Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meat Sauce
This is the quickest and easiest way to make spaghetti and meat sauce: In the Instant Pot! The pressure cooker does most of the work and the result is absolutely delicious, so this has been one of our favorite family meals on busy nights lately.
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 570kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup finely chopped onion
- ½ cup diced celery
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 12 oz spaghetti uncooked, broken in half
- 2 ¼ cups broth beef or chicken are both fine; see notes
- 28- oz jar spaghetti sauce
- Grated parmesan cheese to serve
Instructions
- Cook vegetables and ground beef: Set a 6-quart electric pressure cooker to "sauté". Add oil, then add onion and celery and cook until onion is translucent. Add ground beef and seasoning, stir well and cook until browned. Switch off instant pot.
- Add pasta and sauce: Evenly place uncooked spaghetti over beef and vegetable mixture. Pour in broth (it should come up to the spaghetti). Spread the spaghetti sauce on top. Do not stir!
- Pressure cook: Close lid and set the valve to "sealing". Cook on high pressure for 6 minutes. Quick release pressure, then open the lid. Stir well and serve immediately with grated parmesan cheese, if desired.
Notes
Ingredient Notes:
Spaghetti: You can also use penne or rigatoni in place of the spaghetti, if you prefer. As with the spaghetti, place the pasta on top of the meat mixture, cover with spaghetti sauce and don't stir before pressure cooking. Onion and celery: Feel free to leave these out if you prefer. You can also use a chopped green pepper in place of the celery. ½ teaspoon dried onion powder added with the other seasoning is fine to use in place of the fresh. Spaghetti sauce: Just use your favorite jarred spaghetti sauce! I always use tomato basil. If you don't want to use ready-made spaghetti sauce, please don't substitute with canned diced tomatoes - they don't yield the same result. You can use plain tomato sauce and season it with some salt, garlic powder, onion powder and dried basil, if you prefer. Broth: Beef broth makes this a little richer and "beefier", chicken broth is milder. If you have neither, you can use water, but there will be a little less flavor.Cooking Tips:
Scrape the bottom: After browning the beef and vegetables, make sure you scrape the bottom of the instant pot to remove any stuck bits. Otherwise you might trigger the "burn" warning during pressure cooking. Do not stir! Really, you do not need to stir this before pressure cooking. Just follow the instructions closely and it will come out perfectly.Nutrition
Calories: 570kcal | Carbohydrates: 79g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 1951mg | Potassium: 1317mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 1219IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 83mg | Iron: 6mg