Instant Pot Spaghetti

This Instant Pot Spaghetti has perfectly cooked spaghetti noodles in marinara sauce with ground beef, simple seasonings, and cream cheese as an amazing secret ingredient. Your family will love this 30 minute meal!

Try my Eggplant Parmesan next! And don’t forget a side of Garlic Bread with Cheese.

Instant Pot Spaghetti

If you’re looking for an easy dinner idea that the whole family can actually agree on, this is it.

Not only is it super convenient to cook this entire meal in one pot, but the flavors blend so perfectly together, you’ll never make spaghetti any other way!

See below for my PRO tips for freezing, this makes a great freezer meal.

How to Make it

See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.

• Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode. Heat the olive oil and add the ground beef. Cook and crumble the beef, drain any grease.
• Stir in the seasonings. Break the spaghetti noodles in half and criss-cross them over the ground beef to prevent them from sticking together.
• Add the chicken broth and undrained diced tomatoes.

• Add marinara sauce and ensure spaghetti noodles are completely submerged.
• Pressure cook for 8 minutes. 

• Flip the quick release valve. Stir in the cream cheese. Sauce will thicken upon standing. Serve!

Using a 6 Quart Instant Pot

• I us my trusty 6-quart Instant Pot for this recipe, which is what I recommend for most families, and is what most Instant Pot recipes are based on.
• It can cook enough food for a family of four and won’t take as long to come to pressure as an 8 quart will.

Burn Message Indicator

The burn indicator can sometimes trigger more easily with starchy foods, (i.e. – pasta). Rest assure, there is a sufficient amount of liquid in this recipe to avoid burning this pasta.

Even so, I commonly see this indicator when I am cooking but I just let it continue to come to pressure and eventually it goes away.

For more information you can check out these 7 Instant Pot Burn Mistakes you need to avoid.

Storing Leftovers

Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Tips for Freezing

• Cook the pasta to the Al Dente Point, but no more. That way the pasta won’t be overcooked when you reheat it. The quick release of the pressure valve helps to halt the cooking process.
• I make portion-sized foil packets for these and place them right from the freezer to a 350° oven for about 20-25 minutes, depending on the portion size.
• You can also freeze them in Ziploc bags and place in the fridge overnight to defrost.

More Instant Pot Meals:

• Creamy Chicken Stew
• Chicken and Stuffing
• Hamburger Helper
• Roasted Potatoes
• Broccoli Cheddar Soup
• Split Pea Soup

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Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

4.98 from 43 ratings

Servings: 4

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This Instant Pot Spaghetti has perfectly cooked spaghetti noodles in a delicious marinara sauce with seasoned ground beef and a dab of cream cheese!

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

• ▢ 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• ▢ 1 pound ground beef, I use 85% lean
• ▢ ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Italian Seasonings
• ▢ Salt/pepper, to taste
• ▢ ½ pound spaghetti
• ▢ 24 oz. marinara sauce
• ▢ 14.5 oz. diced tomatoes, undrained
• ▢ 2 cups chicken broth, can sub water
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons cream cheese, softened (optional, but recommended!)

Instructions

• Set the instant pot to Sautee. Add the Olive oil and ground beef. Cook and crumble the ground beef until it is browned and cooked through. Drain any excess grease if needed,
• Stir in the seasonings. Use a silicone spatula to scrape up any brown bits that might be stuck to the bottom of the pan. (This helps prevent the burn indicator message.)
• Break the spaghetti noodles in half. Crisscross them over the meat so that they don't stick together.
• Add the chicken broth and undrained diced tomatoes over the noodles. Top with marinara and ensure the noodles are submerged.
• Cover/Seal the Instant Pot and set it to pressure cook for 8 minutes (Or, select the manual button and hit high pressure for 8 minutes). Note: It might sound like nothing is happening but if you put your ear up to the instant pot after a few minutes, you can hear it working.
• Turn the quick release valve to let all of the steam escape, and open the pot. (Do not let the pressure release naturally as this will overcook the pasta.)
• Stir in the cream cheese. The sauce will continue to thicken upon standing. Serve, and enjoy!

Notes

Substitutions and additions:

• Ground Turkey or Chicken may also be used.
• Thin Spaghetti may also be used. Pressure cook for 6 minutes instead of 8.
• For a similar flavor to Bolognese, saute diced onions, celery, and carrots when browning the meat.

Nutrition

Calories: 619kcal, Carbohydrates: 63g, Protein: 33g, Fat: 27g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Cholesterol: 88mg, Sodium: 1857mg, Potassium: 1588mg, Fiber: 7g, Sugar: 16g, Vitamin A: 1300IU, Vitamin C: 34mg, Calcium: 115mg, Iron: 7mg

Did you try this recipe?Mention @TheCozyCook on Instagram or tag #thecozycook!

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Italian

Author: Stephanie