Instant Pot 5-Ingredient Meatball Casserole–It only has 5 ingredients and it only takes about 5 minutes of prep! A tasty and hands-off way to make pasta and meatballs.
Instant Pot 5-Ingredient Meatball Casserole
This is one of those recipes that you can literally get started in about 5 minutes (and it only has a 3 minute pressure cooking time!). Dump and go! It’s a perfect dinner for a busy weeknight when you want a homemade meal but don’t have a lot of time on your hands.
It’s also very popular with kids. I mean who doesn’t like cheese, pasta and meatballs? We served this to Reagan and her friends after school and they commented, “this is so fancy!” I had to laugh that they thought this was fancy. I didn’t correct them though…if they want to think that I’ll go ahead and let them.
It can be as easy as you want it to be…use prepared spaghetti sauce and frozen store-bought meatballs and pre-shredded cheese. Of you can make it a little more “homemade” by using homemade marinara sauce, homemade meatballs and cheese shredded off the block. Either way it’s going to be great!
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Frozen Italian-style meatballs–you don’t need to thaw them
- Rotini pasta–or another short cut pasta like cavatappi, penne, farfalle, macaroni, etc.
- Beef broth–or 2 cups water and 2 teaspoons of Better than Bouillon Beef Base
- Pasta sauce of your choice–if you like it saucy add the whole jar, if not then only add half
- Shredded mozzarella–I like to shred it off the block rather than use pre-shredded cheese so that it is melts better
Steps
- Layer in the ingredients: Add meatballs into bottom of Instant Pot in one layer. Dump the pasta evenly over the top. Dump the beef broth into the pot. Cover the pasta evenly with the pasta sauce. Don’t stir. This will help prevent the burn error message.
- Pressure cook: Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir well. Stir in half of the mozzarella.
- Scoop up and serve, sprinkle each portion with the remaining mozzarella. Eat and enjoy. Garnish with fresh basil, if desired.
Notes/Tips
- Use a good quality pasta sauce. There aren’t many ingredients in this recipe so each ingredient should be high quality for the best tasting end product. Rao’s and Classico are good brands.
- You can use homemade meatballs if you’d like. They should be pre-cooked.
- To bring this dish to a new level, try dropping a dollop of ricotta cheese and chopped fresh basil on top of each portion.
- Serve with a green salad and Olive Garden salad dressing and garlic bread.
- I used my 3 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 6 or 8 quart pot.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Other recipes you can make with frozen meatballs are Instant Pot Dump And Go Meatball Lasagna and Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup.
More Instant Pot Pasta Recipes…
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
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Instant Pot 5-Ingredient Meatball Casserole
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 8 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
It only has 5 ingredients and it only takes about 5 minutes of prep! A tasty and hands-off way to make pasta and meatballs.
Ingredients
- 1 (14 oz) package frozen Italian-style meatballs
- 8 ounces rotini pasta
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 (24 oz) jar pasta sauce of your choice (if you like it saucy add the whole jar, if not then only add half)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
Instructions
- Add meatballs into bottom of Instant Pot in one layer. Dump the pasta evenly over the top. Dump the beef broth into the pot. Cover the pasta evenly with the pasta sauce.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir well. Stir in half of the mozzarella.
- Scoop up and serve, sprinkle each portion with the remaining mozzarella. Eat and enjoy. Garnish with fresh basil, if desired.
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Instant Pot
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Karen, to double the recipe, would I double the ingredients and use the same cooking time? Or will the frozen meatballs not allow for that with this recipe?
Thanks!!
Yep that is what I would do!
made today and loved it! so good, easy and quick.
★★★★★
Glad to hear it Tonna!
This was fast, east and very tasty! I did not have any meatballs so used 1/2 lb of italian sausage and 1/2 lb of ground beef.
Browned those first in the Instantpot and then followed the directions. Added mushrooms to it. Just as good as spaghetti and a LOT less dishes. Thanks for the great recipe Karen!
★★★★★
Sounds like an awesome version! Thanks for the 5 stars Marcia 🙂
Will be doing this tonight, but with unfrozen, uncooked meatballs. Should I freeze them first? Will they cook through in 8 minutes?
Nevermind, I cooked the meatballs in the air fryer and added mushrooms and spinach. Super good?
I would not freeze first and yes 8 minutes should be enough time
We had a lot of running around to do today and totally forgot to take anything out for dinner. I opened my email and to my suprise was your email with this recipe. I had everything I needed on hand and ZAP…..dinner in about 30 mins.
Thanks for coming to the rescue Karen.
Not only was it quick but so very very yummy.
Thanks so much
Lynn
★★★★★
That’s awesome! I’m so glad it worked out for you and the right time. Thanks for the 5 stars!
making tonight
★★★★★
I hope you like it!
Hi Karen!
I love how your recipes are so quick and easy for families! I am trying to get more veggies into my kids and my mom used to make pasta and meatballs and mix in the frozen chopped spinach and ricotta. Could you tell my the best way to do this for this recipe?
Thank you so much!
I would add the spinach in at the beginning with all the other ingredients. Then I would drop dollops of ricotta on top of each serving after the pressure cooking time is up. Sounds great!
Once again, Chef Karen came to my rescue. I had about 3 cups of homemade tomato sauce and 4 homemade meatballs leftover from yesterday’s meal. I just didn’t feel like boiling a pot of water and dirtying another pot reheating the rest (lazy, I admit it!) So, on a hunch I searched 365 Days thinking maybe? No more maybe’s anymore. Absolute perfection with the timing and layering instructions. Rotini pasta was cooked with a nice bite. Thank you, Karen, I now know how to use up my extra sauce and meatballs with pasta the next time. I’ll never boil pasta again to have with sauce leftovers.
★★★★★
yay! It really is so nice and I don’t think you’re lazy I think you’re smart 🙂
This was fast, tasty and very easy. Next time I will add a can of mushrooms. Used Mafalda as that was the only pasta I had on hand and it cooked perfectly using a 4 min pressure cook time. As good as spaghetti and meatballs without dirtying 2 pans and the colander to drain the spaghetti! Loved it! Thanks Karen.
★★★★★
I love when I don’t have to do dishes!!
Is this supposed to be on low or high?
on high 🙂
Delicious! Used home made meatballs and homemade marinara sauce. Made half the recipe, should have made full recipe, then there would have been leftovers!
★★★★★
Thanks for letting us know it worked well with homemade meatballs! I’m glad you loved it!
Hi Karen!
I’m a long time subscriber, fist time actually trying a recipe. Loved this one! I used vegan mozzarella cheese and plant based meatballs. Turned out delicious! Keep posting awesome recipes!
-Deepti
★★★★
so glad to hear you tried it out! Thanks for the review!
I am sure this is good, but like Karen I do not like store bought frozen meatballs. I make my meatballs freeze then on a cookie sheet then place them in freezer bags. I do the same thing with burgers. I will definitely try this with my homemade meatballs. Thanks for all your recipes. I have your book and love it.
★★★★★
I love that idea Gail!
Hi! I love your recipes! I want to try this! Could I use my homemade meatballs? I don’t like the taste of the frozen ones. Would the cooking time be shorter since they won’t be frozen but already cooked? Thanks!
yes you can do that and I would keep same cooking time
Thanks! I can’t wait to try it!