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These Instant Pot Meatballs are the easiest way to make meatballs, EVER. No browning or sautéing. Just throw them in the sauce uncooked and let the Instant Pot do the rest!
Meatballs Made Faster!
Meatballs in the Instant Pot are THE way to go when it comes to meatballs. They really couldn’t be easier! When cooking meatballs in a pan, they can crumble and fall apart. Baking them can dry them out. Cooking them in the Instant Pot is easier AND tastes better. By cooking them in the sauce, the meaty flavor infuses the sauce and makes it so much more flavorful. Instant Pot Meatballs can be shaped, thrown in, and cooked without falling apart AT ALL. The meatballs stay tightly packed and don’t crumble in the sauce!
Table of Contents
- Meatballs Made Faster!
- Instant Pot Meatball Ingredients
- How to Make The Meatballs
- Put them straight in the Pot!
- Any Kind Of Pressure Cooker Will Work
- Avoiding The Burn Notice
- How Long To Cook Meatballs in the Instant Pot
- How Long To Cook Frozen Meatballs
- Storing, Freezing, and Reheating Meatballs
- Tips for Cooking and Serving
- Questions About Instant Pot Meatballs
- More Easy Meatball Recipes
- Instant Pot Meatballs Recipe
- Want More Instant Pot Recipes?
Instant Pot Meatball Ingredients
- Ground beef: You can also use a beef/pork mixture with lean ground beef and Italian sausage, or if you prefer turkey meatballs use ground turkey.
- Onion – Yellow or white will work best, very finely chopped or grated.
- Bread crumbs – Seasoned or unseasoned is fine. We like using panko bread crumb
- Parmesan cheese – This is one of those few recipes where the powdery kind from the canister works great. You can also use fresh grated, just make sure is super fine.
- Eggs – The “binder” that holds the meatballs together.
- Milk – Adds more moisture to the meat while cooking and keeps it from drying out. You can also use heavy cream.
- Seasonings – Garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper (feel free to add or sub out other dried or fresh herbs like basil, parsley, or thyme).
- Spaghetti sauce – You can use jarred pasta sauce or our recipe for canned spaghetti sauce.
How to Make The Meatballs
For full ingredient list and instructions, see the recipe card below.
- Combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Mix the ingredients well. It’s honestly the easiest to go this with your hands. That way the meat doesn’t get overmixed. It just gets perfectly combined.
- Form into 1.5-inch balls using your hands or a small ice cream scoop or cookie scoop.
- Roll together into a nice ball and place them directly into the sauce in the Instant Pot!
Put them straight in the Pot!
See? Uncooked! Crazy right? The first time I made these, I was a little worried. I thought that the meatballs wouldn’t keep their shape and I would end up having meat sauce, which happens to me more than I would care to admit when I am sautéing meatballs in a skillet. I don’t know why they don’t fall apart in the Instant Pot. It’s like magic.
Any Kind Of Pressure Cooker Will Work
I also need to mention that this will work great in ANY kind of pressure cooker. No matter what you use, you will get the same results. Just make sure you have enough liquid in the pot so it will actually seal. You also don’t want to get a burn notice. Which brings me to…
Avoiding The Burn Notice
Tomato-based sauces can be tricky in an Instant Pot because tomatoes have a tendency to burn easily. Make sure your sauce is thin enough to create steam and seal the pot. You can thin it out by adding a can of diced tomatoes or even just a little water. If you are worried about it being TOO thin, you can always add tomato paste or tomato sauce to your pasta sauce after the meatballs are done cooking. I like using my homemade canned sauce because the consistency is just right. If it seems too thin afterward, I will add a few tablespoons of tomato paste and that usually does the trick.
How Long To Cook Meatballs in the Instant Pot
- Cooking time (high pressure): 7 minutes, slow (natural) release 5 minutes.
One of the best things about making meatballs in the Instant Pot is how quickly they cook. These meatballs only need 7 minutes on high pressure, followed by about a 5 minute natural release. The natural release helps the meatballs stay tender and juicy instead of drying out or falling apart from a quick pressure change. After that, you can carefully release the remaining pressure and they are ready to serve.
How Long To Cook Frozen Meatballs
Want to use precooked frozen meatballs? You can use store-bought frozen meatballs or you can use our easy recipe for homemade frozen meatballs. Simply cook on high pressure for 5 minutes and do a 5-minute natural release. If the meatballs are on the larger size, add another 2-3 minutes on high pressure.
Storing, Freezing, and Reheating Meatballs
To store your meatballs after cooking, allow them to cool for 10-15 minutes, and then place them in an airtight container or freezer zip-top bag. Store them in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or in the freezer for 3 months. These meatballs are great for meal prep and you can make large batches at one time. To reheat, place frozen meatballs in the fridge overnight to thaw and re-heat over the stove top or in the microwave until meatballs are cooked through and the marinara sauce is hot.
Tips for Cooking and Serving
- For this recipe, I used our own Homemade Canned Spaghetti Sauce, but you can use your own recipe or just store-bought spaghetti sauce. No matter what you use, it is going to be awesome. Even store-bought spaghetti sauce will be kicked up a notch because the meatballs will be cooked in it, giving it an incredible flavor.
- Not a huge fan of ground beef? Feel free to try ground pork, ground turkey, or ground chicken meatballs too! We will often do a mixture of both ground beef and pork to make them more tender.
- These meatballs can easily be made gluten-free if you want to switch out the Panko breadcrumbs for gluten-free breadcrumbs. You can also use gluten-free oats if you don’t have breadcrumbs on hand.
- Of course, you will want to serve these meatballs over gluten-free pasta if you have an intolerance to gluten. If GF pasta isn’t your thing, you can also use zoodles (spiralized zucchini), or you can use spaghetti squash.
- Have leftovers? These meatballs make incredible meatball subs! Give them a try!
Questions About Instant Pot Meatballs
Yes! That’s one of my favorite things about this recipe. The meatballs go into the Instant Pot completely raw and cook perfectly in the sauce while they pressure cook. No need to brown them first.
Yes. You can shape the meatballs ahead of time and keep them covered in the refrigerator until ready to cook. They also freeze really well before or after cooking.
Yes. They don’t need to be in a perfect single layer. The Instant Pot cooks them evenly as long as they have enough liquid in the pot.
Usually tough meatballs happen when the meat mixture gets overmixed or the meat is too lean. I like using ground beef with a little fat and mixing just until combined.
Read Next: 27 BEST Instant Pot Recipes
More Easy Meatball Recipes
Have you tried cooking meatballs in the Instant Pot yet? I’d love to hear what you think! Drop a comment below and let me know how you liked them. And don’t forget to take a pic and tag us on Instagram @favoritefamilyrecipes! 📸🍝
Instant Pot Meatballs
Video
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef, lean
- 1/2 cup onion, grated
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 eggs
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 cups spaghetti sauce , (see notes above)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients (except spaghetti sauce) until well mixed. Mixing together with your hands works great.
- Form into balls using hands or small ice cream scoop. You want them to be slightly smaller than a golf ball.
- Spray bottom of Instant Pot with cooking spray and add spaghetti sauce.
- Place meatballs over the sauce, layering them if necessary. It's OK if they touch, just don't squish them too much.
- Place lid on Instant Pot and switch valve to “sealing”. Press “Manual” and set to high pressure for 7 minutes.
- After you hear the timer go off, allow to slow release for another 5 minutes and then do the quick release (you do this by carefully switching the tab to "venting"). Remove lid from Instant Pot, stir.
- Serve over cooked pasta noodles.
Equipment
- Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Best meatball recipe I’ve ever used – this meal is an often requested meal at our house! Thank you 🙂
What a compliment! I’m so happy you are enjoying the meatballs. It is a great recipe – quick and easy!
LOVE this recipe, completely changed and improved how I make meatballs. Recommend using a good jar sauce or your favorite. Rao’s marinara hard to beat but pricey.
Thank you! I’m glad you found our recipe! I also love Rao’s sauce. I try to get it at Costco, it’s a little less expensive when you buy it in bulk.
My family loves this recipe. This is my go to for homemade meatballs. Often I just make 1 lb and cook it in my 8 quart instant pot. I just use a little less seasoning.
We love to hear that! Happy Holidays!
Tasty
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This is my first time trying this recipe, I made 3lbs of ground beef meatballs and I think the cooking time should be a lot longer than 7 minutes of high pressure cooking time. I’m trying to figure out the best cooking time method. My husband can eat for 2 ! 😆 So, I thought I’d share this with everyone else here. Hopefully this helps. 🤷🏻♀️
Hi Tricia, how big did you make your meatballs? 7 minutes should be enough time but maybe not if you are making bigger meatballs. You just want to make sure they don’t get overcooked or they will crumble.