I don’t always plan spaghetti on bath night, but when I do, I feel like a very smart mom. ha.
Let me start by saying I *L . O . V . E .* my instant pot. I was skeptical to get one and “learn” how to use it, but I am SO glad I did!
Okay so you know how everyone says spaghetti is suuuuch an easy meal to make?! *eye roll* I do not agree. Let me paint you a little picture of how spaghetti night used to go for me. I would have one pan browning the meat, one pan for gluten free noodles (for Cor), one pan for regular noodles, another microwavable pan to heat up the sauce *at just the right time*, a cookie sheet for garlic bread to put in the oven *at just the right time*, oh and don’t forget to make a salad! Time to strain the noodles! Now the timer is going off for who-knows-what. Don’t forget to flip the garlic bread! Baaaaaah! I’m sweating just thinking about it. Is there anyone else out there who feels like it was a lot to manage???!! I know I didn’t make it easy on myself by making two kinds of noodles, but even when I made one, it was stressful. Not to mention, the clean up! So. many. pans.
Not any more, my friends! Instant pot to the rescue! It has changed my whole life. 😉 Here’s what I do…
Brown the meat, usually/ideally way before dinner time. I actually split the pound of meat into two freezer bags, and then it’s super easy when it’s time to make dinner. 1/2 pound for this recipe seems to be perfect and feeds 4 of us, with leftovers usually.
This is what you’ll need: 1/2 pound of browned beef, one package of 12 oz noodles (*gf or regular), 24 oz jar of spaghetti sauce (any kind), a splash of olive oil, half jar of water, and that’s it!
Dump the meat in — I have the 6 quart instant pot so it just fills the bottom. Then, break the noodles in half and layer them over the meat
Then add a splash of olive oil over the noodles and try to mix the noodles around a bit. Next, dump a whole jar of spaghetti sauce over the noodles.
Fill a half jar of water, or a little more, and pour it slowly over the noodles – try to get all the noodles wet if you can. Full disclosure: you’ll probably have to play around with the water amount in your own instant pot to get it *just right.*
Then, make sure the thingamajig jig on the top is set to “sealing,” press “pressure cook” (high pressure), and set to 7 minutes — it will start automatically. After the pressure is built up, which takes some time, it will start counting down from 7. It usually takes about a half hour total. While it’s cooking, you are free to make a salad and garlic bread, sweat-free! 🙂
When the timer goes off, you’ll want to turn the thingamajig to “venting” (watch out for the steam!) and then once that’s done,
open the lid and stir it up!
Serve it up, add some mozzarella or parmesean and ENJOY!
Like I mentioned before, it can take some trial and error to get it just right, and sometimes you will get a few noodles that are clumped together, but otherwise I think it tastes great! And it’s SO EASY with the added bonus of a quick clean up. Win/win!
Let me know if you try it out. Eek – now I’m sweating hoping it turns out okay for you…
ENJOY! Xo!
~ Kara
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