Instant Pot Meatballs Recipe

Instant Pot meatballs with frozen meatballs can be made 5 different ways with different sauces! Get ready for the best pressure cooker dinner or appetizer you can make in a Crockpot Express or Ninja Foodi as well.

Instant Pot Meatballs Frozen

I described here how to cook pressure cooker frozen meatballs here. That’s where this whole thing started… Those can be manipulated and flavored all sorts of different ways and in general are the cheapest and fastest way to make any of these.

We will start with a few basics when it comes to cooking meatballs in your Instant Pot. 99% of the time they’ll be in a bag and frozen. That is the easiest and fastest way to make any of these. Of course homemade is best but are more time consuming and need to be sauteed first so they don’t break apart.

How long to cook 1 lb of meat in an Instant Pot?

The cooking time for 1 lb of meat in a pressure cooker varies slightly depending on the type of meat and whether it’s fresh or frozen. In general though you are looking at 5-6 minutes to cook all the way thru and allow them to soak in the flavors in the sauce. This doesn’t include the time it takes to reach pressure though, you’d need to add 10 minutes or so for that step.

A lot faster than cooking Crockpot frozen meatballs though. You can of course use your microwave to thaw beforehand but that isn’t even really necessary. If you just use hot steam or a sauce of your choice they will cook to tender without that step!

Within that post I share how to make these grape jelly meatball recipe too. They’re the best appetizer seriously. You just need a few ingredients to create a sort of sweet and savory sauce with a kick. You can of course add more heat and make them spicy too with Sriracha or red pepper flakes as well.

In the past when I had a bunch of people over, this is how long to cook meatballs in oven. Those are great too but take much longer. The biggest difference between the two is baked will get the outsides crispy. Try both and see which is your favorite from then going forward.

Instant Pot Meatballs No Sauce

NO sauce is necessary if you want to add into another dish. You will need a steamer basket like this one so the hot water can thaw and cook them in just a few minutes. Now if you want to make a heartier Instant Pot side dish sort of meal, try these Asian meatballs here. This could almost be a main dish though really. 

Ninja Foodi Meatballs

Can you use these same instructions if you have a Ninja Foodi? Absolutely! If you haven’t figured it out yet, they’re interchangeable. One thing different though about this version is that you can crisp them at the end if you would like. In this case we are just using the lid that is not attached. OR you can make homemade meatballs in an air fryer too with this one.

You can use any and all pressure cooker recipes in either pot. Making this as a Crockpot Express recipe or in your Mealthy would work the same way too.  Instant Pot accessories you will need: just a vegetable steamer! You’re essentially just steaming them so they’re tender before adding sauces and other ingredients. 

I do offer a printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. There are a few choices as I stated above so first decide if you want to cook in the sauce, or not. If you want to then choose which flavors you want to focus on. Below is a quick rundown.

How to Steam Meatballs in Pressure Cooker

1. Pour a cup of water into your inner pot.
2. Place basket inside and open it up.
3. Dump frozen meatballs inside and close your lid and steam valve.
4. Cook on high pressure for 6 minutes followed by a quick release.
5. Drain water and dump tender meatballs into your pot.
6. Then if you want to add our sauce listed you would continue on to;
   • In a separate bowl whisk together your sauce ingredients and pour that inside with your bell peppers.
7. Set pot to saute and allow to bubble. This will allow the veggies to soften and meat to soak up a bit of this yummy Asian sauce.

There are a ton of variations for this though. If you just want an appetizer with toothpicks you might want to omit the peppers entirely. Want a bit of heat? Add some chili powder into the mix.

Pressure Cooker Meatballs with Sauce

Option 1 – Once you have them defrosted and nice and tender you can choose the sauce to toss them in as directed above. If you’re in a hurry a bottle of barbecue sauce, grape jelly and chili sauce will do the trick.  That is right, this one can be cooked right inside the inner pot itself.

Option 2 – You can instead pour them into the pot with the sauce itself. You would want to thin a bit if it is too thick. Seal the lid and cook right in the sauce itself. This will yield a more flavorful outcome but they will be softer, like really soft.

Option 3 – You don’t even need to close the lid for this one. That is right, just use the saute function to mimic a pan on your stovetop where the hot sauce cooks the meat until they are the softer texture you want. Just set to saute, whisk these 3 items together in the pot until smooth and then add your meatballs. Allow to bubble for a few minutes and you’re set.

Another easy one are our cranberry meatballs with a homemade tangy bbq sauce perfect for the holidays. If you want to make something more from scratch with an Asian flare, this one is great below. Sweet, tangy and with as much heat as you desire, people will surely fall all over these Instant Pot meatballs.

One last one before getting to the one seen above is Alfredo Meatballs. If you do want to make this sauce with sliced bell peppers and onions listed below this is what we put together. There are bottled sauces you could use too. I have seen sweet and sour sauce blends that are already made, and teriyaki styles too.

Ingredients

1. We use one bag of frozen meatballs in a bag
2. Bell peppers
3. Onion is great too
4. Water or broth
5. Soy sauce
6. Brown sugar
7. Minced garlic and ginger
8. Hoisin sauce
9. Sesame seeds are a nice touch

Toothpicks are needed if serving as a football party food. Just unplug the pot with the lid ajar and a spoon ready for people to lift as many out as your guests would like.

If you aren’t keen on this sauce you could from there cook them in spaghetti sauce, gravy or a mixture of your own tomato sauces. Pressure cook for just a short cooking time and serve with 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese on top. An easy meal for sure.

Instant Pot Meatballs and Gravy

• I’d make pressure cooker gravy first.
• Then set to saute and add thawed balls
• Allow to bubble and soak in the sauce, serve!
• I made homemade ground beef meatballs for this recipe using bread crumbs, egg, and a few other ingredients. You could use your own recipe for those and saute in the pot first and then set aside until gravy is done.
  • If you make homemade you need to make sure you deglaze the pot after cooking them in order to avoid the burn notice. This might be a better option if you need a gluten free recipe, that way you know exactly what’s inside the meat mixture.

Other appetizers you’ll love

• Try cooking Instant Pot frozen chicken wings from frozen too
• If you want to cook in the sauce itself, follow our Instant Pot barbecue meatballs recipe instead
• Our final recipe you can try are our Instant Pot Swedish meatballs which use a homemade sauce everyone goes crazy for.