Instant Pot Spaghetti - The easiest spaghetti recipe ever! A quick recipe for spaghetti made right in the instant pot. Get a family favorite meal on the table even faster on busy nights!
Ok, you guys. I resisted as long as I could.
It was definitely time for me to get myself an Instant Pot, and see what all the fuss is about!
If you follow me on Instagram, you'll already know I bought one.
You may have been waiting and wondering what kind of dinner concoction was going to come out first.
Well, spaghetti it is!
It might SEEM boring, and unoriginal, but....c'mon, spaghetti is a total crowd pleasing, family favorite, classic.
Why not start there?
I was sitting around reading the manual for said Instant Pot and contemplating what to try first, when my son suggested spaghetti.
He loves spaghetti. Could eat it for breakfast, brunch, lunch, snack, and dinner. Not kidding.
Do any of you have an Instant Pot already? Thinking about getting one? I'd love to hear what you think!
For now, here are my first impressions.
Before I even used the thing my initial reaction was that this thing is BIG. Way bigger than my crockpot, and much heavier.
I got the 8 quart, which I'm happy about. Just saying, if you're going to get one, make sure you have the room for it!
Definitely read the manual. If you don't, you'll probably feel stressed out and confused at all of the different buttons and parts.
My impression during and after making the spaghetti (which I did a few times to make sure cooking time would be accurate for you).
It was strange at first not being able to peek in the top like you can with a slow cooker. Ummmm, is this thing on?
But, you can definitely hear that there is some boiling going on inside.
It really did cook the spaghetti just perfectly!
The noodles weren't "gummy" being cooked all together with the meat/sauce/water, which was something I was worried about.
I may actually like spaghetti cooked in the Instant Pot now, more than the typical boiling the noodles and putting it all together after!
My last but not least favorite thing is that this is a true one pot recipe. Spaghetti is always easy to make, but it also usually requires a pan for the meat, a pot for noodles, a pot for sauce, and a colander for draining.
One pot, and no colander needed here.
The meat cooks (I get super lean meat so I don't even need to drain grease) then you toss in your pasta, sauce, water, and seasonings.
Dinner served in about 8 minutes!
How cool is that?!
Enjoy! Check out our video for this recipe below!
~Nichole
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Instant Pot Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 Pound Lean Ground Beef, OR ITALIAN SAUSAGE
- ½ Teaspoon EACH Salt, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Italian Seasoning, OR MORE TO TASTE
- 1 Pound Spaghetti Noodles
- 1 (24 Ounce) Jar Spaghetti Sauce
- 36 Ounces Water, 1 ½ Jars
- 1 (14.5 Ounce) Can Diced Tomatoes, OR TOMATO SAUCE
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to saute' and add the ground beef. Add the salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasonings. Cook the meat and seasonings, breaking the meat up until it's completely browned. Turn the Instant Pot off. Drain any excess grease from meat if necessary.
- Break the spaghetti in half and place on top of meat in the Instant Pot. Pour over the spaghetti sauce, diced tomato, and water. Push the spaghetti down with a spoon if necessary to make sure it is completely covered in liquid.
- Seal the instant pot and set it to manual mode, high pressure, 8 minutes cooking time. When the time is up, use manual quick release to open the Instant Pot. Stir the spaghetti well. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Note: I use the 8 quart Instant Pot which you can find by clicking the link (affiliate) below.
**This post may contain affiliate links, all opinions stated here are my own**
Such a great recipe and will forever be my go-to for quick weeknight dinners when you just need to get everyone fed haha! It turned out perfect. I used whole wheat spaghetti and the 8 minutes was just right for the texture, but I might experiment with 7 min next time. The criss-cross layering was a great tip. I also coated the pasta with some olive oil before adding all the sauce and liquid, and had absolutely no clumping!
I like the recipe but it Always turns out watery even if I reduce water.
I don’t remember if I’ve rated this or not, but this recipe is worth 5 star rating! My husband doesn’t normally care for pasta or spaghetti, but he will devour THIS spaghetti!
Cooking it in the InstantPot seems to make everything so delicious and flavorful! I use my 6qt and everything fits nicely in it.
I’ve used ground sirloin, Italians sausage, and even ground turkey. I think the key to this recipe is to add a little more of the herbs. I don’t use the premixed jar of Italian Seasoning, just the individual seasonings and about a tablespoon (maybe a little less) of each. I also add a little tomato paste before starting the IP.
My family, husband included, will only eat spaghetti cooked this way. This recipe is amazingly YUMMY!!!! Thank You!
What am I doing wrong? I used regular spaghetti noodles and followed the recipe exactly, cooking on high pressure8 min and quick release(used beef instead of sausage). My noodles were mushy and was bland. Next time I'll definitely use sausage instead of beef and double the seasoning. Maybe add onion. I NEED this to work for my pasta loving family. One pot pasta meal with no draining the pasta? Yes please! Any tips would be appreciated greatly.
Maybe this will help. I add a lot of (about 1 tablespoon of each, maybe a smidge less, I don’t measure) seasonings like dried oregano, dried thyme, dried sweet basil, garlic powder, and onion powder. I’ll also throw in some dried parsley and dried marjoram. I don’t use the already mixed together Italian seasoning mix because this way I can add as much of as I’d like of each seasoning.
I’ve used Rao’s marinara, Michael’s of Brooklyn homestyle gravy, and Michael’s of Brooklyn marinara. I put in a tablespoon of tomato paste too.
The spaghetti comes out pretty flavorful and the house smells like I’ve been cooking for hours. I hope this helps!
My husband is not a spaghetti or pasta lover, but he’ll eat two helpings of this and bring the leftovers to work.
We love this recipe. Has anyone tried doublng it in an 8 qt? I'm wondering if it would be too much...
I have not quite doubled it successfully in an 8qt. I usually do this with Barilla GF spaghetti noodles, which come in a 12oz box not 16, and I’ve done it with 2 of those boxes - I think that’s closer to 1.5 times though? It was fine, and I still had room in the pot.
My husband is a spaghetti fanatic. He loves this in the instant pot. I made it today and used rotel instead of Diced tomatoes. I sautéed a small onion with ground beef, added 1 tbs tomato paste. 1 small can tomato sauce . I don't like a lot of sauce but this was delicious. The rotel added a lot of flavor. So good and easy.
This is the first EVER iP recipe I made when I got my IP back in 2018. It’s still the family favorite. I only make two very small tweaks. I use a little red wine to deglaze after I brown the sausage and I added a small diced onion right before browning the sausage. It is wonderful without either tweak, but I had onion on hand and deglazing was helpful to avoid burn error. My teenagers crave this dish meal!
In order to keep the burn signal from happening I added about 1/2 cup of water to the pot once the sausage was browned and scraped the bottom until it was cleaned. This was absolutely delicious.
Love this recipe that’s easy to make your own unique flavor! I use Ro-tel diced tomatoes in mild or hot to spice it up a bit, but it is absolutely fabulous as is.
I make this all the time, super easy and super good.
Love this recipe. My husband even asks for it and he's not a big fan of spaghetti.
Have made this many times; easy and tastes great. If adding fresh onions, mushrooms, peppers, etc. I reduce the water a little. Also can be made with various types of pasta (veggie, lentil, chickpea).
I have made this at least twice a month and we love it. Can this be made without the meat so I can add homemade meatballs once this has been cooked? Thank you!
I actually just put frozen meatballs right under the noodles and while it does pull them apart a bit it cooks just the same!
So easy and delicious! I have made it several times, and it has been successful each time. I increase the amount of spices, but it is yummy even if you don’t. I also use half ground beef and half hot Italian sausage.
The cooking time for various brands of spaghetti I use ranges from 5 to 12 minutes. How would this affect the cooking time for this recipe? Excited to try it, thanks!
soooo delicious and easy!
I make this all the time for my husband and daughter. Since I try not to eat much pasta it’s easy for me to make this for them and then make something else for myself. My recommendations: use bow tie pasta (better for a heavy sauce) and a thick spaghetti sauce. Sauté some onion before adding the meat, and leave out the onion powder. Use minced garlic if you’re feeling fancy. I also add a spoonful of tomato paste for thickness and flavor, and always use medium or spicy Italian sausage instead of ground beef.
Has anyone tried doubling the recipe? Tips on how to do that? Do I double all the ingredients except the water or do I double the water too? Will a double recipe fit in my 8-quart Instapot?
I have gone it one time recently and it worked great for me. Doubled everything!
Do you need to increase the time when doubling the recipe?
Made it twice the original way - amazing. Doubled it tonight and also amazing! Here are my takeaways for doubling…I have the largest pot size available and it was pretty close to the max fill line. I added a bit more liquid (used bone and veggie broth instead of water) to ensure pasta was fully covered. Otherwise I fully doubled all other ingredients but DID NOT change cook time. I stir in butter and a bit of sugar at the end for extra richness. Perfect.
I have a 6qrt I-pot, is the recipe overload for it, I’d like to make it today.
Thank you.
I cook this in my 6 quart instant pot all the time. Fits fine.
I make mine in my 6qt all the time, you will be fine.
This is my go-to spaghetti recipe. It's so easy.