My Kitchen Clatter

Real Food - Real Life

Spaghetti & Meatballs – Instant Pot

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Spaghetti and meatballs - five ingredients!

Let me introduce you to one of my absolute favorite go-to weeknight meals. I always have the ingredients for spaghetti in the pantry, but learning how to make spaghetti and meatballs in the pressure changer is so much simpler than the stovetop. I’ve had a recipe for Pasta and Meat Sauce on my site for a while, but I love incorporating the pasta into the cooking. This recipe is one that I pull out on nights where I really want to order carry-out, but I know it would be quicker to cook at home. If you’re looking for other ideas for quick week-night meals, we also love my recipes for Cheesy Chili Mac and Instant Pot Sloppy Joes.

A couple thoughts on this recipe. I save lots of time and energy by using frozen Italian meatballs from Costco. Find your favorite brand and just go with it. I usually dump in about a pound and a half of meatballs to feed the six of us. That’s thirty-six meatballs – yes, I count them – meatball fights are a real thing at our table. Feel free to adjust the meatball amount to what you need – the cooking time remains the same.

This really does seem to serve the six of us with a few leftovers. We typically add a salad and bread. If you want to use a whole package of spaghetti, you should add an extra cup of water and your sauce will be a bit thinner.

Instant Pot Spagetti & Meatballs

Serving Size:
serves 6
Time:
total time 30 minutes
Difficulty:
easy peasy

Ingredients

  • 1-2 lb frozen meatballs, homemade or frozen from a bag
  • 12 oz uncooked spaghetti noodles
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 32 oz pasta sauce
  • 3 cups water
  • parmesan cheese for serving

Directions

  1. Toss the meatballs into the bottom of your instant pot.
  2. Break the spaghetti noodles in half and scatter over top of the meatballs.
  3. Drizzle the olive oil on top of the spaghetti. Pour in the pasta sauce and water on top of the spaghetti. Add a little extra water if you need to make sure the spaghetti is covered with liquid. Don’t stir!
  4. Place the lid on the pressure cooker and set the time to 8 minutes. When the timer is up, release the pressure using a quick release method. Open the lid, stir, and serve.

Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Chicken

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This is a super easy way to make barbecue chicken for an quick dinner. It’s a nice summer recipe and the pressure cooker has the added advantage of not heating up the kitchen.

With this recipe, you just throw everything into the pressure cooker and let it do its thing. The recipe calls for a natural release of 10 minutes. But if you have other things going on, you can easily let the pot go into the keep warm setting after cooker.

Be sure to use a barbecue sauce that is on the lower end of added sugar. The sugar seems to concentrate in flavor when its under pressure. I used our favorite Trader Joe’s sauce for this post, but you can you anything you have around. Even a homemade sauce, if you have one.

I alway like to serve a vinegar based slaw with barbecue. And of course, a really good bun takes these sandwiches to another level. Making homemade buns takes a little more planning, but I think they are worth it. My recipe makes 12 buns, which gives a few extra to throw in the freezer for a future menu.

Instant Pot Pulled Barbecue Chicken

Serving Size:
6-8
Time:
30 minutes
Difficulty:
Easy

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and/or chicken thighs
  • 3 T of barbecue seasoning
  • 1/4 cup of chicken broth or water
  • 1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce

For Serving

  • Extra barbecue sauce
  • Pickles
  • Sandwich buns
  • Coleslaw

Directions

  1. With the insert in the electric pressure cooker, add the chicken to the pot. Add the seasoning and toss the chicken in the seasoning. Add the water and barbecue sauce.
  2. Lock the lid on the pot.
  3. Cook at high pressure for 10 minutes.
  4. Use the natural-release method for 10 minutes, then use the quick release method to bring the pot’s pressure back to normal. 
  5. Unlatch the lid and open the pot, remove the chicken to a cutting board and allow to cool for a few minutes. Use two forks to pull the chicken apart. You can also use a mixer with the dough hook to shred the chicken. Add some of the cooking liquid back to the pulled chicken – just enough to keep it moist. If you like a stronger barbecue flavor, you can toss the cooked, pulled chicken in barbecue sauce to taste. 
  6. Serve on buns with toppings of your choice.
This chicken is just out of the pressure cooker. I’ve started shredding one of the breasts with a fork. Thigh meat will shred even easier.
Shredded barbecue chicken with a vinegar based coleslaw and homemade burger buns.