Instant Pot Red Eagle Spaghetti–a one pot meal of spaghetti and meatballs that comes together quickly.

Instant Pot Red Eagle Spaghetti
Today’s recipe is an Instant Pot adaptation from a recipe I found on food.com. The author states, “According to Nancy Rooks, Graceland’s longtime cook, this was the last meal Elvis ate. It’s in The Presley Family Cookbook, a spiral-bound tome she wrote with Vester Presley, Elvis’ uncle and a guard at Graceland for many years. It’s heavy on meat and light on tomato sauce, and redolent of one of Elvis’ favorite flavors: bacon!”
This is a fun way to make spaghetti. The spaghetti is cooked in V8 vegetable juice so it is infused with flavor. The meatballs have a bit of bacon in them which brings a lot of fun flavor. The best part is clicking the lid into place and walking away while the Instant Pot does it’s magic!
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- 85/15 ground beef–or half ground beef and half ground pork
- Dry onion flakes–or ¼ cup diced onion
- Garlic cloves–or 1 tsp garlic powder
- Kosher salt
- Pepper
- Dried parsley
- Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
- Egg
- Bacon crumbles–optional
- V8 vegetable juice–spicy or regular. You can also use tomato sauce.
- Spaghetti–or another type of pasta like bowties or penne
- Tomato sauce–or marinara sauce
- Butter
- Garlic salt
- Sugar
- Parmesan cheese–for serving
Steps
In a mixing bowl add the beef, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, parsley, breadcrumbs, egg and bacon crumbles. Use clean hands to thoroughly mix the mixture.

Pour the V8 into the bottom of the Instant Pot. Break the spaghetti in half and lay it into a criss cross pattern in the pot.

Form the beef mixture into meatballs (about a quarter cup to a third cup of meat mixture per meatball). Place the meatballs on top of the spaghetti.

Pour the tomato sauce over the top. Add butter into the pot. Sprinkle with garlic salt and sugar.

Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting.

Move meatballs to a plate. Stir the spaghetti well. Serve meatballs with spaghetti and top with parmesan cheese.

Notes/Tips
- Serve with a green salad and garlic bread.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in an 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 V8 are Instant Pot 3-Item Beef Stew and Instant Pot Fat Burning Soup.

More Instant Pot Spaghetti Recipes…
Instant Pot Church Supper Spaghetti
A colorful spaghetti dish that feeds a crowd! Perfect for a large family or to share at a church potluck dinner.
Instant Pot Easy Does It Spaghetti
Easy, meaty spaghetti and sauce that turns out perfect in the Instant Pot or the Crockpot every time!
Instant Pot Monterey Spaghetti
Creamy chicken or turkey spaghetti with lots of flavor from Monterey jack cheese, seasonings and french-fried onions. This recipe is going to instantly be a family favorite!
Instant Pot Cowboy Spaghetti
Easy spaghetti recipe with bacon, ground beef, Rotel, barbecue sauce and cheese. A hearty pasta dish that comes together quickly with the help of your Instant Pot.
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.


Instant Pot Red Eagle Spaghetti
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 29 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
A one pot meal of spaghetti and meatballs that comes together quickly.
Ingredients
- 1 pound 85/15 ground beef
- 1 Tbsp dry onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbsp bacon crumbles (optional)
- 2 1/2 cups V8 vegetable juice
- 8 oz spaghetti
- 2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1/4 tsp garlic salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- Parmesan cheese, for serving.
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl add the beef, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, parsley, breadcrumbs, egg and bacon crumbles. Use clean hands to thoroughly mix the mixture.
- Pour the V8 into the bottom of the Instant Pot. Break the spaghetti in half and lay it into a criss cross pattern in the pot.
- Form the beef mixture into meatballs (about a quarter cup of mixture per meatball). Place the meatballs on top of the spaghetti.
- Pour the tomato sauce over the top. Add butter into the pot. Sprinkle with garlic salt and sugar.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting.
- Move meatballs to a plate. Stir the spaghetti well. Serve meatballs with spaghetti and top with parmesan cheese.
- Category: Beef
- Method: Instant Pot

*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.
I made this recipe once before and it turned out great. I tried to make it last night and got a burn notice. I used 93% ground beef and marina sauce instead of tomato sauce. the first time the ground beef was 85%. Could the percentage of ground beef make the difference?
hmmm, I wouldn’t think it would make a difference! That is strange!
I did use V8 from cans the second time. I have been trying to figure out what made the difference.
Marinara sauce is a lot thicker than the V8 juice. More than likely the marinara sauce was the culprit with getting the burn notice.
New favorite way to make spaghetti
★★★★★
Thanks Donna!
Thank you. Thank you very much. Will be back with stars!
Hi Karen
Let me start by saying Thank You for the terrific recipes!
I make my own homemade pasta, do I need to adjust my cooking time?
Hmmm. I am sure that you probably will. I am not 100% sure because I’ve never tried it. You may want to try a small batch and test it first.
Thanks Karen, I’ll give it a try!
Can this recipe be doubled?
Yes as long as you have a 6 or 8 quart pot.