How to Make Spaghetti in the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

Spaghetti in the Instant Pot is a super quick and easy meal that allows you to make one of your family’s favorite dinners fast.  As a true one-pot meal, clean-up will be a breeze!

White bowl filled with spaghetti, resting on a red cloth napkin, next to a fork and a sprig of fresh basil

Did you know you can make spaghetti in the Instant Pot? This simple one-pot meal is an easy weeknight dinner!

Note: This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience.  You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Like most families, everyone in our house enjoys having spaghetti for dinner.  It’s inexpensive, easy to throw together, and it fills us up and leaves us satisfied.

After making pressure cooker chicken fettucine alfredo, I started wondering if I could make another standby pasta dish in the pressure cooker.

It’s not that spaghetti is hard to make, by any means, but it does require dirtying a couple of dishes–one for boiling pasta and one for cooking sauce and then a colander for draining the pasta.

That’s one great thing about making spaghetti in the Instant Pot–everything cooks together.  So you only have one pot to clean when all is said and done.

This is one of my favorite Instant Pot Olive Garden copycat recipes, and I’m sure it will be for you, too!

Related Recipes You Might Love:

White bowl of spaghetti topped with snips of fresh basil

How to Make Spaghetti in the Instant Pot

You start by using the Saute function to cook the ground beef (or turkey, if you prefer) and onions in the insert pot of the Instant Pot.

Once beef is browned and onions are translucent, drain any excess grease if necessary and return contents to pot (if you use lean beef, you can skip this step).  Add in the sauce and the optional seasonings, stirring well.

Next, you’ll take the uncooked spaghetti noodles and break them in half.  Then layer the noodles in a crisscross pattern on top of the sauce.  This pattern helps to minimize noodles sticking together during cooking.  Don’t stir at this point!

Last, you’ll pour some water on top of everything.  You want just enough water to fully cover the spaghetti noodles–for me, this was about 2.5 cups.

And that’s it!  Lock the lid into place and set the vent to the Sealed position, then select a 4 minute cook time at high pressure using the Manual setting.

Once the cook time is complete, perform a quick release of pressure and carefully open the lid.  Stir everything together, breaking apart any noodles that may have stuck together.  I like to allow everything to sit for a couple of minutes, because the noodles absorb a little more liquid as they cool.

Top it off with some grated Parmesan or some fresh basil and serve alongside a salad and some bread.  Dinner is done!

5 Quick and Easy Instant Pot Dinners that Will Save You Time and Wow Your Family

"Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience in such a friendly and delightful way!!! So far, I'm very impressed with the results...thanks again for your guidance into this new realm of cooking!"  -- Margaret
Join the free community and you'll learn simple ways to easily create tasty food for your family, as well as get instant access to 5 Quick & Easy Instant Pot Recipes (including a shopping list!) to help you get a tasty dinner on the table in a flash!
GET ACCESS NOW!

Recommended Equipment:

Yield: 6 servings

Spaghetti in the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

Instant Pot spaghetti

Cooking spaghetti in the Instant Pot makes for an easy one-pot dinner with minimal cleanup!

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 4 minutes
Additional Time 15 minutes
Total Time 24 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1/2 medium onion, diced
  • 1 24-oz jar spaghetti sauce
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning*
  • 1 tsp dried basil*
  • 1 tsp dried oregano*
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 8 oz uncooked spaghetti, broken in half
  • 2-3 cups water
  • *optional

Instructions

  1. In the insert pot of an Instant Pot, add ground beef and onions. Use the Saute function to brown the beef, breaking it apart as it cooks.
  2. Once the beef is brown and the onions are translucent, drain excess grease if necessary and return to pot.
  3. Add spaghetti sauce and optional seasonings. Stir to combine.
  4. Place broken spaghetti on top of the sauce in a cross-cross pattern. Pour enough water into the pot so that the spaghetti is just covered with water (I used about 2.5 cups). Do not stir.
  5. Lock the lid in place and press Cancel/Keep Warm to turn off the Saute function. Using the Manual function, select a 4 minute cook time at high pressure.
  6. Once the cook time is complete, perform a quick release of pressure. After pressure has released and the valve has dropped, carefully remove the lid.
  7. Stir contents well, breaking apart any noodles that may have stuck together during cooking. Allow to sit for a few minutes to allow noodles to absorb a bit more liquid, then serve!

Notes

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 418Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 658mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 4gSugar: 8gProtein: 27g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is not guaranteed for accuracy.

Want more delicious recipe ideas?

Check out even more mealtime inspiration on my Pinterest boards!

white bowl with instant pot spaghetti and meat sauce, resting on a red cloth napkin with a sprig of basil

White bowl of spaghetti with meat sauce, topped with snipped basil

Categories:

, , , ,

Easy family-friendly recipes in your inbox!

Leave a Reply

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

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

You'll Also Love..