Instant Pot Meatballs

5 from 6 votes
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An easy Instant Pot Meatballs recipe that can be made with or without tomato sauce. Serve over pasta or on a roll for a delicious dinner.

Meatballs in the Instant Pot

When it comes to classic dinners, spaghetti and meatballs are one of our favorites — hearty, comforting, and a hit with the whole family. 

Making your meatballs in the Instant Pot is a great way to cut down on the time it takes to make meatballs traditionally.

Plus, they taste amazing if I do say so myself!

Easy Instant Pot Meatballs

This easy Instant Pot recipe takes minutes to make and comes out perfectly every time.

You have the option of making your meatballs in a tomato sauce or leaving them plain. The recipe will cover both options.

Single meatball on a wooden spoon

I like to make my meatballs in sauce and serve them over pasta and with a piece of Italian seasoned bread for an easy weeknight dinner. Other times I like to make meatball parmesan sandwiches by placing the meatballs on a roll, top with mozzarella cheese, and placing them into the oven for a few minutes just to melt the cheese. So good!

However you choose to enjoy these meatballs I am sure you will enjoy them.

Let’s take a look at what you will need to make meatballs in the Instant Pot.

Meatball Ingredients

  • ground beef
  • garlic
  • Italian seasoning
  • egg
  • breadcrumbs

Sauce Ingredients

  • tomato sauce
  • Italian-style tomatoes
  • Italian seasoning

How to Make Instant Pot Meatballs

Meatball ingredients in glass bowl

Mix: Add ground beef, garlic, Italian seasoning, breadcrumbs, and tomato sauce or BBQ sauce (optional) to a large bowl and mix until fully combined. Then, knead in an egg. Adjust the texture by adding additional breadcrumbs, if necessary.

Hand-rolled meatballs, uncooked and laid on a glass platter

From Meatballs: Roll meat mixture into meatballs. Set each finished meatball aside onto a plate or other container.

Meatballs being sauteed in the Instant Pot, and another image featuring the browned meatballs in a glass pan

Saute: Use the saute function on your Instant Pot to saute the meatballs in olive oil, turning to brown well on each side. If you will be adding sauce, brown for 4 minutes then remove meatballs. If you want to cook your meatballs without sauce, continue to saute for 6-8 minutes until cooked through.

Meatballs with tomato sauce in the Instant Pot

Add Sauce (optional): Remove the meatballs and turn off the saute function. Add the tomato sauce ingredients to the Instant Pot and then add the meatballs back in. Select the stew setting and cook for 5 minutes. Then, use a natural release to release the pressure before removing meatballs and serving.

If you like this recipe, be sure to try out Instant Pot cheesy hamburger pasta and shrimp scampi recipes as well!

Recipe
Meatballs in the Instant Pot
Recipe
5 from 6 votes

Instant Pot Meatballs

Author: Jaclyn
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Total: 25 minutes
An easy Instant Pot Meatballs recipe that can be made with or without tomato sauce. Serve over pasta or on a roll for a delicious dinner.

Ingredients
 

For the Meatballs:

  • 2 pound ground beef
  • 1 teaspoon garlic minced
  • 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
  • 1 cup breadcrumbs or more for personal preference
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tablespoon tomato sauce optional
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

For the sauce:

  • 4 cups tomato sauce of choice
  • 12 oz Italian-style tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Instructions

  • Combine ground beef, garlic, Italian seasoning, breadcrumbs, and tomato sauce (optional) until fully combined. Knead in an egg. Adjust the texture by adding additional breadcrumbs, if necessary/desired.
  • Roll into 1.5 tablespoon-sized meatballs. (I used a cookie scoop to measure out the meat mixture.) Set each finished meatball aside on a plate or in a clean container.
  • Add olive oil to your Instant Pot and set to "saute."
  • Once the oil is hot, add the meatballs and brown well on each side. To fully cook the meatballs, you need to cook for 6-8 minutes. However, if you will be adding the meatballs to the tomato sauce you can cook until just browned, about 4 minutes.
  • After browning all meatballs, turn off the saute setting and remove meatballs from the Instant Pot.
  • In the Instant Pot, combine the tomato sauce ingredients and then place the meatballs back in.
  • Select the "stew" setting and cook for 5 minutes. Then, use a natural release to release the pressure in your Instant Pot before removing meatballs and serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 586kcal
Meatballs in the Instant Pot

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Instant Pot Meatballs

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2 Comments

  1. I have another brand of instant pot, no sauté setting, or stew. Any suggestions as to converting? I have the following settings rice, chicken, fish, soup,casserole, cake, meat.

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