How to Cook Pasta in an Instant Pot
I don’t know if I will ever stop telling everyone how much I LOVE my Instant Pot. Plus, I just discovered a new hack I can do with it, and as simple as it may sound, it is indeed extremely useful: cooking pasta! :)
It is pretty rare to encounter someone with basic cooking skills who has difficulty cooking pasta. However, there are some little things I find irritating with the process that I wouldn’t mind eliminating altogether.
What am I talking about? (Fair warning: I said LITTLE things).
In the summertime, the heat from the steam coming out of the pot makes me pretty hot (not in a good way). Also, I don’t love waiting for the water to boil, having to stir every once in a while to keep white foam from boiling over. Then, with my legendary forgetfulness, I keep realizing a few minutes in that I did not set a timer nor check the time I put the pasta in to cook.
Wow, sure you want cooking tips from me ?
But I must be honest, I get distracted pretty easily resulting in me having to take several little bites of extremely hot pasta to know when they are finally cooked, since I don’t know how long they have been there for.
I admit it, sometimes I have issues with my timing in the kitchen and when it comes to making sure my sauce and my pasta will be ready simultaneously, I fail more often than not. Plus, when I do succeed, there is still the hassle of straining the pasta and finding a spot on my stovetop that is not burning hot to put back my pot, while still having the space to plate my meal without having to hold the plates in my hands. Now don’t go ahead and think I strongly believe this is a real problem. However, somehow, the Instant Pot managed to fix it!
With the Instant Pot: No timer to set, no excessive amount of heat from the steam, no waiting for the water to boil, no need to stir, more stovetop space for plating time, and last but not least: no white foam boiling over! It is AWESOME! And it’s super simple!
How it works :
Use any type of pasta you want. Read the instructions that come with them.
Then, you simply have to do a little math.
Here it is :
Cooking time on package divided by 2, then subtract 1 minute.
If need be, round down the number.
Example : Cooking time on package = 11 min
Calculations :
1- (cooking time / 2) -1 : (11/2)- 1 = 4.5
2- Round down : 4.5--»4
In this example, I would cook my pasta for 4 minutes instead of 11.*
*I also like to subtract another minute in the following scenarios:
When I am cooking a lot of pasta at once, since the pressure release time is going to be longer.
When I know I will cook my pasta in a sauce for a while.
And voilà! I hope this article helps you turn something easy into something even easier :).
If you have any requests as to what cooking tip you would like me to write about, shoot me an e-mail.
In the meantime, I wish you all the joy and happiness in the world.
Marie-Chose
Want to download/share a little reminder? Here you go :)
