365 Days of Slow Cooking and Pressure Cooking

Easy slow cooker and Instant Pot recipes for each day of the year

Instant Pot Chilighetti

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Instant Pot Chilighetti–a delicious mash up of spaghetti and chili. Make this easy one pot meal in minutes with your Instant Pot.

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Instant Pot Chilighetti

Instant Pot Chilighetti

Spaghetti and chili combined into one dish is surprisingly delicious. Really. And topping the chilighetti with cheese and sour cream just puts it over top. Secretly, I just sneaked a few bites of leftovers for breakfast.

You’re going to love how easy this recipe is to make. The prep time is minimal. You brown the ground beef and then add everything else into the pot and walk away. I was able to get laundry done and unload the dishwasher while my dinner was making itself. Ahhh, that is a nice feeling! If you’re busy but you still want to get dinner on the table try chilighetti this week! You may already have everything you need to make it.

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Instant Pot Chilighetti

How do you make Instant Pot Chilighetti?

To make Instant Pot chilighetti you’ll need…

  • 1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey
  • ¼ tsp salt (I like kosher salt or sea salt)
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • 1 cup diced onion (for convenience sake I used frozen diced onions)
  • 1 ¾ cup beef broth (or you can use water and better than bouillon beef base)
  • 8 oz spaghetti (whole wheat spaghetti works fine)
  • 1 (24 oz) jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (I like the Classico brand)
  • 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 Tbsp chili powder
  • 1 Tbsp cumin
  • 1 (14 oz) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • Toppings: sour cream, grated cheddar cheese, diced red onions
  1. Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting (toggle through until you get to MORE). Let the pot heat up and when the display says HOT add in the beef and break it up. I like using this hamburger chopper tool*. Add in the salt and pepper. Add in the onions. Brown for about 5 minutes. Drain excess grease, if there is any. I used 90% lean ground beef and didn’t drain any grease.
  2. Pour in the beef broth and scrape bottom of the pot so that nothing is sticking. This is important so you don’t get the BURN error message. Turn off the sauté setting.
  3. Break the spaghetti into 3-4 inch pieces. Place the broken spaghetti in a criss cross pattern on top of the meat and broth. The criss cross pattern helps so that the noodles don’t stick together. Gently press down with a wooden spoon. All of the spaghetti won’t be in the liquid and that is okay.
  4. Evenly dump the spaghetti sauce over the top of the noodles. Make sure the noodles are all covered. This will help them cook evenly.
  5. Dump the Worcestershire, chili powder, cumin and beans on top. Don’t stir!
  6. 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 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
  7. Stir well. Scoop onto plates and top with a dollop of sour cream, cheese and onions. Yum yum!

What should I serve with Chilighetti?

Try serving your Instant Pot chilighetti with a green salad and garlic bread. Or try my French Bread or Little Caesar’s Crazy Bread.

How do I store the leftovers?

If you have leftovers (lucky!) store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze for up to 3 months.

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Instant Pot Chilighetti

★★★★★

4.6 from 9 reviews
  • Author: 365 Days of Slow and Pressure Cooking
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 3 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
  • Total Time: 18 minutes
  • Yield: 6 servings 1x
Print Recipe

Description

A delicious mash up of spaghetti and chili. Make this easy one pot meal in minutes with your Instant Pot. 

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1 cup diced onion
  • 1 3/4 cup beef broth
  • 8 oz spaghetti (broken into thirds)
  • 1 (24 oz) jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
  • 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 Tbsp chili powder
  • 1 Tbsp cumin
  • 1 (14 oz) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • Toppings: sour cream, grated cheese, diced red onions

Instructions

  1. Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the beef and break it up. Add in the salt and pepper. Add in the onions. Brown for 5 minutes. Drain excess grease. 
  2. Pour in the beef broth and scrape bottom of the pot so that nothing is sticking. 
  3. Place the broken spaghetti in a criss cross pattern on top of the meat and broth. Gently press down. 
  4. Evenly dump the spaghetti sauce over the top of the noodles. 
  5. Dump the Worcestershire, chili powder, cumin and beans on top.
  6. 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 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
  7. Stir well. Scoop onto plates and top with a dollop of sour cream, cheese and onions, if desired. 

Notes

I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. Make in the 8 quart with no changes. Halve the recipe for the 3 quart pot.

  • Category: Beef
  • Method: Instant Pot

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Instant Pot Chilighetti with sour cream and cheese on top

*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

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Comments

  1. Chris asplund says

    This was simple to put together and AMAZING! I added chopped celery to boost the veggies in it, but otherwise followed it exactly. The leftovers will serve for dinner one more time and a couple of lunches next week.

    My friends are jealous of my mom as she gets to benefit from these amazing dishes. It will go into regular rotation for Sunday night dinners.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  2. Karen says

    I’m one of those unfortunate people whose system doesn’t like onions. For your recipes that call for minced onions can I substitute something or can I put the onions in in larger chunks so I can remove them when the recipe in complete – then I get the flavor but not the onions?

    I love so many of your recipes but the fresh minced onions are a killer…

    Reply

    • Ryan says

      I sometimes have the same reaction as you. What I have tried that works is using onion powder or minced onion that comes in spice jars at the grocery store. I prefer the powder because it gives the dish an onion taste that’s not overpowering with no onion texture.

      Reply

  3. Caren says

    This was so good! I have tried a lot of your recipes on 365, and this one became an immediate family favorite!
    This was the first time I cooked with pre-chopped frozen onions, and it worked just fine. I used Classico traditional pasta sauce, subbed shredded colby jack in place of cheddar, and opted for no red onion.
    Yumm! This will definitely be on our recipe repeat list!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  4. Brenda Bates says

    This is another homerun and we loved it! I did use ground turkey and substituted pinto beans for the kidney beans and used your suggestion to top it with grated cheese and a dollop of sour cream. This will definitely be on the rotation, and I also shared the link on a group recipe page on Facebook.

    Thanks for your fabulous recipes, Karen!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  5. Michele says

    I thought I reviewed this but I must have forgotten. I made this last week. The only problem is I probably should have doubled the recipe. Everyone loved it. There was only enough leftovers for one bowl! Topped with a little sour cream and shredded cheese. Yum! I’ll definitely be making this again soon.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  6. Pam says

    I made this and it’s awesome!! I added a tablespoon of sugar though to cut the acid of the spaghetti sauce. A big hit here and will be adding to our menu! Thank you.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  7. Pat W says

    This was easy to make with relatively few ingredients. Was hoping it would be something like Cincinnati Chili, but unfortunately, this got the thumbs down from my family. One kid said it tasted like leftover spaghetti, and the other kid and husband felt like it was missing something or would just rather have regular spaghetti. We won’t be making this again.

    ★★

    Reply

  8. Carol says

    Made it tonight. It did not disappoint. Was very good. We like it a bit spicier, so next time I’ll add some crushed chilli peppers, but that’s just our preference. It’ll be in our rotation, that’s for sure
    Almost all of your recipes that I’ve made have turned out well. When I see a different recipe somewhere else, I check your site as your cooktimes are bang on.
    Keep the recipes coming.

    Reply

  9. EJ says

    Very easy to put together. Came out delicious. I’m not a big fan of the Insta Pot, but the recipe might change my thinking. thanks

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Carol says

      Use the machine more, especially with Karen’s recipes. Her explanation and step by step (cook times) are always right, not the same from other sites. The more you use it, you’ll realize how necessary a machine it is.
      I use the app Cheftap to store any instant pot recipes (or any other recipes too) as we are only 2 now. Cheftap has a scale feature, so I can scale a recipe, and then if I was making it for company I can release the scale.

      Reply

  10. Lar says

    I slightly overcooked a 2pound top round roast, and was not going to throw it out and I added 1/2 pound of ground beef I had. So, I made Chilighetti with it. I minced up the roast and followed the rest of instructions. It, was a hit! I used the 2x and brought some to work for the warehouse guys. Reheated very well!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  11. Katelyn Hicks says

    If we wanted to use the jovial brown rice spaghetti, would the cook time be the same? Excited to cook this tonight!

    Reply

    • Karen says

      I’m not sure. I have never tried brown rice spaghetti in the Instant Pot. Have you? If so how long do you usually cook it for? I’d follow that time.

      Reply

  13. Joyce says

    Sounds somewhat like Kentucky Chili my Mom used to make. Her recipe was make the chili, with a “chili brick” from the store, (Blaemers I thik it was called), then add spaghetti at the end to cook till tender. There was always more Chili than spaghetti. I never knew chili was made any other way till I moved to California in 1960.
    Love your site. I have cooked several of your recipes, and enjoy how easy it is to cook anything in the IP with your guidelines for time.

    Reply

    • Karen says

      I love hearing about your mom’s version. This is more spaghetti than chili. Thanks for being here and following along Joyce!

      Reply

  14. Charles Port says

    Seems to be a Spinoff of one of my favorites Cincinnati Chili. Love Your Book, 365 Days of Pressure Cooking.

    ★★★★

    Reply

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