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!

instant pot spaghetti

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.  If you’re craving more pasta, try out our Stuffed Shells too!

instant pot spaghetti

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!

instant pot spaghetti

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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4.94 from 835 votes

Instant Pot Spaghetti

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!
Prep 5 minutes
Cook 10 minutes
Total 15 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients 

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

NOTE:  This spaghetti may appear to be a little liquidy right after cooking.  Be sure to stir well to incorporate all of the liquid into the noodles before serving.
NOTE:  Some people have had an issue with their noodles "clumping" together.  Try crisscrossing the noodles when you add them to the instant pot, instead of adding them in one big chunk. Some clumping is normal, simply use a fork to pull any noodles apart that have stuck together. 
NOTE:  This spaghetti will have as much flavor as you put into it!  Make sure that you add extra seasoning to taste and also use a flavorful spaghetti sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 385kcal, Carbohydrates: 56g, Protein: 26g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 46mg, Sodium: 63mg, Potassium: 430mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 2g, Calcium: 34mg, Iron: 2.9mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Like this? Rate & review this recipe below!

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**


Hey! Nice to meet you! I'm Nichole!

Welcome to The Salty Marshmallow! I'm a mom, animal lover, photographer, & kitchen mess-maker. Here you will find the result of my decades-long passion for chasing the best flavors in the kitchen, all meant to be cooked by regular people with busy lives just like you and me.

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978 Comments

  1. Is ist safe to double spaghetti recipe
    in 8 qt Instapot? Also like to add 14 oz
    Can of mushrooms.. should I alter any
    other ingredient/water?

    1. Hi, Jocelyn! I haven’t attempted to double this recipe in my 8qt instant pot, so I would say use your best judgment. I believe it would all fit, but it’s hard for me to say without further recipe testing. You can add the mushrooms without any other alterations.

      1. 5 stars
        Hi! Came out scrumptious!!
        I did sauté a chopped up onion & added the mushrooms last minute or two of sauté. Definitely unglaze/deglaze pot after sauté & before starting next step! Not sure enough space for doubling recipe. Extremely happy with my 8 qt Instapot!!
        Just got it a few days ago & have made 2 roasts with veggies, hard boiled eggs & this spaghetti!!
        Instapot customer service absolutely kills it!! I’ve called 5 times or so & they’re excellent help!
        Everything turns out wonderful!
        Love the One Pot!! Btw, I’ll be 83 in Jan.. Thanks again, Jocelyn

      2. Jocelyn, the mushrooms sounds amazing I’m going to add some next time for sure! Thank you so much for coming back by and letting me know you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂

  2. 5 stars
    This was great! I made it as directed and found my noodles weren’t quite done after 8 minutes of cooking. I added another half jar of sauce because my family loves a lot of sauce and set it for 3 more minutes. Then it was perfect! The beef was so tender in the sauce and I used 93% lean. I consider myself a fairly good cook and spaghetti is normally an easy meal. This will now be my new way of making spaghetti. Clean up was so stinking easy!

  3. 5 stars
    Has anyone tried this with fully cooked meatballs? Would the cooking time be the same? Also, the way to get ‘perfect’ cooked noodles is to make sure there’s enough water to cover them; mine have been a bit undercooked a couple of times? I’m terrible at preparing meals the traditional way, so I got the Instant Pot because I hoped it would help me be less terrible. Thanks for any help!!

  4. 5 stars
    This was soooooo good. I usually follow recipes to the tee the first time, but I really wanted to do spaghetti tonight and didn’t have a single jar of spaghetti sauce, so I threw one together from one of Mel’s Kitchen Cafe recipes for quick spaghetti sauce. I worried it all was going to be a flop because I didn’t have tomato paste or sauce and just dumped in a can of tomato soup along with the other ingredients she mentioned. It was fantastic and so easy!!! I loved walking away but was a little nervous that it was going to be pastey and clumpy. I never go back for seconds on spaghetti, because it just isn’t my favorite meal, but I loaded up to the top of my stomach tonight. Thank you for a brilliant recipe. I promise to keep a jar of sauce on hand at all times from here on out!

  5. I am just now releasing the steam. . . I found I didn’t have enough liquid to completely cover the noodles. Maybe next time, if it’s not good tonight, I’ll put the cooked meat on top so the noodles will be more submerged?
    Thoughts?

  6. Hi Nichole! I’m planning to make this recipe this weekend but was hoping to double it. I have a 6 qt pot and was wondering if you knew what adjustments I would need to make. 72 oz of water seems like a lot if I double the recipe and I’m also thinking I might run out of room. Thanks!

    1. Hi Christie! That’s a great question, and I actually never have doubled this recipe. I would personally get everything in the instant pot first, then just make sure you have enough water that you can push the noodles down to be completely covered. As long as the noodles are fully submerged, you should be just fine.

  7. Has anyone tried using chicken broth in place of the water? Just wondering how it would taste. It seems like adding that much water would make the spaghetti sauce bland?

    1. Hey, Tiffany! I’ve never made this using broth, but if I was going to do that I think I’d go for beef broth. The sauce isn’t bland at all, I’d say this is because it’s all cooked together. It has great flavor 🙂

      1. I am trying this now with the 6-quart pot and the full 36 oz of beef broth. I will let you know how it turns out…

      2. So, it looked really watery at frst, but once it sat for a few minutes it was fine. The noodles are a littlle undercooked for the kids pallet. Not enough meat. Next time I will use 2 # ground beef. Other wise we will definitely do this again.

      3. It is best to give it a good stir, then it won’t seem watery at all! Definitely, use more meat if that’s your preference, my family likes more of the noodles and sauce! Thanks for letting me know how you liked it 🙂

    1. Hi, Elizabeth & Jade! Sorry that your noodles weren’t finished. I have made this recipe several times to make sure it was the correct cooking time, and haven’t had an issue. I would say remember that it takes a couple of minutes for the Instant Pot to heat up. Maybe give it a minute or two to heat up all the way, then start timing at 8 minutes. Hopefully that helps! 🙂

    2. 4 stars
      I used bucatini which like super long macaroni without the curves. 6 qt IP. I did approx 1/3-1/2 this recipe (used leftover sauce from earlier in the week) mine turned out real al dente but still quite edible using the 8 min timing. I left it in the pot and set it on saute until it was a little more done. Didn’t time it but as soon as it got bubbly I swiched it off and stired it every minute or so until the rest of dinner was ready.

  8. 5 stars
    Made this tonight with gluten free penne pasta and had to leave out the tomatoes because I didn’t have any. It was DELICOUS! Thanks for much for posting this recipe!!!