These Instant Pot meatballs are extremely soft, fluffy and juicy on the inside. They are pressure cooked to perfection with flavor packed tomato sauce. Pair this dish with pasta, rice, or simply on its own!
If I had to pick our top 5 go-to dinner recipes, this would be one of them.
These meatballs are tender juicy, loaded with flavors, amazingly easy to make with simple ingredients. They are extremely versatile and go well with any kind of sides such as rice, pasta, and roasted vegetables.
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How to make Instant Pot meatballs
All you need to do is to mix all the ingredients in a bowl, form the balls and cook in the Instant Pot with a quick homemade sauce. No searing, or onion sautéing is necessary in the recipe which makes the whole process hands-free.
Secrets to soft & juicy texture
1. Oat flour - Oftentimes, panko breadcrumbs goes into meatball or hamburg steak recipes for a softer texture. Oat flour is a perfect gluten-free substitute for panko and is richer in fiber. It also does a great job retaining moisture inside the meatballs.
You do not need to purchase a bag of oat flour just for making this recipe. Simply place gluten-free old fashioned oatmeal into a food processor or blender and blitz until fine.
2. Eggs - 2 eggs in the recipe provides a binding effect while boosting the flavor. They also make the texture nice and fluffy.
3. Combo of meats - Combining ground beef and pork at the ratio in the recipe creates the best texture in the meatballs! They are super meaty but juicy and tender at the same time, thanks to the fat content in the pork.
Quick and easy tomato sauce
This scrumptious yet simple sauce is made using canned tomato sauce. Since the meaty flavor infuses the sauce perfectly, it is done with a minimum seasoning.
If you prefer (or make things even quicker!), you can also use four cups of pre-made pasta sauce instead of making the sauce from scratch.
What goes well with Instant Pot meatballs
- Gluten free pasta
- Rice - If you add a bit (½ - 1 tsp) of turmeric into the rice while cooking, it adds a color and aroma just like the rice in the pictures above.
- Gluten-free oatmeal - believe it or not, cooked oatmeal goes so well together.
- Quinoa
- Mashed potato
- Roasted vegetables
Ingredients for This Recipe
- Onion
- Garlic
- Ground cumin
- Salt
- Dried basil
- Eggs
- Gluten free oat flour or ground old-fashioned oatmeal
- Ground beef - I use 80% lean
- Ground pork
- Canned tomato sauce - This is thinned out pureed tomato with some salt and spices.
- Worcestershire sauce
- Sugar
Easy Steps to Make Instant Pot Meatballs
1. Mix - Mix and knead all the meatball ingredients in one bowl.
2. Shape - Roll them into golf ball sized balls.
3. Prepare the sauce - Combine the 3 sauce ingredients in the Instant pot.
4. Cook - Let the Instant pot do the magic! Just 7 minutes of pressure cooking.
*See the recipe card below for detailed directions.
Frequently asked questions
Refrigerate the cooked meatballs in an airtight container for up to 4 days. They can also be frozen for up to 1 months. To reheat, microwave or cook over the stovetop until warm. Cook the meatballs and sauce together and make sure to cover with cling wrap or a lid while reheating.
The answer is yes, but note that the texture and flavor will be slightly different. With beef only, the meatballs will still be soft but more dense. With pork only, they will be fattier.
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Recipe
Soft and Juicy Instant Pot Meatballs
Equipment
- 1 x 6 quart Instant Pot
Ingredients
- ½ large onion minced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup oat flour (gluten-free) or ground old-fashioned oatmeal*
- 1 pound ground beef I use 80% lean
- ½ pound ground pork
- 2 cans tomato sauce 2 x 15oz /425g size
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Instructions
- Place the first 9 ingredients (onion through ground pork) in a large bowl. Knead with hands until everything is well combined for about 3 minutes.
- Roll the mix into golf ball sized balls. This batch makes about 35 meatballs.
- Place the tomato sauce, Worcester sauce and sugar in the Instant Pot and stir.
- Gently add the meatballs into the sauce, they can be layered and be touching each other but not squished tightly. The meatballs do not need to be submerged in the sauce completely.
- Close the lid and make sure the vent is in the sealing position. Pressure cook on high for 7 minutes. Let the pressure come down naturally for 5 minutes, then carefully quick release the remaining pressure.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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