Looking for a quick and easy dinner recipe? This Instant Pot Spaghetti Recipe is a crowd-pleaser and couldn’t be easier to make.
Looking for a quick and easy “set and forget” dinner recipe? Alex and I created this Instant Pot Spaghetti recipe for busy weeknights and times when you just can’t think about dinner. Just throw all the ingredients in the pressure cooker! And the taste? Take it from one of our readers, Erin, who said: “Oh my god, I scraped this bowl clean! The taste was amazing and it was so easy, it was just what I needed right now. Bonus side: It’s plant-based, too. No matter how you eat, it’s sure to become a favorite in your household! Read on for the recipe.
How to make Instant Pot Spaghetti
This Instant Pot Spaghetti Recipe couldn’t be much simpler: just add a few ingredients to the Instant Pot and wait for the 5 minutes to cook. Yes, 5 minutes — and a quick release! Luckily, pressure cookers work for cooking pasta: the result is a little different than cooking pasta on the stovetop, but it’s just as delicious. We loved how easy it was to add ingredients to the Instant Pot and not have to worry about boiling water for pasta. There are a few things to keep in mind when cooking pasta in an Instant Pot.
- Be sure to fan the spaghetti. Noodles that are right next to each other in the Instant Pot will stick together as they cook. So for this recipe, you need to spread the pasta so that it goes in different directions: this will help them cook evenly! See photo below.
- Use fire roasted tomatoes or the best chopped tomatoes you can find. This Instant Pot spaghetti recipe calls for shredded fire roasted tomatoes. Fire Roasted Tomatoes have a sweet flavor that’s perfect for spaghetti sauce! If you can’t find fire roasted tomatoes, use the best mashed tomatoes you can find. If you find fire-roasted tomatoes that are diced but not chopped, you can also run them through the blender several times.
- Use whole fresh basil leaves. This recipe uses fresh basil to add great flavor to the sauce. Of course, you can omit it if you can’t find it, but we strongly recommend it whenever possible. We grow our own basil so it’s easy to have on hand during the warmer months: How to Grow Basil.
Note: If you have hungry eaters, want to feed a crowd, or want to eat leftovers: you can double this recipe! It works doubled in a 6 liter instant pot. It’s a tight fit, but it cooks with the same timing!
what people say
When we posted on Instagram that we were working on an Instant Pot Spaghetti recipe, we received a lot of requests from recipe testers! Here’s what people said about this recipe:
- “My husband is a total carnivore and he loved it; He said he’s an absolute goalkeeper! I expected him to say he needed meatballs or sausage, but he liked it the way it was. -Amanda
- “Oh my god, I scraped this bowl clean! The taste was amazing and it was so easy, it was just what I needed right now. -Erin
Serve with what?
Let’s say you want to get dinner on the table in a hurry: what can you do as a side dish while the spaghetti is cooking in the pressure cooker? We recommend serving with a green salad: whether it’s a salad made from a recipe or simply a salad to prepare. Here are some of our favorite salads or dressings:
Another option: sauté broccoli with minced garlic while the Instant Pot cooks! Let us know what you would serve it with in the comments below.
Looking for Instant Pot Recipes?
Aside from this Instant Pot Spaghetti recipe, here are some of our favorite things we’ve made in our Instant Pot:
This Instant Pot Spaghetti Recipe is…
Vegetarian, gluten free, vegan, plant based and dairy free (with olive oil option).
The description
Looking for a quick and easy dinner recipe? This Instant Pot Spaghetti Recipe is a crowd-pleaser and couldn’t be easier to make.
- 2 cups the water
- 28 ounces canned fire-roasted tomato passata (or best quality tomato passata)*
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups Baby spinach, tightly packed (or chopped spinach)
- 8th fresh basil leaves
- 8 ounces Spaghetti (regular, not whole grain)
- Crumbled goat cheese for serving (optional)
- In a medium bowl, combine water, tomatoes and their juice, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, oregano, kosher salt, spinach, and whole basil leaves.
- Pour just enough tomato mixture into the Instant Pot to cover the bottom.
- Halve the spaghetti noodles. Working in batches, fan the noodles into the Instant Pot so they’re stacked on top of each other, leaving as much space as possible between the noodles (if the noodles are right next to each other, they’ll clump – they won’t). They don’t have to be perfect, just try to spread them out to make room).
- Pour the rest of the sauce over the spaghetti.
- Cook at high pressure for 6 minutes: Press the pressure cook button, make sure the ‘high pressure’ setting is selected and set the time. Note that it takes about 10 minutes for the pan to “preheat” and build pressure before you start cooking. (Avoid touching the metal part of the lid during cooking.)
- Fast Release: Release any remaining steam from the Instant Pot by setting the pressure release handle to “Vent” and covering your hand with a heated towel or pad. Never put your hands or face near the opening when dispensing steam. Open the lid of the pressure cooker.
- Open the lid and stir, removing any lumps. Then remove the pan from the Instant Pot and let cool for 3-5 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken slightly. The sauce will thicken even more as it cools. Pour into bowls and serve.
Remarks
*If you’re hungry or want to eat leftovers, this recipe works twice as well. It’s a tight fit in a 6 liter instant pot, but it works!
- Category: main course
- Method: pressure cooker
- Kitchen: Italian
Keywords: Instant Pot Spaghetti, Pressure Cooker Spaghetti, Instant Pot Pasta, Pressure Cooker Pasta
