TheWildWaynes
a family of four cooking & creating our way through tiny living
Pesto Pasta with Easy Cheesy Chicken
Pantry Pesto Pasta with Easy Cheesy Chicken
An incredibly delicious pesto pasta and and easy cheesy chicken using what was in our pantry and refrigerator.
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Cost: $10
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Chicken Breasts hammered out to an even thickness about 3/4 inch thick
- 16 oz Spaghetti
- 1/8 tsp Salt, Pepper, & Garlic Powder to season the chicken breasts
- 3 Tbsp Olive Oil to brown chicken breast
- 1/4 cup Parmesan fine shredded
- 1/2 cup Mozzarella fine shredded
- 2 cups Frozen Broccoli thawed (optional)
- 1/4 cup Bread Crumbs plain or italian
- 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning If using plain bread crumbs
Broth Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups Water or chicken broth
- 5 tsp Chicken Bouillon if not using chicken broth
- 1 Tbsp Dried Basil
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1.5 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Dried Thyme
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/4 cup Olive Oil
Instructions
- If using broccoli, run the frozen broccoli under cool water to rinse ice off and let sit in a strainer to thaw
- Hammer chicken breasts into an even thickness of about 3/4 inch thick
- Season both sides of chicken breast with salt, pepper, and garlic powder (1/8 tsp each)
- Press Saute on the instant pot, when the pot is "HOT", add 3 Tbsp olive oil
- Place the seasoned chicken breasts into the hot pot and brown for 3 minutes
- Flip the chicken breasts and brown for another 3 minutes
- Move chicken breasts to a plate and add a little bit of your 4.5 cups of water to the instant pot and using a flat wooden spatula, scrape the bottom clean
- Add the rest of the water and the rest of the broth ingredients
- Break pasta in half and layer in different directions so the pasta will cook evenly
- Push the pasta under the fluid level with a spatula and then set the browned chicken breasts on top of the spaghetti
- Put the instant pot lid on, seal the pressure release valve, and pressure cook for 6 minutes or 7 minutes for large chicken breasts
- Fine shred 1/4 cup parmesan and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
- After 6 minutes, release the pressure, and remove the lid
- Move the chicken breasts to a plate and tent with aluminum foil
- Dump the thawed broccoli onto the spaghetti and stir the broccoli into the spaghetti and put the Instant Pot lid on
- Set a timer for 5 minutes
- After 5 minutes, chop or slice the chicken breasts and add them to the Instant Pot
- Add the parmesan cheese, mozzarella, and bread crumbs to the Instant Pot
- Stir the ingredients together and Put the lid back on for another 5 minutes
- Remove the lid and plate an incredible flavored pasta dinner
Video
Notes
I don’t usually have leftover marinara sauce but if you do, you can add a couple spoons full over the top of your chicken before adding the cheeses and breadcrumbs to make an easy parmesan chicken. You can pretty much do whatever you want with this recipe and it turns out great. If you end up with a burn at the end, just cancel the saute and press keep warm. To clean up the instant pot easily after removing all the pesto pasta, add water, lid, seal, and pressure cook for 5 or 10 minutes. After a natural release the pot should be pretty easy to clean.