This Instant Pot pumpkin sausage pasta dish is a long standing favorite in our family. It is quick and simple, mostly hands-off time, and the result is a delicious meal you’ll want to make again and again.
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Hello friends.
I’m excited to share another easy electric pressure cooker dinner recipe with you. These recipes come in super handy on busy nights.
The recipe is adapted for the Instant Pot from this long standing favorite we have been making for years.
Why Convert the Recipe for the Instant Pot?
This Instant Pot version is awesome because first of all, everything cooks together in one pot. One pot recipes mean less dishes, less hassle, and less mess. And for me that means a happy cook, who wants to cook more.
Second, this Instant Pot recipe is mostly hands off cooking. No managing boiling water or stirring and adding things while you’re babysitting a pot over the stove for a half hour. Within a few minutes, everything gets plopped in and then the Instant Pot does the work. I love those kinds of recipes.
You might notice that this recipe actually has a slightly longer total time than the original recipe. Both actually take around the same time, but this Instant Pot version calls for the dish to cool for about 15 minutes before eating. That allows the sauce to cool so that it thickens and coats the pasta better. Obviously if you are in a super hurry (like we usually are), you can dig in sooner.
As a side note, one of the downsides of making this recipe in the Instant Pot is that you don’t separate the sauce from the pasta. That makes the leftovers a bit less appetizing as the pasta tends to soak up some of the sauce in the fridge. But since leftovers are rare and my kids seem to gobble them up regardless, I’ve decided it doesn’t matter. And choose simplicity over fussiness.
How to make this Instant Pot Pasta Dish
First, onions and garlic are sautéed in a little olive oil until softened.
Next, the sausage is added and cooked until browned.
Turn off the pressure cooker and add some seasonings: dried sage, chicken bouillon, salt & pepper, a bay leaf, and a little cinnamon and nutmeg.
Add 12 ounces of pasta. Note that for pound packages this is only 3/4 of the package– which (I get it) is kind of annoying. You can use the entire package, but I’ve found that the sauce-to-pasta ratio is more to my liking with just the 12 ounces.
SUPER IMPORTANT: DON’T STIR AFTER ADDING THE PASTA. It will make the pasta clump and lead to unpleasant texture problems.
Add pumpkin or squash puree and water. The pasta should be submerged under the liquid. If it’s not, gently press it down with a wooden spoon until is is.
Then seal and lock the lid in place and cook for just 3 minutes with a 6 minute natural release time before doing a quick pressure release.
Carefully open the lid and add freshly grated Parmesan cheese + a little cream. Give it a stir and let it rest in the pot until it thickens slightly and the cheese melts (about 15 minutes).
Yum.
Does the brand of pasta matter? Can I use a different type of pasta?
The brand and type of pasta matters as far as the cooking time goes, but you should be able to easily make this recipe with different brands and types of pasta.
I’m not a fan of overcooked pasta so I like to follow this handy rule of thumb when trying to decide how many minutes to cook pasta in an electric pressure cooker:
Take the al dente cooking time listed on the package, cut it in half and subtract another 1 to 2 minutes.
If you use that rule, you can switch up pasta brands and types to your hearts content. You might notice that I took the pictures for this post at different times. The first time I made the dish with regular old penne pasta, which is our standby for this recipe (we like the Barilla brand the best). The second time we were out of penne so I used cellentani (those cute little squiggly macaroni things). Both were amazingly delicious.
Can I get one more final hurrah for this pasta dish, my friends?
Time to dig in!
Instant Pot Pumpkin Sausage Pasta
This Instant Pot pumpkin sausage pasta dish is a long standing family favorite. It is quick and simple, mostly hands-off time, and the result is a delicious meal you'll want to make again and again.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1-1/2 cups finely chopped onion or shallots
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound country-style pork sausage see note for variation
- 2 teaspoons dried ground sage
- 2-1/2 teaspoons chicken bouillon
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 12-ounce package penne or other tubular pasta
- 1 cup canned pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling; see note for variations
- 5 cups water
- 1/2 cup heavy cream see note for variations
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese + more for serving
- Salt & pepper to taste
- freshly chopped parsley, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
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Select "Saute" on electric pressure cooker and set to high (a.k.a. "Brown" on some models). Heat olive oil until hot, then diced onions/shallots and minced garlic. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring often until onions soften.
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Remove sausage from casing, if using links. Add sausage to pressure cooker and cook until browned on all sides, breaking it apart into pieces with a wooden spoon, about 6 minutes.
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Turn off pressure cooker. Then add dried sage, chicken bouillon, salt, black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, and bay leaf and stir.
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Add 12-ounces pasta on top of meat mixture. Add pumpkin puree along with 5 cups of water. If any pasta is poking up, press down gently with wooden spoon until it is submerged in the liquid. IMPORTANT: DO NOT STIR AFTER ADDING THE PASTA
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Secure the lid of the Instant Pot, set the valve to seal, and select “manual” or “pressure cook” and dial up or down to 3 minutes.
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Let the pressure release naturally for 6 minutes and then quick release the remaining pressure. If the pot starts to splatter when doing the quick release, cover with a dish towel or turn the knob back to pressure and let it release naturally another 4 to 6 minutes naturally before doing the quick release.
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Add 1/2 cup cream and 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese and stir thoroughly. Sauce will be quite runny. Let it sit uncovered for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce has thickened slightly. Taste and add additional salt and pepper, if needed. Serve the pasta immediately with additional Parmesan cheese and chopped fresh parsley, if desired.
Recipe Notes
1. In place of the canned pumpkin you can use any kind of cooked, pureed winter squash (Hubbard, Butternut, Pumpkin, etc.)
2. We’ve also made this with mild Italian sausage instead of the country-style and it give a little spicier flavor that is delicious.
3. We have substituted milk, half-in-half, or evaporated milk in place of the heavy cream with good results. I have even used dairy free options (almond, coconut milk or cream) and those have also worked well.
4. Other types of pasta should work fine in this dish. You may need to adjust the cooking time depending on the type of pasta you use. A good rule of thumb is: take the al dente cooking time listed on the package, cut it in half and subtract another 1-2 minutes.
Recipe Source: Heather @ The Cook’s Treat, adapted for the Instant Pot from this recipe
All images and text ©The Cook’s Treat
Disclaimer: post contains affiliate links for items on Amazon.
