Oh….My….Goodness! Have you tried crack chicken yet? If not…..what are you waiting for??
So, I have seen about a million recipes online for this crazy thing called crack chicken! I read a lot of reviews and about 50% were incredibly positive but the other 50% were quite negative. It seems like you are either in the YES! I LOVE CRACK CHICKEN AND CANNOT GET ENOUGH OF IT! or the NO WAY! CRACK CHICKEN IS NOT FOR ME! camp. How on Earth can there be so much conversation about this little chicken dish? I just didn’t understand.
So…I thought to myself…..ummmm….give it a try! The worst case scenario is we have some leftovers that we don’t really want to eat….but best case scenario we find a new favorite to add to our rotation.
Let me tell you, I WAS SO PLEASANTLY SURPRISED with how DELICIOUS it was! It’s creamy, cheesy, rich, delicious goodness that my entire family loved! Literally, they were fighting over leftovers!
Looking for more Instant Pot pasta recipes? Check out some of our favorites!
- Instant Pot Mostaccioli
- Instant Pot Shrimp Scampi Linguini
- Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta
- Instant Pot Chicken Cordon Bleu
- Instant Pot Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo
Tips for making Crack Chicken Pasta:
1.Be sure that you use the ranch powder and not ranch dressing. Ranch dressing will make a mess when you release the pressure and will not coat the chicken like the powder does.
2.When cooking pasta in the Instant Pot, feel free to modify the pasta from the recipe. If you like bowties- go for it. If you like penne- go for it. The trick is to look at the cooking times on the box. Whatever the box says- cut it in half and subtract 2 minutes. So, if the box says to cook for 10 minutes, you will cut that in half (5) and subtract 2. Altogether you would cook for 3 minutes.
Ingredients for Crack Chicken Pasta:
- 4 Slices bacon
- 1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning
- 16 ounces of your favorite dried pasta- I recommend using bowties, penne, or rotini. If you use long pasta like spaghetti or fettuccini the cook times for the pasta may undercook the chicken.
- 32 ounces chicken broth-
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 2 cups cheddar cheese- shredded
- fresh parsley to garnish- it’s okay to skip this ingredient if you don’t like parsley or don’t have any on hand
How to make Crack Chicken Pasta:
1.Turn your Instant Pot on Saute.
2.Slice bacon into ½ inch pieces.
3.Once Instant Pot is “Hot” add bacon and sauté until fully cooked.
4.Depending on the fat content of your bacon, you may need to remove some of the bacon fat from the Instant Pot. Ideally, you want to remove all but about 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat from the Instant Pot. Remove excess bacon fat from Instant Pot with a ladle.
5.Cut chicken breasts into 1-inch cubes. Add chicken to Instant Pot and stir together with bacon until chicken is lightly browned. Do not fully cook the chicken.
6.Sprinkle ranch seasoning into Instant Pot and coat bacon and chicken with seasoning.
7.Turn saute function off.
8.Pour in chicken broth.
9.Pour in pasta- DO NOT STIR. Try to cover pasta with chicken broth by pushing pasta down in pot- DO NOT STIR.
10.Close the Instant Pot with the lid and move the valve to “seal” position.
11.Cook on manual high for the time associated with the pasta that you are using. Calculate cook time based on pasta of your choice. Look at the box and take the suggested cooking time and cut it in half and subtract 2 minutes. If the box says 10 minutes, cut it in half (5 minutes) and subtract 2. So your total cook time will be 3 minutes.
12.When timer beeps, quick-release pressure. If a substantial amount of liquid sprays out of the valve, quickly move the valve back to seal and wait a minute or 2, and then move the valve back to release.
13.Remove the lid and add in cream cheese and cheddar cheese
14.STIR!! This is when the cheesy goodness magic happens. Stir everything together until it is well combined. Garnish with just a bit of fresh parsley. IT IS TIME!!! Time for you to indulge in this creamy cheesy delicious goodness! Go for it! You deserve it!
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Instant Pot Crack Chicken Pasta
Rate this Recipe Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 4 Slices bacon
- 1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning
- 16 ounces of your favorite pasta- I recommend using bowties (penne or rotini. If you use long pasta like spaghetti or fettuccini the cook times for the pasta may under cook the chicken.)
- 32 ounces chicken broth
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 2 cups cheddar cheese- shredded
- fresh parsley to garnish- it’s okay to skip this ingredient if you don’t like parsley or don’t have any on hand
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot on Saute.
- Slice bacon into ½ inch pieces.
- Once Instant Pot is “Hot” add bacon and saute until fully cooked.
- Depending on the fat content of your bacon, you may need to remove some of the bacon fat from the Instant Pot. Ideally, you want to remove all but about 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat from the Instant Pot. Remove excess bacon fat from Instant Pot with a ladle.
- Cut chicken breasts into 1 inch cubes.
- Add chicken to Instant Pot and stir together with bacon until chicken is lightly browned. Do not fully cook the chicken.
- Sprinkle ranch seasoning into Instant Pot and coat bacon and chicken with seasoning.
- Turn saute function off.
- Pour in chicken broth.
- Pour in pasta- DO NOT STIR.
- Try to cover pasta with chicken broth by pushing pasta down in pot- DO NOT STIR.
- Close the Instant Pot with the lid and move valve to “seal” position.
- Cook on manual high for time associated with the pasta that you are using. Calculate cook time based on pasta of your choice. Look at the box and take the suggested cooking time and cut it in half and subtract 2 minutes. If the box says 10 minutes, cut it in half (5 minutes) and subtract 2. So your total cook time will be 3 minutes.
- When timer beeps, quick release pressure. If a substantial amount of liquid sprays out of the valve, quickly move valve back to seal and wait a minute or 2 and then move valve back to release.
- Remove the lid and add in cream cheese and cheddar cheese
- STIR!! This is when the cheesy goodness magic happens. Stir everything together until it is well combined.
- Garnish with just a bit of fresh parsley.
- IT IS TIME!!! Time for you to indulge in this creamy cheesy delicious goodness! Go for it! You deserve it!
I see in recipes for pasta to push it into the liquid, but to not stir. I’m new to IP recipes so I’m wondering what stirring does. Also, how do I modify the recipe if I already have plain cooked pasta that I want to use up? This looks so good, I want to try it. Thanks for your help. 🙂
Hi Christine! If you stir the pasta, it is more likely that it will be touching the bottom of the pot. Sometimes, when the starch touches the bottom of the pot during cooking you will get a burn notice. If you already have plain cooked pasta, do not add it in until after you have pressure cooked everything. You can simply add it into the hot cooked mixture and stir it around. This will heat up the pasta without continuing to cook it further. I hope that helps! Enjoy!
My entire family loved this recipe!!!
WE loved this but the ranch was a little salty for us so we replaced with Italian Dressing. After adding cheeses, we also added a bag or frozen peas and a bottle of sliced mushrooms (Drained). Fantastico!
I’m so glad that you liked it! Great idea to add the peas and mushrooms!!!