Pepperoni Pizza Pasta | 5-Ingredient Instant Pot Recipe | Jeffrey Eisner
Jeffrey Eisner, of the blog Pressure Luck Cooking and author of the new cookbook Super Shortcut Instant Pot (Voracious, 2023), has become well-known for his quick, easy and tasty Instant Pot recipes. Here, he shares a 5-ingredient favorite.
"The only thing better than transforming a pepperoni pizza into a pasta is doing it with just five ingredients. This pasta gives you the best parts of a slice (the cheese and pepperoni), is way better than popping a frozen pie into the oven and will be sure to satisfy the largest of appetites. For extra oomph, I love giving it a bubbly brown cheese and pepperoni-loaded broiled top for an instantly Instagrammable classic dinner." —Jeffrey
Photos courtesy of Aleksey Zozulya (@ch3m1st).
Pro Tip from Jeffrey: How cheesy this pasta is is up to you (and there are no rules here since this is a pizza-inspired pasta, after all). In step three, start with two cups of shredded cheese and, if you want more, add up to two more cups! If you want to use even more cheese as part of the topping, add it in step four.
For more easy Instant Pot recipes from Jeffrey, check out his Cheesy Chicken Roll-Ups and Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Banana Cheesecake.
- 3 cups chicken or garlic broth
- 3 ½ cups marinara sauce, preferably at room temperature
- 1 pound regular or large elbow macaroni
- 2 to 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (see Tip), plus 1 to 2 cups for the pizza-style finish (optional)
- One 6-ounce package pepperoni, diced or sliced
Add the broth and 1 ½ cups of the marinara sauce to an Instant Pot and stir well. Add the pasta, but do not stir—just smooth it out so it's mostly submerged.
Secure the lid and move the valve to the sealing position. Hit Cancel followed by Manual or Pressure Cook on High Pressure for 5 minutes. Quick release when done and give the contents a good stir.
Stir in the cheese (start with 2 cups and add up to 2 more, if desired). Once it's melted into the pasta and becomes a bit stretchy, add the remaining 2 cups marinara sauce and the pepperoni (reserving some for topping for a pizza-style finish, if you like). Let rest for 5 minutes and either serve or continue with the recipe.
For a pizza-style finish, evenly top the finished pasta with 1 to 2 cups mozzarella and any reserved pepperoni slices. Add the Air Fryer Lid to your Instant Pot and Broil (400°F) for 5 to 10 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and browned. Alternatively, you can place the pasta in a casserole dish and broil in the oven until the cheese is golden brown.