This creamy pesto spaghetti instant pot recipe without basil leaves or pine nuts uses spinach leaves to make the pesto sauce from scratch. The spaghetti noodles are mixed in the creamy spinach pesto sauce and it is served in the delicious pesto sauce which is combined with cheese, cream and butter.
This spinach spaghetti is vegetarian, simple and easy to make, kid friendly, creamy and has a slightly chewy texture from the cashews that we add and its totally delicious!
Another similar recipe in instant pot is instant pot pesto pasta using bow tie pasta, which is very delicious and easy to prepare as well.
what does pesto spaghetti taste like?
The traditional pesto sauce is green pasta sauce made of fresh basil leaves, pine nuts, cheese etc which tastes great from the herb flavor or basil leaves and also the great garlic flavor. The spinah pesto is made using fresh spinach leaves and cashews and it is milder in taste. It tastes mildly sweet and nutty from the greens and cashews. The traditional pesto sauce made of basil leaves does have a much stronger and bolder flavor from the basil leaves while spinach pesto sauce is milder in taste. If you want to make the pesto sauce spicy in taste, you may also add few green chilies while you make the pesto. You can choose the green chilies based on your preference of spiciness. If you want it to be mildly spicy, you can go for poblano peppers, if you want it to be more spicier, you may go for jalapeno peppers or whichever green chilies you like. The spaghetti noodles requires a different cooking time and so if you want to make pesto pasta using spaghetti noodles, you can follow this recipe to make delicious spaghetti noodles in creamy pesto sauce using your instant pot.
how to make pesto spaghetti in instant pot?
I used 16 oz barilla spaghetti noodles to make this pesto spaghetti in a 6 quart instant pot. I used fresh spinach leaves and cashews to prepare the pesto sauce, to which I later added cheese and cream once the noodles are cooked in the instant pot.
You can just use a blender to make the pesto sauce and then cook the noodles in the instant pot and then once the noodles are cooked, add the prepared sauce, add the cheese and cream to make it even more creamy and delicious.
how to make pesto spaghetti in instant pot?
To make pesto spaghetti without basil leaves in instant pot, we use the following ingredients.
ingredients used to make instant pot pesto spaghetti
- 16 oz spaghetti noodles
- 6 cups water
- salt as needed
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup milk optional
- 1.5 cups shredded cheese may adjust the amount slightly, I used Mexican blend
for the sauce - 3 cups spinach leaves
- 1 cup cashews soak the cashews in water in advance if you want the sauce to be smooth
- 2 cups water
step by step instructions
- To make the pesto sauce from scratch using spinach leaves, blend the spinach leaves, cashews and two cups of water together . Keep this prepared sauce aside.
- Now break the spaghetti noodles in half (or it won't fit inside the pot) and transfer the noodles to the instant pot.
- Add enough water also to the pot, and add enough salt, garlic powder and onion powder. Let the noodles soak in the water for few minutes, say about five minutes.
- After five minutes, gently stir the noodles and also place the butter (preferably sliced) on top.
- Close the instant pot with lid in sealing position and cook in high pressure for 3 minutes.
- Once the cooking is done, press the 'keep warm/cancel' button and wait for a natural pressure release for 12 minutes.
- Then do a gradual manual pressure release.
- Once the pressure is all released, carefully open the lid, add the olive oil and gently stir the pasta.
- In case any noodles are clumped together, you can use a fork to separate them if needed.
- Add the prepared pesto sauce to the pasta and stir in to coat the noodles.
- Also add the remaining ingredients - cheese, heavy cream and milk and stir in to mix with the cooked pasta and the delicious peso noodles is ready to be enjoyed!
You can add more flavors or spices like dried oregano powder, red chili flakes, pepper powder etc if you wish.
more instant pot pasta recipes:
- instant pot spinach pesto bow tie pasta
- instant pot pasta soup
- instant pot pumpkin mac and cheese
- instant pot buttered egg noodles
- instant pot spaghetti
- instant pot penne pasta
- instant pot peas and egg noodle soup
more vegetarian pasta recipes:
- cellentani pasta in creamy tomato sauce
- baked spinach pasta with cellentani noodles
- spaghetti rigati with chickpeas and spinach leaves
- simple bow tie pasta recipe
- linguine mint pasta noodles with fresh tomatoes
- easy bell pepper pasta recipe
- garlic parsley pasta with white sauce
- baked butternut squash mac and cheese recipe
- no boil spaghetti bake recipe
- easy baked mac and cheese without flour
- one pot mac and cheese easy recipe
- lasagna recipe without ricotta cheese
Below you can see the pesto spaghetti recipe in detail which you can prepare using instant pot.
Pesto Spaghetti In Instant Pot
Equipment
- 6 quart instant pot
Ingredients
- 16 oz spaghetti noodles
- 6 cups water
- salt as needed
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup milk optional
- 1.5 cups shredded cheese may adjust the amount slightly, I used Mexican blend
for the sauce
- 3 cups spinach leaves
- 1 cup cashews soak the cashews in water in advance if you want the sauce to be smooth
- 2 cups water
Instructions
- Blend the spinach leaves, cashews and 2 cups of water together in a blender until you get a smooth sauce ( a little grainy texture from the cashews are fine, if you want it really smooth you can soak the cashews in water in advance for about 15 minutes). Keep this prepared spinach pesto sauce aside.
- Break the spaghetti noodles in half and add the noodles to the instant pot.
- Add the 6 cups of water and also add enough salt, garlic powder and onion powder. Let the noodles soak in the water for about 5 minutes. After five minutes, gently stir the noodles. Make sure the noodles are not stuck at the bottom of the pot, or the noodles can burn when you cook.
- Place the butter on top.
- Close the instant pot with lid in sealing position, press manual and cook in high pressure for 3 minutes.
- Once the cooking is done, press the 'keep warm/cancel' button and wait for a natural pressure release for 12 minutes, after which you can do a careful and gradual, controlled manual pressure release.
- Once the pressure is all released, carefully open the lid, add the olive oil and gently stir the pasta. If any noodles is clumped together, use a fork to separate the noodles if needed.
- Add the prepared pesto sauce to the cooked noodles, stir in to coat the noodles.
- Add the cheese, heavy cream and milk (if using), stir in to mix with the cooked pasta. Serve hot for the best taste and if you want it saucy! The noodles will absorb most of the sauce as it cools down, but it still will be delicious!
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