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Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meat Sauce with spaghetti noodles, ground beef and pasta sauce is an easy dinner perfect for busy weeknights. This easy Instant Pot spaghetti recipe is a family favorite ready in just 30 minutes!
Table of Contents
If you’re new to the world of pressure cooking, this easy Instant Pot spaghetti and meat sauce is a terrific starter Instant Pot recipe to try. This was the very first dinner I made in the Instant Pot years ago.
This easy Instant Pot pasta was a huge hit with my whole family, and I have been making this easy recipe ever since. One bite, and we were hooked!
Since then, I cook pasta in the Instant Pot whenever I can. If you like Instant Pot pasta recipes, try my Instant Pot Creamy Shells and Beef or Instant Pot Creamy Taco Pasta. Check out my collection of Instant Pot Recipes for even more electric pressure cooker recipes!
Why You’ll Love Instant Pot Spaghetti
- Easy and Delicious
- Simple ingredients
- Cooks in one pot — no draining!
- No messy stove to clean up
- Budget friendly — makes a lot so you have leftovers!
- Perfect for busy families
- Picky eater approved — trust me on this!
Ingredients
You can find the ingredients for this easy dinner recipe in any grocery store.
- Ground beef — choose lean ground beef or extra lean ground beef so you don’t have to drain the grease. Can sub ground Turkey or Italian sausage.
- Onion — can sub onion powder or dried minced onion
- Olive oil — to prevent sticking
- Seasonings — sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning
- Spaghetti noodles — thin spaghetti or thick spaghetti. Break them in half before using
- Pasta sauce — I love Bertolli brand or Rao’s pasta sauce. You can use homemade pasta sauce or your favorite marinara sauce
- Diced tomatoes — adds texture and extra liquid without watering sauce down. You can add tomato sauce instead of diced tomatoes
- Water — to cook the pasta or beef broth for more flavor. Some readers use red wine!
How to Make Spaghetti in the Instant Pot
Here’s an overview of the spaghetti and meat sauce recipe. You’ll find details in the printable recipe card below.
First cook the onion in olive oil on saute mode. Then add ground beef, seasonings, and cook until no longer pink.
Make sure no browned bits are sticking to the bottom of the pot — You can deglaze the pot with a little bit of water or broth if you need to.
After cooking, place dry uncooked spaghetti on top of the cooked meat. The trick to cooking spaghetti in the Instant Pot is to break the noodles in half. Then, layer them in sort of a criss-cross pattern.
If you have ever played Pick Up Sticks, you’ll get this!
This way, you can get them all under the liquid, and the noodles won’t clump together.
Then, add a jar of pasta sauce, the diced tomatoes and water.
You may have some spaghetti strands on the very top that stick a little, but they break apart easily once you stir everything up.
Then, I poke it a little with a spatula to make sure the water gets down through the layers and all the pasta is covered.
Don’t stir it all together or it will be too thick, and you may get the burn notice.
Cook Time
After the pot comes to pressure, it takes just 5 minutes of cooking time on high pressure for the spaghetti to cook!
If you want more al dente pasta, cook for 4 minutes. Then, do a quick pressure release. You can use a wooden spoon or cooking tongs for this part.
Be sure to stir the cooked pasta very well after pressure cooking. This will help break up any noodles that stick together. Don’t be alarmed if it looks watery. The pasta will absorb more of the liquid as it cools down.
How to Store and Reheat
Refrigerate leftover spaghetti in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Reheat individual portions in your microwave. Freeze spaghetti in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months.
Expert Cooking Tips
- Season meat for extra flavor
- Deglaze pot and scrape up any browned bits after cooking meat to avoid burn message
- Break spaghetti in half and layer in pot
- Make sure pasta is covered with liquid, but do not stir before pressure cooking!
- Toggle the release valve back and forth for a gradual quick release if liquid sprays out during pressure release.
- Stir very well after pressure releases to break up any clumps of pasta
- If you use a larger jar of pasta sauce, you can skip the diced tomatoes
Serving Suggestions
We love homemade garlic bread and a green salad with this one-pot dinner. Top the spaghetti with fresh basil or fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese for extra flavor.
Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meat Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ yellow onion , chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 16-ounce package spaghetti uncooked and broken in half
- 1 24-ounce jar marinara sauce
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 3 cups water
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute, and when it reads HOT, add the olive oil and onion, and cook until slightly soft
- Add the meat, Italian seasoning, salt, garlic powder and pepper, and cook until no pink remains, stirring frequently
- Hit CANCEL, and add a little water if needed, to deglaze bottom of pot
- Break spaghetti strands in half, and layer on top of meat in a criss-cross pattern
- Pour marinara sauce over pasta
- Pour diced tomatoes over sauce
- Pour water around sides and on top of tomatoes, and push down lightly with spatula to make sure water gets through layers and all pasta is covered
- Cover with lid, turn valve to SEALING, press PRESSURE COOK or Manuel on some models, and set cook time to 5 minutes
- When cooking is done, turn the pressure release valve to do a quick pressure release or gradual quick release, hen hit CANCEL
- When pin drops, carefully open lid, and stir spaghetti and meat sauce together well before serving
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My family is crazy about this kid-friendly Instant Pot spaghetti and meat sauce, and they won’t have it any other way now. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!
If you love this pasta recipe as much as we do, please leave a star rating and/or comment. For more easy family recipes and comfort food anyone can make, sign up for the weekly newsletter and follow on social media.
Post was originally published in 2018 and updated in 2023.
Can’t wait to make this! Do you think thin spaghetti would get mushy? Should I stick with regular spaghetti?
I’ve never made it with thin spaghetti, but it might be a little overcooked since it’s so much thinner.
Do you cook it on 5minutes high pressure or normal pressure?
I always use the default settings for pressure.
Do you drain the tomatoes? Does broth add any depth of flavor instead of water?
No need to drain the tomatoes. You can use broth, but I don’t — just because I don’t use broth when I make spaghetti on the stove.
I normally wld seer my red peppers and onions 1st then add my meat. Should I do the same in the IP? Thanks
You can definitely do that if you want. 🙂
Thank you!
This is a fantastic recipe. I’m so greatful for having found it. I had some mushrooms I needed to use so I roughly chopped them and also half a green pepper. I added them over the meat mixture so they didn’t over cook in the instant pot. It turned out great. I think I will go get seconds now. Thanks again.
Thank you so much, Christina! I’m so glad that you liked it! 🙂
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
We are Italian, so I was a bit skeptical, but my husband told me this was a winner and I agree!
I tried this when very short on time to get dinner prepared. It truly is delicious and the spaghetti turns out perfect. I added a some red pepper flakes that gave it a little spice but not too hot.
Thanks so much for sharing! My Instant Pot is my favorite kitchen tool!
Thank you so much, Mo. You’ve totally made my day! 🙂
Love this! Made it twice now. Can you freeze the leftovers?
Thanks so much! I haven’t tried it, but I’m sure the
leftovers freeze well. 🙂
I made this last night. All that liquid scared me but I figured I could always call it “spaghetti soup”. But it came out perfect! In fact, we all agreed that the flavor was so much better than traditional method spaghetti because the pasta absorbs all the flavor of the sauce and spices as it cooks. I did sub some bulk Italian sausage (drained) for the ground beef.
I never imagined spaghetti with meat sauce could get any easier, but you did it! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
So glad to hear you liked it, Marjorie! My family prefers the IP version too! 🙂
I’ve made your recipe many times now–it’s still a top requested dish. One change I made was to substitute 1-1.5 cups of red wine for some of the water. Oh my! You’ll swear you’re eating in an Italian trattoria!
Now that sounds amazing! I’m trying it this way next time — thanks! 🙂
What’s the size of can for the diced tomatoes? 28oz?
I use the smaller size — 14.5 ounces.
Thanks for asking!
I’m ready to cook it and was quite worried!
Whew!
Made this tonight and it was fantastic. Just curious how many servings you would count this as?
That’s wonderful, Kristel! We got about 10 servings from this recipe. 🙂