Easy Instant Pot Spicy Turkey Meatballs {with spaghetti}

I’m always looking for new quick, healthy recipes my family will enjoy.  If you are like me, these Quick & Easy Instant Pot Spicy Turkey Meatballs {with spaghetti} are a must try.  They are a healthier alternative to traditional Italian-style meatballs and can be ready in under 30 minutes.  The key to speed is the Instant Pot.  Gotta love that!  This recipe is perfect for those crazy, busy nights when you need a quick and easy dinner.

I’ve recently been experimenting with my new kitchen toy, an Instant Pot.  If you haven’t checked them out, DO!  It’s an electric pressure cooker that allows food to cook very quickly because it’s under pressure.  For instance, it can cook a mouth-watering fall-apart roast in an hour.  They are amazing and absolutely worth the money.  Last week was a crazy one for us.  Between

Last week was a crazy one for us.  Between Ryan working late nights because of a deadline at work and me trying to hold down the fort when nothing was going as planned, dinner was on the back-burner.  Actually, it was not even on a burner.  The night I made this it was almost 7 pm and I still didn’t have a dinner plan.

The night I made this it was almost 7 pm and I still didn’t have a dinner plan.  Have you every had a night like that?  I looked in the fridge to see what we had. There was ground turkey!  I thought, thank goodness it’s already thawed.  I can make turkey meatballs.  No, I can’t.  That will take way to long.  We won’t eat until 8 o’ clock!  Then I remembered I have my new kitchen toy, the Instant Pot.  That would speed up the cook time.  BOOM!  We’re having spaghetti and Spicy Turkey Meatballs tonight.  Dinner was done in 20 minutes.

This was the first time I made this recipe and the flavors were awesome. There was one downside, they fell apart very easily.  Ryan said I should have titled this recipe “Fall-apart Spicy Turkey Meatballs” but adding an extra egg would probably solve some of that problem. They were so juicing and delicious.  They went great with the pasta sauce and spaghetti. These are the ingredients I started with:

The first thing I did was turn on the Instant Pot because it takes a few minutes to warm up, I had no time to waste.  Then I started mixing the meatballs.  I added the turkey, onions, crushed crackers (you could use breadcrumbs), garlic, red chili flakes, salt, and pepper. I also added 2 eggs but for next time I will add 3.  In the printable recipe below, I listed 3 eggs to help the meatballs stay together better.

Next, I used a scoop (size D20) and molded the meat into balls.  I poured half a jar of pasta sauce into the Instant Pot and placed a single layer of meatballs right into the sauce. This recipe fit perfectly in my 6-quart Instant Pot. The meatballs laid in a single layer.  I poured the remaining sauce over the meatballs and started the pressure cooker. You could also sear the meatballs before putting them into the Instant Pot if you have more time.  Although searing the outside of the meatballs might help them stay together, I skipped this to speed up the prep time and save on dishes.

While the meatballs were cooking, I started the pasta. The meatballs cooked in about 5 minutes, when they were done, I used the Instant Pot’s 10-minutes natural release method. This was just enough time to finish the pasta. Make sure you are careful about stirring the meatballs once they are done.  If you don’t care if they stay together then stir away, but if you want them to be served as a meatball, avoid stirring them.

Once the 10-minute natural release method was complete, and the pasta was done, dinner was ready.  I served these delicious turkey meatballs over a bed of spaghetti noodles but you can use your favorite pasta.  With a sprinkle of parmesan and basil, they were gobbled up quickly.

What do you think? If you are a spaghetti and meatballs person, you totally need to try this recipe.  It’s delicious and the meatballs are fall-apart good! 😉

If you happen to have leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

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