These Instant Pot Meatballs are life changing! Make with any meat, no sauteing, with or without sauce, fresh or frozen, as an appetizer or even add pasta for a one pot meal.
I could have never imagined that meatballs in an Instant Pot would be so juicy and easy!!!
Meatballs in Instant Pot
Instant Pot meatballs come out just as good or, may I say, even better than regular meatballs. Especially, when it comes to meatballs with ground turkey.
I have a recipe for turkey meatballs with a necessary addition of zucchini to keep them moist. In Instant Pot, steam and moisture do not escape locking in all the juices in meatballs.
Ingredients for Instant Pot Meatballs
- Any ground meat: Ground turkey, chicken, beef, pork, lamb, venison etc.
- Fresh garlic and onion: I have to say that adding fresh garlic and onion produced the tastiest meatballs and the sauce.
- Dried oregano, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper: Use what you like or have on hand.
- Tomato sauce: If cooking in sauce.
Egg, oatmeal or breadcrumbs are completely unnecessary but can be used.
How to Make Meatballs Without Sauce
Are you new to Instant Pot? Check out my Instant Pot guide. Don’t have one yet? See which one I recommend to buy based on your lifestyle and family size.
- Prep: Mince fresh onion and garlic by hand, puree in a small food processor or grate on a box grater. Add 1/2 cup water and place a trivet or steamer basket inside in any size Instant Pot.
- Shape meatballs: Combine ground meat, grated onion and garlic, oregano, salt and pepper and roll into about 30 smaller golf size balls meatballs. Size doesn’t matter.
- Add meatballs as you roll them. It is OK to stack meatballs and I find dipping hands in a bowl with water helps to roll turkey meatballs.
- Cook on High pressure for 7 minutes. Wait for 2 minutes and release remaining pressure using Quick Release method. Open the lid, meatballs are ready and you might have to separate a few meatballs from each other.
How to Make Meatballs With Tomato Sauce
Cooking meatballs with tomato sauce is very similar to the ones without the sauce minus the trivet and water.
- Prep: Add tomato sauce to any size Instant Pot. No water or trivet.
- Add meatballs: Drop raw meatballs into the sauce as you roll them out. They should fit in a single layer in tomato sauce but packing them tight or on top is just as fine.
- Cook on High pressure for 7 minutes. Wait for 2 minutes and release remaining pressure using Quick Release method.
- Serve: Meatballs taste best if you let them stand open for 10 minutes. Then I toss them to coat in sauce by shaking the inner pot and garnishing with parsley or dill.
How to Make Instant Pot Meatballs and Pasta
And last but not least – you can make a one pot meal.
- Cook meatballs with or without tomato sauce first as per recipe.
- Add 2 cups water and 3 cups any dry pasta. If you cooked meatballs without tomato sauce, add it now.
- Stir gently not to break meatballs: If you add long shape pasta like spaghetti, stirring will be hard. So just lay broken in half noodles in about 6 layers criss cross to prevent sticking. Top with tomato sauce, if not added yet.
- Cook on High pressure for 5 minutes with Quick Release. Stir and serve.
How to Cook Frozen Meatballs
Cook frozen meatballs in Instant Pot just like fresh. Instant Pot will take longer to come to pressure but cooking time remains the same. The beauty of a pressure cooker. 🙂
Freezing, Storing and Serving Meatballs
Freezing: Place raw meatballs on a baking sheet for a few hours and then transfer to a Ziploc bag. Freeze for up to 3 months and cook from frozen.
Refrigerate leftovers: In an airtight container for up to 5 days. If made with pasta, storing time is 2 days as pasta gets soggy.
Serve as an appetizer: This is my absolute favorite way! Transfer meatballs in a baking dish and stick toothpick into each one. Voila. Or serve right in Instant Pot (with toothpicks) while Keep Warm is on. Genius!
Serve as a meal: For a healthy dinner, serve with:
- Whole grain like brown rice or quinoa and
- Simple salad or
- Green smoothie
More Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot pot roast
- Instant Pot meatloaf and mashed potatoes
- Instant Pot spaghetti
- Instant Pot turkey chili
- Browse 40 healthy Instant Pot recipes.
Did you know we have entire Youtube channel dedicated to healthy Instant Pot recipes and tips? My goal is to help you become confident with your Instant Pot by demonstrating each delicious foolproof recipe in step-by-step videos.
Instant Pot Meatballs {3 Ways!}
Ingredients
- 1 lb 3 oz one tray ground turkey, beef, chicken or pork
- 1 large egg optional
- 1/4 cup any oats optional
- 2 large garlic cloves grated or 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp onion flakes powder or 1 small onion, grated (pureed in food processor)
- 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar optional
- 1/2 tsp oregano dried
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Ground black pepper to taste
- 15 oz can tomato sauce low sodium (optional)
Instructions
- Instant Pot meatballs without tomato sauce: In any size Instant Pot, add 1/2 cup water and place trivet or steamer basket inside. Set aside.
- Instant Pot meatballs with tomato sauce: Add a can of tomato sauce. No water. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add ground meat, grated (pureed) onion and garlic, oregano, salt and pepper.
- Mix well with a spatula or hands.
- Using small cookie scoop, form 30 meatballs (it helps to dip hands in a bowl with cold water occasionally) and place them one by one inside prepared Instant Pot. It is OK to stack meatballs or just arrange them in a single layer in tomato sauce.
- Close the lid, turn pressure release valve to Sealing and pressure cook on High pressure for 7 minutes.
- Wait for 2 minutes and release remaining pressure using Quick Release method.
- Open the lid and voila.
Meatballs with Tomato sauce
- Meatballs in tomato sauce taste best if you let them stand open for 10 minutes. Then I toss them to coat in the sauce by shaking the inner pot and garnish with parsley or dill. Serve with desired whole grain and salad or dinner.
Appetizer
- Transfer meatballs in a baking dish and stick toothpick into each one. Voila. Healthy and easy appetizer right there. Or serve right in Instant Pot (with toothpicks) while Keep Warm is on. Genius!
Meatballs with Lean Ground Beef
I wouldn't worry about this step if I had extra lean ground beef. But with lean beef or pork here is what I do:
- Cook meatballs on a trivet with water first.
- Drain liquid (broth basically) to a bowl.
- Remove trivet from Instant Pot and add tomato sauce (or not).
- And serve leaner and less saturated fat meatballs.
- Next day I skim and discard solidified fat from the bowl with liquid and use it as a broth in recipes. Can refrigerate or freeze.
How to Cook Frozen Meatballs
- Cook frozen meatballs in Instant Pot just like fresh. Instant Pot will take longer to come to pressure but cooking time remains the same. The beauty of a pressure cooker. 🙂
How to Make Meatballs and Pasta One Pot Meal
- And last but not least - you can make a one pot meal. Are you mind blown yet?
- Cook meatballs with or without tomato sauce first as per directions above or in the recipe.
- Add 2 cups water and 3 cups any dry pasta. If you cooked meatballs without tomato sauce, add it now.
- Stir gently everything not to break meatballs. If you add long shape pasta like spaghetti, stirring will be hard. So just lay broken in half noodles in about 6 layers criss cross to prevent sticking. Top with tomato sauce, if not added yet. You shouldn't worry about Burn here.
- Cook on High pressure for 5 minutes with Quick Release.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Recipes and images are a copyright of ifoodreal.com. It is against the law to republish recipes anywhere including social media, print and all world wide web. Nutritional info is provided for informational purposes only and to the best knowledge.
I would really like to try this but I have a question/concern. If you put the tomato sauce in the bottom of the instant pot don’t you get burn notice? Typically tomato based recipes have the sauce on top.
It will work, follow recipe as written.
With tomato sauce you,re putting the sauce on the bottom with the meatballs – no trivet? Doesn’t the tomato sauce burn if it’s not on top?
I’m confused. Love your recipes though. And I have ground turkey to use!
Blue
It will work, follow the recipe as written.
Super simple and quick. Used frozen meatballs with some frozen tomato sauce and fresh garlic. Put all into a small insert pot since I like to cook one or two meal sized portions. Served over rice pilaf. I use a 6 qt Instant pot and the insert pots are a great addition for smaller portions. Store left overs in the small pot with less to clean up too.
Yay! So happy to hear!
Thank you for this recipe! So easy and quick on a night that you want to make something easy but a little harder than opening a can of soup lol! I made it just exactly like the recipe for instant pot, and my husband and adult son loved it! I’m enjoying your recipes and just recently got an instant pot and I am just amazed how easy it is (once you figure out “what is this contraption!”) without all the mess, and your recipes are awesome! I feel good about making all your heathy meals. Thank you Olena, and I love your videos and how genuine and fun to watch you and your taste testing husband!
Awe, you are so welcome! So happy to hear you are enjoying my recipes, Sally! And thank you for your detailed feedback. 🙂
We made this using ground turkey and a jar of pasta sauce. Mixed up 1lb turkey with chopped scallions (I use those instead of onions) and garlic, dried thyme (didn’t have any oregano on hand) and an egg. Poured the sauce into the instant pot, rolled and added the meatballs, and then cooked for the 7 minutes. We served this over spaghetti and gluten free spaghetti. It was really delicious, and so easy to do. I am definitely adding this to the instant pot rotation! Thanks for a great recipe.
I am so happy to hear this Brenda! Thanks for taking the time to write me a comment 🙂
I made the meatballs and added the rigatoni which was delish!
I am so happy to hear this Arlene!
I make meatball sandwiches at least 2 times a month, and mine are beef. Can I do beef and sauce together?
Yes you can use ground beef!
About how long you think the sealant ring will last? I use mine IP about every other day
About 1 year.
Yummy and so easy!
Hello Olena …..you are an inspiration for me to try some of your outstanding and easy to prepare recipes…I recently was inquiring about instant Pot recipes…….but got the info all about them……but have not purchased one Yet..I live in a small town no big stores have to drive 2 hrs to a city . so would you unscribe those recipes for now from my email….till I purchase one then will want them……Thank You Pat
All done, Pat.
Very good! I did get the Burn warning after adding the pasta and sauce. Nothing was burned.
It could happen because Instant Pot is a machine and it could be more sugary type of tomato sauce that its mechanism detected “burning”. Or more sensitive IP. It doesn’t always mean food is burning. Glad you made it work!
I just made them and waiting for them to finish cooking! Question… I made mine bigger, is it still the same cooking time? Thank you!!
Depends how much bigger. IF double my size then might have to add 3-5 mins cook time. Less than that could have turned out fine. Hope they did. IP cook time depends on thickness of food not the amount, so yeah…
I have not tried this yet, but I love the idea of not having to brown the meatballs first! My instant-pot steaming basket is not as mesh-like as yours is. Mine looks more like a strainer, I think the Amazon description is “sturdy steamer”. The metal material is thicker and appears to have less holes. Curious if anyone has tried it using that type of steaming basket, as opposed to the mesh-type basket?
It will work!
Oh my gosh, I was so skeptical of not browning and just putting the meatballs into the sauce on top of each other. It was perfect beyond belief, over thin spaghetti. I used pasta sauce with spices added instead of plain tomato sauce, but added all the spices you recommended and a few more (red pepper flakes, umami spice, nutritional yeast, because I like umami/savory) and it was delicious. I added quite a bit of oatmeal, and it was still a bit gooey, but the meatballs cooked up okay. I let it come to a complete release. Texture and flavor – fabulous! Thank you for encouraging me make a recipe out of my comfort zone. It was amazing.
You are so welcome Mindy! Cooking should be all about experimenting and having fun wth new things!
I agree, not browning them in oil left me with less calories, and as you said, they were perfect without it. I had leftovers tonight and they were equally delicious. Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe, and your reply.
These are such a hit, so quick and delicious. I cooked them in the sauce in the instant pot and added some chopped spinach after opening the lid which simply wilted and added some greens.
Hello Olena,
I made your Mexican Cauliflower Rice recipe and it was so flavorful! My husband loved it. By the way, I just put in the ricedcauliflower raw and the steam from the dish cooked it. Saved me a step. We are eating Keto so this was a recipe I will be using again. I did add some shredded cheddar cheese to our helping. Yummy! Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe.
I’m so happy to read this! Thanks for your positive feedback, Mary Rae! Yes, basically that’s what I do – add even frozen cauli rice and it just warms through. The best!!!
Turkey meatballs came out amazing!