One Pot Pumpkin Pasta

5 from 8 votes

This Pumpkin Pasta is pure comfort in 20 minutes. The scrumptious, velvety pumpkin pasta sauce uses canned pumpkin for color, flavor, volume, and nutrients. This pumpkin pasta recipe is made for the Instant Pot or stove.

Prep Time5

Cook Time15

Total Time20

Course: Dinner Recipes, entree

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: 1-cup servings

Calories: 393kcal

Author: Traci

Equipment

6-quart Instant Pot
stirring utensil
cheese grater (if using block Parmesan)
measuring cups and spoons

Ingredients

1 cup Unsweetened Pumpkin Puree
8 ounces Cream Cheese softened in the microwave
¼ teaspoon White Pepper
pinch Ground Nutmeg
16 ounces Uncooked Pasta Shells (about 7 cups dry pasta)
4 cups Water
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Salt
½ cup Half and Half
½ cup Parmesan Cheese shaved, shredded, or fresh grated
Salt to taste

Instructions

Easy pumpkin pasta sauce recipe

In a mixing bowl, stir together PUMPKIN PUREE, CREAM CHEESE, WHITE PEPPER, and NUTMEG until well-combined. Set aside.

Instant Pot Instructions

Stir together PASTA, OIL, WATER, and SALT in the Instant Pot.
Select "Manual" or "Pressure Cook" on HIGH for 1 minute (for classic pasta shells) or 2 minutes (for thicker pasta: rotini, bowtie, macaroni, penne, etc).
When pressure cook cycle completes, allow the cooker to sit undisturbed for a 10-minute natural pressure release (NPR). Do not cut this time short because the pasta is still cooking.
Turn pressure valve to "venting" and release remaining steam.
Open the lid. There should be a little excess water, which is perfect.
Press "Cancel" then press "Sauté" on the cooker.
Stir MILK into the pasta, followed by the pumpkin pasta sauce and PARMESAN CHEESE.
Gently stir and sauté everything until heated through. Add SALT to taste. Press "Cancel" on the cooker and continue to serving instructions below.

Stove instructions

Stir together PASTA, OIL, WATER, and SALT in a large soup pot.
IMPORTANT: Add EXTRA water to the pasta. It should be enough to cover the surface of the pasta (about 4 cups).
Bring these ingredients to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium heat for 10-15 minutes, or until pasta is fully cooked and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
Note: Ideally, once the pasta is cooked, you want about ½ cup of pasta water remaining in the pot to become part of the sauce, so remove any excess beyond that.
Stir MILK into the pasta and pasta water, then add the pumpkin pasta sauce and PARMESAN CHEESE.
Continue simmering until pasta and sauce are heated through, stirring as needed. Add SALT to taste.

Serving, storage, and reheat instructions

Serve warm. Garnish can include: fried sage leaves, fresh parsley, or toasted walnuts / pecans.
To store, allow to cool completely. Refrigerate in an airtight container up to five days.
To reheat pumpkin pasta, add a splash of broth or milk to moisten the pasta. Reheat on the stove over medium heat, or microwave on medium-high, stirring as needed.

Notes

Pasta pressure cook times - Don't shorten the time listed for natural pressure release because the pasta is still cooking and prevents splattering of starchy water.

Thin pasta (shell pasta, spaghetti) get 1 minute pc + 10 minute natural release.
Thick pasta (elbow mac, penne, rotini, bowtie) get 2 minute pc + 10 minute natural release.

Recipe tips

pasta cooking options: If you prefer a classic method of boiling and straining pasta instead of the one-pot method, feel free to do that with this recipe.
seasoning: Turn this dish into pumpkin spice pasta by adding 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice to the pumpkin pasta sauce at the beginning of the recipe.
garnish: Serve pumpkin pasta plain (great for kids) or garnished with fried sage or toasted walnuts (great for adults).
recipe yield: This recipe can easily be halved to yield 4 cups...perfect for 1 or 2.
tip for reheating: Hydrate the pasta and sauce with splashes of liquid during reheat to revive the creamy, velvety texture.

Nutrition