{"id":37258,"date":"2020-06-06T20:32:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-07T02:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pressurecookingtoday.com\/?p=37258"},"modified":"2020-06-07T21:24:20","modified_gmt":"2020-06-08T03:24:20","slug":"spaghetti-and-meatballs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pressurecookingtoday.com\/spaghetti-and-meatballs\/","title":{"rendered":"Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pressure Cooker \/ Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs<\/em><\/strong> is a quick and easy dump-and-go meal that uses frozen meatballs, spaghetti, and your favorite tomato sauce. It\u2019s a simple and fast weeknight dinner recipe that\u2019s fully kid-approved. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My kids love<\/em> a big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, topped with sauce and a generous sprinkle of parmesan cheese. (I\u2019m honestly not sure where they get it from because I ate plain noodles until I was in my late teens<\/em>\u2026 \ud83d\ude2c)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This shortcut meal is one of my favorites to make in the electric pressure cooker because you cook the meatballs, spaghetti, and sauce all at the same time in the same pot.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the best part? This recipe calls for frozen meatballs\u2014no thawing necessary!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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How to Make Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This Spaghetti and Meatball recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot<\/a>, Ninja Foodi<\/a>, or Power Pressure Cooker XL<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\uded1 Dump-and-start spaghetti and meatballs is a popular first Instant Pot meal. <\/strong>However, there\u2019s a couple of tricks you need to know to avoid the burn notice: layer the pasta and DO. NOT. STIR. the sauce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How to Layer Pasta for Instant Pot Spaghetti<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When you add the dry spaghetti to your pressure cooking pot, arrange the broken pasta in thin criss-crossed layers. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(It doesn\u2019t have to be exact. Just make sure you don\u2019t have big sections of spaghetti all facing the same direction.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spaghetti tends to clump together\u2014even when cooking on the stovetop\u2014and clumped-together spaghetti will cook like one big, thick noodle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can\u2019t stir your spaghetti in the pressure cooking pot. Therefore, you have <\/em><\/strong>to fan it out thin before you add the sauce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DO NOT STIR<\/strong>!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re new to pressure cooking, it feels really<\/em> weird not to stir your ingredients together.<\/strong> Especially spaghetti. But there\u2019s a good reason!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to reach pressure, you need to cook with a small amount of clear, thin liquids. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\uded1 Spaghetti sauce is too thick to use as a cooking liquid. It will stick to the bottom of the pot and you\u2019ll get the burn notice. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To prevent this from happening, you can choose one of three pressure cooking methods: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. cook the sauce pot-in-pot<\/a>, <\/li>
  2. thin the sauce with pasta water and simmer off the extra<\/a>, or <\/li>
  3. use the pasta to keep the tomato sauce from touching the bottom of the cooking pot. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    All of these options can work great for making pasta\u2014it\u2019s just about finding what works best for you!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Dump and Press Start Directions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    As written, this recipe is almost <\/em>dump and start. I like the deeper flavor from spending a minute to saut\u00e9 garlic and red pepper flakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, you can absolutely skip that first step! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Just add the olive oil with the dry pasta in step 3. (You can <\/em>omit the oil, but it helps keep the noodles from sticking together.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    What Kind of Spaghetti Sauce Is Best?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    We prefer to use a jarred spaghetti sauce that doesn\u2019t contain any thickeners. <\/strong>We\u2019ve tested it with both a fancy Dave\u2019s Gourmet Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce<\/a> and a cheaper jar Prego Tomato Basil Garlic<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You can use any spaghetti sauce, but sauces with thickeners are more likely to settle on the bottom, risking the burn notice.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u2139\ufe0f Commercial thickeners on the label will vary widely<\/a>. <\/strong>Here are some common ones:
    \u2022 alginates<\/em>
    \u2022 gums<\/em> (xanthan gum or guar gum)
    \u2022 starches<\/em> (corn starch)
    \u2022 pectin<\/em>
    \u2022 celluose<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You can also use your own homemade spaghetti sauce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Can I Use Frozen or Fresh Meatballs in My Instant Pot?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    You can make this easy Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs with frozen meatballs or fresh. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I almost never remember to thaw meat ahead of time. So I love that these go straight from frozen package to pot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Can I Cook the Pasta and Spaghetti Sauce Separately? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Certainly! You can cook just the meatballs and the spaghetti in the pot and leave off the sauce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you want to warm the sauce at the same time everything else cooks, you\u2019ll need to do it pot-in-pot. (See our how-to cook pasta guide<\/a> for the full pot-in-pot instructions.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You can also omit the meatballs and make just the spaghetti and sauce pot-in-pot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    More Easy Instant Pot Pasta Dinner Recipes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Whenever pasta is on the dinner menu, rely on your Instant Pot \/ Pressure Cooker to make your prep quick, easy, and fun. There are dozens of flavorful Instant Pot pasta recipes. Our favorites include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n