This is the one-pot spaghetti that my kids can’t stop asking for — and it’s made in the Instant Pot!
I’ve made this Instant Pot Spaghetti four times in the last month. Four.
Everyone loved it every single time.
What I love about one-pot Instant Pot Spaghetti
It’s easy.
If you’re new to Instant Pot cooking and wondering what you should make, get out a box of noodles now. You can’t mess this up. Even my 6YO has made it!
There’s minimal cleanup.
You brown the meat in the Instant Pot.
You cook the noodles in there too.
Everything goes into the Instant Pot so there’s never another pan to wash!
You can make this Instant Pot Spaghetti your own.
Use ground beef, ground turkey or sweet Italian sausage.
Or ground up mushrooms. (Yep, mushrooms are one of the most nutritious foods for kids AND a shockingly good substitute for beef.)
Make your own red sauce or buy your favorite. (I search labels for the lowest amount of sugar added.)
Use whole-wheat pasta, regular or a blend.
This is my kids’ favorite spaghetti recipe, ever.
I’ve done every single version of the above and everyone loves this spaghetti every time.
Here’s how you can make One-Pot Spaghetti with Meat Sauce in your own Instant Pot.
One-Pot Instant Pot Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Want to make a whole pound of pasta? Use an extra 12 ounces of marinara plus one additional cup of water.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground beef (turkey or sausage)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups water, divided
1 (24-ounce) jar marinara or tomato-based pasta sauce
8 ounces dry spaghetti (half a pound, which is usually half a box)
Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
Instructions
Brown the beef. Click your Instant Pot to sauté. When it’s warm, add the olive oil and beef. Break the beef up into large pieces with a wooden spatula and season with the salt, onion powder, and garlic powder. Cook, stirring and breaking the beef into tinier pieces until it’s browned thoroughly, about 5 minutes.
Add ONLY 1/2 cup of the water, then the sauce. Turn off the sauté button. Add 1/2 cup of the water. Scrape the bottom of the pot to remove any stuck-on bits. Add the sauce and stir to combine.
Break the spaghetti in half and layer in the pot. Break the spaghetti strands in half and spread them in one or two layers over the ground beef mixture. Do not stir from this point on.
Add the remaining water but DON’T stir. Use the pasta sauce jar to pour out the remaining 1 1/2 cups water (pour the water into the jar, twist on the lid, and shake gently) and then pour the water over the pasta. Don’t forget. NO STIRRING NOW. You want to but don’t.
Set your Instant Pot to HIGH for 8 minutes “manual” cook time. Seal the lid. Set to cook on HIGH pressure for 8 minutes. Your Instant Pot will take between 10 and 12 minutes to come up to pressure.
Use a quick release to release pressure and stir. Turn the pressure release valve (quick release) when the 8 minutes is up. Open the pressure cooker and NOW stir the spaghetti. Turn off the Instant Pot and remove the insert. Serve immediately under a mountain of Parmesan cheese. (If you’re into that kind of thing.)
That’s it. Instant Pot Spaghetti is my family’s new favorite dinner, and I hope it becomes yours too.
p.s. This easy sautéed spinach side dish is not only perfect with this spaghetti, but it’s the No. 1 page on all of Foodlets.com.
We had this for dinner last night, and everyone loved it. Both my 6 yr old and 2 yr old helped me make it. We left out the meat, and added already cooked mushrooms and bell peppers and about 8 oz of frozen kale. Yum!
Awesome!
The mushroom version sounds wonderful. Will try that one too!
This was delicious. I used a bottle of vodka sauce I had on hand and made it exactly as written. Delicious!
Yum! That sounds delicious. I love vodka sauce.
Followed *to the letter* and got the dreaded BURN 4 minutes into the cooking cycle. Bye bye $20 in high quality ingredients.
Oh no! Are you sure you added the water? I’ve made this a dozen times and it’s always worked perfectly, same for friends and other readers. What a disappointment. I hope you’ll try it again another time. It’s really a great family favorite.
Is it ok to double this?
Would this work in a slow cooker?
I have been making this for years, and it’s an easy meal that everyone loves. I actually double the water and spaghetti to make enough for leftovers:)