This Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs turns your favorite classic pasta dinner into a one-pot meal that’s ready in just 30 minutes! It has all the traditional flavors you love, but is hands-free with much less cleanup.
Spaghetti and meatballs has always been a family favorite my kids would all gobble up, but it also meant multiple pots and a sink full of dishes. The Instant Pot turns this meal into a one-pot recipe — no need to boil the pasta, dirty a colander, or babysit a simmering sauce. Just set it and let the magic happen! Our recipe starts with sautéed onions and garlic in the Instant Pot, adding a rich depth of flavor often skipped in other versions. We also always add a little oil to our noodles and arrange them in a in a crisscross pattern to prevent them from sticking to each other!
Why You’ll Love This Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Way More Flavorful: Since they all cook together, the pasta absorbs the rich flavors of the garlic, onion, marinara sauce and meatballs.
- Hands-Free: No more standing over the stove waiting for things to boil or draining heavy pots of pasta!
- Simple Ingredients: Since it uses dried pasta, a jar of marinara sauce, and frozen meatballs, you can always have the ingredients on hand.
- Minimal Cleanup: Everything cooks together in the Instant Pot, so there’s only one-pot to clean!
Key Ingredients
Below you will find helpful notes for key ingredients used to make this recipe for Instant Pot spaghetti and meatballs. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and exact amounts!
- Marinara Sauce: If you feel like going the extra mile, make some easy homemade marinara sauce! When using store-bought, we really like Rao’s or Carbone.
- Spaghetti: Buy the pot-sized version to save having to break it to fit yourself! If you have regular sized spaghetti noodles, just hold them firmly and break them down the center. We recommend doing this in two batches so they break more easily!
- Frozen Meatballs: Beef, pork, turkey or a mixture. Whatever you like!
- Cooking Oil: While technically optional, we recommend driving a little oil over the dried pasta to help prevent it from sticking together and forming pasta clumps.
- Aromatics: While you can also skip these, adding fresh garlic and onion will add a ton more flavor. You can use a white or yellow onion, or even a shallot for milder flavor.
How to Make Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs
When it comes to easy instant pot recipes, nothing beats the simplicity of spaghetti and meatballs! Below is a quick recipe overview, but please scroll down to the recipe card for full instructions.
- Sauté: Sauté the onions and garlic. Stir, season, and turn off the sauté setting. Be sure to scrap up any stuck on pieces to prevent getting the burn notice!
- Layer: Add frozen meatballs and arrange in a single layer. Place the dried pasta on top of meatballs, spreading it out like a fan or in a criss-cross pattern. Then drizzle the pasta with a little cooking oil. (Both of these steps are important to ensure your pasta cooks perfectly without sticking to itself.)
- Add Liquids: Pour the marinara on top of the pasta and then pour the water on top of that. Do not stir, leave everything in layers!
- Pressure Cook: Seal the Instant Pot and turn up the pressure! Cook on manual pressure on high for 9 minutes. Then do a manual quick pressure release and toss the spaghetti and meatballs together. The pasta will continue to absorb the liquid as you toss it, so don’t be nervous if it looks too liquid-y when you first open the pot!
Cook’s Tips & Variations
- Pasta Amount: This recipe uses 12 oz of pasta. We know it’s tempting to add the entire 16 oz package of pasta, but everything in this recipe is done in perfect ratios for the right amount of liquid to pasta. If you use more pasta, you will have spots where the noodles will be dry and not cooked.
- Frozen Meatballs: We tested this recipe with fresh meatballs and frozen cooked meatballs. The fresh meatballs fall apart in the pressure cooker and do not hold up. You can use them, but they will be in much smaller chunks by the time everything is done.
- Ground Beef: If you want a more traditional spaghetti with meat sauce, use ground beef instead of the frozen meatballs! Add the ground beef to the sauté step and cook until it’s no longer pink. Scrape up any stuck on bits from the bottom of the pot, adding a little water if needed to deglaze the pot. Then continue with the recipe as written!
- Instant Pot Tips: If you aren’t familiar with your instant pot, just watch the video below. We’ll show you what settings we used and how to do a quick pressure release. Don’t skip this step or the pasta will become very overcooked and mushy.
Serving Suggestions
- Garlic Bread: A slice or two of our delicious garlic bread makes it even more perfect. Caprese garlic bread is also fun if you’re feeling fancy.
- Veggies: If you’re looking to add something green, we recommend pairing it with an easy strawberry and spinach salad or a side of parmesan roasted broccoli.
Yield: 4 servings
Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs
Ready in 30 minutes, Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs transforms your favorite classic pasta dish into a one-pot meal! t has all the traditional flavors you love, but is hands-free with much less cleanup.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 lb frozen Italian meatballs
- 12 oz pot-sized spaghetti
- 24 oz spaghetti sauce
- 24 oz water, or broth
Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot to the sauté setting. Sauté the onion in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until translucent. Add garlic and sauté for 30 more seconds. Add salt, pepper and Italian seasonings, stirring to combine. Turn off the sauté setting.
- Add frozen meatballs (on top of the onion mixture) and arrange them in as flat a layer as you can. Place pasta on top of meatballs and gently spread it into a flat layer. Drizzle pasta with 2 tablespoons olive oil — this will help prevent the pasta from sticking.
- Pour the marinara sauce on top of the pasta. Then pour the water on top of the marinara sauce. Since the marinara jar is 24 oz, I fill up the empty jar with water and add it to the pot!
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot and set the steam release knob to the sealing position on top. Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook (manual) for 9 minutes of cook time. Press start if your pot requires you to press start (some start automatically and some will require you to press start). The Instant Pot will take several minutes to come to pressure, then the cook time countdown will begin.
- After the cook time has finished, turn off the Instant Pot and do a quick release of pressure. To do a quick release: turn the steam release knob on top of the Instant Pot to the venting position.
- Once all the pressure is released, open the lid. Stir and toss the spaghetti and meatballs together with tongs. If any noodles stuck together, use your tongs or a fork to separate them. It will appear too soupy at first, but the noodles will continue to absorb any extra liquid as you toss them in the broth-y mixture for about 2 to 3 minutes. Serve immediately with a slice of garlic bread!
Video
Notes
Instant Pot Size: I used an 8 Qt Instant Pot in this video. I also tested this recipe with a 6 Qt and it worked as well, but I would not recommend using anything smaller.
Store: Like any pasta dish, it’s best served fresh as the pasta will absorb more of the sauce when stored. However leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Reheat: Microwave it in 30-second increments, stirring in between, until heated through. Add a splash of water, broth, or more marinara sauce to loosen the pasta if desired!
Nutrition
Serving: 1 serving, Calories: 768kcal, Carbohydrates: 77g, Protein: 33g, Fat: 36g, Saturated Fat: 11g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 19g, Cholesterol: 82mg, Sodium: 1467mg, Potassium: 1097mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 10g, Vitamin A: 757IU, Vitamin C: 16mg, Calcium: 86mg, Iron: 4mg
Can this recipe be cut in half? I’m cooking for one.
Absolutely!
Can you substitute Banza or similar type gluten free spaghetti noodles? This is one of our recipes on rotation. We LOVE it!
Yes, it should work just fine! You may need to add an extra minute or two of cook time as the gluten free noodles tend to take a little longer to soften.
I routinely substitute with GF pastas (Banza, which I think is legume-based, or Explore, which is edamame-based) with great success.
I made this for my parents last night. So easy, I wanted to show them something they could make easily, they don’t want to cook anymore.
Instant pot newbie.
Perfect recipe.
Instructions are crystal clear!
The meal is yummy and so easy
I suggest you use this recipe for a first time instant pot user
We love it too! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Do I have to use frozen meatballs?
When we tested this recipe with fresh meatballs, they fall apart. Frozen meatballs really stay together best in the instant pot.
The BEST spaghetti & meatballs recipe ever! This is a game changer for spaghetti night. Super easy and only one dish to clean! It’s like the sauce gets infused into the noodles somehow. Absolutely delicious and Rao’s marinara is all we use too. 🙂
We are so glad that you enjoyed it! We love it too!
Hi – would it be correct to measure out 12 oz of pasta by weight with a food scale?
Hi Ashley! Yes! You can use different style noodles, but we really recommend a spaghetti or thin spaghetti noodle so they cook properly with the amount of water and time. Hope you enjoy it!
If you are using a 6 qt and will use the 16oz of spaghetti go ahead and use 4cups of water and a 48oz jar spaghetti sauce. Up time to 10min and maybe wait about 2min then QR. I only used 3 cups of water and it was almost a little dry and pasta wasn’t quite done.
I needed this to feed 3 teens and 2 adults, so I adjusted the amounts to use 1 lb spaghetti, 32 oz spaghetti sauce and 32 oz water, and everything else pretty much the same, just a little heavier on the spices and garlic. I cooked it in my 6qt instant pot for 10mins, with 4 mins NPR (only because it took me that long to get to it), then quick release. It turned out great! Probably could cook a little less time, but it was fine, and we had leftovers too. Thanks for the easy, delicious recipe!
So glad you and your family enjoyed!
I always get a burn notice
I am sorry Joe. Have you tried adding more liquid? Instant Pots are wonderful……until we get the dreadful burn notice.
Can you use other noodles (other than spagetti), in this dish? Would it be the same amount of time?
Hi Luna, Yes! You can use other pasta in this recipe. You will need to adjust the cooking time. Typically to cook pasta in a instant pot, cut the pasta time in half. So if the directions call for 10 minutes you will cook it for 5 minutes. Hope this helps! Would love to hear if you try with a different pasta.
If you live in high altitude ( I am in Colorado) cook this for more like 2 or 3 minutes longer. It was delicious but had to put back in for 2 minutes as noodles were still kind of tough. Used the half noddles of pot noddles from Walmart. Fantastic!
I read comments before hand about the pasta not being quite done. I wanted to give it a chance and make the recipe as is thinking that pasta usually takes about 10 minutes to cook and i couldn’t see it wouldn’t be done in 9 minutes in a pressure cooker. The only small changes i made was to used jarred garlic and they didn’t have “Pot sizes” spaghetti so i just used regular spaghetti and broke it in half. So, in fact. the pasta was not done at the end of the cook. It was a little crunchy. What i did to fix it was to put the lid of the instant pot back on (but don’t seal) and hit the saute button and cooked it for ~4 minutes longer. What you could do so you don’t have to mess with this is either pressure cook it for 1 minute longer or when its done pressure cooking wait 3-4 minutes before you release the pressure (this is probably what i will try next time). It was generally good and EXTREMELY easy. I might try next time to throw some mushrooms in or maybe some Italian sausage (i like Italian sausage in my spaghetti).
Super easy and turned out great! Had no issues with my noodles as others mentioned. Mine were cooked perfectly. Delish!
This was the best instant pot spaghetti and meatballs recipe I have made – and I’ve tried quite a few. Thanks for the yum!!!!
So glad you enjoyed it Michelle!
My noodles weren’t quite done either, next time I’m gonna do 10 minutes and only use half of the Italian seasoning. This dish turned out delicious thou. Such a easy and hearty meal.
Love how crazy easy this recipe is. I work long hours and this makes my life easier when I come home to hungry teens. Thank you!
So glad to hear you all enjoyed it!
My noodles weren’t quite done- not sure that 9mins was enough time….
In that size, yes it will.
Can this recipe be doubled in an 8 quart Instant Pot?
I only have a 6 quart and can’t promise that it will work. Sorry!
I can’t believe how easy this is! This was a hit with the whole family!