This dairy-free version of Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta is just as creamy and flavorful as the original. It's the perfect weeknight comfort food meal made in under 30 minutes in your pressure cooker!
Comfort food meals that can be made in 30 minutes or less are my busy weeknight jam. Today's pressure cookers make family meals like this oh so easy!
And when it comes to comfort food, there's no other warm and cozy dinner friend that I like to cuddle up with than pasta. Pasta knows. Pasta understands.
Jump to:
I've long loved creamy rich pasta dishes, and when I first found out I had a dairy sensitivity, I thought those days were long gone.
But then, creativity in the kitchen plus necessity and a longing for yummy creamy pasta lead to delicious discoveries. Like my Dairy-Free Fettuccine Alfredo, Dairy-Free One Pot Cheeseburger Pasta, Creamy Dairy-Free Mac and Cheese, and Dairy-Free Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs with Pasta.
🌟 Why you'll love this recipe
My Dairy-Free Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta is a family fave, and I think it will be one of yours, too!
- It's packed with creaminess from dairy-free cream cheese
- nuttiness from nutritional yeast instead of parmesan cheese
- rich Tuscan flavor from sun-dried tomatoes.
- The spinach helps balance out the creaminess. Plus, it adds more veggies, and we can all use more veggies in our lives, right?
This pressure cooker meal takes about 20-30 minutes, depending on your prep time prowess and how long it takes the pressure cooker to come to pressure.
Taste great and looks good. Love this recipe!!
-Reader Brandie
🔪 Tools and Equipment
Here's what you'll need to make this dish:
- 6-quart Instant Pot or 8-quart Instant Pot Duo - Do not attempt to make this in a 3-quart pressure cooker.
- Wooden spoon or heatproof silicone spatula
🍅 Ingredient notes
Here's what you'll need to make this Instant Pot chicken dish:
- Unsalted vegan butter
- Garlic clove
- Chicken - use boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Pasta - you can use your favorite shape, but I love using pasta shapes with some twists and curves to hold the sauce. Rotini or fusilli pasta both work well.
- Chicken broth
- Dairy-free cream cheese
- Almond milk - or your can use your favorite other milk alternative
- Nutritional yeast
- Sundried tomatoes
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
- Fresh basil
- Spinach
If you're new to dairy-free cooking and baking, be sure to check out my Dairy Free Baking and Cooking Guide. It explains some common food labels and I share my favorite dairy-free products to use in my recipes.
✅ Step-by-step instructions
With your Instant Pot on Sauté function, add the butter and when it is just melted, then sauté the chicken and garlic in the pot for 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly to lightly cook the sides of the chicken.
Add pasta and chicken broth, stir so as much of the pasta is covered by the broth as possible. Cover and seal, then set Manual or Pressure Cook for 4 minutes.
When the timer is done, allow natural release for 5 minutes, then quick release. Once the pin is down and all pressure has been released, open the lid.
Turn your IP to Sauté, and then gently stir in the cream cheese and almond milk until the cream cheese is melted. Add nutritional yeast and stir until it is well mixed in.
Add the sun-dried tomatoes, salt, pepper, basil, and spinach. Stir gently until spinach is softened and ingredients are nicely mixed together.
Turn IP to Cancel, and serve pasta immediately.
👩🏻🍳 Recipe FAQs
Sautéing the chicken first creates more flavorful chicken. It's worth it to take the extra couple of minutes to do this step in the Instant Pot. I find that doing this step also makes the meat more tender.
Absolutely! Simply sub out regular cream cheese for dairy-free. Use parmesan cheese instead of nutritional yeast flakes. And use regular milk instead of almond milk.
Allow the food to cool completely at room temperature, then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 or 5 days.
More delicious Instant Pot recipes
Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you really loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta (Dairy-Free)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp unsalted vegan butter
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into small bite-sized pieces
- 8 oz pasta (I use cavatappie, gemelli, or rotini because it holds the sauce well)
- 2 ½ cups chicken broth
- 4 oz dairy-free cream cheese
- ¾ cup almond milk
- ¾ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 jar (8 oz) julienned sundried tomatoes, drained and lightly chopped
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
- 2 cups spinach, roughly chopped
Instructions
- With your Instant Pot on Sauté function, add the butter and when it is just melted, then sauté the chicken and garlic in the pot for 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly to lightly cook the sides of the chicken.
- Add pasta and chicken broth, stir so as much of the pasta is covered by the broth as possible. Place the lid on your pressure cooker and make sure the pressure release valve is in the SEAL mode. Then set Manual or Pressure Cook for 4 minutes.
- When the timer is done, allow natural release for 5 minutes, then quick release by carefully moving the pressure release valve to VENT. Once the pin is down and all pressure has been released, carefully open the lid.
- Turn your IP to Sauté, and then gently stir in the cream cheese and almond milk until the cream cheese is melted. Add nutritional yeast and stir until it is well mixed in. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, salt, pepper, basil, and spinach. Stir gently until spinach is softened and ingredients are nicely mixed together.
- Turn IP to Cancel, and serve pasta immediately.
Notes
- I make this in my 8-quart Instant Pot Duo or in my Ninja Foodi Deluxe XL Pressure Cooker, but you could also make this in a 6-quart Instant Pot. Do not attempt to make this in a 3-quart pressure cooker.
- You can substitute coconut milk for the almond milk.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is a general estimate. Actual nutrition details may vary depending on the exact foods & brands you use to make this recipe. It does not take into account any substitutions, toppings, or optional ingredients.
Pin it:
Melissa says
Loved it! Doubled it and made it for a group of nine who all enjoyed it. We will definitely make it again!
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
So glad to hear that you and your group all enjoyed it, Melissa! :)
Lauren says
Can I use gluten free noodles in this recipe?
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Hey Lauren! We've never used gluten-free noodles with this particular recipe so we can't say for sure how it will turn out, but I would think most gluten-free noodles would work just fine. You may have to adjust liquid levels and/or the amount of noodles. If you do try it, please let us know which specific noodles you used and how it turned out, as others may wonder the same thing! 🙂
Tori says
This is my go-to pasta dish! So incredibly easy to make. I leave out the chicken, as I'm not a huge meat eater, and my husband doesn't like the tomatoes or greens (I use kale). The pasta itself is so good that he has no issue eating it plain, and it's incredibly easy to mix in the veggies after my husband has taken what he wants. Delicious!
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Thank you for your sweet comment, Tori! I am so glad you and your husband both love it!
Darcie G. says
Very amazing dish! We had company over and no one could tell it was made with dairy free ingredients. Made Enoch for 5 adults, and 2 kiddos. Yes, even the kiddos highly enjoyed this dinner. Will be added to our monthly rotation for sure😁. Thank you for such a wonderful dinner💙!
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
So glad to hear you all loved it, Darcie! Yay!
Michelle says
I was looking for a dairy free way to make a creamy pasta and oh my woooord. This recipe was absolutely delicious! I am in love thank you so much for sharing this! My boyfriend loves cheese but I’m lactose intolerant and can’t handle even a little without getting sick. He loved this so much and was so happy I get to enjoy it with him.
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Michelle, thank you for trying this recipe, and I am so glad to hear you both love it! The rest of my family is not dairy-free, so I try to make dairy-free recipes that everyone will love :)
VON COUPLAND says
There are a lot of ingredients I cannot tolerate I am dairy and fat free, also a diabetic, all spices most of the herbs, onions, tomatoes and the list goes on but I am able to adapt recipes. You have opened my menu so much, I miss eating regular foods and get a little bored with the things on my current menu. Thank you sooo much Von x
Elisabeth says
This was a hit with my family. I didn’t have dairy free cream cheese or nutritional yeast, so I substituted soy sauce (1 TBSP) for the nutritional yeast. I couldn’t add anything to replace the cream cheese so it was runny and we ate it in bowls. Also, I put two cups of pasta as one wasn’t enough. All in all, it was great. I’ll make it again.
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Thanks for putting your own spin on the recipe, Elisabeth! Glad your family loved it!
Jacquelyn Hastert says
I love my instant pot and I am always looking for new recipes to try. This one sounds like a great addition to next weeks menu. Thank you!
Cammeo Murray says
This looks so good!!! I just got an Instant Pot and have been needing some new recipes 😁 Thanks!
Kasey says
Looks so good! I have to try this recipe!
Kasey Ma
Kaytee says
This was amazing!! My whole family loved it!! For it being non diary, it was sure creamy and delicious!! I’m impressed with this recipe and will make it over and over again.
Carrie | Clean Eating Kitchen says
This looks so creamy and delicious! Love this is an IP recipe for an easy weeknight meal!
Autumn says
This looks so delicious and comforting! I love any recipe that is quick and can be made in the Instant Pot!
Danielle says
This was almost inedible. I double checked the recipe to make sure I hadn't misread anything. If nutritional yeast isn't a flavor you know and love, then 3/4 cup is way too much. It was super runny and the word "creamy" is not at all a descriptor. I managed to save it by adding canned tomato sauce.
Denay DeGuzman says
This chicken recipe deserves a 5-star rating! Yum!
Denay DeGuzman says
What a wonderful collection of Instant Pot recipes! These all look so tasty and easy to make! And that Tuscan Chicken Pasta - wow, does that look delicious! Thank you so much for sharing all of these yummy recipes!
Catherine @ To & Fro Fam says
I just went on a moms' trip this weekend, and I had to laugh because we kept talking about what to cook for the family when you're busy! This recipe would be a terrific go-to weeknight dinner. Thanks for sharing it!