Simplify a classic dinner favorite by making Instant Pot spaghetti with meat sauce. Everything is cooked in a single pot in just 30 minutes! The noodles cook perfectly every single time and the flavor in this comforting dish is off-the-charts delicious.
Original post: March 2019 | Updated: April 2021
Why This Recipe Works
A couple years ago I visited my mom in Palm Springs (ohhh sunshine! I need you!) and together we made our first batch of Instant Pot Spaghetti. It was DELICIOUS!
We devoured the pot in its entirety, but after every morsel was in our bellies we made some tweaks to the recipe to make it even more delicious.
Here you go, friends, introducing my many-times-revised Instant Pot spaghetti with meat sauce recipe. Comfort food perfection. Perfect dinner in minutes. Easy peasy pasta. Call it what you must.
The sauce in this recipe is packed with boldness and flavor, the noodles cook perfectly every time and the leftovers? Mmm-mm-mmm! My family loves this recipe!
Recipe Ingredients
Ground beef – Use ground pork in place of ground beef for an even more flavorful meal (or a combination of the two!). Other possible ground beef replacements: meatballs, bacon, clams, shrimp, diced chicken breast or ground turkey.
Garlic – Use 1 teaspoon of garlic powder as a replacement for minced garlic if you don’t have fresh on hand.
Diced tomatoes – Replace diced tomatoes with crushed tomatoes if desired.
Beef broth – Replace the beef broth with 2 cups of water in a pinch.
Spaghetti pasta – Instead of spaghetti noodles, consider using angel hair thin spaghetti, farfalle, cavatappi or penne pasta. Also, you can use a whole wheat pasta or rice noodle for a healthier option. Or easily make it gluten free by using GF spaghetti noodles!
How To Make Instant Pot Spaghetti
Step 1
Set the Instant Pot to saute function. Add the ground beef, 3 cloves garlic and 1 chopped yellow onion and cook until the meat is no longer pink. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pot if it seems too dry while cooking the veggies. Drain pot, if needed.
Step 2
Add one jar of spaghetti sauce, one can of diced tomatoes, two cans of beef broth, 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon of fennel seed, brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of seasoned salt, 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper to the pot. Mix well.
Break 8 ounces of spaghetti noodles in half and criss cross them in the pot, separating them as much as possible using fork tines. Make sure they are completely covered with the meat sauce. Do not stir mixture after this point!
Step 3
Place the cover on the pot and set the timer to 8 minutes on high pressure (use the pressure cook setting). It will take the pressure cooker around 10 minutes to build up pressure before it begins cooking.
Step 4
When your timer beeps, do an immediate quick release. Remove the cover, stir with a heavy or wooden spoon and let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Top with Parmesan cheese, if desired. YUM!
Recipe Notes
- Once you add the spaghetti noodles to the pot, carefully separate them using fork tines but do not stir the noodles into the sauce at this point. This could cause the noodles to sink to the bottom of the pot and cause the BURN notification to alert you in the middle of cooking.
- Add more veggies! If you love veggies in your spaghetti, add mushrooms, green bell peppers, zucchini, eggplant, black olives or english peas to the onion-garlic mixture along with the garlic and onion.
- 1 teaspoon of onion powder would be a great addition to the recipe.
What To Do With Leftover Spaghetti
Delivering you an extensive roundup of ideas for how to repurpose leftover spaghetti! Hoping these creative ideas will inspire you to use up last night’s dinner.
Instant Pot Burn Notice
If you see that dreaded burn notice flash on your Instant Pot, do not fret! Know that your pressure cooker is keeping a good eye on your food. It has sensed that the temperature toward the bottom of the pot is too high and has therefore turned it off temporarily.
It is giving you a chance to fix the problem! This can happen especially with thick sauces like the one in this recipe because of the heaviness of the contents inside the pot. It can also happen if there is not enough liquid inside the pot.
If you see the burn notice, press CANCEL as soon as possible. Do an immediate quick release and wait for the silver float valve to drop. Transfer the inner pot to a hot pad holder. Scrape any bits of food that may have adhered to the bottom of the pot using a spoon.
If there are no burned bits:
- Add 1/2 cup of additional beef broth to the recipe that will thin out the consistency. Stir the contents of the pot thoroughly and resume cooking.
If you see burned pieces in the mixture:
- Pour the contents into a saucepan and clean out the pot using soap and water, making sure any charred pieces of food are removed from the bottom of the pan. Remove visible pieces of burnt food and pour it back into the pot.
- Stir the contents of the pot thoroughly and resume cooking.
Avoid The Instant Pot Burn Notice
- Stir well before placing the cover on the pot for cooking. You will want the heaviest ingredients toward the top in order to ensure they don’t stick to the bottom and burn.
- Make sure your pot contains enough liquid! Add extra beef broth or chicken broth if it is already an ingredient in the recipe. If the recipe does not contain a thin liquid (e.g., a recipe that requires a trivet), add 1 1/2 cups of liquid to the bottom of the Instant Pot before cooking.
- I do not use an 8-quart IP, but from what I have read this size is much quicker to burn than the 6-quart version. The 8-quart Instant Pot may require more liquid than the 6-quart does.
What to Serve With Spaghetti
I love eating TONS of spaghetti all by itself, but if you are looking for a little something to serve alongside it, consider these options:
- Homemade Dinner Rolls
- Chopped Salad
- Bread sticks or garlic bread
- A simple Caesar salad
How to Make Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
If your pasta is already cooked and you just need a delicious, savory sauce to top your noodles with, consider making this delicious homemade pasta sauce using fresh or frozen tomatoes!
Check out this guide to learn how long spaghetti sauce lasts in the fridge.
Pasta Sauce Made Using Tomato Sauce
Transform 2 cans of tomato sauce into a batch of delish pasta sauce! If you have tomato sauce on hand instead of tomato paste, this is a great option for you.
Make Pasta Sauce Using a Can of Tomato Paste
And if you have paste on hand instead of sauce, try this super easy way to turn tomato paste into spaghetti sauce!
How To Thicken Spaghetti Sauce
If you make or purchase a batch of pasta sauce and find that is thin and lacks substance, there are ways to fix it! Read on for tips about how to make thick spaghetti sauce. Or if you do not have paste on hand, learn how to thicken without this ingredient.
Leftover Pasta Sauce Recipes
If you don’t want to toss your next batch of sauce, this roundup will provide you with recipes to make with leftover pasta sauce so nothing goes to waste.
Marinara vs Spaghetti Sauce
So close in texture, color and flavor that you could call them cousins! Let’s get to the heart of the issue and explore marinara vs spaghetti sauce. What are the differences?!
If you find yourself with a weak batch of marinara, learn how to thicken it easily!
FAQ About Spaghetti
Spaghetti is a great dinner option to freeze because it thaws well. Place into resealable freezer bags and freeze for up to 4 months. When you are ready to enjoy the spaghetti, let it thaw completely (preferably in the fridge overnight).
Reheat in a 250 degree F oven uncovered for 10-15 minutes or until heated through. Microwaving individual servings in the microwave is another good option for reheating.
The standard variety of spaghetti noodles DO contain gluten. There are noodles made from other types of flour besides wheat flour and those noodles can be gluten free. Be sure to inspect the ingredients on your box of spaghetti thoroughly before preparing.
To cook spaghetti noodles, boil a saucepan filled halfway with water. Add the noodles to the boiling water and cook for approximately 8 minutes, or until noodles are soft. Drain, rinse and pour your favorite spaghetti over the top before serving.
Recipes to Make Using Pasta Sauce
Aside from the obvious reason (the amazing FLAVOR!), my favorite thing about pasta sauce is that it is so versatile. Here are a few ideas for ways to enjoy it!
- Pour it over the top of cooked noodles of any kind.
- Use it in place of store-bought sauce in your next pan of Baked Spaghetti or Baked Ziti!
- Lasagna and Cheesy Manicotti are both sooo good when made with Instant Pot spaghetti sauce!
- Use it as an ingredient to stuff spaghetti squash with!
- Add it to your morning eggs because everything tastes great with eggs.
- Top scrambled eggs with a few spoonfuls!
- Use it as a dip for bread sticks or garlic bread.
Delicious Instant Pot Recipes
The list of recipes you can make in an Instant Pot is endless! It can act as a slow cooker, saute pan, steamer, rice maker, yogurt maker and pressure cooker. It can cook soup, chili, pasta, meat, potatoes, veggies, cake, beans and so much more. Here are a few of my favorite Instant Pot recipes:
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Instant Pot Spaghetti with Meat Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 24 oz spaghetti sauce
- 15 oz diced tomatoes undrained
- 30 oz beef broth
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tbsp fennel seed
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp seasoned salt
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 8 oz spaghetti pasta uncooked
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese for topping, optional
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to saute. Add the ground beef, garlic and onion and cook until meat is no longer pink; drain, if needed.
- Add the spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes, beef broth, Italian seasoning, fennel seed, brown sugar, seasoned salt, salt and pepper to the pot; mix well. Break the spaghetti noodles in half and place them in the pot, separating them as much as possible with fork tongs and making sure they are completely covered with liquid. Do not stir mixture after this point!
- Place the cover on the pot and set timer to 8 minutes on high pressure (pressure cook setting). It will take the IP around 10 minutes to build up pressure before it begins cooking.
- When cooking is done, do an immediate quick release.
- Remove cover, stir and let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Top with Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Notes
- Once you add the spaghetti noodles to the pot, carefully separate them using fork tines but do not stir the noodles into the sauce at this point. This could cause the noodles to sink to the bottom of the pot and cause the BURN notification to alert you in the middle of cooking.
- Add more veggies! If you love veggies in your spaghetti, add mushrooms, green bell peppers, zucchini, eggplant, black olives or english peas to the onion-garlic mixture along with the garlic and onion.
- 1 teaspoon of onion powder would be a great addition to the recipe.
I have had my Instant Pot for awhile not knowing what to make. This looks so delicious and I know my family will love this! I can’t wait to cook this!
Well this is a great first recipe, Kristina, so good choice! Have fun making a delicious dinner!
This is amazing, Megan! I never realised I could make the sauce and spaghetti in one go! I’ve been using my Instant Pot for the sauce while cooking spaghetti on the stove. Making it tonight! <3
It’s really a game changer. The pressure really makes it taste like its simmered all day!
This was very flavorful, AND less dishes than making the sauce and pasta separately. Win-win!
That’s great to hear, Anne! Thank you for sharing.
Great tasting recipe. Not used to the “throw in the pot”, but it was great and everyone loved it!
I have quartz countertops and I want to know if I can use my instant pot directly on them or should I put something under it to protect the quartz. Thank you.
Your quartz should be fine. An instant pot can sit on traditional counter tops without issue.