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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![A white bowl filled with Instant Pot Spaghetti with marinara sauce and ground beef, topped with fresh basil.](jpg/instant-pot-spaghetti-recipe-f-200x200.jpg)
Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meat Sauce
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.
How cute are you in the video?!!! 😂
Love all your recipes…very doable and not so gourmet that I can’t relate!!
Thanks so much…keep on cooking! 🧑🍳
Ohhhh thank you Holly! HAHA that video… I don’t know about myself sometimes, lol. Thank you so much, I am so glad that you are enjoying the recipes!! ❤️❤️❤️
Hi please help! I haven’t tried the recipe yet but the last time I made spaghetti in my instant pot there was SO much foam in there even after letting it natural release for 10 min then quick release. It was gross. Your recipe seems to indicate quick releasing right away. Does this prevent foam? I’ve read that quick releasing immediately can actually create alot of phone and spatter, yet I had that experience regardless even with natural release. I’m afraid to make pasta again unless I figure out how to avoid foaming.
Hi Valerie! I have made this recipe countless times, and I have never encountered any sort of foaming issue, so you should be just fine!
This turned out soo good! I used macaroni bc I didn’t have any spaghetti but kept everything else pretty much the same, except I added a little more than 8oz pasta. My husband likes saucy pasta and I usually never make it saucy so he loooved this lol. I think I would add even more pasta though next time!
I’m so happy you enjoyed this Amna! My husband loves it saucy too! Thanks so much for the great comments and review!❤️
Very good
That’s so great to hear Shannon, thanks so much for the great review!😃
I did not see this in any of the comments so I apologize if it’s been asked and answered….Have you made this with any pasta other than spaghetti? We use rotini, spirals, penne…etc. and wondered if that would translate. Thanks in advance, I’m making it tonight using spaghetti, but I’m looking to the future.
Hi Bill! I haven’t personally made this with a different kind of pasta, I’m sure it would work, I would just adjust the pressure cooking time based on the type of pasta that you are using, there are a lot of tables/guides online that can help you determine the appropriate cooking time. If the box indicates the same boiling time as a box of spaghetti, then no adjustment would need to be made. 🙂
So delicious. Wow
I’m so happy to hear that Bruni!! We love this one too, we’ve been eating it for years! 🙂 So glad you can add this to your rotation! -Stephanie
Such a great recipe made it quite a few times. My husband loves “quickie spaghetti”!
I’m so happy you and your husband are enjoying this one! I might have to start calling it “quickie spaghetti” 🤣
Really good. Hate to admit it lol, but it’s actually better than my way of making spaghetti. More collision of the flavoring and everything put together was perfect!
I’m so happy to hear that Dionna!😃 I’ve experimented with so many spaghetti making methods. I love how simple this one is. Thanks so much for the review!
Amazing recipe. Easy 5 🌟
So happy that you enjoyed it Rob, thank you SO much for the review! We love this recipe in my house!! Take care!! -Stephanie
I can’t get the time to 8 minutes. Instant pot duo 6 qt. Very strange.
Hi Cathy, I’m not sure I understand, you’re unable to set the time for 8 minutes?