Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Pasta dish is so so so good, and it is so quick to whip up. Cook it all in your Instant Pot for a quick dinner, and the leftovers taste even better the next day! The flavors really infuse well together. I love pretty much all that has hot sauce, it is a natural choice to use it in this dish. The hot sauce mixed with the ranch and bacon, really adds so much flavor and dimension to the dish. Change things up and add a new recipe to the mix, this is a family favorite I have been making for years!
Adult Mac And Cheese Recipe
This recipe is similar to what you would call an adult version of mac n cheese that got a major upgrade. You have Instant Pot buffalo chicken pasta shredded chicken, bacon, pasta, lots of cheesy goodness, some heat from the hot sauce, and ranch for a mix of flavors.
Craving more buffalo recipes
Also if you like a little spice you also need to try my Instant Pot Buffalo Ranch Chicken Dip Or Even A Buffalo Beer Can Cornish Hen. It is perfect for game nights, potlucks, and a special treat to break up the week.
Can I Use Pre Shredded Chicken in Buffalo Chicken Pasta
Yes, you can! You would just skip the first steps of cooking the chicken. At times if I have pre-shredded chicken I use that. Otherwise, I cook the chicken frozen, it is a game-changer! No need to thaw your chicken, toss it in frozen.
What Type of Pasta To Use For Buffalo Chicken Pasta
You are welcome to use any medium-sized pasta. Penne, shells, elbow, bow tie, and the list goes on.
We personally like the penne bit feel free to use whatever you have on hand. Just make sure it is dry pasta, not homemade.
What If I Don’t Have Instant Pot Duo For the Last Step
The last step is to melt the cheese you sprinkle on top with the air frying lid. If you don’t have the Instant Pot Duo with an air fryer, simply skip this step. Or place in a dish and broil in the oven for a minute or two.
It will taste just as good. I love being able to swap my lid and go from pressure cooking to air fryer in a minute.
What To Serve With Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken
- Corn, broccoli, green beans, etc
- Crisp green salad
- Bread or dinner rolls
We tend to eat this alone or pair with a salad. Feel free to reach for any of your favorite sides to pair it with.
How To Store Leftover Chicken Buffalo Pasta
Store leftover buffalo pasta in the refrigerator for up to three days. Anything after you will want to toss out. Due to the ingredients, this recipe does not thaw well if frozen. It will separate and the pasta can become soggy.
So if you like easy meals, that are hearty and wholesome, and full of delicious goodness, then this is a must try the recipe. Dust off your Instant Pot and get to cooking. Or if you are like me, you don’t allow your Instant Pot to have time to collect dust cause you are always using it!
Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Pasta
Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Pasta dish is so so so good, and it is so quick to whip up. Cook it all in your Instant Pot for a quick dinner, and the leftovers taste even better the next day! The flavors really infuse well together
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts about 1 pound
- 1 cup ranch dressing
- 16 oz pasta
- 1 cup hot sauce
- 4 tbs butter
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 4 oz 3 cheese blend Mexican cheese
- 3 cups water
- Bacon bits or 3 pieces of bacon crumbled
Instructions
- Add Butter, Hot Sauce, 1 cup water and chicken to the instant pot
- Add Chicken Breast Frozen or thawed
- Place on the Poultry button or 14 minutes On manual high pressure.
- Do a quick release.
- Remove chicken only and shred.
- Add dry pasta
- Add shredded chicken to the top
- Add Cream Cheese and Ranch dressing
- Pour in 2 cups water do not stir.
- Place on manual high pressure for 4 minutes.
- do a quick release.
- Stir and remove place in a pan top with cheese and bacon and broil for 1-2 minutes just to melt the cheese.
- Or use your crisper lid on the ninja foodi or Instant pot duo crisp
- Place on air crips at 400 degrees for 1-2 minutes until cheese melts
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 487Total Fat: 36gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 100mgSodium: 1141mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 22g
Laura commented
We don’t eat pasta. I wonder if diced potato or something else can be used in place of pasta? This looks yummy!
Adventures of a Nurse commented
potatoes or cauliflower
Linde commented
Is that 40 ounces of cheese?
P.K. Ash commented
Just my opinion, but I see it as; 4 OZ OF 3 CHEESE BLEND… 40 OZ would be 2 & 1/2 pounds…. going to try it tonight..yum
Sue commented
OMG does that sound amazing! Cannot wait to try it!
Christina commented
This will only be my second insta pot recipe, but I have heard that for some recipes you put the chicken in frozen. Do you used thawed chicken or frozen chicken for this Recipe?
April commented
Looks yummy can’t wait to try!
April commented
Looks yummy can’t wait to try my kids will love!
Faith commented
Sounds yummy, I’m not a huge fan of ranch, do you have a ranch replacement recommendation?
Reggie commented
I’m going to try blue cheese dressing instead of ranch.
Kelly commented
This was so good. We don’t are much for hot sauce so I used a bottled wing sauce frim our local wing restaurant.
Nicole Hayes commented
How much is a serving? a cup ect??
Dan commented
Gluten Free: so I tried it with a corn pasta tonight. I substituted 16oz of corn pasta with 3 cups of water. Then piled everything else on top. We use pre cooked chicken to speed things up.
Jannina commented
Made this today for lunch! It was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you.
SUSAN commented
I’ve made this 3 times and I have yet to complete it in 22 minutes. It’s more like 45 to 50 minutes by the time it takes to shred the chicken. This is soooo delicious, and yes sometimes i yse blue cheese dresding and also tried it with bottled avocado ranch dressing.
Sara commented
Use a hand mixer to shred 🙂
Tiffany commented
Hand mixer or kitchen aid work amazing at shredding chicken!
Patrick McMurray commented
I’m not a ranch fan but I 💘 blue cheese. Also used mozz in place of mex mix. Yummmmmmm
Kathleen commented
I have a cuisinart pressure cooker but I was on the hunt for new recipes to try and found this one.
I was unsure about the water ratio, it seemed like it would water this down…but I held to the original recipe on this one. This dish was AMAZING. No lie, it’s 8:30 am and I’m having leftover pasta for breakfast!!
The ONLY thing I changed is this: After I shredded the chicken, I put my pot on the saute setting. I added the cream cheese, ranch and hot sauce and basically melded it all in the same cook pot. No point in having to wash a second pot IMO. I added the water and pasta…switched back to pressure and it was done in like 7 mins.
EasyRoast commented
OMG does that sound amazing! Cannot wait to try it!
Easy Roasted commented
OMG does that sound amazing! This was so good. We don’t are much for hot sauce so i used a bottled wing sauce frim our local wing restaurant.Can i try it that recepi!
Karen commented
This was truly amazing! I used dry ranch mix with a little milk instead of dressing. I also saw it as 40 ozs of cheese. Even this Wisconsin girl said what?
Thankfully someone pointed out the missing space as I asked for opinions on using the dry mix. It was even weight loss eating friendly. Well, it’s so tasty it was really hard to stop, but I did. Can’t wait for leftover time!
Heidi commented
This was absolutely delicious!
BOC commented
I made this as my first dish in my IP! I used Laughing Cow white cheddar cheese instead of cream cheese and it was delicious-thank you!
Shelby commented
Do I precook the noodles?
Adventures of a Nurse commented
no
Kelly commented
IP newbie here…Just took it out of the box tonight! Do you put the pasta in uncooked?
Eugenia Traglia commented
yes, uncooked. the IP is amazing for making pasta dishes quickly
Katie commented
I made this tonight with some modifications, and it was so good! I wanted to speed up the process, so I put the pasta and water (I used chicken broth) in the instant pot then placed the trivet on top of the pasta. I put a small pan on top of the trivet and put the chicken, hot sauce, 1 cup broth, ranch seasoning instead of dressing (to save fat & calories) and a few pats of butter. I set the timer for 6 minutes and took the pan out to shred the chicken. Threw everything back together along with the cream cheese and shredded cheese. I forgot the bacon, but it was delicious still, and so fast and easy! I think I will make it for a work pot luck next week.
Valerie commented
Thank you for this tip!! What pan do you use that you put inside the IP??
Lois commented
This was so delicious! Way better than crack chicken!
Maureen commented
Made this tonight for dinner. Amazingly delicious. Definitely making this again and again.
Polly commented
In the directions it says “poultry button OR 14 minuets on manual high”. Is it 14 minuets for the poultry button too? If not how long for that button? I haven’t used the poultry button yet and have no reference of timing with it. This dish looks and sounds Fabulous!
Adventures of a Nurse commented
you can use manual high pressure or the poultry button 🙂
Mle commented
My poultry button is 15 minutes. My chicken was almost all the way thawed and it cooked perfectly.
R commented
Does “2 large chicken breasts about 1 pound” mean each breast should weigh 1 pound, or collectively, they should be 2 pounds?
Cosette commented
Literally make this at least once a week! Our favourite meal!!!
Elizabeth commented
Do I empty the water after I cook the chicken? Or just leave what’s left and add the 2 cups water and pasta?
Adventures of a Nurse commented
no need to empty 🙂
Liz commented
Thanks for answering i was wondering to..it said to take out only the chicken but didn’t say what to do with the fluid after.. making this for supper tonight..
Jamie commented
OMG this is fanastic
Diane commented
I’m gonna make this tonight BUT, I’m just doing pasta part. No,chicken
Should I use 4cups of water for the pasta because I’m not doing the chicken with 1 cup of water? Thanks.
Buffy McGinnis commented
Can I double this recipe?
Mle commented
Quick, easy, and cheap dinner! This is my new go-to recipe!! I don’t change a thing.
Lesia Hanks commented
This calls for 1/4 cup hot sauce. Do you use it to coat the chicken in the beginning? In Step 5 it says to combine the hot sauce with other ingredients, so I’m just wondering if you are to split the hot sauce or use extra to coat the chicken?
JJ commented
I followed most ingredients & many directions… ha! … and we loved it. What I changed: I did not return shredded chicken mixture to pot. (I heated the shredded chicken,Buffalo ranch mixture a little in microwave.) I left it separate from (penne) pasta & served both with more Buffalo sauce available. When pressure cooking the (penne) pasta I cooked it as directed. After quick release, I added 2-4 oz cream, 1/2 t dry mustard, and over 8 Oz shredded cheese (sharp cheddar and a Mexican blend). It melted to a smooth awesome sauce. Then everyone served themselves the homade Mac n cheese with Buffalo ranch chicken on top, mixed in, or on the side. It was a hit.
Carol Peel commented
Made this last night. Only thing I did different was add and saute one small onion and approximately 1 tbsp of garlic to pan with 2 tbsp butter for about 3-4 minutes. Turned off saute then followed recipe. I did not have enough Ranch dressing, only 3/4 cup so added 1/4 cup of 1/2 and 1/2. Used 12 oz of pasta. This recipe is very good. Thank you.
Deonna commented
Wasn’t sure to drain what water was already in pot I did and my noodles stuck even with 2 cups water ☹️
Jackie commented
Do I place the chicken on the trivet? Or lay directly in the pot? Wasnt sure if it would burn. Newbie here. Will only be my 4th recipe!
Trish commented
Hiiii thanks so much for the recipe! It was delicious and soooo creamy! I was in a terrible hurry to make dinner and made a couple of changes so I could cook it all at once! At the bottom of the Instant Pot, I put in the pasta and just enough chicken broth to cover it.
On top of that, I put the chicken breast (chopped into cubes) and coated with Buffalo sauce. (Do not mix it into the pasta. On top of that, I placed dollops of cream cheese which I had mixed with a packet of dry ranch seasoning. (Again, don’t mix!) Then I just cooked it all for 6 minutes and then QPR and mixed it gently. Overall, I omitted the extra shredded cheese, the bacon and the ranch dressing and added a packet of ranch. Worked like a charm, thanks again for the creative recipe! 🙂
Anne Davies commented
I made the chicken mixture in the morning, then refrigerated it until dinner time when I finished the recipe. SO good. This joins the family favorites
Mir commented
We make this weekly! Soooooo delicious!!!
Dominic Pacifico commented
I am new to IP. I have an 8 oz. IP duo. Do I need to increase the cups of water when cooking the chicken breast from 1 cup to 2 cups or does it not matter what size IP I have. I’m confused on this?
Peggy J Eamer commented
My husband LOVES this one! Even better than the fajita soup! This will be my fast go-to dinner! I used whole wheat pasta and a little less hot sauce (but he adds more on his). I’m really liking these recipes. Thank you SO much!
Susan commented
This recipe is one of my FAVORITES for the instant pot! Do you know if it would freeze well? I was thinking of making the whole dish and putting it in a pan and then freezing it. What are your thoughts?
Caitlin commented
Can you use a ranch powder mix instead of dressing?
David commented
Made this twice. Both times salvaged it but got burn message due to pasta andy easy fix?
Heather commented
I’m confused about how much hot sauce to use. The ingredients say 1/4 cup. Step 1 Says to coat with hot sauce & step 5 also calls for hot sauce. How much do you coat with in step 1 & how much goes into step 5? Thanks for any help!
Denise commented
This has become a weekly staple in our home. My bf is a buffalo chicken expert, according to him, and he loves this recipe. The only thing I do differently is to add extra hot sauce. I don’t even mix the cream cheese and chicken. I dump it in a go. Thanks for a great recipe.
Sallyjojo commented
Too spicy for us, next time half the hot sauce, used frozen chicken breast, still not cooked thru after 19 minutes, just chopped it up and threw it in with the rest of the ingredients. Simply and tasty.
Sallyjojo commented
Now I know why it was so hot! Recipe says 1 Cup of hot sauce, NOT 1/4 cup of hot sauce!!! Next time, if there is one, 1/4 cup!