Instant Pot Porcupine Meatballs are a tasty and simple recipe, made with ground beef, rice, and a simple tomato sauce. Pressure cooker Porcupine Meatballs are easy to make, and are a family favorite!
Originally published 10/6/2017
Instant Pot Porcupine Meatballs
I’m going through my Nana’s recipes and picking out the ones I want to convert to pressure cooker recipes. She was a great cook!
Nana had many recipes for the stove top pressure cooker, such as the wildly popular Instant Pot Beef Barley Vegetable Soup. That recipe really struck a chord with a lot of people.
My theory is because it is simple, homey, healthy, and just a touch old fashioned. You don’t see a lot of modern recipes like that. It’s also delicious and easy to make!
Porcupine Meatballs are also a little old fashioned, and I love Nana’s simple recipe. I did adapt it a bit to give the dish a little more flavor, but it is still close to my childhood memories.
I made these for my son when he was growing up, and he loved them. Kids love Porcupine Meatballs! I know I sure did, and still do!
The steps to make these Porcupine Meatballs are as follows:
When they come out of the pressure cooker, the grains of rice are standing up like porcupine quills!
Those little grains of rice poking out of the meatballs are fun to look at! And fun to eat! The sauce is simple and tasty!
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If you make this yummy Instant Pot Porcupine Meatballs recipe, please leave a comment with a star rating below. I’d like to know how you liked it!
Instant Pot Porcupine Meatballs are a tasty and simple recipe, made with ground beef, rice, and a simple tomato sauce. Easily cooked in your electric pressure cooker.
- 1 lb Ground Beef (80% to 90% Lean)
- 1 Tbsp Onion, grated or finely diced
- 1 Egg
- 1/4 cup Long Grain White Rice (uncooked, rinsed)
- 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt (or 3/4 tsp table salt)
- 1/2 tsp Pepper
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 3 Tbsp Heavy Cream (or half and half)
- 2 Tbsp Bread Crumbs
- 1 (10.75 oz) can Condensed Tomato Soup
- 1 can Water or Broth (use the soup can)
- 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tsp Red Wine Vinegar
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Mix all of the ingredients for the meatballs together and form into 12 to 14 small meatballs. Set aside.
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Mix the sauce ingredients together and stir well to combine. Pour into the pot and turn on the Sauté mode to start the sauce warming up.
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When the sauce is just starting to simmer, stir it and carefully add the meatballs to the pot.
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Close the lid of the pressure cooker and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position. Cancel the Sauté mode.
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Press the Manual (or Pressure Cook) button, and then the + or - button to choose 25 minutes.
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When the cooking cycle ends, let the pot sit and naturally release for 15 minutes. Then manually release the remaining steam until the pin in the lid drops.
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Open the lid and serve the meatballs with some sauce over them.
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These Instant Pot Porcupine Meatballs go well with crusty bread, salad, or a vegetable side dish.
A few of my readers suggested cooking some chopped potatoes at the same time in the sauce. I think that's a great idea! ----
Updated 10/21/17
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These were a big hit in my house, thank you Sandy! Question: do you think these would do well making ahead and freezing? Maybe I should skip the heavy cream in that case?
Great! Yes, you can freeze them.
Great recipe! My Mom made this on the stove top and always added potatoes and carrots to it. I’ve done the same in the instant pot and they’re perfect.
Hi Sandy, My husband loves your Instant Pot Porcupine Meatballs. To me, they smell delicious but I am vegan. Can your meatballs be modified using plant based hamburger like Beyond Beef or Impossible meat?
Thank You,
Carol
I think so. I haven’t had time to experiment with and test the new meatless products yet. I would love to know if you do try it!
I have a mini instant pot (3quarts). Do I just half the recipe and use the same cooking time?
You can if you want fewer servings. The full recipe will fit in the 3 qt. Yes, keep time the same.
made this today / Beyond Meat instead of ground beef and it was delicious!!
I make the meatballs and rice ahead if time and freeze- how does cooking time change in insta pot?
You shouldn’t have to change the cook time. The contents will take longer to heat up, and that will start the thawing.
I tried these as my 1st attempt with an IP.
I kept the recipe the same, but added a half of a small green pepper. Delicious. Thanks for the idea. I had never heard of these before.
For over 50 years I have been making porcupine meatballs using cream of celery soup rather than tomato soup. Before instant pots they were baked in oven at 350 degrees for an hour and 15 minutes.
I’ve never heard of that version, but they sound delicious! Thanks for sharing, Ted!
I adapt this to Weight Watchers and use 98% ground turkey instead of hamburger. I also change it up sometimes by using cream of mushroom soup and a can of sliced mushrooms instead of tomato soup. I use both egg and bread crumbs because the turkey needs it. I use beef broth but not the brown sugar or vinegar. Wonderful everytime! It makes 12 meatballs that are 6 points for 4 or 9 points for 6. The entire 12 would be 18 points. I usually serve them over cooked cabbage or shredded squash.
If making BBQ Porcupine meatballs, could you make meatballs as directed, then add a bottle of BBQ sauce & added water vs. Tomato soup?
Hi Gaylene, I would just add the bbq sauce after pressure cooking. You can use as much of the sauce from the pot as you like, combining it with the bbq sauce.
I am using V8 instead of tomatoe soup. Added celery and green bell pepper. And lightly grilled the onion…should Pop with flavour…
I love V8! Great adaptation!
I’m going to try Spanish rice in the meatballs and serve it over cheese Gnocchi! I hope it’s a slight twist on a childhood favourite! Wish me luck!! ?
Iralea, that sounds very creative and delicious! Good luck! Let me know how it turns out!
Great, simple, quick recipe! My family loved it! I added a pinch more salt and some Herbs de Provence to the sauce while it reached a simmer. Adding this to the weekly rotation! Thank you!
That’s great, Megan. Herbs de Provence are so underused! What a neat way to use them!
Would it be better to use minute rice or brown rice? And time changes? I just do not have any white rice.
You can use Minute rice.
Would you need to make any changes if you use ground turkey?
No, I would keep it as is.
WE prefer brown rice. Would there be a time change?
Yes, you will need to cook it longer. Be sure to use parboiled brown rice.
I had no tomato soup so I changed the sauce to cream of mushroom hoping it will turn out just as good…
We loved this recipe! I added some fresh thyme and rosemary to the meatballs and used tomato sauce and tomato paste in place of the tomato soup. I then served it over zucchini noodles! Even my 4 year old asked for seconds. Thanks for reminding me of this dish from my childhood!
Awesome!
I’ve never been fond of tomato soup so I was wondering about using tomato sauce. I’m glad you posted since the tomato paste hadn’t occurred to me and it would be good!
Made this for dinner. It was very good thanks for sharing the recipe.
My kids loved these but I think I would do half beef half Italian sausage next time to add more “zest” to them. And might cut down the cooking time to 20 instead of 25 min
Thank you, Libby. The traditional Porcupine Meatballs are made from ground beef. I agree they would be good with half sausage, however my Granny would say you would have to change the name, lol!
Porcospino is Italian for porcupine so ‘Porcospino polpetta’? To mix thoroughly I start with ground meat, adding first 1/4 – 1/2 tsp baking soda (which helps the meat stay moist) gently press flat and even. Cover evenly with each ingredient fold gently before making meatballs. Browning the bread crumbs in equal part butter really makes a better meatball too.
Thanks for the tips!
How about “Italian Porcupine Meatballs”
Yes! You could add Italian seasoning, garlic, maybe a little red wine… Sprinkle on some cheese at the end! Why not?!!
I wonder if you could tell me how to incorporate chopped cabbage into this recipe.
Hi Holly! What I would do is remove the meatballs after cooking. Then add the cabbage to the liquid and turn on the sauté LOW setting. Then cook it for a few minutes until cabbage is the desired tenderness. Then turn off the pot and add the meatballs back in and serve.
Holly, I think tucking the uncooked meatballs into cabbage might create a wonderful stuffed cabbage
Peel and quarter potatoes and cook with meatballs and you have full meal!
Great recipe! I thought I had tomato soup that was condensed but it was Progresso tomato basil so the sauce wasn’t as thick.
Hi Carol, still sounds good though! Thanks for your review!
I remember these meatballs from my youth but we put some into green peppers and pressure cooked for 15 mins on 15 lbs of pressure. How is the instant pot different?
Hi Audrey, I have never put them in green peppers, sounds good. In this case, I put them in the sauce and let them cook directly in the pot. The electric pressure cooker cooks at 11 PSI. You don’t need a stove, just enough liquid in the pot to bring it to pressure.
Can you double the recipe of meatballs for using the instant pot? Does the cooking time change?
Hi Rhonda, I would not increase the time for this recipe. If you double it, also double the sauce.
Is the rice just a fun, decorative element? Can I just omit the rice to make standard meatballs? Thanks!
I think it was just a fun way to make meat stretch further back in the olden days. I haven’t made this particular recipe without the rice, but if I did, the first thing I would change would be the cook time. I’d drop it down to 15 minutes.
That is good to know. I will try that. Thank you, Sandy!
You would also have to change the name of the recipe. When I was growing up in the sixties, my mother made this in her stove top pressure cooker and it was my favorite dish. It was a sad day when the cooker blew the lid off and made a hole in the ceiling. Now that I have an Instant Pot, I am disappointed that I lost the recipe but I know it was made with tomato soup and also garlic which to me was the best part. We always served them with mashed potatoes which were perfect for the gravy.
HI Sandy, this is Giz. . Could not figure put how to get on correct link. Two comments;
U said to use stinky ring when using to hard boil eggs to diminish odor. I also added a dash of vinegar. And, to take handles off of 3qt stainer, if you put handles in a vise and rock strainer back.and forth will break cleanly. And not leave unsightly dimples on finished edge.
Hi Giz! Thank you for the tips, that will really help others! Great to hear from you! Have a wonderful day!