Instant Pot Pumpkin Fettuccine Alfredo
Instant Pot Pumpkin Fettuccine Alfredo is delicious and creamy and perfect for busy weeknight dinners. It's easy and really fast to make.
Instant Pot Pumpkin Fettuccine Alfredo is delicious and creamy and perfect for busy weeknight dinners. It's easy and really fast to make.
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 3/4 cup 2% milk ((or 3.25%))
- 3/4 cup 10% cream ((half and half))
- 1/4 cup pumpkin purã©e
- 1/2 cup canned white beans drained and rinsed ((optional))
- 1/8 teaspoon chili powder ((optional or less))
- 200 g fettuccine ((7 ounces))
- grated parmesan and chopped parsley for serving
- Carbohydrate 1.88645105000281 g
- Cholesterol 5.50000000700806 mg
- Fat 1.85234710163739 g
- Fiber 0.135151840564532 g
- Protein 2.55781161363976 g
- Saturated Fat 1.12254094689062 g
- Serving Size 1 1 serving (123g)
- Sodium 233.282195634585 mg
- Sugar 1.75129920943828 g
- Trans Fat 0.122580849499215 g
- Calories 34 calories
Step-by-step
- Turn your Instant Pot to sauté. You aren't going to sauté anything but it'll help the liquid to heat up and in turn come to pressure faster.
- In your Instant Pot, combine the vegetable broth, milk, 10% cream, pumpkin purée, white beans (if using), and all the spices. Whisk until pumpkin purée is integrated into the liquid.
- Break fettuccine noodles in half so that they fit into the pot and add to the liquid, spreading them around as much as possible.
- Using a whisk or a spatula, arrange the noodles so that they are covered by the liquid as much as possible.
- Close the lid and turn the valve to sealing position.
- Turn sauté off. Press Manual or Pressure Cooker button (depending on your model) and use the arrows to select 5 minutes. It will take about 5-6 minutes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure.
- Once the 5 minutes of pressure cooking are up and your Instant Pot beeps that it's done, do a natural release for 1 minute (i.e. just wait for 1 minute). Then do a manual quick release. I like putting a small kitchen towel on the pressure release valve to contain the steam a little bit. It takes about 4 minutes to fully release the pressure.
- Once the pressure is released, open the lid, turn the Instant Pot to sauté and mix everything really well. I like using tongs to do that.
- You want to make sure that you separate the noodles that got stuck together.
- NOTE: Sauté at this point is optional but I like turning it on while I mix everything to thicken the sauce.
- Add the grated parmesan cheese and mix more until everything is smooth and creamy.
- Serve with extra sprinkling of grated parmesan and chopped parsley for colour.
Home cooks often dump dried pasta and dairy into a pressure cooker all at once, expecting a silky sauce, only to find a starchy sludge or a scorched pot bottom. Pressure cooking pasta requires precise liquid ratios because starches release rapidly under high heat without evaporating. When doubling this recipe, do not double the liquid linearly; scale the vegetable broth and dairy by roughly 1.5 times rather than a full 2x to prevent the sauce from becoming watery, as steam does not escape a sealed multicooker. Break the fettuccine strands in half and crisscross them in the pot to prevent the strands from matting into a solid block during the five-minute pressure cycle. Whisk the pumpkin puree and half-and-half thoroughly into the cold broth before adding the noodles so the dairy solids distribute evenly and resist curdling under pressure. If incorporating the optional canned white beans for extra body, puree them into the liquid phase beforehand to eliminate chalky pockets in the finished dish. Once the pressure releases after a mandatory one-minute rest followed by a quick release, switch the unit back to sauté mode and stir vigorously with tongs. This final agitation forces the released starches to emulsify with the grated parmesan cheese, turning the liquid into a glossy, clinging coating rather than a pooled soup. Keep freshly grated parmesan on hand rather than pre-shredded cellulose-coated varieties, which introduce anti-caking agents that ruin the smooth emulsion required for an alfredo sauce.
