Instant Pot Spaghetti

There's a little known fact about me: Spaghetti is my favorite meal. People are often surprised when I tell them this. After all spaghetti is so basic and simple and boring. Cue me being offended. Ha ha, not actually. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and tastes. My opinion just happens to be that spaghetti is amazing.

Spaghetti may be cheap and easy to make, but it is anything but boring. Think of all the different possibilities there are for preparing spaghetti. There's the tried and true tomato sauce, there's alfredo sauce, there's rose sauce, there's basic butter noodles, and that's only the different sauces. Think of all the different combinations of vegetables, meats, and cheeses. How can someone not be in love with this meal?

Come to think of it, spaghetti may be the perfect meal. There's something about it that can please anyone. Vegans and vegetarians can enjoy vegetable options, the picky eaters often stick to their tomato sauce and cheese, carnivores have a never-ending selection of meats that can be tossed in. Don't even get me started on all of the possibilities for cheese lovers! Seems to me that any variation of this meal can make anyone happy.

Whenever I make spaghetti, I like it to be simple and quick, so what better way to make spaghetti than in my Instant Pot? The Instant Pot—AKA my new favorite kitchen tool—is an absolute dream to make spaghetti. Everything goes in the one pot, which leaves very little to clean up. Also the Instant Pot makes the meal very quick to cook. This delicious spaghetti meal took me only ten minutes to prepare and cook. It was a quick meal that everyone enjoyed and asked if I could make it again. Even the pickiest eater in the family loved this meal.

Now, as always, any of the vegetables that I used can be substituted. I used what I had on hand at the time. I found spinach and mushrooms to be a delicious mix with the sauces that I chose. Normally I would also add onions, but I was planning to bring this in my lunch to work and someone has an onion allergy, so that had to be vetoed.

This recipe happens to be vegetarian, but if you have a hankering for something meatier, frozen meatballs are a great addition to this meal. If you're looking for something meatier than this but are not satisfied by frozen meatballs, never fear—other recipes are yet to come.

The best part about the Instant Pot is how amazing clean-up is. No multiple pots or giant colanders to clean, just your utensils and the Instant Pot itself.

Ingredients

• 1 can of tomato sauce (any brand will do, I happened to use Hunts)
• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup (again brand does not matter)
• 2 1/2 cups of water
• 1 box of spaghetti
• 1/2 bag of spinach
• 1 container of mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons of garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Directions

1. Add olive oil (try to spread this around as much as possible, as this prevents the noodles from sticking to the pot.)

2. Spread noodles in the bottom of the Instant Pot

3. Add water (make sure the noodles are completely covered)

4. Mix in soup (stir lightly)

5. Mix in tomato sauce (stir lightly)

6. Add spinach

7. Add mushrooms

8. Sprinkle garlic powder on top.

9. Close Instant Pot (making sure that the steam valve is shut)

10. Set manual pressure for eight minutes

11. When time is up, vent the steam valve (careful not to burn yourself!).

12. After all of the steam is released, the meal is ready.

13. Enjoy!