Instant Pot Meatballs

White deep dish with two meatballs, sauce and pasta - square

You can serve spaghetti and meatballs on weeknights with this super easy recipe for instant pot meatballs made with ground beef. It only needs 12 minutes of pressure cooking in red sauce for moist and tender meatballs.

Course Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword easy meatballs, instant pot meatballs, meatballs and sauce

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 12

Total Time 22

Servings meatballs

Calories 207kcal

Author Elaine Benoit

Equipment

Ingredients

For meatballs

1 pound ground beef (grass-fed if you can get it)
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon garlic powder (heaping or 2 teaspoons)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 large eggs
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (plain)

To layer

1 medium onion (or large - chopped in medium chunks)
1 medium red bell pepper (chopped in medium chunks)
10 ounces baby portobello mushrooms (sliced)
28 ounces crushed tomatoes
28 ounces diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons basil
1/2 teaspoon thyme
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 bay leaf

Instructions

Make the meatballs

In a mixing bowl, add ground beef, oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs and eggs.
1 pound ground beef, 2 teaspoons oregano, 1 teaspoon basil, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 large eggs, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Use your hands to mix the meat together with the other ingredients. Form the meatballs. I like my meatballs on the bigger size, so I ended up with 10 meatballs.

Start layering the rest of the ingredients

Place the onions in the instant pot container.
1 medium onion
Add the red bell peppers.
1 medium red bell pepper
Place the meatballs on the peppers.
Add the tomatoes, 2 teaspoons oregano, 2 teaspoon basil, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 3/4 teaspoon salt and bay leaf.
28 ounces crushed tomatoes, 2 teaspoons oregano, 2 teaspoons basil, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1 bay leaf, 28 ounces diced tomatoes
Lastly, add sliced mushrooms. Important: do not stir the ingredients together. See notes on why.
10 ounces baby portobello mushrooms
Seal instant pot, make sure the venting knob is set to the sealed position. Also make sure the pressure is set to high and the mode is set to normal.
Press the pressure cook button and set the timer to 12 minutes.
Once the pressure cooker beeps that it is done, either let the pressure release naturally or do a quick release after 5 minutes. Make sure to protect yourself from the steam by putting on a oven mitt before nudging the knob to the venting position.
Either serve the meatballs and sauce from the instant pot container or transfer to a serving bowl.
Eat
Smile
Enjoy

Notes

Helpful tips

I like my gravy on the chunky side so I use one can of diced tomatoes and one can of crushed tomatoes, but if you like a smooth gravy, use two cans of crushed tomatoes.
I prefer to add my own herbs and spices, so I buy cans of tomatoes that don't have any added ingredients like basil, etc. I suggest you do the same.
I alternate my meatballs with a mixture of ground meats - beef and pork or beef and lamb, but this recipe has just ground beef.
I tend to use baby portobello mushrooms, but you can use white button mushrooms if you prefer.
My mom used to use green bell peppers in her gravy, but I prefer red bell peppers. Use what you prefer.
I choose grass-fed beef whenever I can because it tastes better than conventional beef. Grass-fed is not that much more expensive, so give yourself a treat and try it and taste the difference.
You are going to layer the ingredients in the order I give in the recipe card. You do this so you don't get a burn message on your pressure cooker.
You will also not stir the ingredients together before cooking because you want the meatballs to be under the tomatoes and stirring them will disrupt that.

Nutrition