Chicken Alfredo is perfect for a weeknight dinner: Super juicy pieces of chicken in a smooth and creamy, extra cheesy alfredo sauce.

It’s been SO cold lately! I have been hibernating underneath our kotatsu (a Japanese heated table with a blanket on it to trap all that delicious warmth; it’s the best thing ever invented) and spooning up bowl after bowl of this creamy chicken alfredo.

It’s comfort food at its best: spoonable, cheesy, creamy, carb-y goodness. This dish hits just right. The parmesan cheese is full of salty umami, the chicken is perfectly juicy, and the noodles are the perfect vehicle for the rich, savory, buttery alfredo cream sauce.

What is alfredo sauce?

Classic alfredo sauce has just three ingredients: butter, cheese, and pasta water. That’s it! They combine together into a smooth and rich sauce that’s perfect with pasta (read more about classic alfredo here!). But, like so many foodstuffs that have been lovingly adapted, nowadays, especially in America, people think of alfredo as a thick white cream sauce, made with heavy cream and garlic, a la Olive Garden. Alfredo is kind of used as a blanket term for almost all Italian white sauces.

This isn’t actually authentic and that’s okay

Italians, look away! I know what you are thinking, this alfredo is a travesty and in no ways does it resemble your beloved simple, three ingredient alfredo. I absolutely agree with you! This is just a super simple weeknight take on alfredo that comes together in 15 minutes.

I know regular alfredo is also super simple and only takes about 15 minutes too, but this is the kind of recipe where you throw everything in a pot, set it and forget it. There are juicy pieces of chicken, perfectly al dente noodles, and a rich sauce that clings to each and every piece of pasta. It’s satisfaction in a bowl and it’s all made in the instant pot.

You can make pasta in the instant pot?

Yes! You can put raw pasta in the instant pot and pressure cook it. While it cooks, it soaks up all the creamy delicious sauce that you’re pressure cooking it in. As a bonus, the starches that are released help thicken up the sauce, making it cling to the pasta perfectly. The best part is that cooking pasta in the instant pot means that it’s truly a one pot dish without any draining or extra steps.

How to make chicken alfredo in instant pot

1. Add chopped up chicken, penne (or pasta of choice), chicken stock, and garlic powder to the insert of the instant pot. Stir well to combine then cook on high pressure for 5 minutes.
2. While the instant pot is doing its thing, whisk together some cream with a tiny bit of cornstarch in a small bowl. Take this time to finely grate the parmesan cheese.
3. When the instant pot is done, quick release the pressure, then carefully open the lid. Turn the pot on sauté medium and stir in the cream-cornstarch mix as well and butter. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, then stir in the parm until it melts and all the noodles are coated and creamy. Taste, season, spoon into a bowl and enjoy!

Creamy chicken alfredo ingredients

I love this recipe because it really only takes 9 ingredients. Heck, if you wanted to leave out the parsley, it would be 8! All you need is chicken, penne, chicken stock, garlic powder, cream, cornstarch, butter, and grated parm.

• Chicken – I used chicken thighs because I love how juicy they are, but you can definitely do this with chicken breast.
• Penne – Short pastas are perfect in the instant pot and penne is great because the lil holes fill up with so much saucy goodness. Feel free to use any short pasta here or even fettuccine. If you do use fettuccine, you’ll have to break the pieces in half.
• Cream and cornstarch – we’re going to help our sauce be super glossy with the help of heavy cream and cornstarch. The cornstarch is going to help thicken everything and the cream is going to add a gorgeous creamy flavor.
• Parmesan – go for freshly grated! It melts nicer and taste so much better than the stuff you buy pre-grated at the store.

I hope you guys have a chance to make this. It’s so creamy and comforting, I could eat it FOREVER.
xoxo steph