Instant Pot Spaghetti
This Instant Pot Spaghetti is quick, easy and full of flavor! Pasta and meat sauce cook together in the Instant Pot for an easy dinner.
When everyone’s hungry and you need to get dinner on the table fast, this Instant Pot spaghetti recipe is just the quick and easy recipe you need! You can brown the meat and cook the pasta all in the Instant Pot pot for the ultimate convenient family-friendly meal.
I first shared this Instant Pot Spaghetti recipe almost four years ago, and it continues to be one of the recipes that I make most often for my family for dinner. It’s ready in just over 30 minutes and everyone in the family loves it!
Why make spaghetti in the Instant Pot? Spaghetti isn’t a difficult meal to make on the stove, so why 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. You don’t need to drain the pasta, so you won’t dirty a colander, and you don’t need separate pots for the pasta and the sauce. Since the pasta cooks right in the marinara sauce, it absorbs the flavor of the sauce as it cooks. Everyone always tells me that this is the most flavorful spaghetti!
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Easy Dinner Idea: It’s made with just 6 ingredients, plus salt and pepper. The active prep time is just 10 minutes, and the whole meal will be ready in 35 minutes.
- Easy Clean Up: You’ll have only one pot to wash at the end.
- Customizable: You can use ground beef, ground turkey or Italian sausage for the meat sauce. Both white and whole wheat pasta work well. You can even make vegetarian spaghetti. Find all of the details below.
- Crowd-Pleaser: This spaghetti is a flavorful comfort food dinner that the whole family will love.
Instant Pot Spaghetti Recipe Ingredients
The ingredient list for this recipe is short and simple! Here’s what you’ll need:
- Ground Beef: I like to use lean ground beef because there won’t be much grease to drain off after browning it. You can also use 80/20 and just drain off the grease after browning.
- Seasonings: Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper add flavor.
- Water: The water is required to cook the pasta and also to allow the Instant Pot to pressurize. It will be absorbed as the pasta cooks.
- Spaghetti: Use either white or whole wheat spaghetti in this recipe. I’ve tested the recipe with both with good success.
- Marinara Sauce & Tomato Sauce: Cooking the pasta right in the sauce gives it so much flavor. I usually use a jar of store-bought marinara sauce to save time, but you can use homemade marinara sauce if desired. One 25 ounce jar of sauce equals about 3 cups.
How to Make Instant Pot Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
I’ve tested this recipe in both my 6 quart and 8 quart Instant Pots and it works perfectly in both. If you’re new to Instant Pot cooking, my guide on how to use an Instant Pot can help you to get started.
- Brown the meat using the Instant Pot sauté function. Then turn the sauté function off.
- Add the seasonings and water. Stir well, scraping up any bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Break the spaghetti noodles in half and arrange them in a criss cross pattern on top of the meat; do not stir. Arranging the noodles in different directions keeps them from sticking together as they cook.
- Pour the tomato sauce and marinara sauce on top of the spaghetti. Again, do not stir.
- Pressure cook on high pressure for 5-7 minutes. (Specific timing instructions are given in the recipe card below).
- Do a quick pressure release.
- Let it rest for 3-5 minutes, stir and serve!
Recipe Variations
- Turkey Spaghetti: Substitute ground turkey for the ground beef.
- Italian Sausage: You can replace half or all of the ground beef with Italian sausage. Remove the sausage from the casings and crumble it as you brown it in the pot.
- Vegetarian Spaghetti: To make vegetarian spaghetti, put the water and seasonings in the pot first and stir (or start by sautéing some vegetables as described below). Then layer the pasta as directed in the recipe and pour the marinara and tomato sauce on top. Do not stir after adding the pasta and sauce. Pressure cook as directed.
- Add Vegetables: Before browning the ground beef, sauté chopped vegetables in 1 tablespoon of olive oil using the Instant Pot sauté function. Try chopped onion, carrots or bell pepper. If you wish to add quick-cooking vegetables such as chopped fresh spinach or frozen peas, stir those in after pressure cooking and then let stand with the lid on for 5 minutes.
- Gluten-Free: Use a gluten-free pasta, such as Barilla gluten free. Readers have tried this recipe with gluten-free pasta with good success.
Recipe Tips
- Use a good quality marinara sauce that you love the flavor of, as it 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 that the pasta doesn’t over cook. Be careful as there will be a lot of hot steam that escapes through the steam release valve.
- When you first open the Instant Pot, the sauce may look watery. Give it a stir and let it rest for 3-5 minutes and it will be perfect!
What to Serve with Spaghetti
We love topping our servings of spaghetti with grated Parmesan cheese. You can also add a pinch of red pepper flakes for heat and some chopped fresh basil for a pop of fresh flavor. These side dishes pair perfectly with this Instant Pot spaghetti:
- Bread: We love serving warm, buttery Garlic Bread alongside spaghetti. These Garlic Knots are another delicious option, or just slice up a loaf of crusty bread.
- Salad: Go with a simple Green Salad or an Italian Salad.
- Vegetables: Roasted Broccoli and Roasted Green Beans are easy and so delicious.
More Easy Instant Pot Recipes
If you love this Instant Pot spaghetti, try one of these delicious Instant Pot Recipes next:
This Instant Pot spaghetti is a quick and easy dinner idea that you’ll want to add to your meal plan rotation. The leftovers reheat wonderfully for an easy lunch or dinner the next day.
Instant Pot Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef, or ground turkey
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 cups water
- 16 ounces uncooked spaghetti, white or whole wheat
- 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- 25 ounce jar marinara sauce, see note below
Instructions
- Turn on the Instant Pot sauté function and add the ground beef. Cook, crumbling with a spoon or spatula, until browned. Turn the Instant Pot off. Drain off any excess grease.
- 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.
- Take small handfuls of the spaghetti noodles, break them in half, and lay them in the pot arranged in different directions (to prevent the spaghetti from sticking together). Do not stir.
- Pour the tomato sauce and marinara sauce over the spaghetti. Do not stir.
- Close Instant Pot lid and move the steam valve to the sealing position.
- Pressure cook at high pressure for 7 minutes if using regular white spaghetti with a package cook time of 9-11 minutes. Pressure cook at high pressure for 5 minutes if using whole wheat spaghetti with a package cook time of 7-9 minutes. The Instant Pot will take about 15-20 minutes to come to pressure and then the cook time will start counting down.
- As soon as the cook time ends, do a quick release (carefully move the steam release valve to the venting position. Then wait for all of the steam to escape and the pin to drop down).
- Remove the lid, stir. You will see some liquid in the pot. This will absorb after just a few minutes. Let the pasta rest 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 sauté step (or sauté some vegetables, such as onions, bell peppers and carrots in a bit of olive oil). 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.
- I first shared this recipe in 2018 and have since updated it to use a full 16 ounce box of spaghetti, rather than half a box. If you wish to halve the recipe, omit the can of tomato sauce, use a full 25 ounce jar of marinara sauce and halve all of the other ingredients (including the water).
This turned out great. I had to use different noodles, thicker than spaghetti, but added a few more minutes. It was perfect. Thank you for sharing, I will definitely make again!
I’m trying this recipe tonight and based on the reviews it is easy and awesome. Curious though, if you have ever tried it with other types of pasta? Bow-ties? Cavatappi?
I’ve only made this particular recipe with spaghetti. Here is another Instant Pot pasta recipe that uses short pasta.
I’ve been using this recipe since 2019 — it’s our favorite instapot recipe!! However, I noticed that the recipe changed (I have a printout from 2019) a tab. Looks like more water, more spaghetti, and more sauce. Any reason why? We notice that there is a lot more sauce / meat than noodles but we also like that. Just curious on the why. And again, BEST RECIPE for the instapot hands down.
I’m so glad you have been enjoying this recipe! I changed the recipe to use a whole pound of spaghetti since that’s how I have been making it lately and many people like to use a whole box of pasta. I left a note at the bottom of the recipe card with instructions for the old recipe. 🙂
This was the best spaghetti I ever made!!! My whole family loved it! Thank you for this recipe, it changed me forever. I will never make spaghetti any other way ever again!!!
This recipe was amazing! The best spaghetti I’ve ever made. My whole family loved it!!! Thank you so much.
I put this meal together in no time. I also diced up half an onion and sautéed them with the ground beef. Maybe next time I will put some extra garlic powder in the recipe. I used whole grain spaghetti and marinara with nice chunks of tomatoes in it. The meal cooked up quick and easy!
Delicious!!!😋
I see you changed the recipe so that it has more noodles, but you don’t add more meat. Is this correct ?
That’s correct. I find that 1 pound of meat is plenty, but if you’d like a meatier sauce you can increase the amount of meat.
Going to try this tonight-timesaver for baseball season! Think I could throw some frozen meatballs on top? Newbie to instapots. TU!
Yes, I think that will work fine. Enjoy!
Just made this for dinner tonight and it was so wonderful!!! I didn’t have a can of tomato sauce so instead I used a can of green hatch chili. I love putting that in my spaghetti anyway. It added more flavor. The instantpot came to full pressure in only 12 minutes and then after 7 minutes I released the pressure. This took much less time and hands free after cooking the turkey. I will never make spaghetti the traditional way again, ever!!!!!
I made spaghetti 1,000 times and I recommend 3-4 minutes ( 1 MINUTE FOR ELBOW MACARONI) then remove inner pot ASAP for the spaghetti noodles will continue to cook even after turning the pot off for its gotta be super hot. Stir and let it sit 5 minutes. It will re-thicken up as it cools and the noodles will still cook. This way you avoid overcooked noodles and holds over better on leftovers. Also add a generous amount of olive oil. Olive oil helps it hold over for leftovers better, preventing the sauce and noodles from getting dry and gummy. You all know what I mean. Also you need only 1 and 1/2 cup of liquid per 8oz pasta so a 16 oz is 3 cups, half a box 1 1/2 cups. I use beef or chicken broth instead of water. adds flavor.
HI! When do we add the 4 cups of water? 🙂
Hi Deb,
Please see step 2 of the recipe. You add the water with the seasonings.
I was skeptical at first. I had never succeeded in cooking pasta in my instant pot- it was always starchy and still crunchy.
But, it was a hot, hot day and I did not want to use my stove. I had my home cooked tomato sauce, which I used instead of marinara and canned sauce. I was pleasantly surprised and excited. It was perfectly cooked and very tasty. I will definitely cook this again. Thank you for this recipe.
I’m cooking the spaghetti, still cooking, but you say to add 4 cups of water but your recipe doesn’t tell you when to add it. After I put the sauce in I figured that I should have put the water in before the sauce. I added after the sauce along the edge. I read and reread the recipe a bunch of times and could not find when to add the water.
Hi Susan, Please see step 2 of the recipe. In step 2, it says to add the water when you add the seasonings.
Making this now after a long Monday at work – my kids are always “starving” and impatient for dinner so this was an easy option to put all together in one pot and they are so happy! Thank you for saving this mommas day