Instant Pot Spaghetti with Meat Sauce Recipe

This Instant Pot Spaghetti with Meat Sauce is the perfect combination of quick, easy, and delicious comfort food made with simple ingredients. The bold, flavorful sauce and perfectly cooked noodles make it a family favorite that’s guaranteed to disappear every time. With minimal effort and amazing leftovers, this recipe is the ultimate solution for busy nights!

Original post: March 2019 | Updated: April 2021 and February 2025

Why This Recipe Works

• The sauce in this recipe is packed with boldness and flavor, the noodles cook perfectly every time and the leftovers are indescribably delicious.
• This Instant Pot spaghetti with meat sauce recipe is absolute perfection! Quick, easy, made with simple ingredients, delicious, filling and it turns out perfectly every single time.
• Every time I make this simple recipe, we devour the pot in its entirety.
• This easy recipe is a labor of love. I put a lot of time and energy into making tweaks and making sure it’s the perfect dinner recipe for those busy nights. 
• This delicious meal is absolute comfort food perfection the whole family will love. 

Recipe Ingredients for One-Pot Spaghetti

Ground beef – Use ground pork or Italian sausage in place of ground beef for a more flavorful meal (or a combination of these). Other possible ground beef replacements: meatballs, bacon, ground chicken or ground turkey.

Garlic – Use 1 teaspoon of garlic powder as a replacement for minced garlic if desired.

Onion – Yellow or white onions can be used.

Spaghetti sauce – Use your favorite jar of sauce or make your own pasta sauce!

Diced tomatoes – Replace diced tomatoes with crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce if desired.

Beef broth – You can replace the beef broth with 2 cups of water.

Seasonings – Italian seasoning, fennel seed, brown sugar, seasoned salt, salt and black pepper make the most flavorful seasonings for this dish.

Spaghetti pasta – Instead of spaghetti noodles, consider using angel hair thin spaghetti, farfalle, cavatappi or penne pasta. Also, you can use a whole wheat spaghetti or rice noodle for a healthier option. Or easily make it gluten free by using GF spaghetti noodles!

Toppings – Shaved, shredded or grated parmesan cheese or fresh basil or parsley are the perfect toppings.

How To Make Instant Pot Spaghetti With Meat Sauce

Step 1

Set the Instant Pot to sauté function. Add the ground beef, garlic and onion.

Cook until the meat is no longer pink. (Add olive oil to the pot if it seems too dry while cooking the veggies.) Drain grease, if needed.

Step 2

Add spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes, beef broth, Italian seasoning, fennel seed, brown sugar, seasoned salt, salt and pepper to the pot. Mix well. 

Break the uncooked spaghetti noodles in half and in a criss-cross pattern, separating them as much as possible using fork tines. Make sure they are completely covered with the liquid. 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, give it a good stir with a heavy or wooden spoon and let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Top with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

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 dreaded burn notification to alert you in the middle of cooking. 
• Add more vegetables for texture and extra flavor! If you love veggies in your spaghetti, add mushrooms, green bell peppers, zucchini, eggplant, black olives or peas to the onion-garlic mixture along with the garlic and onion. 
• Tomato paste will add a robust flavor to the dish. Don’t add more than a small can per batch.

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.

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.

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.

What to Serve With Spaghetti

I love eating 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 

Can Spaghetti Be Frozen

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.

How To 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. 

Instant Pot Burn Notice & How To Fix It

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 determined 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: 

1. Press the cancel button as soon as possible. 
2. Do an immediate quick release and wait for the silver float valve to drop. 
3. Transfer the inner pot to a hot pad holder. 
4. Scrape any bits of food that may have adhered to the bottom of the pot using a spoon.

If there are no burned/browned 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:

Stir the contents of the pot thoroughly and resume cooking. 

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. 

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!

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:

• Chicken 
• Mac and Cheese 
• Goulash 
• Chicken Noodle Soup 
• Mashed Potatoes

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