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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
10 Minute Instant Pot Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 pound spaghetti noodles
- 2 24 ounce jars marinara sauce
- 3 cups water
Instructions
- Set a 6 quart instant pot to saute. Add the olive oil, ground beef, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cook and crumble until no longer pink.
- Break the noodles in half. Layer them in a criss cross pattern so they do not stick as it cooks. Pour the marinara and 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
Serves: 6
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.
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!
Love love love this recipe! It’s the best of both worlds between traditional spaghetti and baked spaghetti. Soooo easy to make, it’s my go to spaghetti and on an added note I cut Italian sausage into coins and browned that with my ground beef, yum! Thanks for the perfect spaghetti recipe
I tried this with Barilla GF pasta and after 7 mins they weren’t quite done so I stirred it up a bit and pressure cooked it for another 6 minutes and it was absolutely PERFECT! Thank you!
I Will Probably NEVER Make Another Spaghetti 🍝 Recipe Again BECAUSE THIS 10 Min. Instant Pot One Turned Out Absolutely PERFECT ! TY So VERY Much For Posting This Recipe. EASIEST Spaghetti I’ve Ever Made. Tasted BETTER Than All My Other Spaghetti Dishes B/C I Followed the Instructions & Had Everything in My Pantry 🙂 xoxoxo
I made this recipe tonight it was really good only thing I changed is I didn’t have spaghetti noodles so I used a box of Panini Noodles turned out great cooked it the same time and everything didn’t change anything else but the pasta
Cooked to recipe but the noodles were still hard .
Same here add more water and tried again. Still not super tender but enjoyable.
Awesome! I used leftover meat sauce from a prior meal and added only half the quantity of noodles and 1 jar of sauce including half of the spices and water. This was plenty for 2 people.
Thanks for posting this recipe!
This was my first attempt at cooking pasta in my stovetop, 8 qt pressure cooker and I am hooked! I used Capellini pasta with a 6-minute cook time/quick release. I did have a little burning at the bottom of the pan but it did not affect the taste of the meat or the pasta. Had I read your instructions more carefully, I would have seen the tip about adding the cup of water and scraping the bottom of pan after the meat has browned. Thank You Alyssa for an easy and delicious recipe!
Made the recipe 😔…Why did my pasta stick together. I broke them in half criss-cross. Please help
Easy and so smooth
I made this in a 8 quart instant pot and it turned out really good I was going to show a picture of it but can’t figure out how to add a picture in the comments here. I still used the same amount of time and sauce and water it was really good fixing to make it again tonight for supper.
My instant pot won’t come to pressure with this recipe
That’s interesting! This shouldn’t work any differently than any other recipe! Was your Instant pot turned to sealed?
I just tried this recipe and the pot wouldn’t come to pressure either. And yes, it was on seal. ???
I have a 8 quart cooker can I still use the same recipe for this spaghetti?
Do you mean that you have an 8-quart slow cooker? This is for an instant pot so the recipe would have to change. I haven’t tried this recipe for a slow cooker before!
I have a 8 quart instant pot
I made this in a 8 quart instant pot and it turned out really good I was going to show a picture of it but can’t figure out how to add a picture in the comments here. I still used the same amount of time and sauce and water it was really good fixing to make it again tonight for supper.