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Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Tortellini with fresh spinach and sun dried tomatoes in a light garlic Parmesan cream sauce is a quick and easy dinner ready in 30 minutes!
I whipped up this easy chicken recipe last week on a day when I had absolutely no idea what to cook for dinner — and not a lot of energy. But, I had almost everything I needed to make this easy Instant Pot creamy Tuscan chicken tortellini, and it was done in about 30 minutes. Can’t beat that!
This easy tortellini recipe is adapted from my one pot chicken tortellini, which I haven’t made in a long time. But, since my goal is to transform older one pot recipes to Instant Pot recipes, I had a light-bulb moment, and this easy Instant Pot chicken recipe was born!
Creamy chicken tortellini is a little bit different from my other Instant Pot recipes with chicken because it has spinach and sun dried tomatoes in a light garlic Parmesan cream sauce. It’s similar to Instant Pot chicken Alfredo or Tuscan chicken, except it’s a little lighter. Best of all, this Instant Pot chicken dinner is super quick and easy!
How to make Creamy Chicken Tortellini in the Instant Pot
Like many of my Instant Pot chicken recipes, you start off by sauteing the chicken until it’s no longer pink. You don’t have to cook it completely since that will happen when pressure cooking.
Next, add a little sea salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Stir it well, and hit Cancel to turn the pot off.
Layer the tortellini pasta on top of the cooked chicken, and add water or chicken broth. The chicken releases plenty of liquid as it cooks, so you don’t need a lot of water here.
One thing to note is that this recipe uses a large 20-ounce package of tortellini or 2 smaller packages. If you don’t use the same amount of pasta, you’ll get tortellini soup!
After pressure cooking, stir in some cream, Parmesan cheese, sun dried tomatoes, and fresh spinach. The sauce might seem thin at first, but it will thicken up as it cools.
I find that transferring the tortellini to a large bowl helps cool it down and thicken it up faster. You can also make it thicker by adding more Parm, or make it thinner by adding more cream — easy, peasy!
You can also choose to use the Sauté feature to thicken the cream. If you choose to do this, though, add the Parm after! Otherwise, the Parm tends to stick to the Instant Pot.
Top it with a little more shredded Parm, and this easy chicken tortellini dinner is ready to eat!
Pressure Cooking Tortellini
Fresh refrigerated or frozen tortellini cooks quickly in the Instant Pot. In the 8 quart, it takes 2 to 3 minutes. In the 6 quart, it takes 3 to 4 minutes.
For dried tortellini, follow the instructions on the box, and cook tortellini for half of the time recommended.
Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Tortellini with Spinach and Sun Dried Tomatoes
Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Tortellini
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 20 ounces refrigerated tortellini
- 2 cups water or low sodium chicken broth
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2 cups chopped fresh spinach
Instructions
- Press SAUTE on the Instant Pot, and when it reads Hot, add the olive oil and cubed chicken pieces, and cook until no longer pink, stirring frequently
- Add the sea salt, granulated garlic, pepper and Italian seasoning, and stir until well coated, then hit CANCEL
- Pour uncooked tortellini over chicken, then pour water or broth over and around tortellini, and press down lightly with spatula
- Place lid on Instant Pot, turn vent to Sealing position, and hit PRESSURE COOK for 4 minutes in the 6 quart. For the 8 quart, cook for 3 minutes. Pot will take a few minutes to reach pressure, then begin counting down and cook
- When pot beeps, do a quick or gradual quick release. When pin drops, carefully open lid, and stir well
- Pour in heavy cream, and sun dried tomatoes, and stir well. Then, stir in Parmesan cheese, and mix until mixture thickens and is creamy. Sauce will thicken as pasta cools
- Stir in spinach, and serve immediately. Top with additional cheese, if desired
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More Easy Tortellini Recipes
- Instant Pot Creamy Kielbasa Tortellini
- Instant Pot Creamy Sausage Tortellini
- One Pot Easy Chicken Sausage Tortellini Soup
Recipe was originally published in 2019 and updated in 2020
Made this last night and now we have a new DAD favorite! Kids loved it too.
So happy to hear you liked it, James. Thanks!
You had me at creamy! Such a delicious recipe!
My son is going to love this recipe! So excited to make this! Looks so delicious and yummy!
Thanks, Beth! My son is crazy about it!
My family goes crazy over tortellini! I can’t wait to try your recipe!
Thanks, Catalina. I hope you like the recipe!
Do you think I could use 20 of Frozen Tortellini? If so, would there be any adjustments on time and/or liquid needed?
I’ve never used frozen before, so I can’t say for sure, but I would try 1 or 2 minutes. The pot usually takes longer to reach pressure when using frozen food, and it would be heating up as it reaches pressure. The liquid should stay the same.
I was looking around for something to make using chicken breast and some cheese tortellini in my IP and came across this one. Glad I did! I didn’t have any sun-dried tomatoes so I missed out on that but I added some red pepper flakes. This is delicious. I made half a recipe since it is just for myself and it still worked out.
Thanks so much, Judy! I’m so glad that you liked it!