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For those nights when you need something fast and easy turn to this 10 minute Instant Pot Spaghetti. Superbly seasoned beef and tender noodles all cook together in a delectable sauce and is ready in no time.
I love Italian food, it’s comfort food. Make a complete Italian inspired meal with Creamy Zuppa Toscana, decadent Panzanella Salad, Homemade Easy Cheesy Garlic Bread and finish off with Traditional Italian Cookies. Buono!
Instant Pot Spaghetti
Instant Pot cooking changed my life. All of a sudden I could cook dinners in half the time and all in one pot. It’s one of my favorite kitchen gadgets. While instant pot spaghetti may not be truly Italian, it’s Italian inspired. It’s the perfect meal when you feel like life has been a hot mess that day. It’s a hands off, no fuss, everyone will love it meal. Spaghetti is a perfect go to meal, it’s one everyone loves and it doesn’t take that much time. And in the instant pot it’s even faster as it all cooks together. The pasta, meat and sauce, all in one pot. You are going to love it. Rich and hearty it will fill you and your family up.
Now you’re going to have to trust me on this recipe. Cooking the noodles with the sauce might seem like a gamble, it is, but it works. The temptation to want to stir will be real. Don’t give in, don’t stir. This recipe really goes against all your cooking instincts. But trust me, this works and you might be surprised about how easy and wonderful it is to have it all cook in the same pot at the same time. You may never go back to regular spaghetti again. Believe me this works and it’s delicious. This is the perfect recipe on those days when you forgot to plan ahead. Reach for your pantry staples and set the table because you’ve got this.
Quick and Easy Spaghetti Ingredients
Jarred marinara sauce makes this super easy, it’s a great short cut, especially on busy nights. You can make your own spaghetti sauce, like this favorite, which is made in the instant pot first. Then add the noodles. Or keep it quick and simple.
- Olive Oil: To help the beef from sticking to the pot.
- Ground Beef: Use lean ground beef.
- Italian Seasoning: Helps to season the beef for an extra flavor.
- Garlic Powder: Because you can never have enough garlic in Italian food.
- Salt and Pepper: Add more or less to taste.
- Spaghetti Noodles: It is best to break the noodles beforehand then criss-crossing them in the pot for best cooking.
- Marinara Sauce: Two Jars of your favorite or this homemade equivalent sauce is even better.
- Water: You need this extra fluid for the noodles to cook in.
How to Make Spaghetti in an Instant Pot
Cooking the noodles at the same time as the sauce make this recipe super fast and easy. All the work in one pot means less mess. More time to do the things you love and still put a hearty meal on the table.
- Sauté: Set a 6 quart instant pot to sauté. Add the olive oil, ground beef, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cook and crumble until no longer pink.
- Add: Break the noodles in half. Layer them in a criss-cross pattern so they do not stick as it cooks.
- Pour: Pour the marinara and water on top of the noodles.
- Cook: Cook on high pressure for 5-7 minutes. Use the quick release and wait for cycle to complete before unlocking. Stir together and serve with parmesan and chopped basil.
Tips For The Best Instant Pot Spaghetti
You’re going to love how easy this is, sometimes you just need to get a meal on the table and I love this one, especially if I don’t want to spend a ton of time in the kitchen. If I have a bit more time I’ll throw together this Slow cooker Italian Chicken and Potatoes or Incredible Homemade Calzone. Always family favorites!
- Noodles: Make sure to lay your noodles in criss cross layers. This will prevent the noodles from sticking together as they cook, since you can’t stir it during cooking.
- Swap: Take this opportunity to use whole wheat noodles and sneak in some fiber and protein. They’ll never know because it’s cooked all together.
- Meat: Feel free to use ground turkey, ground chicken, or Italian sausage instead of beef. All will work in this recipe.
- Scrape: After you brown the meat, add about a cup of the water to the meat and scrape the bottom of the instant pot. This helps avoid the “burn” notification that sometimes can occur during cooking.
- Water: If you using jarred marinara I like to place the water in the empty jars and “rinse” all the goodness out of the jar and into my spaghetti. It’s a double whammy.
- Avoid: Avoid the urge to stir the noodles once you put them in. Don’t do it! You’ll want to but it’ll cause the noodles to get gummy and stick together.
- Creamy: Want a more creamy sauce? Add two large tablespoons or more of cream cheese when it’s finished cooking. Gently stir till melted and thoroughly incorporated.
- More Flavor: If you want a pinch more flavor add an extra half to 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning. This might be especially helpful if your marinara sauce seems a little bland. You want a robust full bodied sauce.
- Watery: Don’t panic if you remove the lid and it seems watery. Give it a good stir and let it sit for 3-5 minutes.
Freezing and Storing Spaghetti
If there’s a chance you have leftovers, they’ll be even better the second day. I don’t know what it is about Italian food, but it’s always better after the flavors have melded together overnight. One of my favorites for leftovers is Baked Chicken Spaghetti, it is so good! Sometimes I secretly hope there are leftovers, just so I can have them the next day for lunch. Warmed up with a slice of bread and I’m set!
- Storing: Like most dishes, this will keep beautifully in the fridge for 4-5 days.
- Freeze: This will freeze for 3-4 months well. If I know I’m going to freeze leftovers I’ll try to under cook the noodles just a tad bit so they are really al dente. Using the quick release valve stops the cooking process. Once the spaghetti has completely cooled I will portion out in individual freezer safe containers or bags. Thaw overnight in the fridge and warm on the stove top or microwave. Enjoy!
More Italian Inspired Recipes
Whether it’s soup or seafood, Italian inspired recipes are so scrumptious. The combination of spices and sauces are so incredible. It truly is good comfort food. Many times the recipes come together quickly too. Try these Italian winners tonight.
- Classic Italian Wedding Soup
- Three Cheese Stuffed Pasta Shells
- Quick and Easy Stromboli
- The Best Lasagna Recipe EVER
- Grilled Lemon Garlic Scallops
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10 Minute Instant Pot Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 pound spaghetti noodles
- 2 (24-ounce) jars marinara sauce
- 3 cups water
Instructions
- Set a 6 quart instant pot to the saute mode. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 pound ground beef, 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cook and crumble until the meat is no longer pink, about 5-7 minutes.
- Break 1 pound spaghetti noodles in half. Layer them in a criss cross pattern so they do not stick as it cooks.
- Pour 2 (24-ounce) jars marinara sauce and 3 cups water on top of the noodles.
- Cook on high pressure for 5-7 minutes. Use the quick release and wait for cycle to complete before unlocking.
- Stir together and serve with parmesan and chopped basil.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The cooking time was not long enough. My noodles were undercooked.
Hmm, I’m not sure what happened. For most instant pot’s you can cook spaghetti on HIGH pressure in 5-8 minutes followed by a 5 minute natural pressure release. Did you have your instant pot on the correct settings?
I used this recipe and crisscross my spaghetti so it did not lump together. I put in my sauce then spaghetti then 3 cups of water, put on lid for 7 minutes. Worked great! Thank you!
One recipe calls for 3 minutes, this one calls for 7, I put it it in for 15 minutes and it still isn’t done.
Hi Maya, did you do a quick release or natural release?
This is my go-to recipe for Instant Pot spaghetti and I love it. This recipe always turns out right. Thanks for publishing it.
Hi Alyssa, Thank you for the recipe. I was too afraid to cook the spaghetti in the Instapot with adding all that water. So I just mixed the sauce into the ground beef and added some cut up frozen bell pepper and a cup of water. I boiled the pasta separate. The sauce and spaghetti was delicious and ready to eat in short order.
Best of all the IP spaghetti recipes we’ve tried so far! Maybe because of the second jar of sauce?
Do you think I could substitute jarred alfredo sauce for the marinara? Would I need to change anything else?
They’re interchangeable! ?
This turned out great. The spaghetti was cooked nicely and the meat sauce was spiced to our liking .
I’m a toaly Instant Pot newb so bear with me. I’m trying this recipe right now and the meat was only half done after the Sautee cycle – I tried to saute again and it went for a couple of minutes and then said done…that process alone took @ 10 minutes. i quick released to be able to mix it together well and figured it will finish cooking when the noodles are being cooked. I set it to Pressure cook, 7 minutes, High Pressure. It’s taking a while to come to pressure… all in all it’s been @ 40 minutes since I started this recipe and I can hear it like it’s boiling in there – but when I push the “more” or “less” buttons it still shows :07 time remaining since it hasn’t come to pressure again yet…. I looked and saw a couple of other comments that said their Instant Pots didn’t come to pressure either. I’m just waiting it out. Note: I’m dumbfounded that this Instant Pot did not come with a basic manual of basic recipes and directions. *My friend loves hers and said she gets all her recipes online.
It sure feels like I’m missing something that may seem intuitive to others somehow. Like I’m missing the “Instant” part! (Thanks for any suggestions)
**(Okay – it just came to pressure!) but it’s been 43 minutes since I started this recipe… now I’d guess it will be 7 more since the timer is counting down once it came to pressure.
??? Guess I’ll wait to post until it finishes.
End result: cooked down from 7 minutes then I quick released and the noodles were not cook all the way and still a lot of liquid… so I stirred and started again for 10minute same settings. This time it signaled “burn”… but after quick released and stirring – (plenty of fluids still so unsure why it burned) the noodles were acceptably cooked and the burned bottom part was at the very bottom, so I salvaged it. All in all this took 1:15!??/ Tasted good but any suggestions are appreciated. I have an Instant Pot Duo.
Hi Dawnette!
For the saute function, you won’t be using the pressure cooker lid. Just keep the instant pot open like it’s a pot on the stove and saute the meat as though you’re browning it in a pan. It only took me 7 or 8 minutes. Then, layer everything on top and put the lid on, following the recipe as written.
I’m not sure if that would fix the rest of the problems you faced, but it might help bring the time down significantly!
Hi Dawnette,
It sounds like you didn’t close your vent. I forget to do that at time and will take forever because all your steam is venting out. Also saute your meat with lid off. I hope that helps. ?
Made this for meal prep. Made 5 meals with peas and a roll and butter on the side, plus my evening meal for one tonight.
My son and I will take for school/work lunches and I can freeze the rest.
I will definitely make this again-Quick and economical.
Used a chopped onion and real garlic as I had those.
Great Single Pot “SUPER EASY” Recipe! Will become a quick meal “and” a permanent RV Camping meal. PS…Make Sure to release the pressure immediately. I followed the recipe exactly and it was perfect. However, I forgot about it and let the pot sit for 2 minutes before manually releasing the pressure. It seems like the pasta would burn if sits to long without opening and stirring.
I made this and was skeptical based on the mixed reviews, so I’m leaving mine as detailed as possible: I used a 6qt instant pot duo. Sautéed the meat on sautéed setting- I just went for it and didn’t wait for it to reach a certain temp. For my machine, I can’t just switch to go pressure setting, I have to “cancel” the sauté mode and then go to high pressure mode. YES, this took a WHILE to come to pressure/temp (I saw some commenting about theirs not coming to pressure/temp)… I felt it took a while bc I was staring at it, waiting. I had it in high pressure for 9 min, then I opened it, and YES, some bits stuck together and some were undercooked, but here’s the deal: I took out the minor undercooked clump and tossed it (no major loss) and then I got tongs and stirred up the rest- some bits were undercooked, so I just closed that sucker (it’s “off” at this point) and let it sit for 3-5min and all the noods were fine. You have to expect SOME to clump together, but it’s doable. All in all, this saves a LOT of time (and water!)- only one pot and tongs to wash as opposed to a pan and spatula for meat + pot and strainer… will definitely keep this recipe in my arsenal!