Instant Pot Spaghetti

5 from 3 votes

Instant Pot Spaghetti - An easy meal just got even easier! Family favorite spaghetti and meat sauce can be made in just one pot. Brown the meat, simmer the sauce and cook the noodles all in the Instant Pot.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time9 mins

Total Time19 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Italian

Servings: servings

Calories: 356kcal

Author: Susan | HealthyInstantPotRecipes.com

Ingredients

½ lb. lean ground beef ( or ground turkey)
½ lb. ground Italian sausage (or ground turkey sausage) mild
½ teaspoon garlic powder or 2 cloves, minced
½ teaspoon onion powder or ¼ cup diced onion
Salt & pepper to taste
12 oz. spaghetti noodles
1 24 oz. jar marinara sauce (or your favorite pasta sauce)
1 14oz. jar diced tomatoes
1 pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
2 cups water
Grated Parmesan cheese (or Vegan Parmesan Cheese) for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Set the Instant Pot to SAUTE. Add the ground beef, sausage, garlic powder, onion powder and salt & pepper; using a wooden spoon to break up any ground beef/sausage as necessary to evenly brown. Turn Instant Pot off and drain any excess grease, if necessary. Return meat to Instant Pot.
Break spaghetti noodles in half and place half on top of meat. Layer the other half in a crisscross pattern (so the noodles don’t stick together). Add Marinara sauce, diced tomatoes, red pepper flakes (if using) and water. Making sure liquid covers spaghetti. Use a spoon if necessary to submerge noodles in sauce.
Seal Instant Pot lid, set vent to SEALING. Set pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK, to high pressure for 9 minutes.
Once cooking cycle is complete, do a Quick Release. Carefully open Instant Pot and toss noodles. You may need to let noodles set for a minute or two after completing the cooking cycle and being tossed to fully incorporate pasta sauce. Serve, and garnish with grated Parmesan cheese.

Notes

Recipe Notes

1) Make sure to break spaghetti noodles in half so they fit in the bottom of the Instant Pot (if you are using an 8 qt. model you may not need to break the noodles). Layer noodles in a criss cross pattern to help make sure they don’t clump together.

2) Once the cooking cycle has completed, toss noodles with tongs or two forks to incorporate. The sauce may appear runny at first but once you stir the noodles they will incorporate the sauce to make a thick perfect batch of pasta. Some noodles may be stuck together, gently work them apart with the tongs or two forks.

3) Cook time is 9 minutes for al dente noodles, if you like your noodles cooked more thoroughly extend cook time to 10 minutes, or use the sauté setting after cooking to cook noodles a bit more. When purchasing spaghetti noodles for this recipe check to make sure the cook time is between 9-11 minutes (most are).

To make this recipe Vegetarian/Vegan:

Substitute 2 cups cooked green lentils, ½ onion (diced ) and 2 cloves garlic (minced) for beef/sausage. Set the Instant Pot to SAUTE mode and add a splash of olive oil. Saute the onions and garlic until the onions begin to brown and turn translucent. Add cooked lentils and stir to mix with onions and garlic. Follow the rest of the recipe beginning with step 2 (breaking the spaghetti noodles over the lentil mixture) All other ingredients and cook times stay the same.

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