Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs

Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs is a one pot dump and push meal, using pantry items and frozen meatballs and ready in under 30 minutes.

Easy and delicious, Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs started the craze of frozen meatballs and jarred sauce for a quick ‘Soccer Mom’ spaghetti meal. Meatballs can be bagged from the store, or homemade raw, then frozen meatballs.

Many moms and dads are very busy driving their kids all over town and need a quick and easy recipe for dinner. Toss a few things in their Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker, get the kids situated and sit down to a good and hearty meal with little effort; “Soccer Mom” Spaghetti and Meatballs to the rescue.

Ingredients for Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs

• Frozen Meatballs – any brand. You can even use your own fresh and then frozen raw meatballs.
• Spaghetti
• Spaghetti / Pasta Sauce
• Water or Chicken Broth

Pro Tip: a Tablespoon of Chicken Base added to the water increases the richness of the dish.

Olive oil is an ingredient where quality matters a lot and does make a difference in taste. I recommend and use Kasandrinos Organic Extra Virgin Greek Olive Oil for my cooking.

Pro Tip: A little bit of olive oil added to the cooking pot will help keep the noodles from sticking together, as well as adding as some homemade taste to the jarred spaghetti sauce.

Can I use Homemade Meatballs?

• Sure. Many people who do not like to cook or need to cook in a hurry will by meatballs from the freezer section at the grocery store and keep bags of frozen meatballs in their freezer.

Both my Instant Pot Greek Meatballs {Keftedes} and Pressure Cooker Italian Meatballs would be incredible in this recipe. The meatballs can be made in advance and frozen to use in Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe. My famous Low Carb Margherita Pizza Meatballs, which are stuffed full of cheese, would also be awesome.

Homemade Meatball Idea

• • We like to buy a bunch of ground meat when it is on sale. The meat can be beef, chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, whichever you prefer.
  • We then make up ton of meatballs and freeze them raw in freezer save bags. This way, whenever we want Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs, we are good to go.

Pro Tip: Vegetarians love to make Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs with Gardein Classic Meatless Meatballs.

Every time I break spaghetti in half, Ed cringes. And I get it. I like long noodles too, but when using a pressure cooker, unlike the stove, you don’t have the option of pushing the noodles down into hot boiling water.

Pro Tip: Breaking the spaghetti in half allows the spaghetti to be submerged under the water. This will help in even cooking.

Best Pasta for Instant Pot Spaghetti

• De Cecco Brand Pasta is very forging under pressure. It holds up better than other brands for a perfect al dente finish. The taste and texture of De Cecco Brand Pasta is terrific.

I use Amazon Subscribe and Save for all my De Cecco Pasta. I find the S&S significantly cheaper than buying the De Cecco Brand Pasta in the grocery stores. Check the prices, they are always changing on line and I grab a bunch when the price drops.

Pro Tip: When making recipes using a layering technique, it is important to add the ingredients into the cooking pot in the order of what needs the most cooking. In this case, raw frozen meatballs would take longer than pasta, so they go in first. They are closest to the heat source.

Can Other Types of Pasta be Used?

• Of course. Everyone loves spaghetti and meatballs, but a different shaped pasta is just fine.
• I’ve used gemelli to make Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs, as well as other shapes and types.

Pro Tip: If using a different type of pasta, remember to use my “Rule of Thumb” found in the notes section below, to get the proper cook time.

The time to add salt when cooking spaghetti noodles or pasta is to the cooking water. This is the time when the spaghetti itself will get seasoned.

Use a nice quality spaghetti sauce like Rao brand or Muir Glen since you are using a jar. Ragu Traditional is another good brand to use. Personally, we love my Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce for Pasta [Homemade] and strongly suggest making a huge batch and freezing into portions so that you always have homemade sauce on hand.

If you like a more saucy Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs feel free to add more sauce.

Chicken broth and water both work well in this Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe and either is fine to use.

Water or Chicken Broth

• My Pressure Cooker Bone Broth/Stock is great to use and add so much flavor.
• You can also add a tablespoon of Better than Bouillon Chicken base to water in the cooking pot, which will add wonderful flavor.

Pro Tip: Chicken Broth will add another layer of flavor.

That’s it. Go change your clothes and set the table. Seriously, that’s it. How much time did that take?

Clumping Spaghetti

• Often times, you will find some of the spaghetti clumping together. Do not panic.
• Merely take a fork or a spaghetti server and break up the spaghetti and push it back into the sauce.

When you first open the pot, there will be excess liquid. The spaghetti will continue to cook and absorb the liquid while your are mixing out the any clumps of noodles. It’s a good thing as this gives you time to mix the spaghetti without worrying about over cooking the noodles.

There you go. Delicious and filling and most importantly, since this is called Pressure Cooker Soccer Mom Spaghetti and Meatballs, QUICK! It looks great!

Watch the video below as I walk you though every step and detail of this recipe. I’ve given you a ton of information above, but sometimes a live visual of the process helps so you can follow along. I have my own cooking show on you YouTube Channel, so be sure to check it out and subscribe!

Watch my video and then scroll to the bottom for the printable recipe card.

Tips and Tricks for Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs

1. Grocery store frozen meatballs or your own homemade frozen raw meatballs will work.
2. Swirl the oil around the bottom of the cooking pot.
3. Don’t fret the clumps and sticking of the pasta. It happens and is easily remedied by stirring before serving.
4. Homemade meatballs and sauce can be made in advance, frozen and then used for this recipe instead of store bought meatballs and sauce.

Another delicious pasta recipe the kids will especially love is my Pressure Cooker Beef and Macaroni. You will be happy not to have to use a can of the stuff!

Can you see the joy in Ed’s eyes as he takes that first bite? Ed can eat pasta several times a week. Spaghetti and Meatballs is one of his favorite meals..

Pro Tip: Add a dollop of ricotta cheese!

I love adding freshly grated Asiago or Parmesan cheese to all my pasta dishes and a big dollop of ricotta cheese. OMG, so much yum! You’ve got to make some delicious Air Fryer Garlic Bread Buns to go with spaghetti and meatballs.

More Easy Instant Pot Recipes to Make

• Instant Pot BBQ Ranch Chicken (Pressure Cooker)
• Instant Pot Italian Chicken Olive Garden
• Instant Pot BBQ Chicken (Pressure Cooker Zesty Chicken)
• Instant Pot Creamy Baked Ziti

I hope that this Pressure Cooker Soccer Mom Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe will save you lots of time in the kitchen and more time with your families.

Kitchen Equipment and Essentials

• Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker
• Cilio Olivewood Spatula
• Microplane Artisan Ribbon Grater
• De Cecco Spaghetti
• Rao’s Homemade Marinara Sauce

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Here is the handy printable recipe:

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