Instant Pot Zucchini Spaghetti with Meatballs
Instant Pot Zucchini Spaghetti with Meatballs is a low carb take on a classic family dinner!
I am always looking for new ways to sneak veggies into my children. This is one of our favorite weeknight family dinners! If your children are a bit older and cant be fooled with vegetable noodles try adding brown rice pasta with a couple cups of extra broth! Or a mixture of the two.
Turkey will also work, in lieu of ground beef but use an extra tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Turkey is leaner than beef and doesn’t have as much fat content so a little extra oil will go a long way in helping your meatballs stay nice and hydrated!
I spiralize my zucchini at home because it’s so much more cost effective! Click here!
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Brittany Williams has taken the weight loss world by storm with her best-selling Instant Loss Cookbook. Brittany changed her relationship with food and lost an astonishing 125 pounds in a year through diet alone!
After spending a lifetime struggling with obesity, autoimmune diseases, and chronic fatigue, she truly understands the diet dilemma.
Brittany’s latest book, Instant Loss Eat Real, Lose Weight shows how to make this a sustainable lifestyle with kid and family-friendly meal! With recipes like, Strawberry Shortcake Oatmeal, Cowboy Chili, and Easy 2-Minute Pork Chops. Members of her growing community have reported losing 50 and even 100 pounds themselves! This cookbook will help others achieve similar success with simple, delicious meals, nearly all ready in 30 minutes or less.
Instant Pot Zucchini Spaghetti with Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground meat
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder, divided
- 1/2 tablespoon plus 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 (15-ounce) cans diced or crushed tomatoes
- 3 large zucchini, spiralized
- 1/2 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine ground meat, egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, and black pepper. Use 2 tablespoons of the mixture to form each meatball. This should make around 16 total.
- Preheat the Instant Pot using the SAUTE function.
- In a separate bowl, add diced tomatoes, onion, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano, dried basil, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, and red pepper. Stir to combine.
- When the display panel on the cooker reads HOT, add the olive oil and the meatballs. Let the bottoms of the meatballs brown, about three minutes. Layer the squash/zucchini noodles on top of the meatballs, followed by the tomato sauce.
- Place the lid on your pressure cooker. Make sure the vent valve is in the SEALING position. Press the cancel button. Using the display panel select the MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK function, high pressure. Use the +/- buttons until the display says 5 minutes.
- When the cooker beeps to let you know it’s finished switch the pressure knob from the SEALING to the VENTING position. Use caution while the steam escapes—it’s hot. Stir all ingredients together and serve!
Just wanted to let you know that you are an inspiration!! So very proud of the progress you have achieved and putting your foot down to NO MORE PROCESSED FOOD! I would love to accomplish the same. I tried this recipe above and was in love. I love zucchini and anything to put it in noodle form, it’s golden! Now I followed your recipe to a T, but I would make a few adjustments. Too much crushed red pepper; at least for my family. My husband, who goes through it like candy, said it was too hot. Maybe a result of the pressurized way it was cooked? I’ll most likely reduce to half a teaspoon next time 🙂 Also, when mushing(yes that is a word) together the meatballs, I use a pound of ground turkey, i found it too wet. I added, maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of plain bread crumbs to it to form balls. These were super yummy! My very picky 2 yr old ate them…just one in total… 😀 But he tried it! I just at the leftovers, and I don’t know what it is when tomato based sauces soak up all of the flavor and is better the next day, but they were great as well… Especially with leftover Papa John’s cheese bread… O.O i know, bad for me, but everything is super tasty! Thanks again! I will be doing this recipe again!
Mmmm, your improvements sound great, especially the cheese bread! 🙂
Made the Spaghetti and Meatballs tonight and it was a big hit! I doubled the recipe to have plenty for leftovers. I can’t get over how thrilling it is to make something healthy, tasty and from scratch! For this non-talented cook, that’s a big deal! Thanks so much!!!
Aw, that is so fantastic and really blesses my heart! Thank you so much for sharing. <3
I made this tonight and while the flavor was good, there was so much liquid left after it was done cooking! It was more like soup than spaghetti. I made the zucchini noodles and salted them a couple of hours before putting everything together, so they should have had plenty of time to dry out. Was I supposed to drain the tomatoes?
Aw, bummer. Did you squeeze the water out of the noodles after you let them sit with the salt? I don’t drain the tomatoes but I do pulse them in my blender because I don’t like them as chunky.
I didn’t squeeze the zucchini. I’ll try that next time! Thanks!
You can also drain your tomatoes or add a bit of tomato paste. That will help!
This sounds super yummy and easy. I love making zucchini noodles. A spiralizer is much easier to make noodles with the squash. A great inexpensive investment. Thank you for sharing your recipes!
Can I use spiralized zucchini noodles, or does this recipe only work for larger strips?
Sure!
Thanks, I was concerned they’d get too mushy if they were noodles instead of strips. 🙂
When I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thanks!
Hi Erik! You should be able to select UNSUBSCRIBE on the email notification. 🙂 Hope that helps!
Really enjoyed this update, can I set it up so I get an email every time you publish a fresh article?
Yes, 🙂 you can subscribe here:https://instantloss.com/subscribe/
There is no easy printable link on this one. Can you add one? Thanks!
Do you have a recommendation to halve the recipe? I’d like to try this, but my IP is a Duo Mini (3qt). Any help is appreciated! I’m so excited to get to start using my new IP!
I just got my IP and have been somewhat skeptical of how food would taste. This was excellent! I added a little Asiago after it was cooked. Perfect!
I am a vegetarian. Do you think I could make zucchini meatballs instead of the regular meatballs?
Sure 🙂