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The Easiest Instant Pot Meatballs Ever!
I came up with this recipe because the thought of dirtying one more dish tonight was enough to inflict a self induced coma. These are truly the easiest Instant Pot Meatballs Ever! Don’t think for a second that just because they’re easy you’ll be sacrificing any flavor, NOPE! No flavor sacrificed here! Just tangy delicious meatballs that taste like you’ve been slow cooking them all day but in reality they were done in you’re Instant Pot in less than 20 minutes.
Did I mention you only dirty one dish? ONE. That’s a solitary numero uno!
I know, I know. Thank me later.
I am always looking for ways to cut corners to reduce the dirty dish load. Ain’t nobody got time for dirty dishes! We’re in the middle of a major kitchen remodel so the less mess, God bless! These meatballs are bringing out my inner Texan!
Here’s the skinny. All you got to do to make these tasty little balls of pleasure for your face hole is open the package of ground meat, roll them, and place them inside the pressure cooker. Little seasoning, little barbecue sauce, and cook for five minutes.
No, you didn’t read that wrong, just five minutes!
Again, you are so welcome mama!
I typed it all out in a super easy to follow recipe below. If you make them please, tag me (@instantloss), because I want to remember just how delicious they are on the regular. Make room in your dinner rotation because these are going to become a Monday Night Madness staple!
The Easiest Instant Pot Meatballs Ever!
Print RecipeIngredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce
Instructions
- Roll the ground beef into 1 inch balls, placing them inside your electric pressure cooker in a single layer. It's okay if the meatballs touch.
- Sprinkle the meatballs evenly with garlic powder, sea salt, and black pepper. Then pour the barbecue sauce on top. Place the lid on the cooker and make sure the pressure knob is in the SEALING position. Using the display panel select the MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK function, high pressure, and use the +/- buttons until the display reads 5 minutes.
- When the cooker beeps to let you know it’s finished, switch the pressure knob from the SEALING to the VENTING position, causing a quick pressure release. Use caution while the steam escapes—it’s hot.
- Serve warm alongside your favorite leafy green salad.
Notes
It's not always easy finding a barbecue sauce with clean ingredients which is why I prefer to make my own! Click here for my recipe!
Have you substitute with turkey meat instead of beef?
Yes, you totally can substitute the recipe with ground turkey meat instead. 🙂
I can’t figure out how to make 1 in balls abs keep in single layer access cook at once
This recipe looks yummy and so easy. How many meatballs does it make? Would ground turkey work as well? Is there any way to reduce the amount of BBQ sauce used and replace some with something else? Thank you!
Hi Ashley,
Ground turkey totally works as well for this meatball recipe. If you would like to reduce the amount of BBQ sauce, you can always do half BBQ Sauce and half stock.
I have your book and love all your recipes! Question about these: Would I cook them the same way without the BBQ sauce? I need to make meatballs for a party appetizer this weekend and would rather make these than buy frozen. Thanks!
You can sub the BBQ sauce for stock if you’d like but unfortunately you can not make these without sauce. You can always make my turkey meatballs without sauce though. Here is that recipe: https://instantloss.com/instant-pot-turkey-meatballs/
It doesn’t seem like there is enough thin liquid to bring my 8qt up to pressure. I see s burn notice in my future.
The 8qt. needs 1 1/2 cups of liquid to come to pressure 🙂
What’s sprinkled on these in the picture?
Everything but the Bagel Seasoning is sprinkled on top of the meatballs in the picture. 🙂
How did the Everything but Bagel seasoning taste on the meatballs?
It tastes amazing!
These were delicious and incredibly easy!!
I made these for the first time and they are delicious. Lots of flavor from the BBQ sauce. I am wondering if you could substitute marinara sauce for the BBQ sauce and would you use the same amount? They would be good over zucchini noodles.
Yes, you totally could substitute marinara sauce for BBQ sauce! That sounds delicious Jacki!
I did use my fav marinara sauce today, made regular Italian meatballs, I did one small can of tomato (juice, small ), fill jar if Rao’s sauce, my fav Rao’s is a famous restaurant in NY, PRICY, well worth it for this fussy person. Bottom line I did the sauce.
My IP is my “go to” when making meatballs. I saute mine first just to brown them, then add marinara sauce and cover and cook for 20 minutes, then let slow release. A winner every time and my husband is a meatball snob~he’s Italian and it’s genetic, lol
How many meatballs in one serving? Thank you!
Serving size varies, but I would say this recipe serves 4-6 depending if you were eating as an appetizer or as a main course.
Is this considered a dinner or appetizer? Both? What can you pair with this a vegetable?
I would consider it a dinner or an appetizer. I think it pairs well with a salad, but you can always pair it with broccoli, asparagus, etc. and i’m sure it would taste great!
Hey Brittany!
I tried this recipe and followed everything to a T (with the exception of using ground turkey) and got the burn notice. Is there something I’m missing? I thought the BBQ sauce would have been enough liquid for it to be fine, but is it like a rule of thumb to have water in the bottom no matter what? Thanks for all you do and the help 😊
Ground turkey does not have the moisture or the fat content that beef does. You would need to add oil to the bottom or stock to make up for the lack of moisture. ❤️
I added an egg while mixing up the beef and seasoning. And added some honey on top after I added the bbq sauce. Fingers crossed everything turns out great. I’m excited about how easy this recipe is. Making it with baked beans and a salad for a cowboy weeknight dinner.
Hi. With the recipe instructions posted, will the meatballs cook well done or medium well?
Hi Monica,
They will be well done then they are finished.
I made these and i really liked them a lot. I used 90 percent Grass Fed Beef and I think they might have been a bit overdone. What type of beef did you use? Next time I might cut down the time by a minute. But really, these were great.
Ugh! I definitely added a whole bottle of bbq sauce and a good amount of beef stock because I was getting the burn notice on mine and it’s still doing it!! My boyfriend made me use bison not sure what to do !
These are amazing! I often make a double batch. Yummy with Brittany’s bbq sauce or with a pasta (red) sauce 🤤
First time leaving a comment! Just made these with a can of Hunt’s tomato sauce. I used 80/20 beef and a 1/8 measuring cup to make the balls, they just fit in my Pot! I used a couple shakes of Italian seasoning along with the garlic, salt and pepper.
Yummy!
Also, I messed up because I wasn’t paying attention, and hit the manual release at 3 minutes! I let it release and then turned it back on for 3 minutes and they turned out great still!
No liquid added, except for the bbq sauce?
What % fat in the ground beef do you use Brittney ?
Hello Michelle,
I use 80% lean grass-fed ground beef.
I made these last night and they were so easy! I used ground turkey so I put a little avocado oil on the bottom of the pot and I didn’t get a burn notice. I used a bottle of primal kitchens mango jalapeño BBQ sauce (with added water to get 1.5 cups) and they were delicious!
Can you make it more than one layer deep? one layer will never be enough for my family 😂