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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 recipe works absolutely perfectly. I use a mix of homemade broth and water. I added closer to 10 oz pasta and ran it for 7 minutes to avoid overcooked pasta. Let it sit a bit to thicken, and perfection. I am an accomplished home cook, so I’m pretty picky about recipes. I have no complaints. We recently went from a family of 4 to 6 (4 teen girls in the house),so I’m relearning portions. Tonight, every plate tonight was CLEAN. Thank you!
The sauce was way too soupy and thin. I feel like I could have drained it with a colander. I want to try again because I can’t admit defeat. I will either reduce the water by half or use a full pound of pasta. My kids wouldn’t eat it. 🙁
That is unusual. Are you sure you used a full 8 ounces of pasta? That is the only reason I can think of for this outcome.
I never see anyone mention if they live at altitude. I am “Mile high“ so that’s an extra 15% cook time. For this recipe I used 10 minutes, and one minute NPR (lazy). I did not see the instruction to drain the extra can of diced tomatoes. Used sorghum noodles which are like angel hair, three bundles came to about 8.4 ounces.
When the pot was opened, it was watery but after stirring and sitting for a few minutes it did thicken up.
Does the thickness/wateriness of the sauce itself make a difference? Water/juices will come out of the meatballs to. And Sheila, although watery, did the pasta cook?
I’m going to make this recipe but my picky kid also wants hamburger meat mixed in. How would I incorporate that into this recipe?
Follow my recipe for Spaghetti and Meat Sauce, then add the meatballs and continue.
Wow, this was easy! I used Prego’s Farmer’s Market Marinara sauce with some Walmart frozen pork meatballs and it was some of the best spaghetti I’ve ever eaten. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
That should be 5 stars!! Don’t know why it’s only showing 3.
Hi! You mention the rule of thumb is 1/2 the cooking time of package directions (I usually even do 1/2 minus 2 min) but your time on this recipe is 9 minutes? I’m concerned about the noodles turning to mush. Can you explain? Thank you!
My spaghetti noodles have never turned to mush with this timing. If you are unsure, you can just use your timing and see how it turns out. 7 or 8 minutes will work, and there are different results with different brands of pasta.
Can you use whole wheat noodles for this recipe
Yes, just adjust the cook time per package directions (cut that time in half).
First time I made it the spaghetti was very tough and almost leathery. Should I have cooked using less time? Also you mention using broth but never mention what flavor. I’m assuming beef? The flavor of the sauce and the cook on the frozen meatballs I used was very tasty. Just need to figure out the pasta issue.
You can use chicken or beef broth. When you add the noodles, add them in a random pattern like a bird’s nest. Just don’t lay all of the noodles side-y-side. Make sure that the sauce covers the pasta completely so they cook fully.
Can you use raw frozen turkey sausage links instead of meatballs?
Sure!
My husband (who DOES NOT LIKE TO COOK) made this tonight with linguine because that is his preferred pasta. It turned out perfectly and boosted his confidence. *thumbs up* for a beginner level meal! He didn’t include the can of tomatoes, and it wasnt soupy at all. Thank you for a fool-proof IP recipe!
Wonderful! Surprising that the lid of the instant pot remains spotless, even at the very end, an unexpected benefit of the Instant Pot…. I live at 3500 feet. I reduced the added water to 2 cups exactly but kept other quantities the same; only other addition was a whole onion, chopped, placed on top of the precooked meatballs (thawed from freezer). This cooked beautifully in 9 minutes; quick venting took about 2 minutes.