This Instant Pot Tortellini Carbonara is the ultimate in comfort food, don’t you think? Parmesan cheese and bacon scream comfort, right? And don’t forget the eggs on top for that extra sumptuous flavor. Truly addictive and truly satisfying.
This Tortellini Carbonara will easily become your next favorite pasta dish. It can be made with any type of pasta but we especially like the pesto-filled tortellini. Making this Instant Pot Pasta Carbonara in the Instant Pot takes Tortellini Carbonara to the next level.
Instant Pot Creamy Carbonara is great for family dinners, gatherings with friends, and potlucks.
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We absolutely love cooking in the Instant Pot! It definitely relieves us of that mealtime madness and the multi-pot dinner cleanup. When you’re looking for hearty recipes made in the Instant Pot, this Tortellini Carbonara, Chicken Pot Pie Soup, and Lasagna Soup all come to mind.
💕 Why You’ll Love this Instant Pot Tortellini Carbonara
- Quick and effortless weeknight meal
- Easy one pot meal with simple clean up
- Hearty and filling
- Ready in less than 30 minutes
🥕 Recipe Ingredients
Get more info on these ingredients in the recipe card found below.
- Dried pesto tortellini or fresh homemade tortellini (recipe coming soon) if preferred.
- Bacon
- Eggs
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Minced garlic
- Fresh parsley
- Fresh basil
- Salt and black pepper
🥣 Equipment Needed
Instant Pot
- 7-IN-1 FUNCTIONALITY: Pressure cook, slow cook, rice cooker, yogurt maker, steamer, sauté pan and food warmer.
Measuring Cups and Spoons
- HIGH QUALITY DURABLE AND STURDY – These Laxinis World Measuring Cups and Spoons are made of highly satin brushed with best quality stainless steel which will never rust! They are durable and attractive looking, easy to clean, and can be placed in the dishwasher safely after using.
Cutting Board and Knife
- ALL THE KNIVES A CHEF NEEDS: This set includes an 8-inch chef's knife, 8-inch bread knife, 8-inch slicing knife, 4-inch paring knife, and a 5-inch utility knife. Whether you're chopping vegetables or carving a turkey, this set has you covered!
Mason Jars for Storing and Serving
- 2-Regular mouth glass preserving mason jars. 2-Regular mouth lids. 2-Regular mouth bands.
Cheese Grater
- Fantastic Results Without The Fatigue - With minimal effort you can perfectly shred and slice cheese and vegetables. Get creative and make dinner exciting again by grating, slicing and making fresh zest to take your meals to another level. Best of all, it's dishwasher safe and backed by a Lifetime Warranty.
Wooden Spoon
- ESSENTIAL TOOL: great for basting roasts, spooning out sauces and jus, and stirring soups, sauces, and stews
Whisk
- [Reinforced Metal Whisk]:12 inches of food-grade stainless steel whisk adopted bold 8 wire processing, which solves the pain of bending or the line breaking of some common whisks for cooking on the market during some heavy mixing and stirring.The wires do not get tangled in each other and the spacing helps wire whisk liquids better.
Mixing Bowl
- SIZED FOR EVERY TASK - With A range of 5 Sizes—¾, 1.5, 3, 4, and 5 quart—metal mixing bowls add versatility and functionality to your kitchen. For all-purpose kitchen workhorses from prepping, mixing, stirring, to kneading dough like a pro
📝 How to Make Instant Pot Tortellini Carbonara
- Add the tortellini to the Instant Pot inner liner. Place the lid on and close the seal by pushing the sealing valve away from you.
- Turn on HIGH pressure and cook for 5 minutes which should make the pasta Al dente.
- After it’s finished cooking, perform a quick pressure release by opening the valve and quickly letting all the pressure and steam escape.
- Remove the tortellini and set it aside with one cup of pasta water in a separate bowl. Save the rest of the water.
- Turn saute mode on the Instant Pot and add in your bacon once it’s hot. Cook the bacon until it’s crispy.
- Add in the garlic and cook for another minute and then remove both garlic and bacon and set aside in another bowl. Leave the bacon grease in the liner. Turn the Instant Pot off.
- Add the tortellini with extra water back in and mix with the bacon.
- In a small bowl whisk the eggs and add in parmesan. Add a splash of pasta water to thin it out if necessary.
- While stirring the pasta, slowly pour in the cheese and egg mixture. If you need to thin the sauce more, add more pasta water.
- Serve with green onion and basil as garnishes.
❓ What is Carbonara?
Carbonara is an Italian pasta dish from Rome made with eggs, hard cheese, cured pork, and black pepper. The dish arrived at its modern form, with its current name, in the middle of the 20th century. The cheese is usually Pecorino Romano, Parmigiano-Reggiano, or a combination of the two.
🔥 Variations
- Change up the stuffed pasta and use ravioli; meat-filled or cheese-filled
- Use a frozen pasta instead of fresh
- Substitute the stuffed pasta for a dry pasta shape like orecchiette or rigatoni
- Try pancetta instead of bacon or use turkey bacon instead of pork
- Add more meat like cubed sausage or ground beef
- Throw in strips of chicken for Instant Pot Chicken Carbonara
- Choose a different Italian cheese like Romano instead of Parmesan
- Add your favorite vegetables like peas or spinach
- Change up the herbs and add rosemary or thyme
- Give the dish some spice and add a few drops of sriracha
👉 Helpful Tips and Tricks
- Make sure to dice the bacon beforehand so it is ready-to-go.
- Take the eggs out of the fridge while you prepare the dish so they can come to room temperature.
- Don’t forget to save the required pasta water.
- It is best to use fresh garlic but prepared minced garlic will also work.
- Set the timer when you cook the pasta so it doesn’t overcook.
- Keep in mind that the cooking time stated here does not account for the time it takes the pressure cooker to come up to pressure or the time it takes to release pressure as this can vary widely from each model of Instant Pot.
- When performing any kind of pressure release whether natural release or quick pressure release, take extra caution not to burn yourself. We recommend tossing a dish towel over the valve as it releases the pressure so it reduces the chances of anybody getting burned.
🍴FAQs
Can I add cream to the sauce?
There is no need to add cream to the sauce. It gets its creaminess from the pasta water, cheese and eggs.
Why do you add pasta water to carbonara?
Adding pasta water adds some starch to the sauce making it richer, creamier and thicker. It also really brings out an amazing flavor.
Is carbonara better with or without cream?
The typical Italian carbonara recipe does not use cream. Fettuccini Alfredo is a popular Italian cream sauce dish. Therefore, we choose not to add cream to this recipe. If you want to give it a try as a variation, go for it!
Can this dish be made ahead and frozen?
Yes, you can prepare this dish, freeze it and then thaw and eat it.
Prepare your recipe, then store it in an airtight container, like your mason jar that’s safe for freezing. You can also use a baking dish covered with plastic wrap and aluminum foil.
Place your food in the freezer for 2-3 months. When ready to enjoy it, remove it from the freezer and let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Toss it in the oven to reheat it. You could also reheat it in the microwave, but we prefer the texture you get from reheating it in the oven versus the microwave.
Can I use Parmesan cheese that comes pre-grated in a shaker bottle?
You can use pre-grated, shelf stable Parmesan cheese but we find freshly grated gives a richer flavor.
Simply grab a block of Parmesan cheese and your cheese grater and run it back and forth across a few times for freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Besides using fresh is healthier than the shaker bottle with preservatives.
🤤 Other Recipes You May Enjoy
Instant Pot Tortellini Carbonara
Ingredients
- 16 oz bag of dried pesto tortellini or fresh if preferred.
- 8 slices bacon diced
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 4 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 Tbsp fresh parsley chopped optional garnish
- 2 Tbsp fresh basil chopped optional garnish
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
