Serving Instant Pot Pasta
After eight minutes on high pressure, release the pressure valve to do a quick release of pressure, carefully open the pot, and give the whole thing a swift stir. The pasta will be too hot to eat and will continue to cook as you remove the pot from your pressure cooker and get your bowls ready. A few minutes of cooling and a flurry of Parmesan cheese will make this the perfect weeknight dinner.
Burn Error Tips & Tricks
In many cases, if you get the burn error and your Instant Pot has already come to pressure you can do nothing and your meal will still turn out well. If the pot is pressurized, set a timer for 10 minutes, or wait until the floating valve in the lid drops, signaling that the pressure has released.
This gives your food the chance to cook, and allows whatever burnt on the bottom of your pot to rehydrate. As a result, food is usually NOT stuck to the bottom of your pan when you use this method. If your pot has not pressurized by the time you get the burn error, youll probably have to open the lid, scrape the bottom of the pan with a spoon, add a little extra water and try again.
Can I Add Beef Or Sausage To My Spaghetti
While the recipes that I listed above definitely serve as a good starting point for branching out, theres still something to be said about taking this specific recipe and adding on to it.
Another one of my go-tos for sauce is to simply toss either sausage or lean ground beef into the instant pot, along with some red wine, onion, garlic, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes.
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How To Make Instant Pot Spaghetti :
Note: Ive updated this post since making this recipe video, so please disregard the 4-minute cooking cycle shown in the video. That works just fine, but I prefer a shorter 3-minute cook time now so the pasta has a little more tooth to it.
- 5cupswater
- 1jar marinara sauce
- 2 to 3tablespoonstomato paste
Instant Pot Spaghetti Noodles Pro Tips:
These additional tips are so that you can master spaghetti in your instant pot from the 1st time you cook it:
- Read my guide on al dente or soft to determine method for placing Spaghetti in pot
- The water only needs to just cover the pasta
- Use the quick release to release pressure and wait for safety value to drop before removing lid
- A heap of steam will puff up from the pot when you remove the lid, step back from it for this step
- The inner pot will be hot so use oven mits to remove it
- Add dried spaghetti to the stainless steel bowl
- Pour in enough water to just cover the spaghetti, add the salt
- Place the lid on and turn to seal. Press pressure cook, set the timer for 4 mins
- Once the Instant Pot beeps to indicate that the pasta is cooked, press the quick release button and allow pot to depressurize. Use oven mits to remove the inner stainless steel pot and use a colander to drain the spaghetti.
- Top with Parmesan cheese, parsley and cracked pepper to serve
Also Check: Frozen Meat In Pressure Cooker
How Long Does It Take To Cook Spaghetti Noodles In An Instant Pot
To cook Spaghetti Noodles in an Instant Pot, refer to the packet instructions of the spaghetti, divide that by 2 and subtract 1.
Pasta cooks a lot quicker in the Instant Pot to the stove, so it needs less cook time.
For example my dried Spaghetti packet indicated the cook time is 10 mins. Divided by 2 is 5, then I subtract 1 and get 4 mins.
It takes 4 mins to cook the spaghetti noodles at high pressure mode, using the pressure cooker function, followed by a quick release of pressure.
Spaghetti In The Instant Pot
- Prep is so quick and easy for this recipe a great way to make a bolognese-inspired pasta dish if youre short on time.
- Thanks to cooking in the instant pot with the sauce, the spaghetti soak up so much flavor when cooked under pressure this way. This makes the dish taste great, even though you barely have to do anything!
- Serve with parmesan cheese and chopped basil/parsley to make a simple recipe feel extra-special.
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How Do You Cook Spaghetti In The Instant Pot
- Start by sauteing garlic and stir. Add onion powder and Italian seasoning and stir.
- Add ground beef and cook until browned. Spoon out and discard any grease . Add 1/2 cup of water and scrape any bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Grab a handful of spaghetti noodles at a time, break in half and arrange in a criss-cross pattern on top of the meat. . Add remaining water to the pot.
- Pour diced tomatoes and crushed tomatoes. Close the lid, set the valve to sealing.
- Set timer to 7 minutes. It will take about 10 minutes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure, then it will start the countdown. Once the timer is done, wait 1 minute, then switch the valve to venting to release pressure. Open the lid away from your face, as there will be leftover steam in the pot.
- The dish will look like it has too much liquid, but all you need to do is stir well several time and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. It will thicken up.
I have the 6qt Instant Pot DUO60 and love it.
Ingredients For Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce
What I love about this recipe is that you can use 5 simple ingredients you have on hand:
- Pasta: You can use white, whole wheat or gluten free spaghetti. As for the shape, you can use long or short pasta, realistically. Penne, fettuccine, fusilli, elbow macaroni etc. Its totally flexible.
- Ground meat: Ground turkey, beef, chicken, lamb or even venison. Poultry will make Instant Pot spaghetti leaner and therefore a healthier choice.
- Tomato sauce: Plain canned tomato sauce to which well add simple spices. Salt and a bit of sugar to reduce acidity. You could opt for jarred seasoned sauce like spaghetti or marinara that already has spices, salt and sugar added to it.
- Spices: Dried oregano, basil and thyme or just Italian seasoning. You can skip them with jarred pasta sauce.
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Easy Instant Pot Spaghetti
By Anna Young
Today Im going to be sharing one of the easiest spaghetti recipes ever. Thanks to the instant pot, I can minimize my clean-up time without sacrificing flavor or nutrients. You can actually have this instant pot spaghetti ready to go, start to finish, in just over five minutes . Just add in the spaghetti noodles, a bit of olive oil, some water, and a pinch of salt and then let your instant pot work its magic. Make sure to use authentic extra-virgin olive oil when making this recipe to ensure that its heart-healthy for you and your young ones.
Get ready to check out what is perhaps one of the easiest spaghetti recipes ever. All youll need is an instant pot in order to make a spaghetti dinner thats full of flavor and nutrient-dense. You can literally have these spaghetti noodles ready to go in only five minutes, from start to finish. What I love about this instant pot spaghetti is how absolutely convenient it is without sacrificing texture or flavor. Yum!
Spaghetti Squash Is A Great Pasta Substitute
It wasnt til I went Paleo that I finally sampled a spaghetti squashbut I undercooked it and turned my nose up at the squeaky, bland vegetable strands. But heyIm open-minded. I gave spaghetti squash a second chance at a swanky vegetarian restaurant, and thats when I finally had an epiphanythis gourds pretty awesome if its properly cooked and smothered in a delicious sauce. Its not quite a pasta substitute, but this noodle-y veggie is a fabulous vehicle for an umami-packed sauce.
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Instant Pot Pasta Recipes
- Instant Pot Mac and Cheese This method of cooking pasta in the Instant Pot works so well with Mac and Cheese. Because the starches in the pasta thicken the cheesy sauce, you get an extra creamy mac without needing a ton of cheese or butter.
- Instant Pot Chicken Spaghetti Classic and comforting, this one pot meal is a family favorite around here. Check out that post .
- Instant Pot Italian Pasta Salad This pasta salad uses a different method than the one described here. For Instant Pot pasta salad you boil the pasta above the other ingredients using the pot-in-pot method. But its such a fun Instant Pot trick, it deserved a mention here.
To Drain Or Not To Drain
And here is where the magic lies with Instant Pot pasta: you dont always have to drain the pasta! Using this method for cooking pasta results in most of the water being absorbed into the pasta. When its finished there will be just a little bit of water leftover. You can then toss your pasta with your sauce, or make one directly in the Instant Pot such as Mac and Cheese.
However, you can drain the pasta too. And you should if your recipe calls for it, such as a Macaroni Salad.
One word of caution about cooking pasta made from different grains, such as a brown rice flour: When you are making non-traditional pasta, the leftover water might be too starchy and sticky to leave in a recipe. In that case, rinsing and draining the pasta will do the trick of eliminating that less-than-desirable starchiness.
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Saut Onion Garlic Spices And Vegetables
Add the minced onions, minced garlic, 2 bay leaves, a pinch of dried oregano and dried basil in the pressure cooker. Sauté for about 5 minutes until the spices start to release their fragrance. Stir frequently.
Then, add in the minced carrots and celery. Sauté for another 3 minutes.
Taste & season with kosher salt and ground black pepper if desired.
Instant Pot Spaghetti Technique
Using different techniques will result in different textures of cooked pasta from the Instant Pot.
This is an important point, I want to talk to you about in more detail.
The manner in which you add your dried spaghetti to the pot, will make a difference to how it cooks.
I have taken the photos below to illustrate what I mean.
If you have a look in the photo on the left above, you will see that the spaghetti noodles are laid flat in both directions, reasonably close together.
If you have a look at the 2nd photo, you will see that the spaghetti noodles are criss crossed in diagonal directions.
The biggest thing to understand about the above is that the level of pasta in Image 1 has less depth than Image 2. This is important as it means that less water is needed to cook the spaghetti if it is added to the Instant Pot like the 1st image than the 2nd.
I like my Spaghetti with a bit of bite to it, this is perfect for recipes such as my Garlic Spaghetti. As this recipe is all about minimal ingredients and basic flavour combinations, we need to get the texture spot on.
Soft mushy over cooked spaghetti doesn’t cut it.
The technique of adding the spaghetti to the Instant Pot in image 2 results in non al dente soft spaghetti that has no bite to it.
You can use either method but know up front what your options are and how it will effect the end result.
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Dump And Start One Pot Spaghetti:
Weve developed this spaghetti recipe with an option for those who want the quickest & easiest dump-it-all-in meal. You can get this spaghetti meal on the table in 30 minutes!
*Note: Simply remember to break the seasoned ground beef into smaller chunks, then layer the ground beef, onions, garlic, dried herbs at the bottom of the pot before pressure cooking.
Preventing The Pasta From Sticking
The biggest challenge is preventing the cooked noodles from becoming too clumped together. Since there is no stirring once the lid is on, some sticking will occur, like cooking pasta on the stovetop. The stickiness is due to the starches that release as the flour hydrates.
Dont worry. I have a solution! Spaghetti noodles are long, so break them in half. Then add ¼ of the pasta at a time, creating a stacked crosshatch pattern. The result is less sticking, which makes it easier to stir the noodles and sauce together.
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How To Cook Pasta In The Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker
While Ive included a bunch of tips below, theres really only four steps you have to worry about. These four steps will give you PERFECT pasta:
Can I Use Frozen Beef To Make Instant Pot Spaghetti
If you have a frozen block of beef , you can quickly thaw it out in the Instant Pot before you set out to make the spaghetti. You need 1.5 cups of water in the insert, then set frozen beef on a trivet. Set for 7 minutes on HIGH pressure. Quickly release the pressure. The meat wont be cooked through but thawed so you can now brown it to make the spaghetti. Discard the liquid and remove trivet. Rinse and wipe the insert clean, if needed. Heat up oil and begin browning the beef.
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Make Ahead And Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: The meat can be browned up to 2 days in advance.
To Freeze: Remove as much air as possible to prevent freezer burn. Store in a freezer safe container or bag for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating. For best results, cook the spaghetti for only 3 minutes at high pressure, so the noodles dont over cook when reheated, after freezing.
Cooking Any Type Of Pasta In The Instant Pot
We wanted to create a recipe that you can use for cooking any type of pasta. During our research over the last few months, weve tried out at least 14 different types of pasta using this recipe. Weve had large degrees of success with almost all of them, with some variables.
Before we go into this, we have a caveat: What weve learned over many years of developing recipes in the Instant Pot is that despite this appliance claiming it works the same across the board, weve found that not to be true. So while weve had great success using this method of cooking nearly any type of dried pasta, you may need to tweak our recipe a bit based on your specific Instant Pot or other brand of pressure cooker.
Weve tried this recipe with three different types and sizes of Instant Pots with success, but be open to the idea that you may need to slightly tweak this recipe to get your exact desired results for whatever recipe you are using. We really wanted this recipe to be fool-proof but in the end there are too many variables. The variable here is the altitude of where you live, the type of pasta you are using and your specific Instant Pot. But we are confident that this recipe is pretty close to perfect, and has worked for so many different shapes and types of pasta for us.
However, were sharing this recipe because weve found it infinitely useful for making pasta, and think you will too.
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How To Cook Pasta In An Instant Pot
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Everybody loves pasta, but nobody loves having to use half the pots and pans in the kitchen to get it ready. With an Instant Pot, all you need is a single piece of cookware and about 10 minutes. Just throw your pasta and sauce of choice into the Instant Pot, along with 3½-4 cups of water. Secure the lid and set the manual timer to 4-8 minutes. Once the pot beeps, release the pressure valve and give everything a good stir. Youll have dinner on the table in less time than it takes to boil a pot of water!
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
- Pressure cook for 8 minutes.
- Flip the quick release valve. Stir in the cream cheese. Sauce will thicken upon standing. Serve!
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