Go Back
+ servings
Black plate with Cacio e Pepe, a fork, and a glass of rose
Print Pin
4.82 from 11 votes

Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe

A beautiful, Roman classic, Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe is the fastest, easiest, and certainly the most delicious recipe that you can make in your Instant Pot. You’ll love this cheesy pasta dish and all of the flavor it brings to dinnertime!
Course dinner, Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Pressure Building 5 minutes
Total Time 18 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 437kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Use a cheese grater to grate your Pecorino Romano cheese on the very smallest setting. The cheese should look like powder.
  • Add your chicken broth into the Instant Pot. Use your hands to break the spaghetti in half, then place the dry spaghetti noodles in the pot. Make sure the broth covers the noodles completely.
  • Place a lid on the Instant Pot and set it to HIGH for 8 minutes. Once the cooking cycle has completed, perform a Quick Release. Open the lid of the Instant Pot and make sure the pot is turned off completely.
  • Wait about 1-2 minutes to allow the pot/noodles to cool down slightly. Add the powdered cheese right into the pot about ⅓ cup at a time. Use tongs to mix the cheese into the pasta water and allow it to melt completely. Then add the next round of cheese. Repeat until all cheese is gone and the cheese melts and forms a sauce to coat the noodles.
  • When your sauce has reached the desired consistency, use a pepper grinder to add fresh ground black pepper into the pot. In this case, the more the better! Plate and serve… enjoy!

Notes

Recipe copyright The Foreign Fork. For educational or personal use only. 
Recipe was made using an 8 qt pot.
  1. I used “thick spaghetti” for this recipe, but you can also use “thin spaghetti” if you’d like. If you use “thin spaghetti” make sure to take about 1 minute off of the Instant Pot cook time. Your pasta should be dry when you put it in the Instant Pot.
  2. Using fresh ground black pepper is especially vital to this recipe, as it’s where the pasta gets most of its flavor. Crack the peppercorns on the largest setting so that they are fairly large pieces of cracked pepper. 
  3. I use a block of Pecorino Romano cheese and grate it on the finest setting, making the cheese look like powder. Use a minimum of 2.5 cups of cheese and a maximum of 3 cups
  4. Make sure to turn the Instant Pot off (don’t even have it on KEEP WARM) when adding the Pecorino Romano into the Instant Pot. If the pot is continuing to warm up, the cheese will clump together when you add it into the pasta water, causing a lumpy mess.
  5. Conversely, make sure that you add the cheese into the Instant Pot immediately once the pressure is released. Waiting too long will allow the pasta water to cool down, meaning that the cheese won’t melt as easily into a creamy sauce, and it may stay grainy. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 437kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 59mg | Sodium: 1221mg | Potassium: 293mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 238IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 624mg | Iron: 1mg