The Secret to Easy Instant Pot Meatballs
These BBQ Instant Pot Meatballs are one of my FAVORITE pressure cooker recipes. There’s a secret to making the perfect meatballs in the Instant Pot and we are going to share it with you. You can use this recipe for spaghetti, meatball soup, or make them as we did here for bbq meatballs. Let’s go!
Instant Pot Meatballs
Meatballs in the Instant Pot are quick and easy. You can make these meatballs for spaghetti, meatball soup, or add your favorite barbecue sauce. They won’t crumble or fall apart, and they are done in 30 minutes. This meatball recipe is so delicious, and it’s made in a matter of minutes.
Ingredients needed:
- olive oil
- red onion
- lean ground beef
- fresh thyme
- fresh parsley
- salt and ground black pepper
- bread crumbs
- bbq sauce
- cup beef broth or stock
Cooking Meatballs in the Instant Pot
You don’t have to use pre-made frozen meatballs in the Instant Pot because you’re worried they will fall apart. This pressure cooker meatball recipe is adaptable and uses fresh ingredients. Dinner is always easier with the Instant Pot, but you can use any pressure cooker.
Tips to Pressure Cook Meatballs
While there is a little prep work with this recipe, there still isn’t much to it. This recipe just involves putting your meatballs together and then putting them in your Instant Pot to cook.
- The meats in this meatballs recipe are easily adaptable. If you don’t want ground beef, consider using ground chicken for chicken meatballs, ground pork, or ground turkey. Play with a mixture such as a pound ground beef and a pound of ground pork for Italian meatballs.
- You can make this recipe gluten-free by replacing the breadcrumbs with gluten-free breadcrumbs or substituting them with almond meal.
- Use a cookie scoop or ice cream scoop for uniformly shaped meatballs.
- Allow the pressure cooker to perform a natural pressure release for 5 minutes before performing a quick release and removing the cooked meatballs.
- Want a different flavor? This recipe is easily adaptable. You can add Italian seasoning for Instant Pot Spaghetti and meatballs, or substitute the beef for chicken and add ranch seasoning for Ranch Chicken meatball appetizers.
- Play with the herbs in the recipe! Consider parsley, red pepper flakes, rosemary if using chicken, and add different cheeses such as mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese.
- Serve meatballs over brown rice, white rice, zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash, or garnish with green onions and serve with a green salad.
Do I Need to Use a Trivet?
That’s a great question. You don’t have to use a trivet for meatballs, but we like to place one at the bottom of the Instant Pot. Carefully stack the meatballs evenly and take special care not to squish the meatballs that are at the bottom of the trivet.
If the meatballs are larger in size, you’ll want to adjust and increase the cooking time. If you like your meatballs a little smaller, you can also adjust accordingly. Generally speaking, 6 minutes on manual should work perfectly with a natural release.
The Secret to Perfect Instant Pot Meatballs
When I make these meatballs I make sure to add the barbecue sauce to the ground meat mix, as well as baste the meatballs before cooking. This really seals in the flavors and makes for the best BBQ Meatballs.
I also love that these meatballs don’t have any eggs in them but still stay together perfectly!
Consider a breadcrumbs substitute for gluten-free meatballs.
These meatballs are so delicious and I know you’re going to love them. I also love how adaptable this recipe is. Be sure to let me know how your meal turns out – I love hearing about your results. As always, if you enjoyed this recipe, you might also like:
- Instant Pot Chili Mac
- Instant Pot Beef Tips and Rice
- Instant Pot Hawaiian Chicken
- Instant Pot Classic Whole Chicken
- Instant Pot Quinoa
Leave a comment below and let me know if you made these! We love your feedback, as it helps us decide what to create next. If you want to see more recipes like this, make sure to RATE this recipe!
The Secret to Easy Instant Pot BBQ Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon avocado or olive oil
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 3 pounds ground beef
- fresh thyme, to preference
- salt and pepper, to preference
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 1/3 cup bbq sauce, divided
- 2/3 cup stock or broth
Instructions
- Start by heating the oil in the inner pot using the sauté setting on high, then cook and brown the onions. You can also use a small nonstick pan, if you prefer. As they are starting to brown in the pot, pour in some of the bbq sauce to caramelize them.
- When they are done, turn off the instant pot or burner and remove the onions. In a separate bowl, add the ground beef, thyme, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs, and 1 cup of bbq sauce. Set aside.
- Pour the stock into the bottom of the instant pot and then set the trivet into the bottom of the inner pot.
- Mix all of the meatball ingredients together thoroughly, adding more bbq sauce or breadcrumbs as needed. make uniformly sized meatballs and set them into the trivet. Layer the meatballs without squishing the bottom ones into the bottom of the trivet. Brush the remaining bbq sauce on top of the formed meatballs.
- Check your sealing ring and then twist on the locking lid. Set the valve to sealing and select manual mode for 6 minutes. You may want to adjust your cook time depending on the size of your meatballs.
- When the pressurized cook time has passed, let the pot naturally pressure release for an additional 6 minutes before carefully manually releasing the rest of the pressure. There will be quite a bit of liquid in the pot around the meatballs, most of which is fat so you'll want to strain the meatballs.
- Allow the meatballs to cool for a few minutes before plating. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Omitting the barbecue sauce means you can use this meatball recipe for spaghetti or for meatball soup.Â
- To seal in the flavors for barbecue meatballs, add the barbecue seasoning to the meatball mixture as well as baste the meatballs before cooking.Â
- Consider making these in a large batch and freezing the rest for later.Â
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is a calculated guesstimate. Please note that this can change with different brands and modifications you may make to the recipe. For the most accurate information, use a nutritional calculator with the exact brands and measurements you're using with each recipe.
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