Valentina's Corner
Tender and juicy Instant Pot Meatballs in marinara sauce loaded with so much flavors. Serve the meatballs with spaghetti for an Italian-inspired pasta dinner.
Pair these delicious juicy Meatballs with homemade Breadsticks and a Caesar Salad for a complete meal.
BEST INSTANT POT MEATBALLS-
Learn to make the BEST homemade juicy meatballs in a flavor-packed marinara sauce. All you need to do is the shape and throw the meatballs into the instant pot and dinner is ready.
You don’t need to sauté the meatballs, just shape and add to the marinara sauce and cook – so easy.
INGREDIENTS-
- Meatballs– For the meatballs, we use our homemade meatball recipe for fresh meatballs. You can also use frozen meatballs for a busy weeknight dinner.
- Marinara Sauce– You can also use your favorite jar of canned marinara sauce or our Homemade Marinara Sauce.
If you don’t have an Instant Pot, use our classic homemade Meatball Recipe.
HOW TO MAKE MEATBALLS IN INSTANT POT-
With just a few basic ingredients you can have this simple dinner ready.
- Meatballs– Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl. Shape 24 meatballs.
- Marinara Sauce– Turn the instant pot to sauté mode and sauté the onions.
- Puree– Add in the rest of the sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer. With a handheld mixer, blend the sauce until pureed.
- Cook Meatballs– Add the meatballs into the instant pot sauce, close the lid, seal and cook on high pressure.
- Enjoy– Serve as desired and enjoy!
HOW TO SERVE-
There are several different ways to enjoy these juicy meatballs! Here are our favorite ways:
- Pasta Dinner– Serve over spaghetti pasta for a hearty and delicious pasta dinner.
- Meatball Subs- Add the meatballs in subs along with mozzarella cheese for subs!
- Sliders– Serve these as meatball sliders with cheese like our sliders recipe.
- With Side– Enjoy with Mashed Potatoes or a side of Sweet Potato Fries.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS-
You want to use beef with about 90% lean-10% fat content. You can use all beef in this recipe or mix the meat with other meat. One pound of ground beef may be combined with one pound of ground pork, chicken, or turkey with great results.
Yes, add about 8 oz of raw pasta in with the meatballs and continue with instructions.
Yes, the instant pot cooks the meatballs fully!
No, the instant pot will cook instantly and the meatballs will cook through and the sauce keeps them from sticking to each other.
Reheat the meatballs and sauce in the microwave or on the stove-top in a skillet.
OTHER ITALIAN-INSPIRED DISHES-
- Alfredo Sauce Recipe
- Chicken Scampi Recipe
- Shrimp Alfredo Pasta
- Chicken Marsala Recipe
- Zuppa Toscana Recipe
- Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
Instant Pot Meatballs
Ingredients
homemade meatballs-
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 1/2 large onion finely grated
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 large eggs whisked
- 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup plain breadcrumbs
- 3 Tbsp parmesan cheese
- 3 Tbsp whole milk
- 1½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 2 Tbsp fresh basil chopped
sauce-
- 1/2 large onion finely chopped
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 28 oz diced tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp water
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 2 Tbsp fresh basil finely chopped
- ¼ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp dried parsley
Instructions
prepare meatballs-
cook sauce and meatballs-
- Turn the instant pot to sauté mode and sauté the chopped onion with oil and butter until the onion is tender. Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the diced tomatoes, water, salt, pepper, basil, oregano, and parsley to the instant pot and bring to a simmer.
- With a hand held mixer, puree the sauce to desired texture.
- Add the shaped meatballs to the instant pot.
- Seal and pressure cook for 9 minutes, release pressure and serve.
Notes
- Add the sauce to the instant pot and add in all the shaped meatballs then cook.