Well the holidays came. They went. And here we are in January and back to the grind of school and work which means easy weeknight recipes are a must. If you don't have an Instant Pot or some sort of pressure cooker, you're doing yourself a disservice! Yes, it's definitely intimidating to learn and get the hang of, but once you do... game changer baby!
I was VERY skeptical of this spaghetti and meatballs pressure cooker recipe; however, it turned out to be one of the best instant pot recipes in my arsenal. The kids actually hate it when I make spaghetti the old-school way, haha! Those noodles get cooked right with the sauce making them plump, delicious, and full of flavor.
*Layering is super important here. Make sure you place each ingredient in the right order!
Ingredients:
- 3/4 box or package (standard one pound sized) spaghetti noodles
- 1 jar spaghetti sauce
- 1 can diced tomatoes (I love adding extra seasonings so I prefer the Garlic, Basil, Oregano Del Monte diced tomatoes)
- Frozen meatballs to cover the bottom (this usually comes out to be 24-28 meatballs)
- 2 cups water
- *Optional - 1 can of small mushrooms drained
Make It:
- Place the frozen meatballs in one single layer on the bottom.
- Break the spaghetti noodles in half and layer them on top of the meatballs in a criss-crossy pattern. We're trying to set them all on top of the meatballs but create some separation so the noodles don't stick together.
- Pour water all over noodles
- Pour can of undrained tomatoes on top of the stack of noodles. Pour in drained mushrooms here as well if using.
- Pour whole jar of spaghetti sauce on top of noodles/tomatoes. Try to layer it so all the thick sauce sits on top and covers all of the noodles.
- Set your pressure cooker to high for 5 minutes (you may need to play around with this depending on what you like. My old pressure cooker worked better at 6 minutes but my new one comes out perfect at 5...)
- Once it's done, give it about a minute so the release doesn't splatter so much out but try not to let it sit too long or it will overcook in the natural release stage.
- Release the pressure. Once the pin drops, open the lid (it will look watery here!!), and give it a good stir. Let it rest for a couple minutes to thicken up.
- Boom. Dinner is served.