Instant Pot Spaghetti is a 15-minute one-pot meal made with seasoned ground beef, a flavorful marinara sauce, and tender spaghetti noodles. No draining required!
1cupwater (or beef broth)6 quart Instant Pot use 1 cup, 8 quart Instant Pot use 1.5 cups
1(16 oz)spaghetti pasta
1(28 oz)jar good-quality marinara
1(14.5 oz)diced tomatoes
freshly grated parmesan cheese, for garnishing
chopped basil, for garnishing
Instructions
Set the Instant Pot on [Sauté] mode. Wait until the display reads "Hot". Then, add olive oil, ground beef, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Cook and crumble the meat until no longer pink. Then, press [Cancel].
Deglaze the pot with water (or beef broth), scraping any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Break the spaghetti noodles in half and lay them in a crisscross pattern so that it does not clump together. Do not stir. Pour in the diced tomatoes and ⅔ of the marinara sauce (save the rest for later).
Close the lid, making sure the pressure release valve is in the "sealing" position. Press [Pressure Cook/Manual] and set it on High Pressure for 6 minutes. When the time is up, quickly release the pressure by turning the pressure release valve to the "venting" position. Stir the spaghetti and add the rest of the marinara sauce.
Serve immediately with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and chopped basil.
Notes
6 quart Instant Pot: use 1 cup of water8 quart Instant Pot: use 1.5 cups of water
Tips:
Do not stir. Once you've laid your spaghetti down and poured the sauce on top, do not stir. The order in which you lay your ingredients matters because it helps to avoid the burn notice. The sugars in the sauce will burn quicker. Deglazing the pot with the broth not only helps to provide liquid but removing the brown bits also helps to avoid the burn notice.
Criss cross pattern. Breaking the noodles in half is so that they fit in the pot. Laying them in a criss-cross pattern is so that they don't stick together in a clump. They still might a bit, but it's less likely you'll get some undercooked strands when they're not all in one direction.
Quick release. It doesn't take long for spaghetti to cook in the Instant Pot! To avoid mushy pasta, release the pressure immediately.
Thicken it up. Once you open the lid you'll see a lot of liquid. It will thicken up on its own as it cools and the steam is released. To hurry this up a bit, you can turn on the sauté mode and allow the liquid to cook off that way.
Double the recipe. If your pot is large enough (an 8-quart size) then you can double the recipe and keep the same cooking time. If you are using a 6-quart size, you may only be able to make 1.5 the amount.