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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Danielle says
Perfect recipe for my 7yo to practice cooking. We followed the recipe exactly and it was great! So easy and fast, this will definitely be in our meal rotation.
Bob says
Hey Ashley,
Made this recipe tonight. I added 1/2 tsp of pepper vs 1/4. I also sliced, sautéed and added a package of mushrooms. It was great! My family requested that I make this again. Thank you for sharing this one.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Bob! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this review!!
Chelsea says
Very good! At the top it says to make sure to do a quick release, but in the recipe it says natural release first 5 minutes. I did the quick release right away and it turned out great.
Stephanie L Brantley says
The 5 minute natural release is for softer texture noodles
Wendy DeBartolo says
I don’t have a insta pot how would I do this. I would love to try this
Ashley Fehr says
You can use this recipe for Swedish meatballs and serve with pasta: https://www.thereciperebel.com/swedish-meatballs-recipe/
Rachel Garcia says
I’ve made this recipe half a dozen times and it is always a hit! My teenage boys and husband finish it there are never left overs. Total win!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Rachel! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Kendra says
Can you cook the noodles separately and add them in after?
Ashley Fehr says
Yes you can, but the sauce will be quite runny because the noodles absorb a lot of the moisture.
Brittany Shumway says
Amazing!!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Brittany!
Lisa says
I made this for my family tonight and it was so easy, and everyone loved it! I followed the recipe exactly, which is unusual for me because as a well-seasoned cook (puns are fun!), I usually tweak most recipes. Thanks for such a clear and concise recipe that tastes as good as it looks!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Lisa! I’m glad you liked it!
Suzanne says
What brand frozen. meatballs did you use?
Ashley Fehr says
I use any brand that has good ingredients. The brands available to you will be based on your location so I don’t like to name any brands.
Meg says
This was fast, easy and delicious! My husband loved it and I happened to have everything on hand. I used frozen Costco meatballs and sprinkled shaved parmesan cheese on top.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Meg! I’m so glad!
Jennifer Ng says
If i needed to double this for a larger group would i have to double the cooking time?
Ashley Fehr says
The cook time will be the same!
Marla says
DELICIOUS!!
Ashley Fehr says
I’m so glad!
Marla says
My new favorite recipe! I followed it precisely. It was delicious! Noodles were perfect and I was amazed at how fast the gravy thickened. My husband loved it! It was awesome!
Ashley Fehr says
Thank you Marla!
Jeff Yoder says
Wow, we made exactly as directed and my very picky eating son loved it and so did I. Turned out perfect. It’s an easy recipe that can be adjusted as needed to suit your taste. Thank you so much for sharing it was delicious!
Ashley Fehr says
Thank you Jeff!
Sharona says
I am not the greatest cook and I never comment on recipes, but I couldn’t resist this time. This was the best Swedish meatball recipe I have ever tried. Super easy, I used sirloin meatballs and the sauce was perfect. I didn’t include the noodles because I wanted to put mine on mashed potatoes. I would not change a thing! Thank you for this!
Ashley Fehr says
Thank you Sharona!
Kimberly Wrightington says
Very easy and tasty recipe. I did add 1/4 tsp each of Nutmeg and Allspice for that “authentic” Swedish flavor.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Kimberly!
Sarah Gregoire says
This was so yummy! I used more garlic, because I always do. But this hit the spot. Thanks! 😀
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Sarah!
lazy mom says
I used a 4 cup package of beef stock and a 12 oz bag of egg noodles. Added heavy cream, sour cream, butter, some mustard and paprika. Noodles were perfectly cooked.
Ashley Fehr says
I’m glad it turned out well!
Kathy says
Great one pot meal. I followed the directions for time but didn’t have heavy cream or corn starch so used 4 oz of cream cheese and it was really good.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Kathy!
Tree Witch says
Worked great. Added a little more broth at the end as it got a little too think before all the noodles were cooked.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks for sharing!
Liv says
Finally! A Swedish meatball recipe that includes the noodles! Made it last night, followed directions and it came out perfectly! I doubted, but it worked and it was delicious! Thank you from a new fan!
Ashley Fehr says
Thank you Liv!