Instant Pot Spaghetti With Meat Sauce
This Instant Pot Spaghetti with meat sauce is one of the easiest Instant Pot recipes you will ever make. The meat, pasta, and sauce all cook together to create the ultimate one-pot meal that your entire family will devour!
Servings 4 people
Equipment
- Instant Pot DUO60 6 Qt 7-in-1
Ingredients
- 8 oz uncooked spaghetti
- 1 lb lean ground beef or ground turkey
- 1 cup chopped yellow onions, 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste optional
- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes, or 24 oz jar of your favorite marinara sauce
- 2 cups beef stock or water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Parmesan cheese, as required
- Fresh basil leaves, for garnish
Seasoning mix
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Press the 'SAUTE' button, and set it to 'NORMAL'. Once its displays, 'HOT', then add olive oil, let it heat up a bit, then add ground beef. Cook, crumbling the meat with a spoon until browned, about 5 minutes.
- Next, add diced onions along with minced garlic, saute until the onions are translucent, about 2 minutes.
- Add the seasoning mix and tomato paste. Cook for another minute.
- Add 1/2 cup of broth and deglaze the pot, scraping off any browned bits stuck at the bottom of the pot. Do not skip this step, as you will get a 'BURN' error if the browned bits are left at the bottom of the pot.
- Press 'CANCEL' to switch off the 'SAUTE' mode. Break the spaghetti in half and scatter it over the meat mixture in a criss-cross pattern. Pour canned crushed tomatoes all over the spaghetti. Pour in the remaining 1.5 cups of broth or water around the edges of the pot. Push the spaghetti gently under the liquid, making sure the spaghetti is covered with the liquid.
- Close the lid of the Instant Pot. Set the valve to 'SEALING'. Pressure cook on high for 8 minutes. It will take some time for the pressure to build up (about 12 minutes), after which the timer will begin.
- Once the cooking cycle is complete, do a quick release of the leftover pressure as per the manufacturer's instructions. Press 'CANCEL' and switch off the IP. Once the silver pin drops, turn the knob to 'VENTING' and open the lid away from you. You will find some liquid on top.
- The sauce will look soupy after you open the lid (pic for reference below). Mix the spaghetti gently with the sauce. Cover and let it sit for 10 minutes on the 'KEEP WARM' mode, it will soak up all the excess liquid.
- You may mix in some basil chiffonades and parmesan cheese. Dish out this easy Instant Pot spaghetti and serve topped with more basil leaves and parmesan cheese. Refrigerate leftover spaghetti in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Notes
- You may substitute the 1/2 cup of broth used for deglazing the pot with an equal amount of red wine.
- We enjoy the meat to noodles ratio as mentioned in this recipe. Feel free to reduce the meat by half or double it based upon your preference.
- You can add extra marinara/spaghetti sauce after the pressure cooking cycle if you like your spaghetti really saucy!
- For a no-meat/vegetarian version, skip step 1, add the entire 2 cups of broth after sauteing the onion, garlic, tomato paste, and seasonings. Next, add the spaghetti noodles, the crushed tomatoes on top, do not stir. Follow the pressure cooking time as stated above.
- If your IP is sensitive to tomato-based products, place the tomato paste on top of the crushed tomatoes, instead of sauteing it in step 2.
- To make this recipe with frozen ground beef, first, thaw the beef in the Instant Pot. To do that, place a trivet and add 1 cup of water in the insert of a 6 quart IP, place the block of frozen ground beef on the trivet. Pressure cook on 'HIGH' for 15 minutes followed by a natural pressure release of 2-3 minutes, then quickly release the leftover pressure. The beef will not be fully cooked, it will still be pink in the middle, but thawed enough to be used in the recipe. You can now follow the recipe from step 1 through 6.