Buzz
For me, Italian-American cuisine is the ultimate comfort food. No matter how bad my mood, I can't resist cheesy, red-sauce-covered pasta. However, I don't always have six hours to prepare a Sunday gravy. Luckily, my Instant Pot is up to the task of slow-cooking, so when a craving for spaghetti and meatballs hits, I know exactly what to do.
Well, kind of. Sometimes finding a reliable Instant Pot recipe can be more challenging than the actual dish itself. When I set out to find an Instant Pot spaghetti and meatballs recipe, I expected some variety, but nothing like what I encountered. The biggest issue was, naturally, how much water to add to the pot. Too much creates a messy disaster; too little prevents the pot from building pressure. Even worse, many recipes neglect to mention adding salt with the water, which would result in bland pasta. I was appalled and decided to take matters into my own hands.
Pasta in a pressure cooker needs to build pressure quickly before it begins to burn on the bottom, so I came up with a simple technique to ensure proper pressurization: a test run. Instead of throwing everything into the pot, turning it on, and hoping for the best, I check my ratios by bringing just the pasta to pressure with water and some of the sauce. This allows room for adjustments before adding the delicate raw meatballs. Once I’m confident that the pasta will cook properly—and that it’s seasoned with enough salt—I can layer the meatballs and remaining sauce on top and confidently press the button. It may take more effort than just tossing everything in, but it guarantees perfect spaghetti and meatballs in less than an hour, and that’s a compromise I’m happy to make.
The Ultimate Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs
The key to this recipe is mastering technique: as long as you pressurize the pasta before adding the meatballs, you're set. I made everything from scratch, but you can use store-bought meatballs and your favorite jarred pasta sauce for a faster option. If you'd like to brown the meatballs, do so in a skillet on the stove while the sauce simmers; the Instant Pot doesn't offer the necessary heat control or surface area for proper browning.
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
1 cup plain breadcrumbs or stale bread cubes
Up to 1 cup whole milk
1 1/2-2 pounds ground meat, ideally a mix including pork (I used a beef, pork, and veal blend from Giunta’s)
1 cup grated Parmesan or pecorino romano cheese
2 cloves garlic, grated or finely minced
2 large eggs
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 teaspoon table salt
For the sauce:
1 28-ounce can of tomatoes, any variety
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and sugar, to taste
For the pasta:
10-12 ounces of long dried pasta, such as spaghetti, linguine, or bucatini (use less for a saucier dish, more if you're craving extra noodles)
Water to cover the pasta
Salt, to taste (I typically use about a full teaspoon of table salt)
Freshly-grated Parmesan and extra virgin olive oil, for serving
Instructions
Start by making the meatballs. Place the breadcrumbs in a small bowl and pour in enough milk to thoroughly soak them. The exact amount of milk will depend on your breadcrumbs, but be sure the breadcrumbs are fully soaked, not floating in milk.
While the breadcrumbs soak, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and gather your remaining meatball ingredients. Add the ground meat(s) to a large mixing bowl, then toss in everything else—including the soaked breadcrumbs. Use your hands to combine the mixture until it’s uniform and holds together when shaped into a ball. Pinch off 2-3 tablespoon portions of the mixture and roll them into smooth balls, about 1 inch in diameter, then place them on the parchment-lined sheet. You should end up with 20 to 25 meatballs. Put them in the fridge to chill while you prepare the sauce.
If using whole tomatoes, purée them roughly with a stick blender. Set your Instant Pot to the “Normal” Sauté setting and add the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, toss in the sliced garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until it just begins to brown at the edges. Stir in the red pepper flakes, if using, then carefully add the tomatoes along with a couple of generous pinches of salt. Reduce the heat to “Less,” bring to a simmer, and cook until the sauce thickens and the oil blends in, stirring occasionally. This could take anywhere from ten to thirty minutes, depending on your tomatoes; crushed or puréed tomatoes require less time than diced or whole.
Once the sauce has thickened to your liking, taste and adjust with salt and a touch of sugar. (Sugar helps balance the sharp, acidic flavors from canned tomatoes—don’t be afraid to use it.) Scoop half of the sauce into a separate bowl and set it aside:
Break the pasta in half and add it to the pot, stirring to spread it out as evenly as possible. Pour in enough water to cover the noodles by about an inch, add a generous amount of salt, give it another stir, and lock the lid in place. Set the Instant Pot to the “Manual” setting for five minutes at high pressure and wait. If the pot reaches pressure within five minutes, you're good to go; if not, you need to add more water. Quickly release any pressure—this step is just a test—then remove the lid to add the remaining ingredients.
If the noodles didn’t reach pressure quickly enough, add another cup of water before layering the meatballs on top. Pour the other half of the sauce over the meatballs, add a final splash of water, and lock the lid back in place. This time, set the Instant Pot to cook for five minutes at high pressure, followed by a manual release.
I prefer to serve the meatballs and spaghetti separately, with the meatballs and any extra sauce in their own dish. You could also combine everything right in the pot and serve it as is, but be careful—you don’t want to crush the meatballs. Either way, I believe this dish should be served as it was meant to be: drizzled with olive oil, topped with a generous amount of grated Parmesan, and accompanied by some seriously flavorful garlic bread.
