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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Cam says
My noodles never fully cook. Do you have any suggestions? Tried natural release and they were still not ready. Otherwise great recipe!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Cam! I’m sorry to hear you are having that issue. Maybe add another minute? I don’t really know because mine are always cooked.
Grace says
Wow! Made this tonight and will never make another recipe again. I normally make my own meatballs however had a bag of Butcher Box meatballs in fridge. So easy, thank you.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Grace! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Shawn S says
There seems to be an egg noodle shortage these days. Have you tried other noodles (like pastas) with this? Is the cooking time the same?
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Shawn! You can substitute the noodles just fine! I would choose bow tie or a short pasta over something like spaghetti for this recipe.
Leanna says
Do you have a winco store near you? It is really sparse when I look at fred meyer, safeway, walmart ect but winco always has a family size bag for $4ish dollars.
Dutchie says
I have a standard crockpot, not an instapot. Should I cook on low or high, and for how long?
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Dutchie! Here is my slow cooker version: https://www.thereciperebel.com/slow-cooker-swedish-meatballs/ Hope you enjoy it!
T says
I made these vegetarian by using veggie broth and ALDI’s frozen vegan Italian meatballs. This was delicious!!! Cooktime was spot on, and the half and half / cornstarch mix made a beautiful sauce.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi T! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Cindy says
My daughter made this for me one evening when I came over to visit and it was delicious. She added mushrooms to hers because we are both huge mushroom fans and it was delicious and ready in minutes from start to finish. I’ll be making it in my own instapot this week.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Cindy! So glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for this kind review.
Lisa says
I loved the ease of this recipe so much I’ve made it 3x this month!!!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Lisa! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Veronica says
Turned out fabulous! I made my own meatballs and I just pressure cooked them in some butter for 3 mins then drained a bit of the grease before adding everything else.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Veronica! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Dmg says
Do the meatballs have to be cooked before putting them in the instant pot?
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Dmg, for this recipe, yes.
Sandra says
Delicious and easy. Added a dash of nutmeg- did not precook meatballs- perfect.
The Recipe Rebel says
Thanks for the feedback Sandra!
Tammy Randall says
I must say I was anxious to try this recipe as I haven’t used my Instant Pot much and the family Loves Swedish meatballs. I didn’t have beef broth so I used 1 envelope of beefy onion soup whisked with 5 cups of water (I doubled the recipe). I also used one full bag of egg noodles. Cooked as directed and it was delicious! By the way my pot is 6 quart and it fit fine. I did let it vent naturally for 5 minutes. Noodles were perfect! Adding to our favorites! Thanks so much for this amazing recipe.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Tammy! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this review!
Lesley says
We love this recipe!!!! Have you ever tried using gluten free noodles? I’m curious if cook time would change at all.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Lesley! So glad you enjoy it! I have not tried this with gluten free noodles so I wouldn’t be able to say for sure. If you decide to experiment, let me know how it goes!
Maxime says
This recipe looks delicious. However the cooking time of 3 minutes under high pressure wasn’t enough for my homemade meatballs. I saw it the day after and they were still pink inside. Had to throw away everything due to conservation delays, i felt so bad :(( . What cooking time should I use next time?
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Maxime, if using homemade meatballs I would play around with the cook time. This will vary depending on size, etc.
Tom W. says
This was the last recipe I made in the Instant Pot before the Covid lockdown. My son had 10 friends over (his senior year in high school). The meatballs were a hit!!
My son has now reached out for this recipe (2.25 years and a whole lot of teenage drama later).
I’d make this again, hands down, for teenagers or for a group (not that teenagers are NOT a group; but, those with teenagers will understand)
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks for sharing Tom! That makes my day!
lucas alyea says
this is sooooo easy and tastes amazing !!
Ashley Fehr says
Yay! Thanks for your comment Lucas!
Gilbert Mathews says
Can I use hot sauce instead of Worcestershire sauce?
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Gilbert, they are really not the same thing so they are not a 1:1 substitute.
Melissa says
Easy recipe to follow and quickly prepared for those busy school nights, I doubled the recipe with no issues and it was well below the max line. Huge hit with my kids 8, 7 & 4! Can’t wait to have my bonus twin 12 yr old boys make this when they come for the summer, they have developed an interest in cooking this year and this recipe seems perfect for them to start with!
Libby W. says
Delicious!
Honestly, so tasty and so much easier even than Hamburger Helper! It was the perfect weeknight meal.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Libby! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Charlotte says
Could I use part chicken broth and part beef broth because I don’t have enough beef broth?
Courtney Graham says
This is one of my favorite recipes. I’d love to cook it for a crowd. Any thoughts on doubling or tripling this recipe??
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Courtney! I don’t believe this version could be double or triple because of the fill line in the instant pot. It might be best to make the meatballs and noodles separately and then combined them.
Melissa Graham says
I was able to triple the recipe but cooked the meatballs in the instapot and the noodles on the stove. Was a huge his at my house this evening.
The Recipe Rebel says
So glad it worked out for you!
Rachel Garcia says
I’ve made this meal over a dozen times and it comes out so yummy every time! I have a 15,13,and 5 year old twins and everyone likes it. It’s the only meal I can get everyone to eat. I may have to start doubling the recipe. Thank you.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Rachel! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this review!