3-Ingredient Instant Pot Spaghetti
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Only 3 ingredients make up this whole wheat Instant Pot Spaghetti recipe that your family will love. You’ll have a nutritious dinner done in about 15-20 minutes and will only dirty up one pot! You can make it with our optional meat sauce (delicious!) or no meat at all.
Why I’m Loving This Recipe
- Fast and Easy: Sooo easy for a weeknight meal! I can simply dump 3 ingredients into the pot and have a hands-free dinner ready in less than 25 minutes.
- With or Without Meat Sauce: While you can enjoy this recipe as meat-free, it’s super simple to make our flavorful meat sauce in the Instant Pot using my instructions below.
- Healthy: I used whole wheat spaghetti in this recipe because it is packed with nutrients such as complex carbs, protein, fiber, iron, magnesium, and zinc. And…no one will ever know the difference!
- Large Batch: This meal makes a very large batch and serves at least 8 people–especially if you add the meat sauce. It’s an easy recipe for a group.
- Budget-Friendly: Just grab a box of whole wheat spaghetti and two jars of marinara from the store and you’re down about $6-7 depending on the brands. That’s less than $1/serving!!
How to Make Instant Pot Spaghetti (With No Meat)
- Add the water. Break the spaghetti in half and spread it out in layers, criss crossing each other. Make sure they aren’t clumped together. Pour the sauce over the top and make sure all the pasta is covered. DO NOT STIR.
- Pressure cook on high for 5 minutes. Let the pressure naturally release for 4-5 minutes (no longer!). Then do a quick release of the rest of the pressure. Stir and let the pasta sit for about 5 minutes so it thickens up.
- Enjoy right away with lots of Parmesan cheese and freshly chopped basil on top, if desired.
How to Make Instant Pot Spaghetti WITH Meat Sauce
This is my favorite way to make this! My family loves it. Here’s how to make it with meat sauce in one pot:
- Turn on the Saute function on high. Heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil. Add diced onion and saute until soft, about 4 minutes.
- Add the ground beef, breaking it up as it cooks. Season with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and garlic. If there’s a lot of excess grease, carefully drain off some of it. Turn off the Saute function.
- Add the water. Break the spaghetti in half and spread it out in layers, criss crossing each other. Make sure they aren’t clumped together. Pour the sauce over the top and make sure all the pasta is covered. DO NOT STIR.
- Pressure cook on high for 5 minutes. Let the pressure naturally release for 4-5 minutes (no longer!). Then do a quick release of the rest of the pressure. Stir and let the pasta sit for about 5 minutes so it thickens up.
- Enjoy right away with lots of Parmesan cheese and freshly chopped basil on top, if desired.
What to Serve with Instant Pot Spaghetti
How Long Do I Cook Spaghetti in the Instant Pot?
I found in all my tests that the key to perfect whole wheat spaghetti in the Instant Pot is cooking it for 5 minutes at high pressure and then letting the pressure naturally release for 4-5 minutes (simply don’t touch it). Then, turn the valve to do a quick release of the remaining pressure.
If for some reason your pasta is not fully done after releasing the pressure, turn on the Saute mode on low and add a 1/2 cup water (or more as needed). Stir and let it cook for a few minutes. It will soften up.
More Instant Pot Recipes You’ll Love
Whether you want a healthy, kid-friendly dinner or a freezer meal on hand for later, we think you’ll love the simplicity of this Whole Wheat Instant Pot Spaghetti with meat or without meat!
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3-Ingredient Instant Pot Spaghetti
Only 3 ingredients make up this nutritious dinner recipe that your family will love. You’ll have this done in 15-20 minutes and will only dirty up one pot! See Cooking Notes for how to make this with a delicious meat sauce.
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- 16 ounces (full package) whole wheat spaghetti
- 2 (24 ounce) jars marinara sauce (I used our Homemade Marinara)
- Optional, for serving: freshly grated Parmesan cheese and/or fresh chopped parsley or basil
*See Cooking Notes for how to add a meat sauce.
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Instructions
(If you’d like to make a meat sauce for this pasta, see the Cooking Notes below.)
- Add water to the Instant Pot. Break the spaghetti in half and add to the pot, spreading it out in thin layers over the liquid, criss crossing each layer. Make sure it’s not clumped together. Pour the marinara over the pasta and make sure all the pasta is submerged. DO NOT STIR.
- Lock and seal the lid. Cook at high pressure for 5 minutes. When the cook time is up, let the pressure naturally release for 4-5 minutes (meaning, do not touch). Then, quick release the rest of the pressure by turning the valve. (If the pasta isn’t done enough, turn on the Saute function, add 1/2 cup of water or more as needed, and stir for a few minutes until it’s softer.)
- It will seem soupy at first. Simply, stir and let the pasta sit for a few minutes. It will absorb more of the liquid and thicken up a bit. Serve warm and topped with shredded Parmesan cheese and/or fresh chopped herbs like basil or parsley.
Notes/Tips
- How to Cut This Recipe in Half: I tested making half of this recipe (8 ounces pasta, 1 jar marinara, 2 cups water), and it works the same way. Just cut all the ingredients in half but cook for the SAME time length. This will serve 3-4 people.
- How to Add Meat Sauce to This Recipe: This is delicious and works really well!
- Turn on the Saute function (on high) and heat 1 teaspoon olive oil.
- Add 1 diced small onion and saute until softened, about 4 minutes. Add in 4 minced garlic cloves and stir for 30 seconds.
- Add in 1 pound lean ground beef or turkey. Break it up with a wooden spoon while it cooks and season it with 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Saute until cooked through. Drain off excess grease, if desired.
- Then follow the recipe above.
- The longer the pasta sits in the pot, the softer it gets. So I suggest eating it right away and/or turning off the “warm” mode. You may also want to transfer it to another dish instead of letting it sit in the Instant Pot (because of the residual heat).
- I have not tested this with regular (not whole wheat) spaghetti. Please let me know if you do.
- I have not tested this recipe with gluten free pasta but from the articles I’ve read I would not suggest it. Instead, make our gluten-free Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce and cook your gluten free pasta on the stove top instead.
Want Freezer Meals for the Instant Pot?
We’ve got you covered. Hop over to this post highlighting 20+ Best of the Best Freezer Meals for the Instant Pot. It includes freezer meal instructions for EVERY recipe plus tons of pro tips and tricks we’ve learned over the years.
I made it with whole grain thin spaghetti used about 3/4 lb of pasta 1 lb of ground turkey and one jar of sauce with one jar of water. I have the ninja foodi xl and I put it on high pressure for 5 minutes. The pasta was cooked perfectly even though it clumped together it was still cooked Al dente. This was a good recipe to play with! I can’t wait to make more stuff!
Thanks for the tips and feedback, Elva! Glad you liked it!
If I want to double the recipe do I double the marinara sauce and water as well? What about the cooking time?
I haven’t tried doubling it, Lori, so I’m not sure. It seems to me that this is one Instant Pot recipe, though, where you would double the liquid. You don’t necessarily have to do that when doubling a cut of meat or something like that.
I don’t think you need to increase the cook time, so I’d start with what is written in the recipe. If that pasta isn’t al dente, however, then cook another 1 minute.
If I add frozen meatballs to this, should i increase my cook time?
I haven’t tested meatballs in this recipe, but if they are pre-cooked frozen meatballs, they would take 3-5 minutes in sauce by themselves. So, I think they should work in this recipe. Let us know if you test it and what your thoughts are!
This looks wonderful but I wish you had instant pot directions on how to make the marinara as well vs it having slow cooker directions and this having instant pot directions.
It’s a good idea. We’ll try to get a recipe for that eventually.
I use a stovetop pressure cooker. Would you have any idea how the amount of time would compare with an electric pressure cooker? I’m not sure about when an electric cooker cooks for 4 minutes; is that the entire time it is on, or is that the amount of time at pressure? (with a stove top cooker you count the time when it is at pressure, so the warming up time is not counted, if that makes sense.)
Hi Brenda. I’m so sorry, but I’ve never used a stovetop pressure cooker. To answer one of your questions, when we say “cook at high pressure for 4 minutes” that is NOT including the amount of time it takes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure. It usually takes about 10-15 minutes for this recipe to come to pressure. The 4 minutes begins when the valve seals. Not sure if that helps or not.
I am ahving difficulty finding a whole wheat pasta my family will eat. They don’t seem to like the texture.
I know, it’s hard to switch once they’re used to white pasta. Sorry! There are some brands that add in some whole grains and/or added protein but it still looks like white pasta.