Instant Pot Spaghetti
89 Comments
Posted: 01/02/25
Updated: 01/07/25
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Love Spaghetti? It just got easier with this easy Instant Pot Spaghetti recipe. It’s made in one pot and is completely hands off. Tender spaghetti noodles in a meat sauce. Pair with a tossed salad and garlic bread for a complete meal.
I have finally fallen in love with my pressure cooker! I was the one that left it in the box and only made a few recipes like this family favorite Hamburger stroganoff and Instant Pot beef taco soup then stuck it away until I made the specific recipe again!
But once I tried meals like this Instant Pot spaghetti recipe, I knew it would become a staple! It’s the BEST spaghetti I’ve ever had! In fact, my family loves it just as much as me. The pressure cooker makes the noodles the perfect texture and clean-up is super quick. A win all around — this recipe is totally worth it!
Why You’ll Love this Instant Pot Spaghetti
- This easy dinner recipe can be completed in just 30 minutes. You’ll have dinner on the table before you know it!
- You can make pressure cooker spaghetti with just seven simple ingredients. Keep them on hand and you’ll have everything you need for a quick dinner at a moments notice.
- There are multiple different variations of this recipe that you can make. Swap out the meat choice, noodle options and grab your favorite sauce.
Ingredients for Instant Pot Spaghetti
- Ground beef – Use lean ground beef for the best results. This will keep your pasta from getting really greasy.
- Yellow onion – Saute diced onion with the ground beef to add loads of flavor to this easy spaghetti in the Instant Pot.
- Minced garlic – Freshly minced garlic is my favorite thing to add to almost any savory recipe! It gives so much flavor to a dish and is so simple to use.
- Spaghetti sauce – Grab a jar of your favorite sauce at the grocery store or use homemade spaghetti sauce in this recipe. Either works!
- Petite diced tomatoes – A can of diced tomatoes will give this dish a bit of extra liquid to cook the noodles and makes it extra tomatoey.
- Water – For added flavor, use chicken broth or beef broth in place of water.
- Spaghetti noodles – Grab a box of your favorite spaghetti noodles to cook in this recipe. I have not tried it with gluten-free noodles, so if you want to make that swap then you may need to trial and error a bit and see what works!
Helpful Tools
- Instant Pot
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Wooden spoon
- Spaghetti server
How to Make Instant Pot Spaghetti
This is prepared in a 6 quart pressure cooker and has not been tested in any other size.
Turn pressure cooker to saute and then place ground hamburger, onions and garlic in pressure cooker. Saute for 5 minutes or until beef is almost cooked through and onions are translucent.
Drain grease off of hamburger.
Break noodles into thirds and place on top of hamburger making sure they are evenly placed. Pour pasta sauce ingredients including, spaghetti sauce, petite diced tomatoes and water, on top. Do not stir.
Place the lid on top of Instant Pot and seal, then turn on to manual and set the timer for 8 minutes.
When pressure cooker is done cooking, quick release the pressure. Stir and serve.
How to Store Leftover Spaghetti
Transfer
Can I use something other than ground beef in spaghetti?
You can totally leave out the meat in this recipe if you want! But ground turkey, ground chicken, and Italian sausage would all be a tasty substitute in place of ground beef.
What kind of pasta can I use in the Instant Pot?
Really, any of your favorite spaghetti noodles will work! You can even sneak in whole wheat pasta. If you don’t have spaghetti noodles, then feel free to use a different type of pasta. Just keep in mind that the cook time may be slightly different.
How do you keep spaghetti from burning in the Instant Pot?
It is really important to ensure that you are using plenty of liquid so that the noodles don’t stick and burn. You should also scrape the bottom of the pot before placing the lid on the Instant Pot. The order in which you layer things is also important! Put the ground beef on the bottom, layering the noodles on top and then finish with the sauce, water and tomatoes.
What to Serve with Instant Pot Spaghetti
Serve this hearty spaghetti with some cheesy garlic bread or savory air fryer garlic bread. Fluffy breadsticks are a delicious side dish too! And if you want to sneak in veggies, then these roasted vegetables are a great pairing.
A side salad works well with this dish too! And, of course, don’t forget fresh parmesan cheese on top of your spaghetti along with a garnish of parsley, fresh basil, or fresh oregano.
Pro Tips for the Best Instant Pot Spaghetti
- To thicken the pasta sauce after it cooks turn on the saute function and simmer for a few minutes.
- Cook for six minutes for an al dente noodle and 8 minutes on manual for a softer noodle.
- Make sure to arrange the noodles in alternating directions to prevent them from sticking together.
I hope you enjoy this easy one pot recipe! The pressure cooker is sure to be your bestie.
More Instant Pot Recipes You’ll Love!
- Instant Pot Ribs
- Hamburger Stroganoff
- Mashed Potatoes
- Goulash
- Spaghetti and Meatballs
- One Pot Skillet Spaghetti!
Did you make this? If you snap a photo, please be sure tag me on Instagram at @julieseatsandtreats or #julieseatsandtreats so I can see your yummy treat!
Instant Pot Spaghetti
Quick, Easy Homemade Spaghetti with Meat Sauce Made in Your Pressure Cooker!
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 24 ounces spaghetti sauce
- 14.5 ounces petite diced tomatoes
- 2 cups water
- 8 ounces spaghetti noodles
Instructions
- Turn pressure cooker to saute. Place ground hamburger, onions and garlic in pressure cooker. Saute for 5 minutes or until beef is almost cooked through and onions are translucent. Drain grease off of hamburger.
- Break noodles into thirds and place on top of hamburger making sure they are evenly placed. Pour spaghetti sauce, petite diced tomatoes and water on top. Do not stir.
- Turn pressure cooker to manual and set timer for 8 minutes.
- When pressure cooker is done cooking, quick release the pressure. Stir and serve.
Tips
- Sneak in whole wheat pasta. When you use your pressure cooker to cook it your family will never know.
- Not a fan of hamburger? Leave it out!
- You could also use ground turkey or ground chicken instead of beef.
- Not a fan of diced tomatoes? Leave it out!
- Cook for six minutes for an al dente noodle and 8 minutes on manual for a softer noodle.
- Make sure to arrange the noodles in alternating directions to prevent them from sticking together.
- Get a good quality marinara sauce to provide it plenty of flavor.
- To thicken the sauce after it cooks turn on the saute function and simmer for a few minutes.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 361kcal (18%), Carbohydrates: 41g (14%), Protein: 21g (42%), Fat: 12g (18%), Saturated Fat: 4g (25%), Cholesterol: 51mg (17%), Sodium: 741mg (32%), Potassium: 916mg (26%), Fiber: 4g (17%), Sugar: 9g (10%), Vitamin A: 640IU (13%), Vitamin C: 16.1mg (20%), Calcium: 67mg (7%), Iron: 4.2mg (23%)
Gary says
Well, after 77 years, I have found that me and my tummy have been leaning to more ‘vegan’ recipes. I have a Ninja Foodi, and find it to be a god-send! Julie, I can take your recipes and use Beyond Meat beef crumbles or italian sausage crumbles and the spaghetti comes out magnifete. There are also frozen veggie meat balls that work well and are tasty. Veggie options have become a tasty option these days. My 1 variation to your recipe is I will break noodles in half so I can practice my dexterity by being a spaghetti spinner. Keeps me young you know, and I am sticking to my story
Michelle Sperr says
Thanks for sharing Gary! Glad you enjoyed this recipe.
Ruth says
Have not tried this recipe yet. It looks great! I do not see where the points for a serving are. My husband and I are counting points and he keeps mentioning that he misses having spaghetti. Please share the points for this recipe and then we will fit it into our plan. Thank you!
Michelle Sperr says
Hi Ruth – nutritional information is found on/below the recipe card! Hope this helps and hope you give it a try! Let me know what you think!
Tim Howson says
Hahahahaha yeah that is me too Julie!!! I won my instant pot from my bosses son’s Stag and Doe so I got it home and I cooked once in it then to save space I put it back in the box to free up space but with you new recipes here I’m going to try a few and I will rate them for you hun!!
So stay tuned okay???
Michelle Sperr says
Glad to hear that you’re going to give it a whirl! Let me know how it goes Tim! I hope you love it!
Shannon says
Delicious, fast, and best of all — easy! I appreciate this recipe. I don’t like spaghetti and didn’t feel like cooking, but my boys do like spaghetti and since I’m using my new Ninja Foodi XL pressure cooker, I need some good, simple recipes for it (hoping to show these boys how easy it is so they will cook something themselves??!). This did not disappoint. I doubled this, didn’t use onion or garlic, and no diced tomatoes. Those will not get past Mr. Picky here. Instead, I used onion and garlic powders and used beef broth instead of water, and used sea salt & black pepper in the ground beef. Even I ended up eating it. Thank you very much for making my night easier.
Michelle Sperr says
Thank you for sharing your comment Shannon! I’m so glad that you gave this recipe a try and it was a success at your home! Hope you enjoy using that new pressure cooker!
Skylar says
Can I add mushrooms and use fresh tomatoes instead?
Julie says
Yes, that will be fine!
linda dulin says
It was very flavorful and delicious. The only problem I had is my husband HATES diced tomatoes. So I ran them throu the blender. It was still Very good, but I did have to simmer it for a few minutes to thicken it up!
Julie says
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Christy says
Yum! Added a tablespoon of soy sauce and it gave it a nice umami flavor!
Julie says
Sounds delicious! Glad you enjoyed it!
Mike Baldwin says
Best spaghetti I ever made, by far! And so quick and easy.
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Julie says
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you loved it!
Linda Albelo says
I have got to try this recipe! I love spagehetti & could eat it everyday!
Julie says
You’ll love it!
Susan P says
I understand that you need ads to support your blog, however, I couldn’t read you blog as the constant pop up constantly blocked the screen.
Julie says
I’m sorry to hear that, Susan! One option to try is click on Print Recipe and it will take you to an ad free printable version.
Dale says
I have a ?
I am new to instant pot cooking, do I cook the hamburger and onion with cover off, then drain grease and add all other ingredients then put the cover on and set the timer to cook for 8 minutes?
Julie says
You want to cook the hamburger with the cover off on the saute setting, it will be like browning the hamburger, onion and garlic on the stove. Drain the grease, then continue with the steps to pressure cook with the cover on and the pressure valve closed.
Jules says
If I use Angel Hair pasta instead of regular spaghetti noodles do I need to adjust the cooking time? Angel Hair pasta takes 4 minutes to cook in a pot of boiling water.
Julie says
Yes, you’ll want to do a reduced pressure cook time with angel hair. You could try somewhere between 2-4 minutes. I haven’t tested this with anything other than spaghetti noodles so I’m not positive on cook time for angel hair.
Vicky says
I’ve made this a few times and it’s been pretty good. Thanks for the simple recipe. One question I have is it when to release the pressure.
So, the displays reads, “On” until the pressure is reached. Do I release once pressure is reached, or do I then wait eight minutes after pressure is reached before releasing?
Thanks for the recipe!
Julie says
Wait until the pressure is reached, then cook 8 minutes, then quick release pressure.
Milinda says
I tried this recipe last night. Worked out great. Would add more seasoning next time! So fast and easy, thanks for sharing!
Julie Evink says
Glad you enjoyed it Milinda! I’ve found that the spaghetti sauce you use really matters on the how much seasoning you need!
John says
This is so easy and so good, it’s the only way to make spaghetti!
Julie Evink says
Glad you enjoyed it!