Instant Pot Spaghetti
Instant Pot Spaghetti makes the classic spaghetti and meat sauce even easier. Throw everything in your pressure cooker and have this Instant Pot pasta on the table in less than 30 minutes!
This Instant Pot spaghetti with meat sauce is one of our favorite weeknight dinners. It’s tasty, takes almost no time to make, and it is a filling family dinner that uses only a few ingredients.
Spaghetti is the classic easy dinner recipe but making it in an Instant Pot makes it even easier by turning this staple into a genuine one pot meal. Get all of your ingredients layered together, lock the lid in place, set it and forget it.
In less than 30 minutes you’ll be sitting down to a spaghetti dinner with some Texas toast or cheese twists on the side. The best part is that when you’re done eating you’ll have a lot fewer dishes to wash!
If you like a white sauce with your pasta try our Instant Pot chicken Alfredo pasta!
Note: This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Thank you!
Ingredients You’ll Need
For this recipe, you’ll need the following:
- Ground Beef – You can saute this with your Italian sausage in the Instant Pot but to save time, you can also cook the two meats ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator or freezer until you are ready to make your spaghetti. If you do this you’ll need about 6 ounces of cooked ground beef.
- Ground Italian sausage – Like the beef the measurements in the recipe are based on cooking the meat in your Instant pot. If you want to save time and pre-cook the sausage you’ll need about 7 ounces of cooked sausage.
- Seasonings – You’ll need garlic powder, onion powder, and Kosher or regular salt.
- Spaghetti – We use regular spaghetti for this, not the thin variety.
- Water – You only need 8 ounces or just about a cup of water to make the spaghetti.
- Rao’s marinara – That’s our favorite, but you can use your preferred brand or make your own homemade version if you like.
Instructions
Step 1 – Saute the meat. Use your 6 Quart Instant Pot’s SAUTE function to brown the beef and sausage. As it cooks, add the garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. You’ll need to make sure it is cooked through.
When it has finished cooking, drain the excess grease from the pot by pouring the meat through a strainer. Once the meat is drained, place it back in the pot.
Step 2 – Prep the spaghetti. You’ll need to break the spaghetti in half and add them on top of the cooked meat. As you lay it down, fan out the ends so that they are less likely to clump together when cooking.
Step 3 – Pour in the water and sauce. Without stirring the ingredients, pour the water and then the pasta sauce over the noodles. Again, DO NOT STIR!! Just make sure the liquid completely covers the pasta by pushing down on it as needed.
Step 4 – Cook the pasta. Lock the lid in place and turn the valve to SEALING. Once in place, set the pot to HIGH pressure for 8 minutes. When the timer goes off, carefully do a quick release to let out the pressure.
Step 5 – Prep and serve. Once the pin drops, carefully remove the lid and stir the pasta. If there are any clumps, use a fork to gently comb through and separate the pasta. Finally, stir the meat sauce, and pasta together and then set the lid on top and let sit for 5 more minutes before serving hot from the pot.
Tip for best results. Once the timer has gone off and you’ve opened the lid, use a fork to stir everything around. You may find some noodles that are clumped together – this is normal! Use the fork to gently comb through them and pull them apart. Stir the pasta together with the sauce and meat until you don’t find any more pasta clumps. Finally, sit the lid back on the pot and let the spaghetti sit for 5 more minutes to ensure everything is perfectly cooked and any excess liquid is absorbed.
How Long Does it Take to Cook Spaghetti Noodles in an Instant Pot?
Regular sized spaghetti noodles only take about 6 to 8 minutes of cooking time in the Instant Pot. This does not count the 5 to 10 minutes it takes to come up to pressure. The total time you can expect them to take is about 11 to 18 minutes with the pressure time included.
If you want to save time you can brown the ground beef and Italian sausage ahead of time. The cooked weights are approximately 6 ounces of cooked ground beef and 7 ounces of cooked Italian sausage. I like to make a double batch so I have enough for my lasagna stuffed peppers and this easy pressure cooker spaghetti during the week.
How Much Liquid Do You Cook Pasta in the Instant Pot?
You need about 2 cups of liquid for every 8 ounces of spaghetti. Our recipe uses a combination of water and marinara sauce, which counts towards the liquid needed.
A general rule of thumb, though this is not always perfect, you need enough liquid to just barely cover the noodles. And another rule of thumb is you need at least 1 cup of liquid for the Instant Pot to come up to pressure.
What to Serve With It
Spaghetti in an Instant Pot makes a great family dinner or lunch. It goes great with rolls, Cheese Twists, or homemade Texas Toast.
Of course, it also pairs great with salads and greens. We love serving spaghetti with our Panzanella Salad Italian Bread Salad or our Italian Green Bean Salad. Both are great and tasty options for as sides.
How to Make it Ahead of Time
This is a very quick and easy recipe to make just about any night of the week. We recommend making it fresh and serving it immediately.
If you have leftovers, you can store them in a sealed container in the fridge for about 3 to 4 days.
To reheat add 1 cup of sauce and then microwave for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring halfway through. You could also place leftovers in a pot with 1 additional cup of pasta sauce and heat over medium heat, stirring often, until warmed through.
Looking for More Instant Pot Recipes?
- Instant Pot Chicken Tacos
- Instant Pot Salsa Chicken
- Instant Pot Ribs
- Instant Pot Pulled Pork
- Instant Pot Beef Stew
- Instant Pot Jambalaya
- Instant Pot Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy
- More Instant Pot Recipes…
Like this recipe?
Make sure to follow us on Instagram and Pinterest for more recipes like this.
Instant Pot Spaghetti
Ingredients
- ½ pound Ground Beef
- ½ pound Ground Italian sausage
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Onion powder
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 16 ounces Spaghetti
- 8 ounces Water
- 32 ounces Rao’s marinara, or your favorite brand
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to SAUTE and add ground beef and Italian sausage. Top with the garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. Brown the meat until it is cooked through.
- Remove excess grease from the pot by pouring the meat into a strainer. Add meat back to the pot.
- Break the spaghetti pasta in half and add to the pot laying them on top of the cooked meat. Make sure to fan the noodles out so they have less chance of clumping up as they cook.
- Pour the water over the spaghetti followed by the pasta sauce. DO NOT STIR. Make sure the pasta is completely covered by sauce. You can press down on any that is not covered by sauce.
- Lock the lid in place and turn the valve to SEALING.
- Set to HIGH pressure for 8 minutes.
- When the timer goes off carefully do a quick release letting out the remaining pressure.
- When the pin drops remove the lid and stir the pasta. If you find any clumps of pasta stuck together use a fork to gently comb them apart.
- Stir meat, sauce, and pasta together and then set the lid on top and let sit for 5 minutes more then serve.
Nutrition
Loved this recipe! The pictures and instructions made it so easy.