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
Make sure you follow along with us on Facebook where we always share the tastiest recipes!
Instant Pot Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 Pound Lean Ground Beef
- 1/2 Teaspoon EACH Salt, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Italian Seasoning
- 1 Pound Spaghetti Noodles
- 1 (24 Ounce) Jar Spaghetti Sauce
- 36 Ounces Water, 1 1/2 Jars
- 1 (14.5 Ounce) Can Diced Tomatoes
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**
I live alone and seldom eat pasta because it is hard to make reasonably sized portions. I purchased a package of 8 ounces pasta and decided to try your recipe. Besides using the smaller package of pasta, I reduced the water to a 3/4 jar of water. My Instant Pot is 6 quarts. At the end of the 8 minutes, I released the pressure, opened the pot and stirred. It looked really wet. I was busy prepping salads so it sat for almost half an hour. When I went back, the liquid had absorbed into the pasta. My pasta package stated that it was 4 servings. The servings are much larger than I could eat. This smaller amount would be great for a small family or a couple. The texture is great and so is the taste. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe.
I have made this recipe many times now. My 6 year old son says its the best spaghetti he has ever had. Thank you for this.
Haven’t made yet- need to know if you drain the canned tomatoes??
No…You need the tomato liquid. My family loves this recipe!
I have made it so many times now and passed on this recipe to family. It is a no fail recipe and soooooo delicious! Thank you ❤️
I was skeptical, but loved it! Trying again tonight with frozen meatballs.
Thank you for sharing, Nicole.
I had no canned tomatoes, so I added the jar of salsa we had at home with amazing results ! Great recipe!
It turn out amazing but a little watery (probably because I used a little more sauce, I love a saucy spaghetti) will definitely make this again!
(I Was a little skeptical 5 stars *****/*****)
I made this recipe again last night, and love it more each time I make it. When I cook hamburger I do a double batch and put half of the seasonEd, cooked meat in the freezer for using later which makes it even faster than it already is! I used De Cecco #12 spaghetti and Barilla sauce. To change things up a little I stirred and some sautéed spinach and added a crumble of French feta. I was so thankful for this recipe as I had everything in the pantry and the meat already cooked — I threw together a beautiful meal in less than 20 minutes or so (made a salad and garlic bread while the spaghetti cooked). THANKS A MILLION, I am looking forward to trying more of your recipes!
I use rotini noodles and it turns out great. we don’t like the spaghetti noodles.
We made this and used frozen meatballs and we used Rotel fire roasted diced tomatoes with green chilies, because that is what we had. It was the best spaghetti sauce ever!
When do you add the meatballs?
Not too shabby. Worked a 12 hour shift and had a hot meal in 10 minutes. I used frozen meat balls out of the freezer and a second can of tomatoes. Will do again and probably cut back on the water a little.
I was super skeptical of making spaghetti in the IP but it turned out great! Followed the recipe to the tee (except cook time was 11 min. based off other reviews and to accommodate wheat pasta). I used 93% ground beef and didn’t drain the fat (barely was any). It was tricky to lay the noodles out in the pot to prevent clumping. I ended up mashing everything down to get is under the liquid which broke the noodles smaller but not a big deal. The end result was perfectly cooked noodles on the softer side and tasty spaghetti similar to what you would get with a baked pasta. Next time I plan to cook for 10 min., double the meat, and 50% more sauce based of of preference.
I made this tonight with a 12 ounce box of Gluten-free Penne, and only 1 24 ounce jar of water with the ground beef and pasta sauce. It turned out phenomenal!! BEST spaghetti I have ever made!! Thanks.
My kids ask for this recipe every week! It’s easy, delicious and quick for weeknights filled with sports and school activities.
I have made this recipe a number of times and it has turned out perfect every time! We like angel hair pasta and I use my own home canned tomatoes. The sauce is a little thin at first but thickens up quickly. This is my go-to recipe for feeding a crowd – SO quick and easy and just delicious. Thank you for sharing this recipe!!
My family also prefers the angel hair pasta… does the cook time change?
Cook time for angel hair?
This was very easy to make and was very good however it was a little watery for my liking. That’s just personal preference as I like a thicker sauce and I would add more Italian seasoning. Wondering if cutting out the can of tomatoes might give it more the consistency I would like. Overall very good and easy.
Made this last night – using your exact amounts. So fast, easy and delish. Lots of liquid but still good. Will probably be thicker tonight. Looking forward to leftovers. Thanks for posting. The hardest part was pushing all the noodles under the liquid. They kept breaking and popping out of the pan. NO clumping though, so it worked.
This was my first instant pot recipe to try. I used frozen meatballs and it turned out fantastic! I plan to try your mac and cheese recipe too! Thank you!
Donna, did you need to increase the time because you were using frozen meatballs?
You shouldn’t, it should just take a little longer to come to pressure in my experience (frozen vs thawed).
I used gluten free pasta and crossed my fingers that it would work. It was AMAZING!!!! Thank you! Turned out perfect 🙂
I am going to try this!! I only have thin spaghetti, so probably cut back cooking time?
I ised angel hair,cut water to half a jar, used the juice of home canned tomatoes larger amount of tomatoes and juice, and cooked for 4 minutes! Perfection! It tasted better,left on hold an hour. The noodles were still perfect but absorbed the flavors.