Instant Pot Spaghetti
Easy Instant Pot Spaghetti is one of the best Instant Pot recipes for a fast family dinner. Everything cooks together in one pot: meat, pasta and sauce!
When everyone’s hungry and you need to get dinner on the table quick, this Instant Pot spaghetti recipe is just the dinner shortcut that you need! You’ll brown the meat and cook the pasta all in one pot for the ultimate convenient family-friendly meal.
Spaghetti isn’t a difficult meal to make on the stove, so why should you make it in an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker? The real benefit is that you don’t have to watch multiple pots on the stove. This Instant Pot recipe is quick, easy and there’s only one pot to wash at the end. You don’t need to drain the pasta, so you won’t dirty a colander. You don’t need separate pots for the pasta and the sauce.
If you’re new to Instant Pot cooking, be sure to read my guide about how to use an Instant Pot!
Why you’ll love this Instant Pot Spaghetti Recipe
- It’s made with just 5 ingredients, and ready in 30 minutes total (most of that time is hands-off).
- Only ONE pot to wash at the end!
- You can use either ground turkey or ground beef, and white or whole wheat pasta.
- It’s a flavorful comfort food dinner that the whole family will love!
This Instant Pot recipe is the easiest way to make spaghetti and meat sauce. It takes about 10 minutes of active prep time and the whole meal is done in just 30 minutes. And you only need 5 ingredients!
Since the pasta cooks right in the marinara sauce, it absorbs the flavor of the sauce as it cooks. Be sure to use a pasta sauce that you love for the best Instant Pot spaghetti.
You can use ground turkey or ground beef in this recipe. I’ve made it with both, and I actually prefer it with the healthier ground turkey. You’ll brown the meat right in the Instant Pot using the saute setting.
I’ve tested this recipe in both my 6 quart and 8 quart Instant Pots and it works perfectly in both! So whichever size Instant Pot you have, you can make this delicious spaghetti recipe with success. This is a fast comfort food dinner that you’ll want to add into your meal plan rotation!
How to make Instant Pot Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
- Brown the meat using the Instant Pot saute setting.
- Add the seasonings and water, stir well.
- Arrange the spaghetti noodles in a criss-cross pattern on top of the meat, do not stir.
- Pour a jar of marinara sauce on top of the spaghetti. Again, do not stir.
- Seal the Instant Pot and pressure cook on high/manual for 5-7 minutes (specific timing instructions given below).
- Do a quick pressure release.
- Let it rest for 3-5 minutes and serve!
Tips for making Instant Pot Spaghetti
- Use either white or whole wheat spaghetti in this recipe – I’ve tested it with both with good success. I recommend cooking whole wheat spaghetti for 5 minutes (for a package cook time of 7-9 minutes). Cook white spaghetti for 7 minutes (for a package cook time of 9-11 minutes).
- You can use either ground beef or ground turkey in this recipe.
- When you use a full pound of meat in this recipe, the dish is heavy on the meat. You can use half a pound of meat instead of a full pound if you like less meat in your pasta. Either buy 1/2 pound from the butcher or save the other half pound from a one pound package to make tacos.
- I’ve tested this recipe without the meat and it worked great! To make vegetarian spaghetti, put the water in the pot first, then the seasonings, then pasta, then sauce on top. Do not stir and pressure cook as directed.
- Use a good quality marinara sauce that you love the flavor of, as that will impact the flavor of the finished dish.
- Do not stir after adding the spaghetti or sauce. You will arrange the spaghetti in alternating directions (see photo above) to prevent the noodles from sticking together.
- Be sure to do a quick release right away when the cook time finishes so the pasta doesn’t over cook.
- When you first open the Instant Pot, the sauce will look thin. Give it a stir and let it rest for 3-5 minutes and it will be perfect!
More Easy Instant Pot Recipes
- Easy Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Honey Garlic Instant Pot Chicken Breasts
See all of my Instant Pot recipes.
Instant Pot Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground turkey or ground beef
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups water
- 8 ounces uncooked whole wheat or regular spaghetti
- 25 ounce jar marinara sauce see note below
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute mode and add the ground turkey or ground beef. Cook, crumbling with a spoon, until browned. Turn Instant Pot off.
- Add the Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, pepper and water. Stir until well combined, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Break the spaghetti noodles in half and lay them in the pot in about 6 parts, with each part laying in a different direction (this is to prevent the spaghetti from sticking together).
- Pour the marinara sauce over the spaghetti. Do not stir.
- Seal Instant Pot lid and turn the steam valve to the sealing position.
- Cook at high pressure/manual for 5 minutes if using whole wheat spaghetti with a package cook time of 7-9 minutes. Cook at high pressure/manual for 7 minutes if using regular white spaghetti with a package cook time of 9-11 minutes.
- Do a quick release (carefully turn the steam valve to the venting position using the handle of a long spoon and wait for all of the steam to escape and the pin to drop down).
- Remove lid, stir. You will see some liquid in the pot. This will absorb after just a few minutes. Wait for 3-5 minutes and then serve.
Notes
- Use a good quality marinara sauce that you love the flavor of, as that will impact the flavor of the finished dish.
- If you want vegetarian spaghetti, leave out the meat and skip the saute step. Put the water in the pot, followed by the seasonings. Then add the spaghetti as directed in the recipe. Pour the sauce over the top of the spaghetti and do not stir. Pressure cook as directed in the recipe.
- Nutrition facts calculated for recipe made with lean ground turkey and whole wheat pasta.
Nutrition
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I have been following your blog for a while now. I think you help a lot of moms get the stress out of cooking and instead make it fun and simple to prepare healthy meals for their families. I am a mom of 2 little ones… a 2 year old and a 1 year old. And believe me sometimes I don’t even remember if I brushed my teeth. It’s a marathon at my home everyday. I wanted to ask you what’s the model and brand of your slow cooker snd Instant pot? I don’t want to get something that malfunctions… so if you could just guide me as to how to choose a few of those, it would be a great help. Thank you.
Hi Ziya, your comment made me smile! I can relate to having days so busy that I don’t remember if I’ve brushed my teeth. 🙂 I have been really happy with both my slow cooker and Instant Pot. I’ve linked to them both here. I have both a 6 quart and 8 quart Instant Pot. For your family size I would recommend the 6 quart.
This was soooooo delicious and so easy. I am gluten intolerant and used Barilla gluten free pasta and it turned out perfect!!! Thanks so much
Thanks for sharing that the gluten free pasta worked! I’m so happy that you enjoyed this!
Hi! Do you drain the meat after you brown it?
I don’t. I use 93% lean ground beef or lean ground turkey and there isn’t much grease after browning. You could, if there is a lot of grease after you brown the meat.
Hi! I’m curious have you tried adding additional sauce? My family loves saucy spaghetti, but it looks of looks like the instant pot dried up some of the sauce in your pics. I’m wondering if extra sauce would mess up the processes at all. Thanks!
You can add extra sauce and I would recommend doing so if you like saucy spaghetti. Enjoy!
This came out great and was fun to make in 1 pot! It’s been added to our regular dinner rotation.
I am so happy to hear that!
Cam I double this recipe?
Yes, you can. I would recommend using 3 1/2 cups of water instead of 4 in a double recipe. If you like a lot of meat in your pasta you can double the meat or just use 1 pound of meat in a double recipe for less meat.
Ok, I have a couple of questions. I just got my instant pot for Christmas. I was wanting to make this for supper tonight. First, can you use spaghetti sauce instead of marinara sauce? Also, it seems like if you have 2 cups of water in it that it would dilute the spaghetti sauce too much. Does the water evaporate or what? I know it sounds like a stupid question, but I’m new to this. I usually use spaghetti sauce that I canned myself and it’s not a real thick sauce.
Hi Janet! Yes, you can use spaghetti sauce and marinara sauce interchangeably. Since you start with dry spaghetti and it cooks right in the pot, most of the water is absorbed by the spaghetti. If your sauce is very thin you can reduce the amount of water a little bit. As I noted in the recipe, the sauce will seem a bit watery when you first open the pot after cooking but will be absorbed after a few minutes. Congrats on your new Instant Pot! I think you’re going to love it once you get use to it!
I have made this 4 times. The first 2 were 1/2 recipes and they turned out perfectly. The second 2 gave me a “burn” reading and didn’t come up to pressure. They tasted ok and the pasta was cooked but why am I getting this reading and it being stuck on the bottom?
Hi Shelly, I’m sorry this didn’t work for you the second two times. I’ve never had an issue with a burn warning or the pot not coming to pressure for this recipe. What size Instant Pot are you using? Did you add the ingredients in the order directed and not stir after adding the pasta and sauce? It’s important to stir well after adding the water and spices and then not stir again after adding the pasta and sauce.
Hi, I hope you don’t mind me commenting in regard to the “BURN” notice. The little black bits that are left and stick to the bottom of the pot are called fonds. If the aren’t removed the IP will make those little black bits more hot and will be recognized as a burn. If you deglaze with broth, stock or any acid (wine, vinegar) and scrape the bits off the bottom and incorporate them you won’t get the “BURN” notice, promise. I hope this will help.
I have also found that some people forget to cancel the sauté process before pressing the pressure button, and that will also cause a BURN notice. The instructions in this recipe include scraping up the brown bits and turning off the pot, so thanks Kristine.
Thank you.
SO GOOD!!! My fiancé and I were so excited to find your recipe. It was quick and easy with very little clean up! Thank you for posting such an easy and delicious recipe.
( The fiancé loves garlic so we added a few minced cloves)
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed the spaghetti! Fresh garlic sounds like a delicious addition.
My first actual entree done in the instant pot, and this recipe makes it so easy! It was also very delicious. I did swap out the black pepper with crushed red pepper, but i might do both next time, or add in some cayenne pepper. I do like a peppy spaghetti! Has anyone added a half can of crushed tomatoes or spicy rotel, or would they turn to mush after 7 minutes of pressure cooking?
Those modifications sound perfect if you like some heat in your spaghetti. Rotel or crushed tomatoes would work well in this recipe.
I’ll let u know how it goes. We are in progress. 9 mins to go
Hi there!
I’m starting to cook more meals with my instant pot and I LOVE your blog.
I do have a question though, when cooking the meat at the first part do you add any water? So you put in the meat in the instant pot but do you add any water to the meat for the instant pot to use when putting out the pressure?
Other then that it looks and sounds delicious!
Hi Savannah, I’m so glad you are enjoying my Instant Pot recipes! I have many more IP recipes coming so I hope you’ll keep following along. 🙂 For the spaghetti recipe, you first brown the meat using the saute mode (which does not require pressure or water). After the meat is browned you’ll add water along with the seasonings (see step 2 in the recipe). I hope that helps!
Just got my first IP yesterday so this was my first meal! It’s absolutely perfect and I’m so excited for how this will change my life. I haaaaate cooking and my toddler is going through a rough patch with eating. Combine those issues, and meal time quickly becomes the worst part of my day. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
I used the Brilla GF spaghetti noodles, too. I set it to 4 minutes, just because GF noodles can be a little gummy, and they came out al dente. I like my noodles a little softer, so I’ll probably do 5 minutes next time.
Hi Jessica, I am so glad that you found my website because I love to help busy parents cook for their families! Thanks for sharing how this recipe worked with the gluten-free noodles. I’m sure others will appreciate the tip! You are going to love cooking with your Instant Pot!! Be sure to check out my IP category if you haven’t already. 🙂
I made this tonight!! It was great. I did a pound of turkey. 16 oz wheat pasta.. used about 2 1/2 cups of chicken broth instead of water. A 28oz can of crushed tomatoes and 14oz can of fire roasted tomato salsa… and used the same spices as listed in the recipe. Cooked for 5 min and then let mine sit for about 4 min before realeasing the pressure.. came out amazing … family loved it!
I’m so glad your family loved this spaghetti! Thank you for sharing how you made the recipe. 🙂
So I am brand new to this instapot. In sauté mode do I put the lid?? It says 30 minutes?
Hi Katherine! No lid for saute mode. In saute mode you use the Instant Pot the same way you would use a pan on the stove. The time will default to 30 minutes when you turn on saute mode, but you can turn it off at any time by pressing the cancel button. These are great questions and I love to help! I also have an Instant Pot guide that might be helpful.
I’ve used my IP a lot to make different dishes. I was worried about spaghetti though, because I didn’t want to overcook it. So I took the plunge and used your recipe. It was absolutely perfect. And so easy and quick. I love that I only used one pot and didn’t have to babysit the pasta and sauce while it cooked. Thank you so much!
Don’t you love the ease of the one pot for cooking and clean up?! I am thrilled to hear that you loved this recipe! Thanks for trying it! 🙂
I’ve never made this and looking to make it soon. I don’t see when you add the 2 cups water to the recipe… but it seems like that is important for the noodles. Let me know.
Thanks!
Phoenix
Hi Phoenix, You add the water in step 2, along with the seasonings. You’re right, the water is very important! It cooks the noodles and allows the Instant Pot to reach cooking pressure.
I followed the recipe but used 12 oz of spaghetti and 2 and half cups of water. It turned out perfect. Awesome recipe and only one pot to clean. I used the Crock Pot brand Instant Pot. It has a non stick coating and worked great.
The one pot clean up at the end is one of my favorite parts of this recipe! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Looking forward to trying this out. Would there be any difference in time if using Angel Hair noodles instead of Spaghetti noodles?
There could be. The general rule for pasta in the Instant Pot is to cook it in the Instant Pot for half of the cook time listed on the pasta package. If the package cook time is an odd number so you don’t get a whole number when you halve it, round down. If you prefer your pasta al dente (firmer), subtract one more minute from the cook time after cutting it in half.
Perfect – thanks!
If the pasta box said cook for three minutes, would you go as short as two minutes. Our pasta box said three and we used your recipe before seeing this comment. Very good but got a little burn/stuck pasta on bottom.
If your pasta box says to boil the pasta for 3 minutes I would definitely cook it for only 1 or 2 minutes in the Instant Pot.
We like to add some vinegar to our sauce because a lot of times it is too sweet. Is it fine to add vinegar to the water/spice step?
I don’t see why that wouldn’t work. I hope you enjoy the spaghetti!
What a surprise! After I decided to make spaghetti for supper, I got to wondering if I could make the noodles in the IP without overcooking them – I’d never tried. I did a Google search and found your recipe for doing the entire dish in the IP. I was a bit uncertain about it, but decided to try it. It turned out perfect! And in far less time. Wow – this is going to be my spaghetti recipe from now on. Thank you!
I am so happy to hear that this recipe worked so well for you! Thank you for taking the time to let me know.
Pasta was a bit too al dente (some of the spaghetti was still kind of crunchy lol). Will make again with extra minute cook time and maybe 3 minutes natural release. Thanks!!!
I’ve never had my pasta turn out crunchy – was it all covered by the sauce? I hope it turns out perfect for you with the extra minute of cook time. 🙂
The best!!! This has become a weekly staple in my house. Everyone loves it, the only thing that I did different was add more meat (per my husband’s request). But other then that it was perfect and creamy. So happy I found this recipe. It sure does make cooking dinner on a busy weeknight EASY! Thank you!!!
Yay! This is one of my family’s very favorites, too. I’m so glad your family is enjoying it!
WOW! Is pretty much all I can say. My husband and I eat spaghetti on a weekly basis and I normally take about 30 minutes for the sauce to simmer. And I usually cook the pasta separately and my husband complains of the bland flavor. This takes care of both a quick dinner and flavorful since the pasta cooks in the sauce. Will definitely be making this a regular in my household!
I’m so happy you loved this! It’s one of our favorite dinners. 🙂
I made this last night for my fam. It was SO GOOD! 🙂
Thank you!
Would adding fresh red pepper and mushrooms in during sauté mode yield decent results do you think?
Yes! That will work perfect, and is a great way to sneak in some extra veggies.
I’ve done this recipe once before and absolutely LOVED it! My question this time around is is it okay to double this recipe? And with that, do I also need to double the cooking time? I’m still fairly new to using my IP, and I’ve had troubles in the past with undercooking things like noodles and rice!
Hi Carly, This recipe is perfect for doubling. Just double the ingredients, but keep the cook time the same. Depending on how much meat you like in your pasta, you may find that you don’t need to double the amount of ground turkey or beef, just the other ingredients. 🙂
I’m making the spaghetti recipe as we speak, fingers crossed!🤞🏽 I’m super new to the whole IP movement! So it may be naive of me, but when I’m setting the timer I didn’t realize it only does minutes, not seconds so when I was trying to do 7 min, It would go up to 4:00 only and I was getting pretty frustrated until I googled this, and find out that it’s actually 4 hours! So to all new IP users 00:04 is actually 4 minutes! No wonder my water test did not work!
I’m glad you figured it out! Thank goodness for Google. 🙂 I hope the spaghetti turned out great!
My husband hates traditional spaghetti, but he’ll eat it as a side with chicken. Have you ever tried this starting out with chicken breasts/tenderloins instead of ground beef? I want to try it but just wondering if you think the settings should be any different. Thanks!
Hi Jodi, I have not tried this with chicken but I think you could make it work. My guess is that chicken tenders will cook perfectly in 5 minutes with a quick release, so I would try that as a starting point. I’d skip the step of browning the meat, put the chicken in the bottom of the pot followed by the other ingredients as directed in the recipe. If you decide to give it a try, I’d love to hear how it turns out! 🙂
I’m not sure what I did. I had to cook mine longer than said. It wasn’t done yet.
Hi Crystal, Without being there in your kitchen with you or having more information about how you prepared the recipe, it’s hard for me to troubleshoot. If you layered the ingredients as described in the recipe and arranged your pasta in a criss cross shape, it should be done in the cook times given in the recipe. The other thing to consider is the stove top cook time listed on the package for the type of pasta you used. See my notes in the recipe for cook time guidance. One last thought – did you pressure cook on high pressure? And was the steam release valve set to the sealing position? With more information about your process and the type of pasta you used I might be able to help.
Can I use gluten free pasta and if so Is the cooking time the same?
Hi Jennifer, Good question! Read through the comments, as a few other readers have tried this recipe with gluten free pasta with good success. They left their tips in the comments after this recipe. 🙂
This recipe was the first one I made in my first Instant Pot (Duo Eve Plus) that I bought today! Neither my husband or I could believe how amazing this spaghetti was! He said it was better than his favorite spaghetti from a restaurant and I could make it every day for the rest of his life. (Um, no thank you.) Simple, with terrific flavors. )I used Rao’s Homemade Marinara and Rao’s spaghetti and lean ground beef. Spaghetti in 7 minutes – who knew?!?! Thank you!
How can I incorporate frozen meatballs (already cooked) into this recipe?
I followed this recipe to a T last week and loved, loved, loved it!!!
I made enough to share with my son and his family, but it never made it to them. My taste buds over rode their wants.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this! You would put the frozen meatballs in the bottom of the pot, followed by the water and seasonings. Then layer the spaghetti on top and pour on the sauce. Cook time will be the same. Enjoy!
Spaghetti came out basically uncooked with the listed ingredients. Very disappointed
I’m sorry that happened. I know it’s disappointing when a recipe doesn’t turn out. I’ve made this recipe as written at least a dozen times so I’d like to help you troubleshoot if you can give me more information. Did you turn the steam release valve to the sealing position? If not, the pot won’t reach pressure so the food won’t cook properly. What was the cook time listed on your package of pasta and how long did you set the cook time for?