This Porcupine meatballs Instant Pot recipe with rice and ground beef or sausage are great appetizers. Served with pasta it’s a favorite dinner idea of ours too.
Have you made this funny sounding dish before? Instant Pot porcupine meatballs will make your kids laugh and ask you to make them again and again for sure. One of many quick Instant Pot recipes on our site you’ll love. (affiliate links present)
Porcupine Meatballs Recipe
If you have never heard of these you might be thinking huhhhh???? You might picture what these would look like when cooked and ready to enjoy, but how would you make it prickly?
Rice is the answer to this question…you may be picturing it cut in half right now huh? Let us show you how they’re done and then you can try them for yourself.
Let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then LIKE our IP Facebook page for new ideas daily.
- This is a great InstaPot cookbook and set of wooden utensils are great to grab too.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot. It is easier to clean and will avoid the burn message too.
For reference, this is the pressure cooker I have and use for all recipe creations.
Meatballs With Rice
A pretty good duo if you ask me. After all I grew up in Hawaii so white rice was a thing served with almost every single meal. Now that I have kids of my own it is a favorite side dish of theirs as well.
SO why not combine the two right? Whether you’re serving these with Instant Pot spaghetti or on their own as a pressure cooker appetizer for guests they’re sure to be a real hit.
Yes we have made Instant pot frozen meatballs before and those are easy peasy, but homemade is always best.
If you have a basic meatball recipe of your own then by all means use that as your base. Just make sure you have enough binder to keep them together so it doesn’t become seasoned fall apart ground beef in your pot when done.
Here’s what was used for this round and worked quite well during a 20 minute cook time;
- Pound of ground beef but you could use a roll of spicy ground sausage if you preferred.
- Uncooked long grain white rice
- Marinara sauce
- Diced onions I add to just about everything
- Same goes for minced garlic, I buy this by the huge jar full
- Worcestershire sauce
- Egg
- Garlic and onion powder
- Olive oil will be used to saute the onions and garlic until they soften a bit
Just pretend like you’re making meatloaf but instead of one clump it will be shaped into smaller balls.
You want to use meat with a bit higher fat content, that will keep them moist. Keep your protein cold, it will hold shape better. And when mixing/forming them don’t mix too much, keep it gentle.
Instant Pot Porcupine Meatballs
Of course with all of my easy pressure cooker recipes you can use any brand you might have. Crockpot Express, Mealthy, Ninja Foodi, they all work the same essentially when it comes to this function.
You could add the prepared meat with the onions to brown a bit on the outside and add some texture but in this case I wouldn’t. Reason being is they may stick in the process and begin to fall apart.
As far as the sauce is concerned you can use your favorite jarred version or try this Instant Pot spaghetti sauce that uses pantry ingredients.
Time needed: 20 minutes.
Instant Pot Porcupine Meatballs
- Prepare
In a mixing bowl combine ground beef, uncooked white long grain rice, Worc. sauce, egg, garlic and onion powder together.
Use your hands and form the meat mixture into small balls. Set aside, will make 10-12. - Saute
Heat olive oil in pressure cooker using the saute function. Add onions and garlic, cook until softened. Then turn machine off.
Pour in spaghetti / tomato sauce over the top with your broth or water. Place uncooked meatballs into the sauce in a single layer. Close lid and steam valve. - Cook
Now cook the meatballs on high pressure cook for 20 minutes with a natural pressure release of 10 to 15 minutes.
Release rest of steam and serve with noodles or as is as an appetizer. As you can see they kinda’ look like porcupine quills popping out! It is fun for the kiddos for sure.
Remember that it does take a bit of time to come to pressure and start the count down of minutes. So 20 minutes of cooking will take more like 25 minutes or 30. Add in the natural release and you’re at 40 or so.
How do you make fried meatballs with rice?
These are great made as air fryer meatballs as well! You’d need to follow the timing in this recipe highlighted. See which one you like best. The big difference is these are in sauce, and the others get really crispy outside.
You could of course deep fry them too but that is a no for us. I don’t like the after taste of oil and added calories and fat using that method either.
Want to try other YUM after these Instant Pot meatballs? We have a few other suggestions like;
- If you have a smoker I would highly suggest trying our bacon and cheese stuffed Traeger meatloaf some time, it’s to die for.
- Crockpot spaghetti and meatballs are great with these instead of just using frozen in a bag.
- For a quick NO prep appetizer, give our Crockpot frozen meatballs a whirl. You can just throw in bbq sauce, tomato, or make that grape jelly chili sauce version.
Here’s a peek at the middle of one of these babies. I know, so fun right?? Spoon some more sauce over the top when serving so they stay super moist. If you’re having a party leave them in the pot but unplug it so it doesn’t continue cooking.
Meatballs with Rice in Them
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Instant Pot Porcupine Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/2 c rice white, long grain
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 3/4 c onion diced
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 3/4 c spaghetti sauce marinara
- 1/2 c beef broth or water
Instructions
- In a bowl combine ground beef, uncooked white long grain rice, Worc. sauce, egg, garlic and onion powder together.
- Use your hands and form this mixture into small balls. Set aside, will make 10-12.
- Heat olive oil in pressure cooker using the saute function. Add onions and garlic, cook until softened. Then turn machine off.
- Pour in sauce and broth or water. Place uncooked meatballs into the sauce. Close lid and steam valve.
- Set to high pressure for 20 minutes with a natural release of 10 minutes.
- Release rest of steam and serve with noodles or as is as an appetizer.