One Pot Spaghetti Meatballs Instant Pot
Author: Katie Le | Katie’s Test Kitchen
Ingredients
- 1 lb of spaghetti
- Two (2) 24-oz jars of pasta sauce (I love Reganno Marinara Sauce from Aldi’s)
- 2 lb of frozen meatballs
- 1 bell pepper, any color (washed and chopped)
- 1/2 cup of chopped white onion
- 2 cloves of garlic (smashed)
- 1 box of mushroom (washed and sliced)
- 1/2 tsp of sea salt – or more to taste
- dried basil leaves
- olive oil
- 6 cups of water
- shredded or grated Parmesan cheese to garnish
Directions
- Turn on Saute mode and add 1-2 tbsp of cooking oil to cover the bottom of inner pot. Add smashed garlic until fragrance then follow with chopped onion, bell pepper, and sliced mushroom. Stir/Mix for 2 minutes and season with 1/2 tsp of sea salt. Add the frozen meatballs and 1 jar of pasta sauce to the mixture and stir well. Break spaghetti in half and sprinkle on top. Pour the 2nd jar of pasta sauce and 6 cups of water into inner pot. Add a few dashes of dried basil leaves. Give it a quick stir and be sure all solid ingredients are submerged. Close lid, put knob on Sealing position. Select Pressure Cook/Manual, High Pressure, 6 minutes, Quick Release.
- Once cook time is over, gently move knob to Venting position to release all pressure. After the safety pin drops, open lid and give mixture a good stir to break up the spaghetti. Taste the sauce and season with more sea salt if needed. Cancel “Keep Warm”. Please note that it might look like a lot of liquid but as the pasta cools down the sauce will slowly absorbed. You may also turn on Saute mode for a few minutes to thicken the sauce.
- To serve, add spaghetti meatballs to a plate and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Best serve with garlic bread!
Hi Katie, thanks for the recipe. I always cooked spaghetti in 2 pots, one for sauce and one for pasta, then put in sauce on the top of the precooked pasta when serve. Didn’t think we can cook all in one pot. How is the pasta texture in IP comparing to precooked on stove top if you did that before? Thanks!
Hi Lynn, it was perfectly cooked. Texture was even better than on the stovetop. By cooking together, the pasta get soaked into the sauce making it more flavorful. You can break the recipe in half and give it a try!
Looks delicious! Does the type of pasta used make a difference in cooking time? What if we use different kind of pasta? Thanks!
I know spaghetti and macaroni use this cook time since I’ve made them before. I’m not sure about others.
I like to make min with linguine and I add about 3-5 more minutes!! Her recipe comes out great!
What size IP?
I used my 8-qt. But the recipe would fit the 6 as well, might be just a big tight.
Hi Katie,
I cooked the spaghetti as instructed, but got burnt. The indication “burn” was popped up 3 times after reset the pressure cook 3 times. I wanted to get the spaghetti soft enough before I turned it off.
Oh no, sorry to hear that. Some spaghetti might have stuck on the bottom. Before you close the lid to pressure cook give it a good stir to make sure that water is also circulated on the bottom. Break the recipe in half so you don’t waste much food.
I’ve made this recipe 4 times. I geta burn error every time. I’ve tried to modify the steps by leaving the onions and bell peppers on the bottom, adding water, spaghetti, meatballs, then sauce but I still get the error. What am I doing wrong?
You should give it a really good stir, allow liquid to flow on the bottom on the ingredients even if they are onion and bell peppers. The burn error means something is sticking on the bottom up against the stainless steel pot. So just be sure liquid is flowing under everything.