This Instant Pot Spaghetti recipe is made with a delicious homemade meat sauce and is ready to eat in under 30 minutes!

Looking for more instant pot recipes? We have tons, from IP Short ribs to IP yogurt!

A close up photo of a white pasta bowl filled with spaghetti.

What I love:

  • One Pot Spaghetti makes for the easiest clean up!
  • Ready in under 30 minutes. The instant pot cooks the noodles, meat, and sauce all at once! Learn all of my instant pot tips and tricks!
  • Homemade sauce will make this a family favorite!

How to make Instant Pot Spaghetti:

  1. Brown the meat using the Instant pot sauté function. Drain grease and add onions and spices.
  2. Add pasta, breaking in half and placing on top.
  3. Make sauce by mixing crushed tomatoes and tomato paste together. Pour over noodles and add water.
  4. Cook on Manual for 5 minutes. Allow 5 minute natural release, and then turn valve to quick release.
  5. Toss and serve with fresh parmesan, crushed red pepper flakes (optional), and fresh chopped parsley.
Process photos for making instant pot spaghetti, including browning the meat at the bottom of the pot, adding the uncooked, pasta, topping with crushed tomatoes and then a photo of the final product after cooking.

Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:

To Make Ahead: The meat can be browned up to 2 days in advance.

To Freeze: Remove as much air as possible to prevent freezer burn. Store in a freezer safe container or bag for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating. For best results, cook the spaghetti for only 3 minutes at high pressure, so the noodles don’t over cook when reheated, after freezing.

A pasta bowl full of Spaghetti made from the instant pot, garnished with parsley and parmesan.

Recipe Variations:

  • Instant Pot Bolognese: Add ½ pound diced pancetta, 1 diced carrot, and 1 diced celery rib when you brown the meat. Pour in ½ cup of red wine to deglaze the pot. Continue with the seasonings, crushed tomatoes, and tomato paste. Only add ½ cup of water. Pressure cook for 20 minutes with a natural release for 10 minutes, then quick release. Add more tomato paste and seasonings, if desired. Stir in ¼ cup heavy cream with fresh parmesan cheese. Boil noodles separately in pot on stove.
  • Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs: Instead of browning the meat, add cooked, frozen meatballs to the bottom of the pot first, then continue layering the ingredients as the recipe instructs. Or try my Instant Pot Penne and Meatballs.
  • Instant Pot Spaghetti without Meat: Skip the meat, and add the dry noodles in the bottom of the pot. Mix tomatoes and tomato paste together and pour over noodles. Add seasonings and water on top, then cook as directed in recipe.

Serve with:

Try my other Instant Pot Recipes:

FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOKTWITTERINSTAGRAM and PINTEREST for more great recipes!

Recipe

A pasta bowl full of Spaghetti made from the instant pot, garnished with parsley and parmesan.
Prep 10 minutes
Cook 15 minutes
Total 25 minutes
Save Recipe

Ingredients
 
 

  • 1/2 pound lean ground beef
  • 1/2 pound ground Italian sausage
  • salt , pepper,
  • 1 small yellow onion , chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic , minced
  • 3 Tablespoons fresh basil leaves , chopped (2 teaspoons dried basil)
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder , sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 8 ounces spaghetti noodles
  • 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese , for topping
  • fresh chopped parsley , chopped, for garnish
  • crushed red pepper flakes , optional, for garnish

Instructions
 

  • Set the Instant Pot to saute. Add the ground beef and sausage, and season well with salt and pepper.
  • Cook the meat, breaking the meat up into pieces until it’s browned. Drain grease.
  • (At this point I like to put the meat in my food processor and pulse it 2-3 times to break it up into very small pieces. I think it makes the sauce smoother and yummier. Then add it back to the IP. This step is completely optional).
  • Add onion to the pot and cook until tender, 2-3 minutes.
  • Add the garlic, garlic powder, sugar, Italian seasonings, red wine vinegar.
  • Turn the Instant Pot off.
  • Break the spaghetti noodles in half and place on top of meat mixture.
  • Stir together the crushed tomato and tomato paste and pour over the noodles.
  • Add water.
  • Push the spaghetti down with a spoon if necessary to make they are submerged.
  • Seal the instant pot and set it to manual mode, high pressure, 5 minutes cooking time.
  • When the time is up, allow pressure to naturally release for 5 minutes, and then do a quick release. I place a towel over the quick release spout to catch the steam.
  • Open IP and gently toss everything together.
  • Serve warm topped with fresh parmesan, crushed red pepper flakes, and fresh chopped parsley.

Notes

Make Ahead Instructions: The meat can be browned up to 2 days in advance.
Freezing Instructions: Remove as much air as possible to prevent freezer burn. Store in a freezer safe container or bag for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating. For best results, cook the spaghetti for only 3 minutes at high pressure, so the noodles don’t over cook when reheated, after freezing.
Try my other Instant Pot Recipes!

Nutrition

Calories: 380kcalCarbohydrates: 41gProtein: 21gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 52mgSodium: 523mgPotassium: 779mgFiber: 4gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 420IUVitamin C: 15.9mgCalcium: 78mgIron: 3.9mg

Did You Make This Recipe?

Tag @TastesBetterFromScratch on Instagram with #TastesBetterFromScratch!

Have you tried this recipe?! 

RATE this recipe and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.

I originally shared this recipe February 2018. Updated May 2021.

This post contains affiliate links.

Related Posts

Share Recipe

Categories

About The Author

Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

Leave A Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Comments

  1. 4 stars
    I’ve tried this recipe twice – loved the simplicity of this home cooked comfort food. Learned a couple of things: first, you have to let it naturally depressurize for five minutes, as the recipe states, before manually releasing the rest of the pressure (I missed that step the first time and live at high altitude). That’s critical for the spaghetti to cook all the way. Second, if the spaghetti is still not cooked, it’s fast to repressurize for another couple of minutes, and then things are perfect. This is pretty yummy, especially for a weeknight.

  2. Like others have mentioned, I followed the recipe, and half the noodles were stuck together. I wasn’t crazy about the seasonings either…

  3. 5 stars
    This was very good! I used bratwurst chunks so put the spices in the sauce instead of on top of the meat. I ended up with more sauce than I needed and we ran out of spaghetti for us 5 (4 littles). It was just enough for us but I hope next time it will double well!

  4. Noodles didn’t not cook through and about half of them stuck together. Had to finish it on the stovetop and try to pull the noodles apart. Wasn’t completely sure what the measurement was supposed to be for the sugar as it was listed with the garlic powder. I started off with a 1/2 tsp and ended up adding another 1/2 tsp to cut a little more of the acidity. Over all, pretty good flavor. Don’t know if I will be trying it again.

See More Comments