Instant Pot Meatballs (no breadcrumbs)

A bowl with meatballs in sauce garnished with parmesan cheese.

5 from 30 votes

Instant Pot Meatballs (no breadcrumbs)

Make these Instant Pot meatballs when you have a few minutes for dinner—with ground beef, tomato puree, and the secret ingredient, oats. Enjoy this easy weeknight dinner with some spaghetti or rice on the side and a green salad.

Prep Time15

Cook Time7

Natural Pressure Release5

Total Time30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 424kcal

Author: Nadja Belgrave

Equipment

Instant Pot 6Qt
Large mixing bowl
baking sheet

Ingredients

Meatballs and Sauce

1 pound ground beef
1 egg large
½ cup ground oats or oat flour
⅓ cup mozzarella cheese shredded
2 teaspoons oregano divided for the sauce and the meatballs
2 teaspoons garlic powder divided for the sauce and the meatballs
2 teaspoons onion powder divided for the sauce and the meatballs
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup tomato puree
1 cup chicken stock
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Garnish

¼ cup parmesan cheese grated
green onion chopped for garnish

Instructions

First, mix all the ingredients for the meatballs. In a large mixing bowl, add the ground beef, egg lightly beaten, ground oats, mozzarella cheese, seasonings, salt, and black pepper.
1 pound ground beef, 1 egg, ½ cup ground oats, ⅓ cup mozzarella cheese, 2 teaspoons oregano, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 2 teaspoons onion powder, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper
Form balls using a ¼ size measuring cup or a cookie scoop for roughly the same size and place them on a lined baking sheet.
To your Instant Pot inner pot, add the tomato puree, chicken stock, Worcestershire sauce, oregano, onion powder, and garlic powder, and mix all the ingredients.
2 teaspoons oregano, 2 teaspoons onion powder, ¼ cup tomato puree, 1 cup chicken stock, 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, 2 teaspoons garlic powder
Place your meatballs directly into the sauce in a single layer if possible.
Add the sealing ring to your Instant Pot cover, and cover the pot. Press the “Manual” button or the “Pressure Cook” button and set the timer to 7 minutes. It’ll take around 10 minutes to reach pressure.
Once the time is up, let it release the pressure naturally for 5 minutes (you’ll see a “L0:05” on the screen), then quick release the remaining pressure.
Uncover the pot once the pin is down, garnish with chopped green onion or parmesan cheese and serve with your favorite side, spaghetti, mashed potatoes, etc.
¼ cup parmesan cheese, green onion

Notes

Substitutions

Ground beef: replace with ground turkey or ground chicken.
Tomato puree: use a seasoned tomato sauce, but you'll need to adjust the seasonings and salt since most have a higher salt content.
Chicken stock: store-bought or homemade will work. Also, look for low sodium so you have better control of the salt in the dish. You can also use beef broth.
Ground oats: this will act as the binder and replacement for breadcrumbs. Blend up some rolled oats, and it will work great. You could also use quick-cooking oats without blending.
Mozzarella cheese: could replace with parmesan cheese. This also works as a binder.
Seasonings: oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, Worcestershire sauce, salt, black pepper. It could replace with Italian Seasoning. This was more of an Italian-flavored dish, but you can season it with what you have.

Remember, do not overmix so you don't end up with tough meatballs.

If you want a thicker sauce, you can make a cornstarch slurry by mixing 1/2 cup of water and cornstarch (1 Tablespoon) and adding it to the sauce using the Saute function of your pressure cooker.

You can cook only the meatballs, add a cup of broth of your preference and follow the same cooking steps.

Nutrition