The Cozy Cook

Book cover graphicThe Cozy Cookbook is here! Order Now!

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.

A big white bowl full of Instant Pot Spaghetti with a basil leaf in the middle

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.

Ground beef cooking in an Instant Pot next to an Instant Pot with uncooked spaghetti and diced tomatoes.

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

Marinara sauce being poured into an Instant Pot to make Instant Pot Spaghetti.

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

An Instant Pot filled with Spaghetti showing cream cheese being added and mixed in before serving.

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.

 

An Instant Pot filled with Spaghetti in marinara sauce with ground beef and diced tomatoes.

More Instant Pot Meals:

Get My Free Meal Plan!

I’ve got a Free Meal Plan with 7 of my super popular recipes (complete with grocery list)! Sign up for my email list and I’ll send it over now along with weekly dinner recipes!

And follow me on FacebookInstagram, and Pinterest!

A white bowl filled with Instant Pot Spaghetti with marinara sauce and ground beef, topped with fresh basil.

Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

4.98 from 47 ratings
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

  • 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!
This instant pot spaghetti has perfectly cooked spaghetti noodles simmered in a savory meat sauce. A simple family dinner that's ready in less than 30 minutes with only a single pot to clean! | The Cozy Cook | #Spaghetti #InstantPot #Pasta #Italian #Meat #Beef #Noodles #Dinner #FamilyMeals #30MinuteMeal #MeatSauce

Order The Cozy Cookbook!

Easy Recipes. Extra Comfort.

Order your copy today!

Leave a Comment & Rate this Recipe

Your email address will not be published.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

Click the Stars to Rate This Recipe




129 comments on “Instant Pot Spaghetti”

  1. I will be trying your spaghetti recipe this coming week. Your instructions seem very clear and ingredients are those I have in my house. Please send me updates on your recipes in my e-mail. Thank you.

    • Hi Joyce! I’m happy to hear tat you’ll be trying this Spaghetti and Meat Sauce, you’re going to love it! I’ve added you a an email subscriber as well, thank you for your support! -Stephanie

  2. This spaghetti was so good.  I almost didnt make it because i didnt have cream cheese, i only had a 24 oz jar of sauce, and i didnt want to mix the spaghetti in with the sauce.  So i omitted the cream cheese, i mixed 1/2 can tomato paste with red wine to make a cup.  Decided even though hubby likes noodles cooked separate just go for it.  Glad i did, we both gave it a thumbs up.  Hard to believe that cooking it for 8 minutes could make it so tasty!  Ill have to try it the original way and decide which one will be “the one”.  Thanks Stephanie!

    • Hey Barb! I’m so happy that you were able to make this work with what you had on hand!! I can’t wait for you to try it again and decide which is best, or maybe they’ll both be delicious in their own way. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your modifications, I might give some of that a go next time! 🙂 -Stephanie

  3. Can u do without canned tomato? Just add more water

    • Hi Gina, I am a huge fan of the canned tomato in there and replacing it with just water will dilute the flavor a bit, if anything, maybe try replacing it with chicken broth, and perhaps a little bit of tomato paste to “up” the flavor back up a bit. Good luck! 🙂

  4. Just made this today and it was delicious!! I added 8 ounces of chopped cremeni mushrooms on top of the meat with onions, garlic and spices. I was worried because as it was cooking I went out to get my mail and my chatty neighbor was driving by and she stopped to visit and I felt bad after a bit but told her I had to get in because I didn’t want mushy spaghetti. Needless to say it was on natural release for 4 extra minutes but it still turned out lovely and I’m emailing my neighbor your web link so she can make it as well.
    Crazy how many people I know that now have the instant pot. Thanks for the lovely recipe.

    • Breeeee!! I love this! I pictured the entire thing in my head! You are the best for telling me this story! I’m so happy it turned out well!!! You’re the best!!

  5. I can’t find 32oz spaghetti sauce, what spaghetti sauce do you use that comes in 32oz jar?

    • Hi Jeanette, I use Rao’s marinara sauce, but I do recall Preggo making a 32 oz. size, I think many of them do- I wish you luck on your quest! 🙂

  6. New to the IP world. Made this tonight. Hubby has an issue with long noodles so used rigatoni noodles. I also used Hunts in the can for sauce.!! Turned out great!!! Love the fact that when the hamburger is browning I can get the rest open and ready. Place everything in the IP. Set it and forget it!!! Good flavor!!!

    • That is so great!! I’m so happy to hear it! Thank you for taking the time to make a comment!

    • Chas, I find it easier to eat short noodles a my desk. I just break the spaghetti or the linguini noodles into two inch pieces when adding the to the pot. I come from an Italian family, and I love making IP spaghetti. it’s a lot faster than stovetop.

  7. This is hands down the most favorite meal of my kids! I can make it multiple times in a week with no complaints 🙂 I’ve shared the recipe with several co-works and they all rave about it as well. Thanks for sharing.

    • Hey Jennifer! I am SO happy to hear it! It’s amazing that something as simple as spaghetti can come out so good in the instant pot with this recipe, so much better than how I have ever made it in the past. I am so happy that your kids approved, my toddler does too! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment!

  8. Nailed it! Great recipe! Getting acclimated to my new Instant Pot and this was a winner! Thank you!!

  9. I found it took 18 minutes to build up pressure plus the 8 minutes to cook.  Hubby liked it but I’m not sure I saved any time

  10. How much water do you use for cooking the spaghetti with meat sauce 

As Seen On…