This Easy Instant Pot Spaghetti Recipe is the perfect quick and delicious weeknight meal! With pasta cooked directly in the instant pot, this recipe dirties just one dish for easy cleanup!
Growing up, my family had spaghetti at least once a week. It was definitely a family favorite. It’s kid-approved, it’s easy, and it’s so yummy.
This instant pot spaghetti is a modern twist on a classic! It’s still easy (if not easier), it’s still kid-approved, and it’s still SO yummy!
Ingredients
Perfectly cooked noodles with the best homemade spaghetti meat sauce. I love this combination of beef and veggies with garlic and seasonings!
- Olive Oil – used to cook the beef and veggies.
- Ground Beef – I use a lean ground beef (93/7) so it’s not too oily.
- Yellow Onion, Carrot, and Celery – the classic veggie trio!
- Garlic – adds a subtle nutty flavor.
- Dried Basil Leaves, Italian Seasoning, Salt, and Pepper – the perfect seasoning blend. Adds so much flavor.
- Spaghetti – broken in half so they fit better in the instant pot. Other noodles will work as well, but spaghetti noodles are, obviously, the classic!
- Chicken Broth, Tomato Paste, Crushed Tomatoes, and Tomato Sauce – make up a delicious, homemade, flavorful tomato sauce.
- Parmesan Cheese – for serving, if desired!
How to make
Today’s recipe only dirties one pot—the instant pot—which makes this recipe even better. Who doesn’t love fewer dirty dishes?
- Place oil, beef, veggies, and seasonings in your instant pot.
- Sauté until the veggies are tender and the beef is cooked through (it should be 160ºF.)
- Add in spaghetti noodles tossed with oil, broth, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Stir to combine and cook on HIGH for 8 minutes.
- Stir to combine again, breaking up any noodles that may have clumped together then serve and enjoy!
How long do you cook spaghetti in the instant pot?
It took me just 8 minutes on high pressure to cook my noodles in my instant pot and they were perfect!
Can you use frozen beef?
Yep! Frozen beef will work just fine in the instant pot, it will just take slightly longer to sauté.
Why does my instant pot read “burn”?
This is probably because you didn’t scrape the bottom of the instant pot well enough before cooking your spaghetti.You want to get any browned pieces of beef off of the bottom.
You can try to fix it by removing the lid, giving everything a good stir, then proceeding with the recipe.
Tips and variations
- Break your noodles in half. Making the noodles smaller helps them clump up less.
- Toss the noodles in oil first. This also prevents the noodles from sticking together as they cook.
- Fully submerge the noodles in broth. This ensures that all of the noodles cook fully. If they’re not fully submerged, you may end up with some crunchy noodles.
- Make it vegetarian. Leave out the beef or use a meatless alternative and use veggie broth instead of chicken broth.
- Use a different meat. If you don’t love ground beef, ground turkey or chicken would also be delicious.
What to serve with spaghetti
The classic spaghetti pairing is garlic bread or breadsticks both of which I love to serve with this instant pot spaghetti. It’s also delicious with a couple of healthy sides! Here are some of my favorite recipes:
How to store
Any leftover spaghetti will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or in the freezer for 1-2 months.
To reheat, thaw in the fridge (if frozen) then heat on stovetop, microwave, or back in your instant pot!
. . . we all need more of these recipes in our lives, don’t we?!
– Jennifer
Easy Instant Pot Spaghetti
Equipment for this recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef I used (93/7) so I didn’t have to drain the fat, you could also use ground turkey or chicken
- ½ yellow onion diced
- 1/2 cup diced carrot about 2 small carrots
- 1/2 cup diced celery about 3 small stalks
- 6 cloves garlic minced or pressed
- 1 ½ tablespoons dried basil leaves
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon salt plus more to taste (I did 1 teaspoon)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 pound spaghetti broken in half and tossed in 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 cups chicken broth you could also use veggie broth or beef
- 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
- 1 (28 oz) can peeled and crushed tomatoes
- 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
- Parmesan cheese for serving if desired
Recipe Video
Instructions
- Hit sauté on Instant Pot. Once it reads “HOT”, add in oil.
- Add in beef, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, basil, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Cook, breaking up the beef as you go, until the beef is no longer pink and veggies are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Scrape up any brown bits at the bottom, if any.
- Hit cancel on Instant Pot.
- Place in oil covered spaghetti noodles, broth, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, and tomato sauce.
- Stir to combine.
- Make sure you get the beef and any browned bits off the bottom and the noodles are fully submerged. If you don’t, you’ll likely get the BURN notice on the display.
- Close and lock the lid. Make sure the pressure valve is pointing to SEALING.
- Cook on manual, HIGH pressure, for 8 minutes.
- Flip the valve to quick release the pressure.
- Use tongs to stir/combine and gently break up any noodles that may have clumped together.
- Let sit for 5 minutes to thicken, then serve immediately - don’t keep in instant pot or it will keep cooking and the noodles will overcook.
- Serve with parmesan cheese and enjoy!
- Take 5 seconds to rate this recipe below. We greatly appreciate it!
Notes
People Also Viewed
Nutrition Information
*Note: Nutrition information is estimated and varies based on products used.
This post has been updated to provide more detailed content.
Barbara
Jennifer @ Show Me the Yummy