This Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe is a delicious traditional pasta dish, revolutionized by the convenience of the Instant Pot!
Instant pot spaghetti is amazing with these quick and easy 2 Ingredient Dough Garlic Breadsticks or a green salad with Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing.
I’ve made One Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs, but of course, I had to make it in my Instant Pot too. Instant Pot Spaghetti with Meatballs is a quick and convenient twist on a classic Italian favorite.
Instant Pot Spaghetti
This dish brings together the timeless combination of tender meatballs, perfectly cooked spaghetti, and a flavorful tomato sauce, all effortlessly prepared in the versatile Instant Pot. This is a fuss-free cooking method for spaghetti and meatballs and is sure to satisfy your cravings for pasta, all while reducing cooking time and infusing delicious flavor into the noodles as they cook!
Ingredients Needed
Here’s the basic list of ingredients you’ll need in order to make spaghetti in a pressure cooker. As always, you can find the full list of ingredients located in the printable recipe card below.
- Meatballs – fresh or frozen, or you can use my Homemade Meatball Recipe.
- Pasta Sauce – Jarred, any variety.
- Uncooked Spaghetti – can use other varieties of pasta.
- Water
- Olive Oil
- Parmesan Cheese
- Basil – fresh, for garnish.
How To Make Pressure Cooker Spaghetti
I’ll walk you through the process of how to make spaghetti in an instant pot, and how to layer it correctly so you don’t get that dreaded burn notice!
Layer Meatballs
Arrange the meatballs in one layer on the bottom of the Instant Pot.
Add the noodles in a layer to the pot, then drizzle the olive oil over the spaghetti.
PRO TIP: Olive oil helps prevent the noodles from sticking together as they cook!
Pour in the pasta sauce and water making sure the spaghetti is completely covered. DO NOT STIR.
Cover and set the Instant Pot to high pressure for 10 minutes. When cooking is done, quick release the pressure and carefully open the lid.
PRO TIP: Setting the instant pot to 10 minutes does not mean it will be on the table in 10 minutes! It needs to come to the correct temperature and seal the vent before it begins counting down. Don’t worry though, your pasta will be ready in no time!
After opening the lid, stir pasta and meatballs together in the sauce, then top with parmesan cheese and enjoy right away with fresh basil on top for garnish if desired.
Don’t stress if your pasta looks “watery” after you’ve opened it up. Give it a stir and let it sit for a few minutes and the liquid should absorb into a delicious sauce.
Do I Stir Before Turning On Instant Pot?
NO! You’ll want to make sure you layer your ingredients exactly as described in the recipe below. If you try to stir the ingredients together you’ll end up with pasta noodles on the bottom, giving you a higher chance of having them stick and getting a burn notice.
Quick Release Or Natural Release of Pressure?
For this pressure cooker spaghetti recipe, you’ll want to do a quick release of pressure. This will prevent your noodles from getting overcooked. Once cooking time is finished, just flip open the steam valve and wait until all the pressure is released before opening. Give the ingredients inside a good stir and top with any parmesan cheese or fresh basil if desired!
Can I Double Instant Pot Spaghetti Recipe?
Yes, you can definitely double the recipe! Just make sure you layer the ingredients properly, and you’ll want to make sure you’re using at least an 8 quart size pressure cooker to avoid over-filling. The pot may take a little longer to reach pressure, but still go with the 10-minute HIGH pressure and you should be golden!
Tips and Variations
- Resist the urge to stir the ingredients together after adding them to the instant pot before cooking.
- Add more flavor to the dish by using a more flavorful pasta sauce, extra Italian seasoning, or freshly minced garlic.
- Want it spicy? Add up to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes for a spicy kick!
More Easy Instant Pot Dinners
Need a few more easy dinners in the instant pot? I have a few for you to try!
- Instant Pot Orange Chicken and Rice
- Best Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe
- Instant Pot Meatloaf Mashed Potatoes
- Instant Pot Shrimp Boil Recipe
This super easy instant pot spaghetti with meatballs is sure to become a family favorite!
Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb frozen meatballs, I use homemade frozen meatballs, but frozen cooked meatballs will work too.
- 8 oz uncooked spaghetti
- 24 oz pasta sauce
- 3 cups water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp basil, for garnish
Instructions
- Arrange the meatballs in Instant Pot in one layer. Break the spaghetti in half and arrange them over the meatballs.
- Drizzle the olive oil over spaghetti. Pour in the pasta sauce and water, making sure spaghetti is completely covered.
- Cover and set the Instant Pot to High pressure for 10 minutes. When cooking is done, quick release the pressure and carefully open the lid.
- Stir pasta and meatballs together in sauce, then top with parmesan cheese and enjoy right away with fresh basil on top for garnish if desired.
hi shawn,
sonia commented that in your photo, the meatballs look raw. she asked if this was right but you didn’t answer. that’s my question too and your recipe doesn’t state.
are they raw? you might want to clarify the different choices (like raw, cooked, pre-made bagged, etc.) in your recipe.
thank you, can you please answer?
Hi Marsha,
Yes, those meatballs are raw. You can use any kind of meatballs, homemade raw frozen, homemade cooked frozen, fresh meatballs, store-bought. I’ve tested with all of them, and they come out perfect each time. Hope this helps, and let me know if you have any more questions.
Not cooked all the way at 10 minutes. 🙁
This is my second time making this recipe. I add onion and green peppers under the meatballs, add mushrooms and it is excellent! So quick and easy! This recipe is keeper!
So much easier than making everything separately. I used Barilla GF spaghetti and Simply Balanced frozen gf beef meatballs and it worked perfectly. I do think I could have put the entire 12oz box of spaghetti in as there was a lot of sauce in proportion to the pasta. I ended up cooking up the last 4 oz of spaghetti on the stove and adding them to the sauce.
Use half the amount of water.
I followed the recipe for every step other than I used cooked ground beef instead of the frozen meatballs. The meat shouldn’t have added any additional liquid since it was cooked. The final product was like soup, and the noodles were stuck in clumps together.
Came out too watery. I’ll cut it to 1.5c water next time. I went if it’s cuz I used brown rice pasta? Not sure.
Next time I’ll add less meatballs and more pasta. The proportions seemed weird. It was also really “soupy.” So less water i think.
My kids adore this recipe! We only use 2 cups of water. It’s pretty much the only thing I regularly use my Instant Pot for! Included this recipe in my recent post about easy kid-friendly family dinner ideas.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipe!
Just made this for my family. They said it was perfect. We didn’t use spaghetti we used penne. We used frozen meetballs. Everything was gluten free. Thanks going to try more receipes to.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Came out too thick. I added water after the fact and it seemed to help. Not how I would serve to company, but ok for a weeknight meal.
Brilliant! Few mods – saute garlic & onion, layer frozen turkey meatballs, 12 oz gluten free penne pasta, mushrooms, peppers, red pepper flakes, 24 oz sauce, 4 c water. Manual high pressure cook 12 min, quick release, enjoy!
By the picture, it looks like your homemade meatballs are placed into the Instant Pot raw, is that right? Or, do the meatballs need to be cooked?
Made this..added mushrooms onion green and red pepper garlic basil fennel..out standing! Cooked mine 15.
I made the pasta and used Alfredo sauce because both my son and I have severe tomato allergies. The pasta was delicious and it was such an easy recipe to use. Thank you!!!
Awesome! Can’t wait to try it with the Alfredo sauce! YUM!
I’m not sure if I missed it but I don’t see any indication of how big your instant pot is for this recipe. I have the 3qt and I can’t tell if this is too much or perfect for my instant pot. I advise you should include that in your future recipes so we can portion our ingredients better.
A couple questions:
If using fresh meatballs instead of frozen is the cooking time the same?
Do you mean 3 cups of water using a regular measuring cup or do you mean 3 of the Instant Pot plastic cups?
Hi, Lara. The cooking time won’t change even if you’re using fresh meatballs. And measure water with a regular liquid measuring cup.
I was so excited to try this recipe as i started to realize how awesome it is to cook with an electric pressure cooker. I used homemade frozen cooked meatballs and a combination of canned diced tomatoes and tomato paste that adds up to be 28oz. I added a half of 1 Campbell Cream of Mushroom can to add creaminess. I also added some onions and garlic. I didnt read other ppls reviews prior to cooking, so I used 3 cups of water, and the pasta turned out to be really watery/soupy. And some of the spaghetti noodles were all stuck together and cooked in clumps. My pressure cooker is not IP and eventho i cooked longer than 10mins some noodles didnt look cooked 100% so i cooked again for 15min extra (becuz i dont mind overlooked pasta anyway haha). After 2nd round of cooking, the sauce looked less watery but quite saucy still (which is how i like it). So i recommend to use less water like other reviewers if you dont like runny pasta sauce. And i would love to know how i could prevent my noodles from clumping? I loved my pasta after all tho, my cooked meatballs were dry/tough side but after cooking in sauce in a pressure cooker, Voila! So tender and juicy! I love pressure cooker recipes. I will def try again to make this dish with some tweaks.
Thank you.
After reading the comments, I used 32 oz of sauce, one cup of water and frozen meatballs and it was perfect. Not soupy at all!
Nice!
Would you also double the meatballs?? do you have to add cooking time if you double ?
I would only add maybe an extra couple minutes if you’re doubling the meatballs.
I make my own spaghetti sauce and freeze. Is the cook time the same, or should I just take out and thaw during the day. P.S. The spaghetti looks amazing and I think I’m going to start using your meatball recipe!
I used two cups of water and it turned out perfect. Thanks for this recipe. I will now be able to enjoy homemade spaghetti and never have to go through the pain of boiling water for pasta.
Thank you for this shortcut. Love all your recipe’s. It’s a working mom’s go to site.
Awesome! So glad you’re enjoying all the recipes!
I just made this and wish I’d read these comments beforehand because 3 cups is definitely too much water, especially when using frozen meatballs. It was good, but too much liquid, therefore not as flavourful as I would like. 1 3/4 – 2 cups of water would have been enough.
I was super excited to try this recipe! But as others had stated, mine turned out thinner then expected. Not at all how it is in the picture. I also used frozen meatballs which I believe relase fat/liquid as well. That being said I added another 1/2 jar of sauce and it’s perfect. Next time may try only 1/2 cup – 2 cups water though! Great recipe, just may need to be tweaked for those using frozen meatballs!!
Made this tonight. Definitely thinner than expected but still really good. Simmering the sauce down now hopefully it’ll thicken up!
Could you experiment a bit more with this and post a version that takes into account that the standard size of a box of pasta is 16oz? I have a family of four and 8oz doesn’t cut it. I’m seeing conflicting reports here in the comments about how to double it.
I double pasta, water, and sauce? Or just double water? What about cooking time?
Has anyone made this with gluten-free noodles or pasta?
I made this with gluten free pasta and gluten free homemade raw frozen meatballs. I cut the water to 2 1/2 cups and it was perfect. My daughter and I loved it. It is quick and easy.
So glad you enjoyed it Twyla! By the way – my youngest daughter is a Twila too! 🙂
Yes, and it did not turn out good!! The spaghetti clumped together and while some seemed over cooked, parts were undercooked-the sauce came out extremely watery I ended up using two jars of sauce. The Grandkids liked it and didn’t mind the clumped pasta but hubby didn’t!! I was really disappointed!! The flavor was good and the meatballs were great!! From now on I will cook the pasta separately
I made this last night and it was delicious. The Instant Pot is making it possible for me to decide late in the day what we’re eating that evening. It is truly changing my life.
I got my Instant Pot this week and have been trying all sort of things. I measured everything out exactly as you directed. My spaghetti was really watery. (I used frozen meatballs). It was too soupy for us. I wonder if I could use Alfredo sauce instead of marinara sauce? Thoughts?
Maybe you didn’t have enough pasta in there? The finished product is definitely a little more saucy, so it can cook the pasta, but it shouldn’t be soupy. Because Alfredo sauce is creamy, it most likely wouldn’t work in the Instant Pot. Sauces that are too creamy could cause a burn notice on your instant pot.
I’ve had that happen with other dishes, and I just let the pot of food saute’ for a few minutes. After you quick release, turn the pot on to Saute, and keep a close eye on it and stir (I would try the lowest saute setting). It should cook off some liquid. Also, what Shawn said below might be correct – maybe you need more pasta. I made this recipe with frozen meatballs and mine didn’t come out watery. Good luck!
I love my Instant Pot, but this might be an example of something where it doesn’t save much time and the end result is just plain inferior. The three cups of water was way too much liquid — and I even added more than 8 oz. of noodles. It was a good lesson, though. We won’t be trying it again.
If using frozen meatballs, I would cut the water to 2 cups. Mine turned out pretty watery, but it was still good once it sat awhile.
Delicious! I took some out for another meal so I would not need to add any more liquid. I let it sit on low for 10 more minutes without lid and it was perfect!
What’s the suggestion on raw meatballs? I have not cooked mine yet. Can I put those in the IP with everything else?
Hi, Cindy! Yep, raw meatballs are the same, I usually use raw meatballs myself. If I have time, I brown them first right in the IP, but sometimes I skip that step, and it works just fine. Hope you’ll enjoy!
Do I put the meatballs and pasta on a trivet, or down in the bottom of the pan into the water? Can’t tell in the pic. Thanks!
Hi, Shandie. Place everything directly into the pan in the order they are listed. Hope you’ll enjoy!
Thanks!
If I use unfrozen meatballs is the cooking time the same?
Yup!
Thank you!
Is it supposed to be 8 oz (1/2 box) of spaghetti or a whole box (16 oz)? I tried making this and there was so much liquid that it looked like soup. Maybe it was because there was so much sauce, but it seemed like there were hardly any noodles.
It should be 8 oz of noodles. The noodles should soak up the majority of the liquid, but it will be a saucier dish than normal.
Hi… I want to double the recipe and use 1lb of noodles. The other post stated to double the water. That seems like allot of water. Would I use 2 jars of sauce and 3 cups of water? Thx
I would suggest doubling the water and sauce as well. The pasta will absorb more water, so if you don’t have enough liquid it will not cook properly. Hope you enjoy it!
I tried this recipe and the pasta turned out gummy and stuck together in clumps. Do you know what I may have done wrong?
Thinner pasta, like angel hair, doesn’t turn out. It becomes gummy. Thicker noodles are better for this and turns out yummy!
Do the meatballs need to be frozen?
They don’t have to be frozen. You can use fresh meatballs too, Lori.
If I am doubling the recipe, do I double the amount of water? Thank u!!
Yes!
great recipe , i added a cup of diced tomatoes, other than that i follow it to the letter, family loved it, will defiantly make this again,
cheers
forgot to added “fresh diced tomatoes “
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed it Mark!