Tonight, I finally had enough energy to get out of the house after being a recluse for a week. Jason and I ran our errands which included a massive Costco run. We try to go every month for the essentials and let me tell you, your love of Target is how I love Costco. To feed an army of growing boys with bottomless appetites is a huge feat and Costco is my hero.
Anyways, onto the other love of my life, my Instant Pot.
What is an Instant Pot, you say?
Instant Pot is a miracle for the hustling mama because it magically cooks your meal in minutes; hence the word, INSTANT Pot. It is an electric pressure cooker and depending on the model, the workbeast can saute, slow cook, pressure cook, make soups, make yogurt, put the kids to bed, draw you a bath, etc. Because of the pressurized cooking, flavors are infused tenfold which is the opposite of a Crock Pot, amiright?
It is not your mother’s pressure cooker…you know the scary thing that sat on the stove with her bitchy attitude and screamed at you when she was done? Then you would have to calm her down with cold water until she could flip her top. Yeah, that one. When my dad showed me his old school pressure cooker last year, I almost peed my pants…and I don’t get scared too often in the kitchen.
Ok, onto the 10-minute spaghetti recipe aka Jenille’s go-to because 1. my husband declared it the best spaghetti ever and that’s after 20 years of cooking him spaghetti and 2. there are never leftovers because boys need to eat. This has been adapted from many recipes around the web and I’m sorry, the result is a huge portion because remember, I only cook for armies. Yay for your leftovers though, lucky duck!
10-minute Spaghetti (Instant Pot)
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp oil
- 1/2 onion, sliced
- 4 tbsp garlic
- 1-2 lbs. of ground turkey secret: more flavorful and less fat than ground beef
- 2 jars of tomato sauce I like Ragu because it's less tart and less pregnant than Prego
- 1 box spaghetti (16 oz.)
- 4 cups of water
- 4 tablespoons of soy sauce cuz why not
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
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Pour yourself a glass of wine (or if the kids were extra snotty today, a shot). #nojudgementsister
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Turn on Instant Pot and set to SAUTE mode.
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When the bottom pan is hot, heat the oil, the saute onions and garlic.
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Brown the ground turkey.
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Pour in the tomato sauce, water, soy sauce, salt and pepper into the pot. Do not stir and if you must, minimally do this.
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Break up noodles in halves and submerge into liquid. Again, DO NOT stir - this is paramount.
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Close Instant Pot lid. Set cooking to MANUAL, high pressure, 10 minutes. Make sure your vent knob is set to seal.
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Refill your glass of wine. Pot will take some time coming to pressure and will display ON as it does. Once at pressure, it will start it's 10-minute countdown. During this time, I usually go check emails, take a selfie, take a shower, you get it. WALK AWAY from the cooking, Mama.
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Once the Instant Pot has counted down from 10 to zero minutes, vent it with QR (quick release).
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After the pin drops on the lid (which indicates it is safe to open), open the lid and stir the noodles right away to break them up because at this point, they're sticking...like that kid on your left leg. I use a pasta spoon to break it up.
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Close the lid for a minute or two and serve when the family is around the table...and only when the family is around the table.
Recipe Notes
P.S. I'm sorry to deceive you by calling it 10-minute spaghetti. After you brown the meat and let the machine come to pressure, it's 10 minutes on the Instant Pot display. If it's any consolation, you don't have to boil the noodles separately and create more mess to clean up.
Do you have an Instant Pot? How much do you love it? What recipes are your go-to? Thanks for stopping by!
*This post contains affiliate links so I can continue to feed my army.*
