Instant Pot Rotini Pasta and Meatballs is one of the most effortless recipes you can make when you need a meal on the dinner table quick.
This one-pot meal pasta is an excellent choice to make for busy days any time of the week.
All it takes to make this recipe is dumping all the ingredients into the pressure cooker.
Of course, you’ll need to put the lid on, plug it in, and set the time. Then let the pot do its MAGIC!
Honestly, when you don’t feel like standing over the stove to cook dinner, this Instant Pot Rotini Pasta and Meatballs recipe is a great choice.
Not only is the pasta recipe easy to make, but it’s budget-friendly and only uses a few ingredients!
So if you forget to take food out the freezer to defrost for dinner, no worries! Instant Pot Rotini Pasta and Meatballs to the rescue.
I know your family will be AMAZED by this simple, instant pot pasta and frozen meatballs recipe, like my family!
Heck! My kid devoured two helpings! Which surprised me since he usually will only eat my homemade spaghetti and meatballs.
Anyways, we hope you like this recipe because we sure do!
WHAT’S in Instant Pot Rotini Pasta and Meatballs
- 14 oz. Bag Italian Meatballs Frozen (28 meatballs)
- NOTE- USE A DIFFERENT BRAND OF MEATBALLS THEN THE ONES I USED.
- 28 oz. Spaghetti Sauce (we used Prego Garden Chunky Combo)
- 10 oz. Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies
- 16 0z. Box Rotini Pasta
- 3 cups water
- Seasonings of choice (we used Italian seasoning, sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder)
How to make Rotini PASTA AND Meatballs
First to make Rotini Pasta and MeatBall place the frozen meatballs in the bottom of the inner pot.
Next, spread the meatballs out using your hands.
Second, place the noodles on top of the frozen meatballs. Make sure to spread the noodles out evenly.
Third, dump in the can of Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies. You may use a can of diced tomatoes instead of the can with green chilies.
Next, using the back of a spoon spread out the diced tomatoes and green chilies.
Fourth, pour in the jar of spaghetti sauce. Use the back of a spoon to spread the jar spaghetti sauce.
Fifth, pour water in the empty sauce jar and shake.
Pour the water mixture into a large measuring cup. It should be about 2 1/2 cups of water. Now add a 1/2 cup more of water to the measuring cup. Total cups of water you need is 3 cups.
Next, pour half of the water around the insides of the pot so the water can seek down to the meatballs.
Then drizzle the rest of the water over the top of the pasta sauce. Try to cover all the pasta sauce with water. DO NOT STIR! REPEAT DO NOT STIR!
Sixth, add your seasoning of choice or you could stir in the seasoning once the pasta and meatballs are finish cooking.
Seventh, close the lid and lock it. Place the knob to the sealing position.Then set the pot to manual 6 minutes.
The instant pot may take a few minutes to come to pressure and start counting down.
Last, carefully do quick release once the timer goes off. Turn the knob to venting. After the valve (pin) goes down carefully open the lid.
Stir the pasta and meatballs and serve or place a lid on the pot and serve when ready.
NOTE: We used an 8 quart Instant Pot. After reading many IP recipes, I have learnt not every Instant Pot cooks alike and sometimes altitude or humidity plays a part in how a recipe turns out
Doesn’t the meatballs and pasta look delicious?
More pasta recipes for you
- Cheesy Sausage Broccoli and Pasta
- Pizza Pasta Casserole
- Cajun Chicken and Sausage Pasta
- Cheesy Taco Penne Ziti
- Cheesy Rigatoni Bake
- Baked Spaghetti
More Instant Pot Recipes
See more of my Instant Pot Recipes here.
UPDATE 8/6/2020 this is a great recipe. I do suggest using a better brand of meatballs though, then the ones I used.
Instant Pot Rotini Pasta and Meatballs
Instant Pot Rotini Pasta and Meatballs is an easy pasta recipe that only takes minutes to make!
Ingredients
- 14 oz. Bag Italian Meatballs Frozen (28 meatballs)
- 28 oz. Spaghetti Sauce (we used Prego Garden Chunky Combo)
- 10 oz. Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies
- 16 0z. Box Rotini Pasta
- 3 cups water
- Seasonings of choice (we used Italian seasoning, sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder)
Instructions
- Place frozen meatballs in Instant Pot. Spread meatballs out.
- Layer the pasta on top of the meatballs.Spread pasta out evenly.
- Dump in can of rotel. Use back of spoon to spread tomatoes & chile over pasta.
- Pour in the psta sauce. Use back of spoon to spread sauce.
- Fill empty spaghetti sauce jar with water. Should be 2 1/2 cups water. Shake jar then pour water into large measuring cup. Add another 1/2 cup water to measuring cup. You should have 3 cups of water.
- Take half the water and pour it around the inside of the instant pot so it seeps down to the meatballs.Then pour the other half of water evenly over the top of the sauce.
- Add your seasoning of choice or stir in the seasoning once the pasta and meatballs are finish cooking.
- Close the lid and lock it. Place the knob to the sealing position.Then set the pot to manual (high pressure) 6 minutes. It may take a few minutes to come to pressure.
- Carefully do quick release once the timer goes off. Turn the knob to venting. After the valve (pin) goes down carefully open the lid.
- Stir the pasta and meatballs and serve or place a lid on the pot and serve when ready.
Notes
You can use a can of diced tomatoes instead of Rotel with diced tomatoes & green chilies. Especially, if serving to young kids.
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Becky Berna says
Made this today, I live alone so cut everything in half and used 2 cups of water. It is delicious! Didn’t have Rotini so I used farfelle and cooked for 5 mins.
Kim Seghers says
Hi Becky, happy to hear the recipe turned out delicious for you. Thank you for the wonderful feedback.
Brian D. Scott says
Made this tonight and it came out perfectly!
Kim Seghers says
Hi Brian! I’m so happy to hear that. Glad you liked it. Have an amazing week, Kim
CS says
I tried this out! The rotini did not turn to mush; the noodles are softer than I usually cook—not a downfall, the pasta tastes amazing. Of course, I added different ingredients and used shrimp instead of meatballs. Great recipe. Thank you for sharing. Next time, I’ll put the pressure cooker on for 3/4 minutes instead of 6.
Kim Seghers says
Thank you for your feedback. I’m glad you liked the recipe. I’ll have to try shrimp instead of meatballs next time that sounds delicious! Have a great week, Kim
Desiree says
Made this last night (actually my husband ended up making it because I was busy) and it was perfect! We used a 6qt IP. The pasta was perfect al dente. I didn’t love the meatballs we used so will try a different brand next time.
Kim Seghers says
Hi Desiree, I’m glad you liked the recipe. I didn’t care for the the meatballs I used the first time either. Thanks for the lovely feedback! Have an amazing day, Kim
Donna Pedro says
Thank you for the recipe, can’t wait to try it. Do I use frozen raw meatballs or frozen precooked meatballs ?
Kim Seghers says
Hi Donna, I never tried frozen raw meatballs before but I think it would work too. I would brown your meatballs first. Hope this answers your question! Kim
Brenda says
Hi. I have a box of rotini noodles that take 3 min to cook. Will that work in this recipe or will they be mush after 6 min? Thanks for your time
Kim Seghers says
Honestly Brenda I really don’t know the answer. I know the pasta I used didn’t turn to mush and I don’t remember reading the directions on the package either. Do your noodles look like mine? I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful. Kim
Kim Seghers says
Hi Brenda, if the box calls for 3 minutes to cook I think it would be best not to cook for 6 minutes in the Instant Pot. Hope that helps, Kim
Linda says
Can i use my 6 quart IP?
Kim Seghers says
Hi Linda, I never tried this recipe in a 6 quart IP before but I think you could make it the same way. Hope this helps, Kim
Janet R says
I’m making this recipe right now. I love the simplicity. Thank you for sharing!
Kim Seghers says
Hi Janet, I hope you enjoyed the recipe. Have a lovely week, Kim
Gina says
This is in my electric pressure cooker as I type this. I hope it turns out as good as the pic looks.
Kim Seghers says
Hi Gina! I hope you enjoyed the recipe. Kim
Molly says
Is there any way I could use homemade meatballs instead of frozen?
Kim Seghers says
Hi Molly, I have never used homemade meatballs before but, I’m thinking if you freeze your meatballs it might work. Hope this helps! Kim
Beverly says
Would you cook the meatballs and then freeze them? Or freeze them raw?
Gary Kaetzel says
Just thought I’d let you know that I LOVE this recipe!!!!! I’ve made it like 10 times already! It will be the pasta dish I will make for my buddies at work I hope in November! I rave about it and I think they’ll like it too! I hope you don’t mind, and I’ve noticed that you’ve noticed a time or two when I recommend this recipe to people! I will always recommend it to people and I think I finally found the perfect combinations for me! I use (thank you Jeffrey from Pressure Luck for some of these!) Victoria Brand Marinara Sauce for the pasta sauce, I divide the 3 cups of water in half using half of it to wash out the sauce jar and the other cup and a half of BTB Garlic Broth. I of course use the cherry tomatoes, and the spices that work well for me are 1 tsp each of oregano leaves, dried basil, and Italian seasoning. Thanks for a super easy and super great recipe! I always recommend the great ones to newbies on the IP community and just did so again a few minutes ago! I know you have other recipes on your blog and I really do need to go through them all! So many recipes, so little time! Take care!
Kim Seghers says
Hi Gary! Thank you, thank you, thank you for recommending my recipe. It makes me so happy to hear and know you love my pasta recipe! I appreciate you sharing it so much. I do see sometimes when you share it. I’m not sure if I should comment or not when you do ..lol! I’m also glad you found the perfect combination for you. I’ll have to try those combinations you use for the Victoria Brand Marinara sauce and the garlic broth. Thank you again for sharing and recommending my recipe. Please do check out my other recipes. Have an amazing weekend – Kim!
Gary Kaetzel says
I can’t wait to make this one! Got from the IP Community on FB. Can’t right now due to dental issues that are getting closer to being fixed! Looks good!!!!
Kim Seghers says
Hi Gary! I hope you get your dental sues fixed soon. Best of luck to you!!! Also , I hope you like this recipe. My tip though is to use a better brand of meatballs. I didn’t care for the Walmart value meatballs. The recipe is so much better with a good brand of meatballs. Enjoy! Kim
Gary Kaetzel says
My dental issues are starting to get taken care of! I loved this when I made it the first time and as I type this my second batch of this is in the IP! I did sub one thing, though. I used 10 oz. of cherry tomatoes and they should work fine! Thanks again for the great recipe!
Kim Seghers says
Thank you Gary so much for taking the time to leave a comment and letting me know you enjoyed the recipe! You made my day! Also, I’m so glad to hear you’re getting your dental issues taken care of! Btw… I’ll have to try adding cherry tomatoes next time! Have a great rest of the week, Kim
Jenne Kopalek says
I have yet to try rotini in the instant pot. I have egg noodles. I am going to have to add this to my list, It looks delicious!
Kim Seghers says
Thank you so much Jenne! I hope you get to try this pasta recipe. It’s so good and perfect for busy days! Have a great evening, Kim