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.
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 577kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup finely chopped onion
- ½ cup diced celery
- ½ cup shredded carrot
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 (12-oz) box spaghetti uncooked, broken in half
- 2 ¼ cups broth beef or chicken are both fine; see notes
- 1 (28-oz) jar jar spaghetti sauce
- grated parmesan cheese to serve, optional
- fresh herbs to serve, optional
Instructions
- Cook vegetables and ground beef: Set a 6-quart electric pressure cooker to "sauté". Add oil, then add onion, celery and carrot 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 6-10 minutes (see notes regarding cooking time). Quick release pressure, then open the lid. Stir well and serve immediately with grated parmesan cheese, if desired.
Video
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/carrot/celery: Feel free to leave any of these (or all of 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 extra 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 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. Spaghetti clumped together? This usually means they aren't fully cooked yet. Use kitchen tongs to gently break them up a bit (do not stir! just gently pull the stuck spaghetti apart a little) and pressure cook for 1-2 more minutes. Cooking time: The cooking time can vary depending on the exact type and brand of spaghetti you're using. For example, I used artisan spaghettoni when I took the photos for this recipe, and they took 10 minutes in the pressure cooker (the packet indicates 14 minutes cooking time on the stove). My regular old spaghetti I often use indicate a "normal" cooking time of 10 minutes for the store brand I get, and they take 6 minutes in the pressure cooker. A great way to determine your cooking time is to check the package for the recommended cooking time for the stove, then reduce this number by 3-4 minutes and use this as your pressure cooking time. Remember: It's better to start with less pressure cooking time if you're unsure. You can always close it again and pressure cook for another 2-3 minutes if your spaghetti aren't done yet. If you overcook the spaghetti, there is no way to fix it.Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 577kcal | Carbohydrates: 81g | Protein: 39g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 1962mg | Potassium: 1370mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 3892IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 89mg | Iron: 6mg