This creamy, no-cheese and not-so-spicy Instant Pot Curried Sweet Potato Sauce Pasta made from scratch is a sure winner among kids and adults. Check out the detailed recipe with step-wise pictures below.
Curried Sweet Potato Sauce| The No Cheese Mac ‘n’ Cheese
The third recipe that I am going to share as a part of this weekly blogging marathon theme – “Kids Delight Veggies Sneaked In” is the curried sweet potato sauce pasta. Among the carrot sauce, pesto sauce, and this sweet potato sauce, this sauce is kiddos most favorite. He calls this as no-cheese mac-n-cheese. :-) The color and the creaminess make is look like mac-n-cheese.
I know I am adding curry powder but it is not spicy. Thanks to the sweet potato and the cream we are adding. They compliment each other and adds a fantastic flavor making it perfect for the kids. For the extra zing, color, and texture, I added some minimal amount of red bell pepper, which you can skip entirely or add your favorite colored peppers.
Also, the curry powder that I am using the mild curry powder and you can find it in all the grocery shops in the Asian Aisle or on Amazon online. I love this curry powder, and I include it in our soups and stews as well.
Cooking Pasta In Instant Pot
As mentioned in my Carrot Sauce Pasta recipe the formula is – cook pasta for half the lowest package cooking time, minus one minute and do a quick pressure release. The Cavatappi pasta package (I bought the Sprout’s brand pasta) mentioned the cooking time range as 9 to 11 minutes.
So I took the lowest range which is 9 and decreased it to 8 to get an even number. Then half of 8 is 4 and then minus one which is 3 So the cooking time for cavatappi pasta is just three minutes for the entire packet or only half of it.
Instant Pot Curried Sweet Potato Sauce Pasta Recipe
Ingredients:
For the Sweet Potato Sauce:
- Onion – ½
- Sweet Potatoes – 5
- Curry Powder – 1 tbsp
- Water – 2 cups
- Salt – 1 tsp
- Olive Oil – 1.5 tbsp
For Cooking the Pasta:
- Cavatappi – 2 cups
- Water – 3 cups
- Olive Oil – 1 tsp
- Salt – ½ tsp
For the Curried Sweet Potato Sauce Pasta:
- Olive Oil – 1 tsp
- Chopped Red Bell Pepper – 1 tbsp
- Heavy Whipping Cream – 3 tbsp
- Cooked Pasta
- Curried Sweet Potato Sauce – 1 cup
- Pasta Water – 3 tbsp
Instructions:
Step 1 – To Prepare the Carrot Sauce:
- Peel the sweet potato skin and chop them roughly. Also, peel and chop the onion.
- Set the Instant Pot to Saute mode and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot add the onion and cook for a couple of minutes.
- Now add the chopped sweet potato, salt, and curry powder.
- Followed by the water. Mix thoroughly. Press the cancel button now.
- Close the lid and make sure the vent is in the sealing position.
- Select the “Pressure Cook” or “Manual” setting and set the cooking time to 10 minutes at high pressure.
- Allow the pressure to release naturally and when the pressure is released, press the cancel button and carefully open the lid.
- Allow it to cool and transfer the cooked veggie into a blender and puree it. You can use a hand blender too.
- That’s it the curried sweet potato sauce is now ready.
Step 2 – To Cook the Pasta:
- Add the pasta, water, olive oil, and salt to the inner pot of the IP. Mix them thoroughly.
- Close the lid and make sure the vent is in the sealing position.
- Select the “Pressure Cook” or “Manual” setting and set the cooking time to 3 minutes at high pressure. (Time might vary depending upon the pasta and the variety. Check the formula above)
- When it beeps after three minutes, press the cancel button and then carefully move the vent to the open position and release all the pressure.
- When the pressure is released, carefully open the lid. Drain the pasta and if required then reserve about 3 tbsp of pasta water.
Step 3: Making the Curried Sweet Potato Sauce Pasta:
- Set the Instant Pot to Saute mode and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot add the chopped red bell peppers and cook for a minute.
- Now add the cooked pasta, cream, pasta water, and the sweet potato sauce. Mix it well and cook for two to three minutes gently stirring in between cooking.
- And that’s it. Curried sweet potato sauce pasta is ready.
- Serve it hot.
Notes:
- While making the sweet potato sauce, instead of olive oil you can add butter.
- I did not include any herbs and just went with curry powder. But you can add fresh herbs or dried herbs as well.
- Cream adds the sweet flavor, but you can skip or include milk. If you want to keep it vegan, include almond milk or soy milk.
- You can add any colored bell peppers. Bell peppers compliment the creamy and sweet sweet-potato sauce.
- The pasta cooking time varies according to the pasta variety, brand, and shape. Using the above formula calculate yours.
- As always, adjust salt and spices according to your preference.
P.S.:
- Sending this to Srivalli’s Kid’s Delight event, guest hosted by me themed on Veggies Sneaked In.
- Sending this recipe for the BM 94. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#94.
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Curried Sweet Potato Sauce Pasta
Ingredients
For the Sweet Potato Sauce:
- ½ Onion
- 5 Sweet Potatoes small ones
- 1 tbsp Curry Powder
- 2 cups Water
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1.5 tbsp Olive Oil
For Cooking the Pasta:
- 2 cups Cavatappi
- 3 cups Water
- 1 tsp Olive Oil
- ½ tsp Salt
For the Curried Sweet Potato Sauce Pasta:
- 1 tsp Olive Oil
- 1 tbsp Chopped Red Bell Pepper
- 3 tbsp Heavy Whipping Cream
- Cooked Pasta
- 1 cup Curried Sweet Potato Sauce
- 3 tbsps Pasta Water
Instructions
Step 1 - To Prepare the Carrot Sauce:
- Peel the sweet potato skin and chop them roughly. Also, peel and chop the onion.
- Set the Instant Pot to Saute mode and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot add the onion and cook for a couple of minutes.
- Now add the chopped sweet potato, salt, and curry powder.
- Followed by the water. Mix thoroughly. Press the cancel button now.
- Close the lid and make sure the vent is in the sealing position.
- Select the "Pressure Cook" or "Manual" setting and set the cooking time to 10 minutes at high pressure.
- Allow the pressure to release naturally and when the pressure is released, press the cancel button and carefully open the lid.
- Allow it to cool and transfer the cooked veggie into a blender and puree it. You can use a hand blender too.
- That's it the curried sweet potato sauce is now ready.
Step 2 - To Cook the Pasta:
- Add the pasta, water, olive oil, and salt to the inner pot of the IP. Mix them thoroughly.
- Close the lid and make sure the vent is in the sealing position.
- Select the "Pressure Cook" or "Manual" setting and set the cooking time to 3 minutes at high pressure. (Time might vary depending upon the pasta and the variety. Check the formula above)
- When it beeps after three minutes, press the cancel button and then carefully move the vent to the open position and release all the pressure.
- When the pressure is released, carefully open the lid. Drain the pasta and if required then reserve about 3 tbsp of pasta water.
Step 3: Making the Curried Sweet Potato Sauce Pasta:
- Set the Instant Pot to Saute mode and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot add the chopped red bell peppers and cook for a minute.
- Now add the cooked pasta, cream, pasta water, and the sweet potato sauce. Mix it well and cook for two to three minutes gently stirring in between cooking.
- And that's it. Curried sweet potato sauce pasta is ready.
- Serve it hot.
Notes
- While making the sweet potato sauce, instead of olive oil you can add butter.
- I did not include any herbs and just went with curry powder. But you can add fresh herbs or dried herbs as well.
- Cream adds the sweet flavor, but you can skip or include milk. If you want to keep it vegan, include almond milk or soy milk.
- You can add any colored bell peppers. Bell peppers compliment the creamy and sweet sweet-potato sauce.
- The pasta cooking time varies according to the pasta variety, brand, and shape. Using the above formula calculate yours.
- As always, adjust salt and spices according to your preference.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Srivalli Jetti says
Gosh those pictures look sinful Srividya, what a lovely combination and yes I would love to dig into that bowl of pasta too!
Srividhya G says
Thanks much Valli.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Oh Gosh! that is a such a yummy sauce and my boys would love this for sure. We all love sweet potatoes in our house and I will be making this soon!
Srividhya G says
Thanks a lot Sandhya.
Sushma Pinjala says
The sauce looks amazing Vidya. Good one
Srividhya G says
Thanks, Sushma.
Chef Mireille says
another fabulous and unique idea for pasta sauce – loving your interpretation of the theme!
Srividhya G says
Thanks a lot, Mir. :-)
Pavani says
Wow, pasta sauce with sweet potato – now that is innovative and delicious. Never thought of using it to make a sauce. Will have to try it for my kids some time – I am sure they’ll love it.
Srividhya G says
Thanks, a lot Pavani for your kind words. :-)
Gayathri Kumar says
That is a beautiful creamy sauce with sweet potatoes. The final pasta looks like Mac and cheese.
Srividhya G says
Yeah, that’s what kiddo said too. No cheese mac n cheese. :-)
harini says
Wow! Amazing ! Sounds very flavorful sauce. I should check with my kids if they would like this version.
Srividhya G says
:-) :-)
Priya Suresh says
Amazing pasta dish again, and am sure this curried potato sauce will definitely please any kid easily. Lovely curried sweet potato sauce there.
Srividhya G says
Thanks :-)
Usha says
Vandu is right, pasta looks just like mac and cheese minus the cheese. Loved all your veggie sauces for pasta.
Srividhya G says
:-) Thanks
Rafeeda - The Big Sweet Tooth says
Another lovely pasta variant, using sweet potato in a sauce like this is entirely amazing…
Srividhya G says
Thanks a lot Rafeeda.