This Instant Pot Mostaccioli recipe is super simple, very quick, and absolutely delicious.

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I was a bit skeptical about using the Instant Pot for pasta. We enjoy our pasta with a little bite and I just wasn’t sure it was going to come out that way using the pressure cooker.

Boy, was I wrong!!

This recipe is great with hamburger, turkey, and even with Italian sausage. It’s all about what you have and what you are in the mood for.

Start by turning your Instant Pot to the Saute setting on high.

Add the oil to the Instant Pot and drop in your chopped onion and ground beef. When those are close to being cooked, add in the garlic. If you add this in at the same time as the onion and ground beef there is a chance that the garlic could burn.

You are going to want to make sure you drain off any fat that is in the pot after the meat, onions, and garlic is cooked. If you skip this step you may find that the sauce is just not right with a strange texture.

Add in the sugar, Italian seasoning, red pepper, and a box of beef broth.

Pop in the jar of spaghetti sauce and add the 1 cup of water to the jar. Shake that around and pour it into the pot. This is a great way to make sure that you are getting all the sauce out of the jar.

Make sure that you get all of the fond off of the bottom of the pot. Fond are the browned little bits that are in the bottom of your pan when you brown meat. Those bits have SO much flavor. You also have to make sure that you do this so that you do not get a burn error while you are cooking this under pressure.

Pour in the mostaccioli noodles or penne if you cant find mostaccioli.

This is VERY IMPORTANT…

Do NOT stir after adding the pasta. I promise your dish will burn and your Instant Pot will through you a burn error.

Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes, then let it natural release for 3 minutes, and then quickly release the remaining pressure.

Remove the top and stir to make sure there aren’t any noodles clumped together.

Add one cup of the cheese and stir. Now, add the rest of that mozzarella on the top of the mixture, replace the top of the pressure cooker and wait about 5 minutes. That should be enough time for the cheese to become all melty.

At this point you are ready to spoon this up and serve.

As you can see, our family loves this Instant Pot Mostaccioli!

Including my grandson, Brandon.

I truly hope that your family will enjoy as well.

Print Recipe

This mostaccioli is quick and easy when cooked in an instant pot or pressure cooker. The pasta is cooked perfectly with lots of cheese and meat sauce. #Italianrecipes #pasta #noodles #instantpot

Instant Pot Mostaccioli

5 from 1 vote

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Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings people

Equipment

Instant Pot

Ingredients

1 Teaspoon olive oil
1/2 Cup diced onions
1 Pound ground beef You can substitute the ground beef with ground turkey ground chicken or Italian sausage
1 Tablespoon garlic- minced
1 Teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/2 Teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 Box beef broth 32oz
1 Cup water
1 24 ounce jar of your favorite pasta sauce
1 Pound dried mostaccioli noodles or you can use penne noodles
2 Cups Mozzarella Cheese shredded

Instructions

Turn Instant Pot on Saute- Hi
Add Olive Oil
Add onions, ground beef and garlic. Continue to sauté until beef is evenly browned.
Drain off excess fat
Turn the Instant Pot to saute – medium
Add sugar, Italian seasoning an red pepper flakes
Pour in pasta sauce
Pour 1 cup of water into pasta sauce jar, shake it up and pour into the pot.
Pour the box of beef broth into the pot
Stir beef and liquid until well combined
Deglaze the pan making sure to get all of the fond (brown bits) off of the bottom of the pan. If not, you may get a burn message.
Pour in mostaccioli or penne pasta
DO NOT STIR! If you stir, you are likely to get a burn or error message.
Make sure that all pasta is covered by liquid (or as much as possible). I just pushed down on the noodles with a spatula until they were covered with liquid.
Close the lid, turn the Instant Pot back on and cook on high for 3 minutes.
Once the timer goes off, natural release pressure for 3 minutes. Quick release remaining pressure. Turn off Instant Pot.
Open the lid and stir pasta together. Be sure to stir well and ensure no pasta is clumped together.
Add in 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese and stir.
Sprinkle remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese on top.
Close lid and let sit for 5 minutes- this will help the cheese melt into gooey gooey goodness on top! If you prefer, you can remove mostaccioli from Instant Pot and put in baking dish and place under the broiler for 5 minutes. If you choose this method, wait to add the last cup of cheese until you have all of the mostaccioli in the baking dish.