Pressure Cooker Butternut Squash Pasta with Spinach and Bacon is savory, but slightly sweet with complex levels of flavor sure to please.
Pressure Cooker Butternut Squash Pasta
Pressure Cooker Butternut Squash Pasta
Jessica, from the Instant Pot Facebook group, created this recipe for the Pressure Cooker and since I love butternut squash, I just had to try it for myself.
Jessica said that is was so “soooooooooo good” and she was right.
I made a couple of tiny tweaks and I hope you will enjoy this pasta dish. It really is sooooooo good; I was floored.
It was way better than I had even imagined! Quality of ingredients matters much of the time, but not always. For pasta, I only use DeCecco Brand. Not only is the taste great, but it holds up much better in a Pressure Cooker.
For this recipe I used DeCecco Penne.
If you don’t have any left over bacon, use the Sauté or Browning button on your Pressure Cooker and allow to heat.
Pressure Cooker Butternut Squash Pasta
Add bacon to the Pressure Cooker cooking pot and sauté until bacon is crisp. Remove and drain bacon from cooking pot and reserve grease.
Add some olive oil and onions and sauté until onions are translucent. Then add garlic and sauté.
Add squash, bacon, bacon grease, DeCecco Penne, Pressure Cooker Homemade Chicken Broth, butter, salt and pepper and you are ready to cook!
Pressure Cooker Butternut Squash Pasta
Mix in the fresh spinach to the cooking pot. Don’t forget to grate some fresh Parmesan or Asiago cheese on top!
For another delicious pasta meal, try my Pressure Cooker Beef and Macaroni.
For another butternut squash dish, check out my Pressure Cooker Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto with Gremolata.
Kitchen Equipment and Essentials
- Instant Pot DUO 6 Quart
- J.A. Henckels Classic 7-inch Hollow Edge Santoku Knife
- Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
- Culina Stackable (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
- Anchor Hocking Glass (Liquid) Measuring Cups
- Cilio Olivewood Spatula
- Rachael Ray Stoneware EVOO Oil Dispensing Bottle
- Alpha Armour Salt Box with Spoon
- My FANTASTIC Teak Cutting & Charcuterie Board
- Microplane Artisan Ribbon Grater
- DeCecco Penne
- Pressure Cooker Homemade Chicken Broth
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Here is the handy printable recipe:
Ingredients
- 6 slices Bacon chopped
- 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/2 cup Yellow/Brown Onion chopped
- 2 cloves Fresh Garlic chopped
- 1 Tablespoon Salted Butter optional
- 1 Tablespoon Bacon Grease optional
- 1/2 pound Butternut Squash cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 pound Penne Pasta
- 3.5 cups Chicken Broth or 3.5 cups of water with 1 Tablespoon Better Than Bouillon, Chicken
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste
- 3 cups Fresh Spinach rough chopped
Garnish
- 1/2 cup Asiago or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese freshly shredded
Instructions
- Select Sauté or Browning button on your Pressure Cooker and allow to fully heat.
- Add bacon to the cooking pot and sauté until bacon is crisp. Remove, all but 1 Tablespoon of bacon grease from cooking pot.
- Add olive oil, squash and onions to cooking pot and sauté, five minutes, or until onions begin to soften.
- Add garlic and sauté one more minute.
- Pour in broth and deglaze cooking pot, making sure to scrap up anything stuck to the bottom.
- Add bacon, pasta, butter, salt and pepper.
- Lock on lid and close Pressure Value. Cook at High Pressure for 2 minutes. When Beep sounds, wait 5 minutes and then release the rest of the pressure
- Mix in the fresh spinach to the cooking pot.
- Serve and garnish with Parmesan or Asiago cheese.
Notes
Butter and bacon grease are optional, but taste wonderful in this dish.
Nutrition
PIN this Pressure Cooker Butternut Squash Pasta!
Pressure Cooker Butternut Squash Pasta
I didn’t make this yet, but in the book ‘This Old Gals Pressure Cooker Cookbook’ the recipe calls for 1 1/2 pounds of squash yet this recipe lists only 1/2 pound of squash. That’s a big difference so I’d like to confirm what the correct measurement is!
You could use either for this recipe. Jill
Loved the recipe. Unfortunately since I can’t hear my pot beep it had cooked the 2 minutes but was on natural release for 10 instead of 5 minutes. Pasta still perfect but some of the squash had softened a lot. It worked fine though.
Only now reading comments do I see squash didn’t need peeled.WHAT.? Never knew not peeling was an option for butternut. This changes everything. Wow.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you. Jill
I made this recipe last night to use a butternut squash I had on hand and it was TO DIE FOR! I only had 2 slices of thick bacon in the fridge, but that worked just right. I worried that 2 minutes wouldn’t be enough to cook the squash and penne pasta, but you were spot on. So nice not to have overcooked penne. I did add some Caramelized Onion meatballs from Costco that suggested using with penne, and the blended flavors were awesome. This recipe really is a winner in my opinion! Thank you, Jill.
I am thrilled you enjoyed the recipe so much. Thank you, Paulette for telling me. 🙂 Jill
I used 1/2 pound sage breakfast sausage instead of bacon – the flavors blend well together. Not liking chunky squash, I cut it into 1/2 inch chunks and then when I stirred in the parm cheese, it all melted in together.
I do wish there was an easier way to peel the squash. That was the worst part and may cause me to not make the recipe again. Maybe I’ll try cooking it like a spaghetti squash the next time and stirring in the mashed at the end of the pasta cooking.
No need to peel the squash. The recipe does not call for the squash to be peeled. Jill
I made a pared down version of this because I didn’t have most of the ingredients on hand. All I had was butternut squash. This was my first time making pasta in my IP so I was really nervous. It turned out beautifully! The pasta was perfectly al dente and took in the flavour of the squash.
is it possible to make this with frozen butternut squash?
Hi Sian. The cook time is based on the pasta, so you want to make sure not to over cook the pasta. Can you break up the squash into small pieces? Jill
I need to use gluten free pasta so I was thinking about cooking the pasta separately and adding it at the end. Should I use less broth? Thanks!
Taryn, just cook for less time with the other pasta.
Jill
just made this! amazing! it looked so good in picture but i was worried about pasta. I made it with aldi’s quinoa and rice penne. and it is so good. not too done even though it looked like it might be.
thanks for sharing.
Is the butternut squash cooked first in the Instant pot? The recipe does not mention cooked or raw.
Kim, raw.
Jill
I have some extra cooked squash. Will that still work?
Hi Jill~
The squash won’t stay in tact, but would still be good. Jill
Would you email me the butternut squash pasta recipe? When I hit the print button, it just comes up blank. I would appreciate it so much.
Thanks
Terry
Hi Terry~
The print button is working.
Jill
Mine is coming out blank from my phone. I think it’s an incompatibility with my printer app. I just had the same problem with a different web site this morning. That one worked fine when I printed from my oven so I bet this one will too.
I really thought I would like this, but I found the bacon to be too odd with the pasta and squash. The pasta and squash were perfectly cooked though! Thanks for the recipes though- I am trying out my new pressure cooker and am always amazed at how fast it cooks!
Hey Amy~
Sorry you did not like this dish. I love all those flavors combined.
Jill
How does this freeze. It looks delicious,
Hi Suzanne~
This is one of my favorite recipes. It is surprisingly really delicious. I don’t know how it would freeze, as I have not tried to freeze this particular recipe.
Jill
Wondering what size of box of Penne pasta to use with the Butternut Squash Pasta. Thanks
Hi Linda~
I use a one pound box of pasta. Thanks for your question and let me know how you like the results.
Jill