Instant Pot Kielbasa Pasta is a budget-friendly and family-friendly meal that is ready in just 20 minutes. It is an incredibly delicious 1 pot meal that is easy to prepare, nutritious and filling! It's perfect for pressure cooker beginners and experts alike.
*Updated on September 8th, 2021 to include additional tips for getting it perfect!
Table Of Contents
Instant Pot Kielbasa is a great meal for beginners to the Instant Pot. It uses the 2 most popular functions— saute and pressure cook. You'll get a feel for how each work with this simple, no-fuss meal. And it's made entirely using 1 pot!
It's done quickly, in barely 20 minutes. Because the saute function is used on the kielbasa and vegetables first, the pot comes to pressure quickly. It then pressure cooks for only 2 or 3 minutes.
Here's how it goes.
Saute the kielbasa for 5 minutes. Add the veggies, onion, and garlic for 30 seconds. Then add water, seasonings and pasta and pressure cook for 3 minutes (2 minutes for al dente). Then mix with butter and parmesan and serve.
That's it!
It's hard to mess up, really. Stovetop kielbasa pasta is my go-to meal when it's time for my husband to cook. Not just because it's easy, but because it's a "man's meal".
This Instant Pot version is even easier and quicker!
Meat, pasta, some hidden veggies, and cheese, loaded with spices and sauce. It's hearty, comforting and will fill up the biggest appetites out there.
Kielbasa is a staple of Polish cuisine. It's a Polish meat sausage made from beef, turkey, lamb, veal, pork, or chicken. Traditionally, Polish kielbasa is made from pork and is not smoked, or lightly smoked.
0In the U.S, it's often found as a U shaped sausage made from beef, turkey, or pork. It's also often smoked, making it a little different than traditional Polish kielbasa,
In the U.S, kielbasa is usually fully cooked before being packaged. While you can eat it straight from the package, it is most commonly heated or browned before being added to recipes or during recipe preparation.
If you happen to find uncooked kielbasa, make sure it's fully cooked instead of just browned or warmed before eating. Use a meat thermometer to guide you.
Combining kielbasa with peppers, onions, garlic and tomatoes brings out the meaty garlic flavors of the kielbasa. As a full meal, it's wonderful combined with pasta, perogies, and dumplings.
More Hearty Pasta Meals You'll Love
Ingredients
Instant Pot kielbasa is made with:
- Kielbasa: turkey or beef kielbasa, but I love turkey for a lower fat option.
- Green peppers: red work too!
- Onions: sweet onions are my favorite.
- Garlic: sliced adds texture, but minced works also.
- Canned tomatoes: petite diced in Italian seasonings are perfect, but any diced tomato cans will taste fantastic!
- Spaghetti: use fettuccine, linguini, or your favorite pasta cut (note the change in pressure cooking time below)
- Chicken broth: or use water.
You'll also need a pressure cooker, but no special tools or accessories. I have the Instant Pot Duo Crisp and love it's multi function use as an air fryer, baker, broiler and dehydrator.
💡 If using a pasta other than spaghetti, look at the cooking time on the package. Divide it in half, then subtract 1. For a more al dente pasta, subtract 2. Change to pressure cooking time in this recipe to that time.
Step-By-Step Directions
Instant Pot kielbasa is made in only 4 simple steps.
- Set the pressure cooker to saute on high for 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and the sliced kielbasa to the pot. Cook until browned. During the last 30 seconds, add the peppers, onions, and garlic (for crisper peppers, add them to the pasta after pressure cooking, just to steam them a bit). Mix well and turn off of saute. The goal here is to brown the kielbasa nicely and only add the veggies at the end so they don't turn to mush while pressure cooking.
- Add 1 cup of broth and scrape any stuck bits from the bottom of the pot (to avoid burning). Break the spaghetti in half and layer it on top of the kielbasa and vegetables. Add 4 more cups of broth, the diced tomatoes and their juices, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper in that order. Push the pasta down so it is covered by the water. Do not stir!
- Seal the lid and set to pressure cook on high for 3 minutes, or 2 minutes for al dente pasta. Do a controlled quick release when finished and transfer the inner pot immediately to another surface or remove to a serving dish (to prevent overcooking).
💡 The sauce will absorb as the pasta sits. It's important to use the full amount of broth or water, even though it might seem like a lot at first. The longer it sits, the less sauce there will be. But if you prefer a less "saucy" meal, you can use 4 cups of broth/water without ruining the meal.
Then mix with butter and parmesan cheese while still hot. After serving, sprinkle with additional parmesan if desired.
Tips
- For crisper peppers, add them with the water and tomatoes instead of when sauteing the kielbasa. Or, add them immediately after pressure cooking so the heat steams them.
- For a controlled quick release, press on the steam release valve slowly in 3-5 second increments so the steam is released in short bursts. This prevents hot frothy broth from spraying everywhere.
- Remove the inner pot from the pressure cooker immediately after it's done. Removing it from the heat will stop the pasta from overcooking.
- Use as much parmesan cheese as you'd like!
Storing
Instant Pot kielbasa pasta keeps in the fridge for up to 1 week. It is not freezer friendly, as the spaghetti will turn to mush.
I hope you've enjoyed this easy pressure cooker recipe and will let me know how it turns out in the comments below!
Recipe
Instant Pot Kielbasa Pasta
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 package turkey or beef kielbasa, sliced
- 1 green pepper, sliced
- 1 large onion, diced
- 8 garlic cloves, sliced
- 5 cups chicken broth or water
- 16 ounces spaghetti
- 1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes (seasoned with herbs preferred)
- 2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 4 tablespoon butter
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
Instructions
- Set the pressure cooker to saute on high for 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and the sliced kielbasa to the pot and cook until browned, stirring frequently. During the last 30 seconds, add the peppers, onions, and garlic. Mix well and turn off saute. (*for crisper peppers, add them to the pasta after pressure cooking is done to steam them instead of pressure cook them).
- Add 1 cup of broth/water and deglaze the pot, scraping any stuck bits from the bottom. Break the spaghetti and layer it on top of the kielbasa and vegetables. Add 4 more cups of broth, the diced tomatoes and their juices, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper in that order. Push the pasta into the broth, but do not stir.
- Seal the lid and set to pressure cook on high for 3 minutes, or 2 minutes for al dente pasta. If using a different type of pasta, take the cook time on the box and cut it in half, then subtract 1 minute and pressure cook for that amount of time.
- Complete a controlled quick release when finished (**see notes). Transfer the inner pot immediately to another surface or remove to a serving dish (to prevent overcooking). Mix with butter and parmesan cheese.
- Serve sprinkled with extra parmesan cheese if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Erica Clark says
What is the weight for the kielbasa? It's not clear what size of package I should be using. 250 g? 500g?
Kristina Tipps says
Hi Erica - the ingredients are in US measurements so it would be a 12-14 ounce package of kielbasa. This would be roughly 350 grams.
Boots Cassel says
I just made this for the second time. It was the first recipe I tried using the pressure cooker on my Instant Pot. Sometime, I will try it with Kielbasa! The first time, I had everything except the kielbasa; but, I had pepperoni. That’s close, right? (Not really, I know). I used the pepperoni and the result was fabulous. Easy and so good. Today, I used Italian chicken sausage. Very good, but something spicier would be better. It is so easy and so little mess to clean up! There are just the two of us now and it makes enough for three generous dinners. Two are headed to the freezer.
Marc Goldman says
I loved everything about this recipe but the cheese mixed into the pasta and sauce left an awful sticky mess in the IP. Has anybody else had a similar melted parmesan experience? Work around?
Kristina Tipps says
Hi Marc. You could transfer the meal to a serving dish before adding the cheese so that it won't melt to the hot sides of the inner pot. Or, add the cheese to individual bowls.
Anonymous says
I added the cheese directly to the serving dish. No problem.
Yesenia Lee Lind says
Where do you add butter? It says 4tbs butter in ingredients? I constantly stumble upon these mist6in recipes. Please read before you post a recipe.
Kristina Tipps says
There is no mistake in the recipe. The butter is added in step 4: "mix in the butter and parmesan cheese".
Gayle says
Delicious! True that there is a lot of liquid but flavor was great and pasta and veggies were perfect. My first attempt at an instant pot dish and this hit the mark!
Do you think this could be made with chicken as well?
Kristina says
Hi Gayle, I am glad you enjoyed it! I think you definitely make it with chicken. That sounds good!
Frank says
Made this for the first time. Definitely watery (reason for 3-star rating)...we'll see how the pasta absorbs the water. Next time I will add more veggies. I didn't have seasoned diced tomatoes so I added a little basil pesto.
Nancy says
I just bought my first instant pot, and haven't used it yet. Because I live alone, it's a 3 quart pot. Do I need to scale this recipe down to fit in it?
Kristina says
Hi Nancy, I think it will fit in a 3 quart pot but I haven't made it in one. My concern would be with after adding the spaghetti and water, it would come above the max fill line a little bit. What you could do is reduce the pasta a little bit (this does make a lot pasta!). Use 8 ounces of pasta and 2.5 cups of water. If there is plenty of room to add more water, then add the remaining 8 ounces pasta and 2.5 cups water. Let me know how this works out!