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.
Cooking Pasta With Sauce In Instant Pot
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, Alfredo
- 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
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. Sauté 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.
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.
- 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.
- 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 24 oz 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.
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Other 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 Pasta with Meat Sauce
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
- Ratio is 24 oz pasta sauce plus 1 cup water to 12 oz dried pasta.
- If pasta is not covered slightly with water after 1 cup is added, add more until it is.
- If you are using a spaghetti noodle, break in half before adding to meat and sauce mixture.
Nutrition
Valerie Skinner is a Whole30 approved personal chef & recipe developer that bridges the gap between healthy eating and busy lives by providing simple healthy meals and recipes for you and your family.
You can never go wrong with pasta any night of the week. I know we could eat it for dinner all the time. This instant pot recipe looks quick and delicious.
The first time I made pasta in my pressure cooker I felt like I was desecrating all I knew about pasta. I mean, as an Italian girl myself, putting pasta in cold water together with the sauce really felt like betraying my ancestors 😀 But my ancestors were not as busy as we are nowadays. Long live IP pasta recipes like this one!
I haven’t used my instant pot in way too long now. (It’s only been a week or so … way too long, haha!) Time to get it back out! I love how simple this recipe is, and how easily it comes together. You can really never go wrong with pasta!
I gave this recipe link to my daughter-in-law and she loved your Instant Pot Pasta With Meat Sauce recipe. This is perfect for busy moms and or dads with little or no time. Great instructions! This one is a keeper!
We really did enjoy this quick and tasty pasta. I could not believe that I could have such great flavors develop in the instant pot. Thank you so much, we will be making it again and again, it is so good and eay.
This pasta looks stunning and super flavorsome and delicious! I love how it is an instant pot recipe and is super easy and quick to make. I need to try this out, thank you for sharing this recipe.
Never come across a pasta recipe that I don’t love. Instant pot makes the best pasta recipe. So easy to make and so delicious!
I recently got an instant pot and I’m constantly looking for new recipes so this is perfect. Looks so good!
This pasta looks delicious and so easy to make in the instant pot. I can’t believe I have never tried making pasta in the instant pot yet. Can’t wait to try it.
What a perfect recipe for those busy days when you are too tired to even think of lunch or dinner. This came to me at a perfect time. Tried it on and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. Pasta in one pot. Delicious and super easy to make.
This came out amazing!!! I used 14oz of pasta instead of 12oz, so I added a bit more water to make sure the pasta was covered. It worked great. This was my first time making pasta in the instant pot and this might be the only way I do it from now on. Next time we’re going to try ground chicken with alfredo sauce.
So thrilled my boyfriend found this recipe and sent it to me. Thanks again!
So glad you liked it!
Don’t know what went wrong. Pasta stuck to bottom of pan and pasta was way under cooked. Had to put in oven to finish cooking
Denise, I’m so sorry to hear that as I haven’t had anyone come across this issue with the recipe. I’m glad it finished in the oven.