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I am absolutely obsessed with this recipe! I have made it a few times now and I am continually floored at how perfect the spaghetti noodles come out. Not to mention, the ease of prep and cleanup! An absolute keeper forever and ever!
Aileen
My Kindergartener Can Make This Recipe – And I Actually, Genuinely Love It
It’s a parenting first!
I love the idea of matching your kid’s age to a number of goal recipes – for example, when you’re 5 years old – you learn how to make 5 recipes. (I got this idea from Nita and Jess at Healthy Happy Eaters – they are wonderful.)
My daughter’s favorite family dinner is spaghetti, so I thought making it in the Instant Pot might help it feel more manageable:
- it’s one single pot.
- no cutting board required.
- it has higher sides so there’s less splattering.
- no draining of boiling water.
We started making it this way “to help her” but quickly realized… Instant Pot spaghetti is actually kinda special. It’s silky, flavorful, and extra clingy. Makes for an ideal combo with house favorite garlic bread and air fryer broccoli.
These days, when my family requests spaghetti for dinner (made by me, or my daughter), THIS is the spaghetti they are asking for. Some people might be offended by the breaking of the noodles, which you have to do to get them to fit – but in our house we roll with it and the shorter noodles work great for kids.
The ratios are just how I like them: meaty, saucy, so comforting. A home run hit with my kids and my husband every time.
(But I’d make this for myself even if I didn’t have kids!)
Hope you love it! If you love easy dinner recipes – check out this page of all my favorites!
Watch How To Make This Instant Pot Spaghetti
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Instant Pot Spaghetti
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
My whole family loves this Instant Pot Spaghetti! Silky, flavorful, a delightfully clingy. Easy enough for my kids to make it too!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef (I use 85/15)
- 1/2 teaspoon each garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning
- 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 (24 ounce) jar pasta sauce
- 1 3/4 cups water
- 1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon (I use the chicken base)
- 8 ounces spaghetti, broken in half
- 4 tablespoons butter
- Parmesan cheese
- parsley or basil
- red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Meat: Turn the sauté function on in the Instant Pot. Add oil, ground meat, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, garlic, and salt to the Instant Pot. It should sizzle. Sauté until the meat is browned and cooked through.
- Sauce: Add the jar of sauce, the water, Better than Bouillon, and the noodles. Make sure the noodles are tucked underneath the liquid.
- Cook: Cover, seal, and cook on high pressure for 8 minutes.
- Release Steam: Lay a towel over the vent to avoid splatters; release the steam right away to avoid overcooking the noodles.
- Rest: When you open the cover, the noodles will be cooked and it will look very saucy / wet. Use tongs to stir it up and distribute the sauce; let everything rest for 10 minutes with the cover OFF. This is important because the noodles will absorb the sauce and everything will cling together just right!
- Done! Stir the butter in until melted and a little creamy. Top with Parmesan, serve with house favorite garlic bread to dunk in the sauce, and get a simple green salad on the side. Oooh so good.
Notes
Personally I love making this with Italian sausage! It has more flavor (you can even skip the salt because the sausage itself has a lot of salt in it). So, sausage is my pick – however, my family loves it with the classic ground beef so that’s what I am including in the recipe. 🙂
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: instant pot spaghetti, easy spaghetti recipe, kid-friendly recipe, instant pot pasta recipe
Frequently Asked Questions
You can make this as a one-pot spaghetti right on the stove! Follow the directions as-stated, but instead of cooking it via pressure in the Instant Pot, let it simmer covered on the stovetop until the noodles are cooked, stirring occasionally.
Typically, we make this with ground beef, but I love this with Italian sausage even more. You could also use ground turkey for a healthier option!
Just replace with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, or replace the water with chicken broth.
When the ground beef is almost cooked through, add some diced onion and sauté until softened.
Yep! Just skip the meat. I would maybe reduce the water by just a bit so it’s not overly saucy.
Hi Lindsay, just made your Instant pot spaghetti!! Outstanding! For something so simple!
Thank you!
Martha
Absolutely Delicious! I made on the stove top with frozen meatballs. Still added the herbs/spices/bouillon at the beginning but skipped the salt as I figured there was enough already in the sauce and meatballs. Allowed my meatballs to boil with sauce and water for a bit till they were mostly thawed. Then put in spaghetti and cooked to done. Stirred occasionally, as directed. Next time, I would add half of the butter. Everyone loved it, including me, who typically is not a spaghetti fan. Will try with ground meat next time. Super delicious.
Can this be doubled in the instant pot?
What pasta sauce do you use?
Thanks!
Rao’s marinara!
Does it matter if we put the lid on or leave it off during the rest time?
Hi! Lid should be off during the rest.
Can you make this with another kind of pasta instead of spaghetti?
We haven’t tested that!
I have made this recipe countless times and it always turns out deilicious. It is in our monthly rotations for quick and easy meals for working and busy nights. Everyone in my family enjoys it. I have made it as written and have also subbed out ground turkey or ground italian sausage instead of the beef and it’s always good.
I’ve made this soooo many times. I’ve found it’s actually pretty flexible in terms of adding more noodles and water if you want to make a bigger batch. I personally find the recipe as written a little heavy on both meat and sauce so I use only 2.5c of marinara (store bought jars have 3) and adding some noodles and water. Of course top it off with crushed red pepper, parm and a drizzle of good olive oil. Thanks for another amazing recipe!
My husband calls this “Ready Spaghetti!” It’s a family favorite ❤️
Hi! I made this in our Instant Pot, but the burning error message came on and the sauce was burnt at the bottom. We were able to save it by transferring to stove top, but we would like to figure out how to do it in the Instant Pot. Any suggestions?
This was so easy and delicious! I don’t think I’ll make spaghetti with meat sauce any other way from now on!
I’ve never been a fan of spaghetti and meat sauce (it just never tastes as good in person as it should in my head, you know?) but this recipe changed that! It’s also a big hit with my picky kids, who honestly don’t even notice if I sub ground turkey and whole wheat pasta – it’s that good!!
So yummy! We will definitely use this again. My only critique is that it is definitely not a recipe that will make 6 servings. I used 12 oz of pasta and added a half cup of water and I still only had enough for 4 (although 3 of those 4 are teenage boys). There was extra sauce so I will add more pasta next time and hope for some leftovers!
This recipe has become a weeknight staple! It’s so quick and easy yet somehow elevates the most basic jarred sauce. Would definitely recommend!
This is such an amazing quick and delish comfort meal!! Thank you very much Lindsay <3
I’ve made this four times in three weeks. It’s a hit! My mother who is in her mid 70s, my husband and children from teenagers to adults all love this recipe! I double the recipe. I cook it in an 8 quart Instant Pot for 14 minutes. It has been perfect every single time. I can’t recommend this enough for an easy dinner with leftovers.
We make this almost every 2 weeks! Hit with the whole family.
I swap bone broth for water and use better than bouillon. Just made with bison tonight 10/10
This has become a family favorite! I love that I almost always have all the ingredients on hand and it comes out perfect every time. Best part is there’s just one pot to clean after dinner!
Any thoughts on making this with chickpea pasta? Or Barilla protein pasta? I imagine the only difference would be adding more or less water.
This turned out PERFECTLY – followed recipe as written. It was a huge hit with my family, especially my two picky kids.
Glad it was enjoyed!
Made this multiple times and had the kids help, I definitely recommend it.
This was really yummy, and somehow a more exciting spin on regular spaghetti. Granted I made in Dutch oven on stovetop (no InstantPot) and improvised a bit bc wanted to use the whole package of spaghetti. Thanks for the recipe and loved the air fryer broccoli made while pasta cooks. Delish, and a weeknight staple! Add some ground sausage for sure!
What if I do not have saute on my Instant Pot!
you could saute on the stovetop, then add to instant pot, and continue with recipe.
This was amazing! I’ll never make spaghetti another way again. I used whole wheat noodles and found I had to pressure cook it for 12 min instead of 8. Perfect family meal.
First time made it w sausage and it was great, second time subbed in frozen meatballs and got the burn warning (and some of it did burn), third time made it w ground turkey and back to greatness. Moral of the story: stick to the recipe