These Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs and Noodles are an easy one pot meal made in the pressure cooker! Made in 30 minutes or less.
It’s officially fall and I’m craving all the comfort food!
Hearty casseroles, carbs and creamy sauces are all back on the table and no one around here is upset.
These Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs are really the perfect fall meal — it’s a complete meal in one with no other pots required, plus we’re skipping the hard part and using store bought meatballs (so that you can still get a good meal on the table in between running the kids from one activity to the next).
If you do want to make your own meatballs, check out my favorite Homemade Meatball recipe!
This is my second one pot Instant Pot meatballs recipe, the first being these Honey Garlic Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes which we love, but are a little trickier because they require the pot-in-pot pressure cooker method, even though they both cook for exactly the same time.
Meatballs are just one of my favorite meals altogether, regardless of season and sauce and what we’re serving them over.
How to make the best Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs and Noodles:
- Choose good ingredients — this seems like a no-brainer, but really, when we’re using just a few ingredients in a recipe, you need to pick ingredients you enjoy.
- Choose low sodium beef broth — if you use regular broth this recipe will be very salty! Using low sodium sauces lets you control how much salt goes in
- Don’t overcook — pasta in the Instant Pot cooks incredibly fast. Normally, I do short cuts of pasta for 2 minutes but I give this recipe an extra minute to ensure the meatballs are heated through.
- Quick release — for al dente pasta, you don’t want to let your pasta cook any longer once the cook time is up. For this reason, pasta in the Instant Pot is always a quick release, which means you open the valve to release the pressure right away. If you tend to prefer your pasta with a softer texture, you can wait 5 minutes before opening the valve.
Tips for buying great store-bought frozen meatballs:
I know, I know — go ahead and judge.
But store bought frozen meatballs can make me feel like a superhero on those days where I had no dinner plan and the fridge was empty.
They are easily transformed into something amazing like these Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs with just a few ingredients, but you want to make sure you choose good meatballs to begin with.
A lot of store bought frozen meatballs are filled with weird ingredients and filler — you want to check the package for ingredients you can mostly pronounce. The shorter ingredient list the better!
Generally I’ve found with frozen meatballs that the cheapest bag is not what you want to be eating. You might have to spend a little bit more or watch for them on sale (or try Costco or somewhere you can buy a lot at a lower price).
Many stores also have fresh rolled meatballs, which will still require sauteeing in the pressure cooker but it will save you a step.
Tools you’ll need for these Instant Pot meatballs:
- an Instant Pot (I use a 6 quart smart Instant Pot, but this recipe should work fine in all)
- I haven’t used any other brand of electric pressure cooker, so I can’t say how they would function differently
- No other special equipment required — just dump and go!
More Instant Pot Recipes you’ll love:
- Instant Pot Italian Chicken Pasta
- Easy Instant Pot Recipes
- Juicy Instant Pot Chicken Breast
- Garlic Herb Instant Pot Potatoes
- Creamy Italian Instant Pot Chicken Breasts
Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs and Noodles
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 1 lb beef meatballs frozen or thawed
- 2 1/2 cups low sodium beef broth
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 cups extra broad egg noodles (140g)
- 1/2 cup half and half or heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
Instructions
- Place meatballs in the Instant Pot with beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Stir until spices are combined.
- Add noodles, spread into an even layer and press down gently but do not stir — they will not be completely submerged and that is fine.
- Put the lid on, turn the valve to sealing, and select Manual or Pressure Cook for 3 minutes. It will take about 10 minutes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure.
- When the cook time is over, do a quick release and open the valve to release the pressure (for noodles with a softer texture, you can allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes before opening the valve). The noodles may appear dry on top — this is FINE. Stir them into the meatballs.
- Whisk together cream and corn starch and stir into meatballs. Turn the Instant Pot to saute and cook and stir just until sauce has thickened (and at this point, all noodles will be perfect 🙂 )
Nutrition Information
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Alison says
Does the time differ between frozen and thawed meatballs?
Ashley Fehr says
No the cook time will be the same 🙂
Katherine says
I made this on a night when my parents joined the 4 of us for dinner. I didn’t double it, but increased by about 1.5x. It was such a hit! We served it with a side of steamed broccoli. No leftovers, the teen boys devoured this meal!
Ashley Fehr says
I’m so glad it was well loved!
Adriana says
I’ve made this so many times and it’s always amazing! A staple in our household. I’ve used turkey and vegan meatballs and both worked out great too!! just adjusted bouillon cubes (3 instead of 2 1/2) and seasoned to taste when it was finished. Absolutely delicious!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Adriana!
VFish says
Anyone try a different cooking time that helped with noodles being cooked through?
Ashley Fehr says
If you follow the recipe exactly, the noodles will be cooked through 😀 Any noodles that are dry on top after cooking will be perfectly cooked after the sauce finishes.
Lexi says
Delicious! I think I might have used meatballs that were too big only because my noodles did not cook all the way through. I turned on the sautéed option on my pot and was able to cook them through enough 🙂
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Lexi, that is EXACTLY what the recipe says to do 😀 So I guess it worked perfectly!
Mechelle says
I’m new to instapot cooking:) so i was wondering if meatballs can go in raw since I was going to make them and can I substite sausage meatballs? since I dont have hamburger?
Ashley Fehr says
I haven’t made this recipe with uncooked meatballs, so unfortunately I can’t say how long they would take to cook.
Lesley says
Love this recipe!!! I want to make a double batch. Would cook time stay the same?
Ashley Fehr says
Yes, the cook time should be the same! I’m glad you liked it 🙂
Sarah says
So easy and delicious! I wouldn’t change a thing! 🙂
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Sarah!
Lisa says
This was super easy and delicious! Everyone in the family liked it!
Lisa says
I also didn’t add the salt as I didn’t have low sodium broth.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Lisa!
Natalie says
This recipe was delicious! The sauce did not get as thick as I hoped so I just added a little bit more corn starch which helped. I will definitely be making this again.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Natalie!
Ricardo Rivera says
Just made this dish and two thumbs up. Made a few changes to make the dish vegetarian and it works wonderfully…if anyone wants to try here are my changes.
1. Used Vegetable Broth
2. Used a whole box of President’s Choice Meatless Meatballs.
3. Added a pinch of all spice and nutmeg
4. Increased the Parsley just because I like it.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks for sharing Ricardo!
S.h says
This went over well with my picky eating crew. Thanks for sharing. Good flavor yet simple. The only change I made was the first time my noodles we’re not all done so I reversed the noodles and meatballs in the recipe. Put the noodles in with the other ingredients and mixed them and then put meatballs on time. Noodles we’re a little well done but not bad.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks for sharing! The noodles are meant to finish cooking with the sauce after you add the remaining ingredients, so it is normal for them to look a little dry on top before you stir and finish the sauce
Corrie S says
I have made this twice now and we love it! Thanks for the great recipe!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Corrie!
Ashley says
This looks so good! I’ve never made Swedish meatballs, only ever had them at IKEA. Did you find a specific brand of the frozen meatballs that you liked? I saw that Target had their brand of Good & Gather but there are some ingredients I’m not crazy about, textured soy flour, corn syrup solids. Thanks!
Ashley Fehr says
I actually just posted my favorite homemade meatball recipe, so I haven’t been buying them lately! They are made with just 6 ingredients so they are very simple: https://www.thereciperebel.com/easy-meatball-recipe/
Lauren says
Best Swedish meatballs I’ve had – no exaggeration. These were so good!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Lauren! I’m so glad!
Niya says
Just made this for the first time for dinner and it was delicious! I am a new Instant Pot user so I was a little concerned about cooking time because I have a 8qt Instant pot and I also had to double it because we are a family of 6. I adjusted the ingredients as stated for 8 servings and kept the cooking time the same. It turned out great! My husband and kiddos all loved it and agreed it is a keeper. Will definitely be adding it to our meal rotation. Thanks for the super easy and tasty recipe!
Karla says
Could I double this and still have it fit in the 6-qt Instant Pot? If so, would it need to cook any longer? Thank you!
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Karla! You should be able to double it but it will be close and may be difficult to stir after. The cook time would be the same!
Brittany says
Made tonight and will definitely be going into dinner rotation for those busy nights. I doubled everything in recipe, as I have 6 in my family. The only change I made was using rotini instead of egg noodles due to a food allergy. I still used same cook time besides letting it rest for 2 minutes before quick release since my pot was so full and not wanting the steam to be messy. It was quick,simple, and tasty!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Brittany! I’m glad you liked it!
Linda says
Can I used different type of noodles? I don’t have egg noodles only spaghetti and bow tie
Ashley Fehr says
Yes, you can substitute the noodles just fine! I would choose bow tie over spaghetti for this recipe
Maura says
This was excellent. I doubled the recipe and used frozen turkey meatballs and chicken broth instead of beef. I think I’ll try veggie meatballs and veggie broth next time. At first, my instant pot wouldn’t come to pressure as usual and I realized the valve wasn’t closed properly, so I took a minute off cooking. I like my noodles al dente, so it worked out great and even the kids loved it! This is going on regular rotation.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Maura! I’m glad you liked it!