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Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs is a one-pot meal that is so easy to make! If you have some frozen meatballs and sauce on hand, this pressure cooker spaghetti and meatballs recipe will be ready in under an hour! It is delicious, easy, and no need to boil the pasta separately.
Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs
Making pasta dishes in the Instant Pot is not something most people would think of doing, but it’s really great! No pot of boiling water or draining to deal with. The noodles get a chance to soak up the flavors of the sauce. Dinner ready in under an hour!
When making Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs, just remember to layer the ingredients in the pot and don’t stir it until after pressure cooking. This helps keep things from sticking, and ensures that the noodles get cooked.
Here is how to make Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs:
If you prefer your spaghetti with meat sauce, check out my recipe here. You cook the meat in the pot and add the rest of the ingredients in layers like this recipe, before pressure cooking.
You don’t have to use spaghetti noodles in this recipe. If you prefer penne, macaroni, or even shells, that’s fine. You may need to adjust the pressure cook time for the type of noodles you choose.
The rule of thumb for pressure cooking pasta is half of the recommended time on the package. So if the package directions calls for 9 minutes, you will cook for 4 or 5 minutes in the pressure cooker.
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Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb Meatballs, raw, cooked, or frozen
- 12 oz Spaghetti Noodles
- 1 (14 oz) can Diced Tomatoes (optional), drained
- 1 (24 oz) jar Spaghetti Sauce (or marinara sauce plus Italian seasoning)
- 3 cups Water (fill the 24 oz jar once) or use broth
Garnishes
- Grated Parmesan Cheese
- Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
- Parsley or Basil
Instructions
- Put meatballs in the bottom of the inner liner pot.
- Break the spaghetti in half and sprinkle over meatballs in a random pattern, so not too many are side by side. This helps prevent them sticking together.
- Pour the water/broth over the noodles.
- Pour the diced tomatoes, if using over the noodles, and then the spaghetti sauce over the noodles, and cover as much of them as you can with the sauce. This helps them all get cooked.
- Put on the lid and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
- Press the Pressure Cook (Manual) button or dial and then the +/- button or dial to select 9 minutes (7 minutes for al dente). High pressure.
- The pot will take several minutes to come to pressure. Cook time begins when pot is at pressure.
- After cook time has finished, turn off the pot and turn the steam release knob to the Venting position, and do a Quick Release of the steam so the pasta doesn't overcook.Watch it closely, and if sauce starts to spew out with the steam, close the vent and release the steam in bursts until it looks like no more sauce will be spewing out.
- After the pin in the lid drops down, open the lid and give the spaghetti a stir. If any noodles stuck together, just use a fork to separate them.
- Serve with some bread, and garnish with parmesan cheese, mozzarella, or whatever you like!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Resources to make Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe and more
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This was amazing!!! I even used Giada’s fancy noodles from William Sonoma and it came out awesome!!!! I pressured cooked it for Six minutes.
That’s great Gina! Thank you!
I LOVE this recipe. I’ve tried a few different ones for spaghetti and meatballs in the IP, but this is the only one that did not burn or make the noodles stick together in a clump. The recipe star rating doesn’t seem to be working, but I would give this an easy 5 Stars! It turned out perfectly!
Thank you! It looks like the stars did work. I’m happy to know you had success with my recipe! Thank you for your review!
My kids are SUPER picky and this was a hit. So easy — just throwing the ingredients in and bingo! Dinner’s done! My 7 yr old said “Mommy you cooked a good dinner” lol
I made this recipe and 3 cups of water seemed to be a bit much…sauce was kind of watery when complete. I added extra sauce and found it to be delicious. When I make it again I will lessen the water and increase the sauce. I also tried this another way…I used chicken meatballs, pene pasta and alfredo sauce. It was amazing
I’m glad you liked it! It might be watery if the pasta is not measured accurately, I weigh mine, and/or the sauce is thin. Like you said, you can lessen the water, or you could add a little more pasta.
Hi Sandy,
Half the recipe for 3 qt mini? Same cook time?
Thanks.
Yes, half and same cook time.
Sauce was too thin in my opinion, will cut back on the amount of water the next time I make this. Otherwise very easy and tasty!
You can also increase the noodles a bit, weighing them is best. Or, drain the diced tomatoes and cut back the liquid a little.
wonderful all of us really enjoyed the spaghetti. I have only been using the cooker about 2 weeks, egg bites and cooked chicken breast,so this is the first “meal”. I am so glad this turned out great.
Can’t wait to try this for dinner tonight for my boyfriend and I. I was thinking adding sauté cherry tomatoes & green Pepper with Italian sausage and meatballs Quick question I was thinking I would use radiatore noodles instead of spaghetti would that be ok to use
That should work fine. Just check the cook time of the pasta and do half that, about 5 to 7 minutes.
I’ve tried this several times and it never disappoints. Thanks for sharing it.
Thank you, Sandy!
I made this for dinner last week and my husband said “you finally made something with the Instant Pot that I like!”
Sigh….I’m married to a very picky eater. LOL*
Oh Stacey, I totally get it! My hubby has a list of “won’t eat” foods. I’m happy this recipe was one your hubby liked!