You won’t believe this sauce is dairy free! This Instant Pot Vegan Pasta is made with penne, a creamy cashew rosé sauce, roasted red peppers and spinach. A simple yet impressive meal your family will love, whether they’re vegan or not!

creamy vegan pasta with spinach and roasted red peppers being stirred by a wooden spoon in an Instant Pot

People are loving the stove-top version of this recipe, so I just had to make an even easier version for the Instant Pot! Using the Instant Pot doesn’t save time overall (because nothing in the Instant Pot is actually instant haha), BUT you don’t need to stand over the stove and stir the pasta while it’s cooking. This version is more hands off, meaning you can walk away and do something else. Or relax. I call that a win.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this Instant Pot Vegan Pasta. See the recipe card below for exact quantities and detailed instructions.

For the dairy-free rosé sauce

Cashews – for best results, you’ll want to soak them. You can soak in water for 4 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. As a shortcut, you can boil the water first and soak for just 20 minutes. Drain and rinse before adding them to the blender.
Vegetable broth – you could also use water, but broth adds more flavour
Tomato paste

For the pasta

Olive oil – for sautéing
Onion – yellow or sweet, small dice. Sautéing it adds nice depth of flavour to the dish.
Garlic – for flavour
Nutritional yeast – this ingredient adds a nice “cheesiness” to the final flavour of the sauce. You can skip it, but I find the sauce mimics dairy better when you include it. It’s also fortified with vitamin B12, which is an important nutrient to supplement in a vegan diet.
Seasoning – oregano, sea salt and red pepper flakes. Be sure to adjust the salt to taste after pressure cooking. The amount you need to add will depend on the saltiness of your broth.
Penne – one pound (worked out to about 4-5 cups dry measure). If you choose to use another type of noodle (a short variety is best), this will change the cook time. See my tips below.
Roasted red pepper – I buy jarred to save time, but you could certainly roast your own!
Baby spinach – because you can never have too many greens in a day!
Fresh basil – optional garnish

Ingredients needed to make creamy Instant Pot Vegan Pasta in glass bowls viewed from overhead

Step-by-step instructions

Step one: Sauté and deglaze

Turn on the Sauté function on the Instant Pot. Heat the olive oil, then add the diced onion and sauté until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the minced garlic, then turn off the Sauté function. Sauté the garlic in the residual heat for about a minute.

If you notice any food stuck to the bottom of the insert, add a bit of broth and use a spatula to scrape off any food stuck to the bottom. This is called “deglazing” and will help prevent a burn warning.

Step two: Layer pasta ingredients

Pour in the remaining broth (not including what you’ll be using to blend the sauce), add the nutritional yeast, oregano, salt and red pepper flakes. Layer the penne evenly on top, then layer the roasted red peppers on the penne. It’s okay if some of the noodles aren’t submerged in the broth. Do not stir.

Using a wooden spoon to make an even layer of penne submerged in broth in an Instant Pot.

Step 3: Pressure cook

Put on the lid and set the vent to sealing. Pressure cook on Manual High pressure for 6 minutes. It will take about 15 minutes to come to pressure.

Step 4: Make the sauce

While the pasta is cooking, add the cashews, broth and tomato paste to a high-speed blender. Blend until smooth and creamy. Set aside until the pasta is done.

Vegan cashew rosé sauce in a Vitamix blender viewed from overhead.

Step 5: Release pressure and add the sauce

At the end of pressure cooking, do a “controlled quick release”: rather than opening the vent all the way at once, let a bit of pressure out a time. This will prevent too much splatter (pasta tends to cause splatter, in general). I like to use a wooden spoon to make this easier.

Once pressure is released, open the lid, give the noodles a stir, then add the sauce. Continue to stir until the pasta is evenly coated, then stir in the spinach. Set the lid on top so the spinach can warm up and wilt, for 3-5 minutes.

Baby spinach stirred into creamy vegan pasta in an Instant Pot.

Step 6: Serve!

Serve immediately with thinly sliced fresh basil, if desired.

Creamy Instant Pot Vegan Pasta on a white plate garnished with basil leaves

Tips for success

Quick soak the cashews if you’re short on time. Soaking them in boiled water for about 20 minutes should be enough to soften them up.

Do not stir once you add the penne and roasted red peppers. This will help to prevent a burn warning. Just be sure the noodles are in a nice layer for even cooking.

Don’t skip the sauté. Technically you could just put everything in the Instant Pot and only do the pressure cook, but sautéing the onions and garlic adds great depth of flavour to the dish.

Deglaze the insert, if you find any bits of onion or garlic are stuck to the bottom after sautéing.

How do I substitute different types of noodles?

If you’d rather use a different type of noodle, no problem, you’ll just need to adjust the cook time. I do recommend a short noodle though, as they tend to have more success in the Instant Pot.

Pasta pressure cook time = lowest cook time on package divided by two. If the lowest cook time is an odd number, round down and divide by two. For example, a 9-minute cook time would round down to 8 minutes, then divide by two to get a 4 minute pressure cook time.

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