Instant Pot Pasta with Meat Sauce

This easy recipe for Instant Pot Pasta With Meat Sauce uses a jar of sauce along with your favorite pasta. By using 3 ingredients (pasta, a jar of sauce, ground meat) adding sauce, pasta and meat you can cook it all together making the best one pot instant pot pasta for a quick weeknight dinner. Can be easily in made gluten free!

As an Italian girl, I am very connected to my pasta and sauce.  However, Sunday afternoon’s aren’t the same as they were growing up and sauce isn’t simmering on the stove all day to be served with copious amounts of pasta.

🫙Instant Pot Pasta with Jar Sauce

• Ground Italian Sausage – This is the main part of the dish that gives it protein and flavor. You can also use ground beef or ground turkey if you season it with Italian seasonings and spices.
• Jarred Pasta Sauce – A 24oz jar of your favorite pasta sauce will work in this recipe. Make sure it’s not a creamy pasta sauce.
• Pasta – Use your favorite pasta to make this dish. This recipe uses rotini but you can also use spaghetti, penne, rigatoni, or elbow macaroni. You can use gluten free pasta as well.
• Avocado Oil – Used to help brown the meat while in SAUTE mode.
• Water – Needed to pressure cook the pasta to let it absorb.

🍶Cooking Pasta With Jarred Pasta Sauce

The beauty of this recipe is that the pasta and the sauce come together with water to cook the pasta right in the instant pot. You can use your favorite jar of sauce and your favorite pasta.

Jar Sauce Options: Marinara, Vodka Sauce, Spaghetti Sauce

Pasta Options: Penne, Rigatoni, Ziti, Rotini, Spaghetti

Ground Meat Options: ground beef, ground bison, ground chicken, ground turkey, ground lamb

🍝 How to make Instant Pot Pasta with Meat Sauce

1️⃣ Turn your instant pot to Saute mode on high and add 2 tsp oil.

2️⃣ Once oil is warmed up, add in 1 pound ground meat of choice. Sauté by breaking up evenly making sure it is cooked all the way through.  This should take about 5-8 minutes.

3️⃣ Add your 24 oz jar of pasta sauce and stir in with the cooked meat.

4️⃣ Add in your pasta evenly across the sauce and meat mixture and press into the sauce.

5️⃣ In your leftover sauce jar, add one cup of water and shake to get out the remaining sauce.

6️⃣ Pour water evenly over your pasta. Push pasta down into water and sauce mixture once again. Pasta should be JUST covered.

7️⃣ Set your instant pot to manual HIGH pressure for 8 minutes.

8️⃣ Once cooking is complete, use a quick release.

9️⃣ Stir all cooked ingredients together and serve hot.

💭 Can you cook dry pasta in an instant pot or pressure cooker?

Although this recipe is special because the pasta cooks in WITH the sauce, it is possible to cook dry pasta in your instant pot in water. 

1️⃣ To cook 1 pound of pasta in your instant pot simply add your pasta along with 4 cups of cold water and season with salt.  Pasta should just be covered with water. 

2️⃣ Cook on manual HIGH pressure for 1 minute and let pressure naturally release for 5 minutes before quick releasing the rest of the pressure.  Drain pasta and toss with desired sauce immediately. 

💭 Can you cook gluten free pasta in the Instant Pot?

A method to cook gluten free pasta dry in the instant pot is still tricky.  Gluten free pastas are usually made with a blend of a few different grains which unfortunately leads to a gummy pasta most of the time. 

I have had luck using the method above with gluten free pasta except I did quick release on pressure as soon as it was done cooking and blasted it with cold water to keep it from cooking.  

I can’t say this has happened perfectly each time but would love to hear if you have found a way to cook gluten free pasta in a pressure cooker!

📏 How much pasta do I need for 24oz pasta sauce?

24 oz is the standard amount of sauce in a jar you can buy in the store.  For 24 oz jarred pasta sauce, you need 12 oz pasta along with about 1 cup of water. 

🥘More Easy Instant Pot Dinner Recipes

• Instant Pot Short Ribs
• Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken
• Instant Pot Breakfast Casserole
• Instant Pot Salsa Verde Chicken
• Instant Pot Acorn Squash

Instant Pot Pasta with Meat Sauce

This Instant Pot Pasta with Meat Sauce is a simple healthy dinner where the pasta is cooked along with the meat sauce making a one pot meal in under 30 minutes. Use your favorite meat, pasta and jar of sauce. 

4.27 from 23 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 -6 servings

Calories: 388kcal

Author: Valerie Skinner

Ingredients

• 1 lb Italian Sausage Ground Beef or Ground Turkey
• 24 oz Jarred Pasta Sauce
• 12 oz Pasta see notes
• 2 tsp Avocado Oil
• 1 cup Water

Instructions

• Turn your instant pot to Saute mode on high and add 2 tsp oil.
• Once oil is warmed up, add in 1 pound ground meat of choice. Saute by breaking up evenly making sure it is cooked all the way through.  This should take about 5-8 minutes.
• Add your 24 oz jar of pasta sauce and stir in with the cooked meat.
• Add in your pasta evenly across the sauce and meat mixture and press into the sauce.
• In your leftover sauce jar, add one cup of water and shake to get out the remaining sauce.
• Pour water evenly over your pasta. Push pasta down into water and sauce mixture once again. Pasta should be JUST covered.
• Set your instant pot to manual HIGH pressure for 8 minutes.
• Once cooking is complete, use a quick release.
• Stir all cooked ingredients together and serve hot.

Video

Notes

1. Ratio is 24 oz pasta sauce plus 1 cup water to 12 oz dried pasta.
2. If pasta is not covered slightly with water after 1 cup is added, add more until it is.
3. If you are using a spaghetti noodle, break in half before adding to meat and sauce mixture.

Nutrition

Serving: 1.5 cups | Calories: 388kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 877mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g