic down and used just 8 oz of rigatoni but added too much freshly ground peppercorns and sharp paprika and too little liquid and must have not deglazed completely because ‘burn’ signal lit up before a head of steam had been made. Tried to rescue the too peppery result with a sugar additive to cut the spice before I added more marinara and the heavy cream which was fine with me but my wife didn’t enjoy the result so much. Really liked the remodeled results and will make it again when I can reduce the recipe ingredients to a two person size.
Hi Calvin! I’m glad you were able to rescue the recipe! I hope you get to try it again soon! Just so you know, the recipe card is printable so you don’t have to print the entire post. The recipe card at the bottom of the post has the ingredients and instructions. There’s a black “Print Recipe” button under the small square picture in the recipe card. Thank you for stopping by the blog! I appreciate it.
I have a question, do you add the water, pasta, sauce, directly on top of the saugage?
Hi Dolly! Yes you add the water first and then add the pasta and the sauce. It’s all on top of the sausage which has remained inside the pot. Let me know if you still have doubts! Thanks for stopping by.
added nutmeg and peas. next time going to try one less minute for chewier noodles. delicious, otherwise. family loves it!
Hi Lisa!I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Adding nutmeg and peas sounds interesting! Thanks for stopping by the blog, I appreciate it!