Who doesn’t love a one pot meal? Less dirty dishes, less time in the kitchen, and a great meal. I have been using my Instant Pot more and more, and I’m constantly amazed at what all it can do. The hardest part was browning the hamburger meat. After that, I tossed everything in and walked away. It was done in 6 minutes. Perfection! Don’t mind the horrible photo. Sharing on the blog was a total afterthought, because I was just cooking dinner like I do any other night. I didn’t decide to share it until I was already putting the leftovers away. It was too good and too easy not to share. 😉
*If you aren’t familiar with Instant Pot Pressure Cookers, see my post HERE
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One Pot Spaghetti… in the Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 lb hamgurger meat
- 1 jar spaghetti sauce
- 1 jar filled with water
- 1 small can of tomato sauce (optional)
- spaghetti
Instructions
- Select ‘saute’ on the Instant Pot control panel. Brown hamburger meat. Turn off Instant Pot. Break spaghetti in half and spread evenly over the hamburger meat. Add jar of spaghetti sauce, jar of water, tomato sauce (optional. Make sure liquid is covering spaghetti. More water may be needed. Close the lid and cook on Manual for 6 minutes at high pressure. Then use quick release. Remove lid and stir. Boom! Dinner is served. 🙂
- *If you like your spaghetti not quite as tender, I recommend 4 minutes.
How much spaghetti?
That is the million dollar question. Does anyone ever really ‘know’ how much spaghetti? Ha! I just eyeball it. I touch my thumb to my pointer finger and measure that way. I realize that is subjective.
The amount of spaghetti would depend on how much cooking liquid you have so I think it is important to know how much spaghetti for this recipe. Is it a full box, a half a box.? It would not be based on number of servings only how much is needed to cook in that much liguid.
I just always measure with my fingers. I used a “bundle” that was around 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. Hope this helps! You are correct though, it would definitely be dependent on the amount of liquid used.
Do you drain the meat?
No, there was no need to. I use 98% lean, but if there is a lot of grease then I definitely would.
If I’m making a double recipe, should I double the cooking time?
Hmm, I don’t think you would need to. I would try the regular time, and you could always set it for another few minutes if it isn’t done to your liking.
Do you close lid whe browning meat? Or do you leave open and move meat around so it can brown?
That was supposed to say to you close kid WHILE browning meat. Sorry.
No, when using the saute feature, there is no need to use the lid.
OMG! I never knew this! WOW!! #mindblown
Thanks!!
How do you keep the pasta from sticking together?
I’ve never had any issues with it sticking together. I tried to ‘fan’ out the pasta as I placed it in the pot. You can also layer a little sauce in between if you are afraid you might have that problem.
How do you set the instant pot to 6 minutes!?!? Can’t figure it out
You first hit ‘manual’ and then hit the + or – buttons until it is set to your desired time. Hope this helps!
I made a meatless version of this recipe tonight and set it for 4 minutes for more of an al-dente texture as recommended. However, I had several patches of uncooked pasta that stuck together. So I added a bit more water and cooked for another 2 minutes manual. That did cook the uncooked pasta patches but noticed it burned the bottom of the pot. The pasta was fine as I also added parmesan cheese on top with some EVOO. The kids ate it all up but I did have to salvage the pasta.
I tried to make sure the pasta was completely covered before setting the pot. I also tried my best to fan the pasta out and spread it as much as possible. I didn’t have any issues! I hope this helps for next time!
thank you for putting the tip on about the noodles this will be my first time making this.
Great recipe. I added 1/4 teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of brown sugar, and omitted the tomato sauce. One jar of water was sufficient for 16 oz noodles.
Cooks perfectly! Thanks for recipe!
Made with a full box of Barilla high protein angel hair pasta, cooked for 5 minutes, and was perfect!
Wonderful! Thank you for taking time to comment. 🙂
How much sauce and water dis u use. The box is 14 oz of noodles
I used a regular sized jar of spaghetti sauce and then enough water to cover the noodles when mixed with the sauce. Hope this helps!
I have the 6qt Pot. Is 2 lbs of hamburger and 1 lb pork sausage too much meat along with 1 lb spaghetti noodles and a qt of sauce and a qt of water? Will it fit in the 6 qt?
It will absolutely fit. 🙂 I would just look once everything is added to see if there needs to be a smidge more sauce/liquid, but other than that, you should be good to go! Good luck!
I made 3# beef, 1# spaghetti noodles, 2 jars of sauce and it took 2 1/2 more jars of water to completely cover mixture. I cooked manual for 5 minutes & did a quick release. l ended up with spaghetti soup. Where did I go wrong?
Although you added extra sauce, I’d cut back on the water. Maybe if you try to stir it a bit before and see if it’s easier to cover with less water that way. I’ve never tried to make that much at one time, so I’m just guessing. Since it doesn’t take long to cook, you could always make 2 batches. I’m sorry it didn’t work out. So much of it is trial and error, so try again some time and let us know how it goes!
I rarely make spaghetti as I hate the mess I always make and cleaning up takes longer than eating. I just tried this but used italian sausage that I sauteed first and used 3 cups of bow ties/farfalle pasta instead of spaghetti and a large jar of Classico and one of water. I pressured cooked the 6 minutes. It was very tasty but next time I will add the tomato paste or another cup of pasta as the sauce looked a bit watery though it tasted just fine. I like the farfalle or large shells as I have some dexterity issues and find them easier to handle. Thank you for helping me have a nice dinner with no effort and easy clean up.
Awesome! I’m glad you found something that worked for your taste buds. One pot meals are the best!
Thanks, Maggie from another Maggie. I also use farfalle and Italian sausage when I make spaghetti and had no idea how much to use. I am going to start this now. 🙂
used cut-up sausage instead. turned out great although I was seriously skeptical at the amount of water I had to put in until I remember that the pasta was uncooked. so quick and delicious! thanks!
I just made this spaghetti. I found it to be too waterd down. Could I use 2 jars of sauce instead of one of each of water?
I don’t see why not. There just needs to be enough “runny” liquid so the bottom doesn’t burn.
Do you have to add extra water to jarred sauce?
Yes, I used a jar of water.
Terrible. No amounts. Scanty directions.
I’m sorry it didn’t meet your expectations. I do my best, but I realize that when I share a recipe or directions on how I prepared something, it may not be for everyone. Thank you for taking the time to comment. I hope you have a blessed day. 🙂