Instant Pot Spaghetti with Meat Sauce (One Pot Meal Idea)
Need an easy meal idea for busy weeknights?
Turn off the stove and make Instant Pot spaghetti with meat sauce at the same time! It’s super simple to do, and the end result is a delicious sauce and perfectly cooked pasta!
I love that this dinner takes just a few main ingredients you likely already have on hand, and there’s no boiling water or draining in a colander involved. It’s perfect for busy weeknights, and a comforting family meal everyone will enjoy.
Spaghetti night has never been easier!
All you have to do is first brown the ground meat with a little onion and garlic in the Instant Pot using the saute function. I used ground Italian sausage, but you can use ground beef or turkey as desired. Then place the spaghetti noodles, sauce, and water on top. I used a store-bought marinara sauce for convenience, but if you wanted to use homemade sauce, that’d be wonderful as well!
I think you’ll be impressed with the taste and texture of this easy dinner!
Instant Pot Spaghetti & Meat Sauce
yield: 6 SERVINGS
Make a warm and comforting spaghetti and meat sauce meal right in the same pot!
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground meat (I used Italian Sausage)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 16 oz. package of spaghetti noodles
- 24 oz. jar of spaghetti sauce
- 14.5 diced tomatoes
- 4 cups water
Directions
1
Heat Instant Pot using saute function. Add olive oil.
2
Brown onion, garlic, and ground meat together, until cooked through. Season with Italian seasoning. Turn off heat.
3
If needed, drain grease, and also use a spatula to run across the bottom of pot, getting rid of any stuck on bits. (This is to avoid issues with your pot coming to pressure.)
4
Break apart noodles and place over the meat.
5
Pour sauce, can of diced tomatoes, and water over the noodles. Push noodles down so they are mostly covered.
6
Lock the lid in place and turn valve to "sealing".
7
Set to manual or high pressure for 8 minutes.
8
Once cook time is over, manual release pressure. (Use the end of a wooden spoon.) Open lid and stir well. It may appear a little watery, but will soak up some and thicken when cooled.
Additional Notes
Recipe adapted from TheSaltyMarshmallow.com
My new preferred method of cooking spaghetti!
Don’t be discouraged if, when you lift the lid, the whole thing looks watery after cook time. Stir it a few times and let it cool down to absorb some of the liquid. In the end, it all comes together beautifully, and my family LOVED it. And of course, leftovers are delicious if you have any! YUM.
This looks great…thanks! 🙂
Oh thanks! I hope you enjoy 😉
what if i wanted to use the big box of spaghetti from aldis 32oz what would need to be increased everything?
Yes. And I have read about people doubling this idea with success, but you’d probably need the larger 8 qt pot as I think that’d be too much for the 6qt.
If I double the meat do I need to adjust anything else?
Thank you for the recipe…seems super easy…love when you post IP recipes
Great! I love easy IP recipes too!
Lina you are clearly a lot better at everything than me. When I tried this recipe, it turned out like slimy spaghetti soup. Husband gagged and timidly suggested that maybe spaghetti was already a meal I had perfected, and “let’s not go wild” with new spaghetti endeavors.
As I am my own woman, I proceeded with attempt #2 a few nights later. Not yummy. When I stirred it, it resembled a spaghetti cheeseball. REAL solid. Adding copious amounts of liquid made it less thick. But the gooey noodles. Yuck. Good thing we like cereal.
Attempt #3. Watery and also gooey even with shorter cook time. Husband ate cereal again.
So I am just going to leave this one to the shiny new owners of the shiny new instant pot. I can’t put my family through this again.
OH NO! Really? Ugh that’s frustrating 🙁 So sorry, And not that that’s funny, but the way you told that story was!
Rachel welcome to the club. Its not just that recipe, its been the 6 I tried. I bought an 8 qt IP last prime day, it found its way to the garbage can. Complete waste of money. My husband was eating cereal too. He got sick of it after 3 dinner attempts. He even watched a video on IPs and tried a recipe. No better outcome. We were in agreement to throw it out. Never again. I’m sticking with my crock pot, large convection oven and new air fryer.
Really? I’d keep mine if only for making ribs. Every recipe I’ve tried has been really good. Honey Sesame chicken, loaded potato soup, even mashed potatoes have been great. When I make potato salad, I cook the potatoes and the eggs together in the IP. I haven’t had a miss yet (fingers crossed).
Yum I love the ribs too!
Ribs are soo good tin the pressure cooker! I tried an apple juice/apple vinegar/frozen ribs recipe that is out of this world! I’ve also had many total flops using the pressure cooker, but keep trying Rachel.
Please try recipes from PressureLuck before throwing it out! Jeffrey is great and actually shows and makes the whole meal while giving you the recipe. It has helped me enjoy mine so much.
Use it for children, pork or beef for shredded meat sandwiches.
LOL. Best typo ever
OMGOODNESS, I never even noticed…darn spellcheck 😂
OMGOODNESS, I never even noticed…darn spellcheck 😂
Which is better: boy or girl? Is cook time longer for a boy, to get him tender? Haha haha…..sorry, I couldn’t resist….
Just do pot roast and meat like the crockpot. Beans would be good in it with ham bone.
Sorry that it’s been like that for you. I’d be curious to know which recipes you and CW tried. I have had my IP for 2 years and use it several times a week w/o any issues. In it I have made everything- rice, risotto, different kinds of pasta dishes, stews/soups, chili, steel cut oatmeal, several types of beans/lentils, beef and goat curries, and even whole chickens. That being said, there is a learning curve and sometimes you may need to adapt a recipe to an electric pressure cooker so that things cook right (in terms of how much seasoning you add, how much liquid vs. solid food you put in it, and how much time you set it for). The IP Community on FB is also tremendously helpful for newbies if you decide to try it again.
Oh and another commenter above mentioned- IP mashed potatoes are the only kind that I will ever make, they are that GOOD!
I agree with the others – mashed potatoes come out so good. I used Amy & Jackie’s recipe – she uses something like 5 pounds of butter (just kidding) which is partly why they are so good. Love them…
I DO love my IP….just I love it for everything else so far. I have made pulled pork, tikki masala, soups, beef roasts, chicken, several things and they turn out so good. Its things like grains that give me trouble. If it absorbs liquid, it is too far out of my skill level on the instant pot at least for now. That is what I decided for my own sanity.
Yes, grains can be tricky compared to other foods…but if it’s turning out gooey/slimy or one congealed mass of noodles then to me it sounds like there’s excess liquid and the pasta wasn’t stirred properly before sealing. These are relatively easy fixes but I get your frustration. Anyway, good luck w/ your IP endeavors!
You layer the cooked meat, then break the pasta/spaghetti noodles in half 1 pound, fan the noodles layer by layer as this prevents the noodle from clumping together like this /// then\\\\ then |||| and on to all of the uncooked pasta is in the pot. Then add one can of diced tomatoes, I jar of spaghetti sauce (I prefer Marinara) add and seasoning on top of the sauce that you like the pour 4 CUPS of WATER over the top. Put the lid on locked with the VENT SEALED to cook for 8 minutes AFTER it comes to pressure.
VERY IMPORTANT: After the 8 minutes Manual release steam and when the pin drops take the lid off. LET THE SPAGHETTI AND SAUCE SIT for about 2-3 minutes then STIR WELL TO MIX THE MEAT, VEGGIES AND SAUCE TOGETHER. Delish! The sauce thickens as it sits for the 2-3 minutes. ALSO add your own spin on the recipe with herbs, spices, S&P and I always add 1 T brown sugar to my sauce as it takes some of the acid taste away from the tomatoes.
Try the same recipe with rigatoni noodles in place of spaghetti noodles. I make this all the time with pasta not spaghetti noodles.
When u say brown the meat, do u mean on the stove or in the insta pot?
Nope- right in the instant pot. Use Saute mode. Hope that helps!
Thank you! Just got my insta pot on prime day. Sooooo looking forward to trying out ur many receipes!!! Ur the best.
Oh thanks so much for the sweet comment! How exciting – enjoy!
you brown the meat in the instapot on the Saute function.
In the instant pot liner. Heat on Saute’ and brown and cook.
Now I’m scared to try it. (after some of the negative results.) any others out there that have a review of this?
Hello Holly, I just got acquainted with my 8qt IP. I was scared to use it. Only after tasting my daughters ribs (sooo good), eating her scrumptious roasts, I decided to dive in. My fried turkey wings were so good, it will be hard for me to make a Thanksgiving turkey again. My chuck roasts were the bomb and so were my bone in country style ribs. Ummm. Next I’m going to do corn cob, sausage, red potatoes, and shrimp. Good luck, keep trying.
Thank you for the recipe Lina!! Question… Can i make the spaghetti al dente? If so, how should i change the amount of water and cook time?
When I make spaghetti in in IP I make sure to lay the noodles in all different directions so they dont stick together and become a gooey mess
Oh nice tip! Thanks for sharing 👍
Infants? Or toddlers?
What timing. On a whim yesterday, I bought a package of noodles. Can’t wait to try this. (two thumbs up)
Thanks and enjoy!
I make spaghetti in the IP all the time. With boys aged 2 &7 I don’t have time to watch a pot boil. I put a jar of sauce in the bottom, fill 1/3ish with water and add. Then I add meatballs, taken from the freezer before I start. So still very cold. Then another jar of sauce with water. 1 pound of uncooked noodles, broken and scattered in the pot. Top with another jar of sauce and water. I use the water to rinse out my jar too. then close, manuel on high for 6 minutes. Some noodles still clump but we eat it like crazy.
Perfect! I want to try the frozen meatballs next!
Tried this for dinner tonight and it turned out great! A few of the noodles did stick together; next time I’ll try to stir them a bit so they won’t clump together. This is only the second recipe I’ve tried in my Instant Pot so I can attest to it being easy enough for a beginner!
Thank you!
I AM SO HAPPY! Yay – so awesome! Thanks Ashley! 👏
This was my FIRST hit from my Instant Pot !!! Thank you so much . My whole family loved it.
Hooray!!! I’m so happy for you 👏👏🎉😀 thanks for sharing with us!
The spaghetti turned out great for me! Big hit with the hubby! The only thing I did different was use 3 1/2 cups water instead of 4 and a couple good size pinches of crushed red peppers.
I also used #8 spaghetti, which is a little thicker. I’m wondering if the problems others are having with the spaghetti being mushy is due to the size of the noodle used. I don’t believe you would get the best result using thin or angel hair pasta.
Oh thanks for sharing, and for the suggestions!
I just made this recipe but added extra onions & garlic. It turned out delicious! My husband raved that it tasted like Olive Gardens. We sprinkled parmesan cheese on top. We couldn’t get enough of it!
That is so awesome!!! Thanks for sharing – I agree it’s yum.
I have always found pasta only works for me in the instant pot IF I make sure the dry pasta is stirred in ghee, butter or oil FIRST.
Family loved it!! Thank you for sharing. 😊
I declared myself the Instant Pot queen since my purchase before all the hype (I purchased my very first one in 2010 at Amazon for $120 (which I thought was expensive). It was the very first model and I didn’t know a thing about it. Well through experimenting and flops, I became an expert and used it and have been using it as my cooking vessel. My stove is used very little and only when totally necessary. I’ve dubbed the place where I keep my 4 (yes 4) different pressure cookers the digital station. I have two instant pots (3 quart, 6 quart), 1 eight quart (Fagor) and another 6 quart (Pampered Chef) and I use ALL of them. I find it really incredulous when I read that people “threw out” their pressure cooker because it didn’t work for them. You just don’t “throw out” an 8 quart pressure cooker unless you are a rich person that doesn’t care about throwing away money, sorry. All it takes is experimenting and using recipes, such as this one, as a “base” with your own twist to what your family likes. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
That’s exciting you’ve had so much success! Thanks for sharing ❤️
I have used this recipe many times now, our “go-to” for spaghetti!!! I use Italian sausage and we love it! Today I had some beef broth to use up so added that as part of the water. I’m expecting great things!!
Oh nice! That sounds great- thanks so much for sharing Judy 🥰
I love this recipe, the only way I make spaghetti now. After pouring in the sauce and can of diced tomatoes, I put some of the 4 cups of water in the can and jar to rinse and not waste any of the good stuff! I pour that in the pot then the remainder of the water. When it’s finished, you do need to take the time to stir it well. It will thicken after stirring well.
awesome! thanks for sharing Judy!
I just made this for diner.Followed your recipe exactly but used fetucinni. Came out great I especially like how the meat sauce clings to the pasta. Makes each fork full a complete taste.
Can you heat sauce and meat without the pasta? If you can could you please tell me the heat timing and the power setting? Also do you need to add water? Thank you
Hi there! You can cook the meat on the saute setting and add the sauce ingredients without water. You wouldn’t really need to pressure cook I would think. I have not tested though.