Easiest Instant Pot Pasta and Meatballs

Instant pot pasta and meatballs ©R. Christensen

I love cooking. I really do. But on many days I don’t have a lot of time to devote to shopping, prepping, and cooking a complicated meal. The Instant Pot has been a game changer for me on those days. I use it at least once a week to crank out a hot meal for my family in no time at all. Pasta and meatballs is one of the easiest and quickest meals to throw together and a hit with even my uber picky daughter. All of the ingredients can be found in your pantry or freezer and can be kept in stock for when you need a quick meal. Truly a dump and cook recipe.

I’ve tested a few variations of this recipe. The first time I made spaghetti and meatballs in the Instant Pot I quickly realized spaghetti noodles do not work well. Use a thicker pasta, such as penne, ziti, or cavatappi which will not clump together. For the meatballs, I prefer the Italian style which are made from a combination of meats. The all beef meatballs can be a bit greasy for this application. The choice of sauce is up to you. Any jar of spaghetti sauce at the grocery store will do. You can also make your own sauce ahead of time and freeze it into portions for later use. Here is my favorite sauce recipe, handed down from my grandmother. Enjoy!

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Instant pot pasta and meatballs ©R. Christensen

Ingredients

Instant Pot pasta and meatballs is a flexible recipe and easy to experiment with to suit your own tastes. Have fun with it.

2 pound bag of frozen Italian style meatballs
1 pound box/bag of pasta
1 22-24 ounce jar of spaghetti sauce OR 3 cups homemade sauce
4 cups water

Instant pot pasta and meatballs ©R. Christensen

Directions

This recipe is was designed and tested in an Instant Pot 6 Quart Ultra model

Dump meatballs in pot
Pour in 4 cups water
Add pasta and stir, if needed, to level the top layer for even cooking
Pour sauce over top, covering all of the noodles
Lock cover in place and cook on Manual Mode High Pressure 7 minutes. +/- 1 minute to adjust desired pasta texture
When cooking time is finished, Quick Release the pressure. If possible on your IP model, release pressure slowly at first so sauce mix doesn’t foam up.

Instant pot pasta and meatballs ©R. Christensen

Notes: If using frozen sauce, add it into the bottom with the meatballs. Try to break it up into chunks if it is in one large piece. Fresh herbs, such as oregano, can be added. Serve right away with some grated Parmesan cheese.