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Italian Beef and Herb Meatballs Instant Pot

Tasty Juicy and Easy

Italian Beef Meatballs In Rich Tomato Sauce

These classic Italian-American style meatballs are juicy and soft! They're made with ground beef and loaded with herbs and parmesan cheese, and then incorporated with tomato.  Served with your pasta of choice this is a simple and easy dish to prepare.
Italian meatballs instant pot
What is Makes This a Great Dish?
We had this dish with spaghetti which is one of our favorite kinds of pasta - and because the meatballs had been cooked in the tomato herb mix under pressure their flavor was just amazing - so that is what makes this dish special - follow our recipe and you will taste the best meatballs you have ever had!
This dish will go well with any sort of pasta. They’re really tender and taste great served over pasta and sprinkled with parmesan cheese. This is an easy recipe to make and very quick to cook.

Key Spices and Ingredients for Italian Beef Meatballs

Paprika

Paprika in its basic form is made from ground sweet pepper pods and creates a bright red powder. Normal paprika has deep blood red color and a flavor of sweet and mild hot.

Worcestershire Sauce

Worcestershire sauce is a fermented liquid sauce created in the city of Worcester in Worcestershire, England during the first half of the 19th century. It is also known as Lea & Perrins. Its flavor complements the beef nicely.

Basil

Different varieties of basil all have their own flavors. Sweet basil starts with a slight peppery note and finishes with its distinctive sweet anise essence. Purple basil is more savory, while Thai basil (some- times called pepper basil) is known for its anise notes. While lemon basil, which is harder to find, has a citrus flavor.
ingredients italian meatballs

Prepare you Ingredients

It really does help to get organized by getting all your ingredients measured and organized first. Why - because when you have never made a recipe before - having all your ingredients ready means that you can firstly check them off against the recipe before you start so that nothing is missing. Secondly - as you are moving through the cooking steps it lets you focus on the dish preparation rather than jumping around looking for or preparing a missed item.
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plated italian meatballs

Italian Beef and Herb Meatballs Instant Pot

  • Author: Rosie
  • Prep Time: 30
  • Cook Time: 25
  • Total Time: 55 minutes
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Instant Pot
  • Cuisine: Italian
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Description

These classic Italian-American style meatballs are soft and juicy and infused with flavor because they are cooked in a pressure cooker.

Ingredients

Scale

2 lbs Beef Mince 1kg

4 Button Mushrooms 

3 cloves Garlic

1 med Onions

3 strips bacon

2 med Carrot

2 sticks Celery

28 oz crushed tomatoes (800g)

1/2 cup red wine

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper ground

1 teaspoon dried basil (fresh if you have it)

1 teaspoon dried parsley (fresh if you have it)

1 teaspoon dried oregano (fresh if you have it)

1 teaspoon dried thyme (fresh if you have it)

1 tablespoon lea and Perins

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/4 cup beef stock

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 teaspoons paprika

1 pinch chili or cayene to your taste

1 bay leaf (if you have it)

1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

  1. Mix in the parmesan cheese to the  beef mince 
  2. Mix in the herbs to the mince  (Can also use mixed or Italian herbs if you do not have all the individual herbs)
  3. Mix in Salt and pepper
  4. Mix by hand folding back and forth making sure they are well mixed - see the video and photos
  5. Make the meatballs - you can use an ice cream scoop to get them all the same size
  6. Slice mushrooms 
  7. Dice carrot, celery, garlic, and onion
  8. Put in the Instant Pot the vegetables and the bacon at the same time and gently cook (sweat) the vegetables
  9. Add tomato paste and mix with the cooked vegetables
  10. Then add the wine and mix again 
  11. Then add the crushed tomatoes, beef stock, Lea - Perrins, paprika, sugar, and mix
  12. If you want you can add a little chilli or cayenne pepper to taste
  13. Put the Meat balls in the mix and gently stir so they are well wet
  14. Put on the lid and cook for 15 mins high pressure 10 mins natural release
  15. After cooking taste the tomato sauce and add salt, pepper, and if necessary a little more sugar if the taste is too tart. (Tomatoes can cause the sauce to be a little tart or sour and just a very small amount of sugar fixes this.)

Notes

This mix freezes really well.

Nutrition

  • Calories: 455

Keywords: italian meatballs

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even size

Make the Meatballs

See the video on how we mix in the cheese and the herbs to make these great meatballs. Using a tool like an ice cream scoop makes it easy to get all meatballs a similar size.  This in turn makes the overall cooking more even and all just tastes better.

How to make Italian Meatballs

How to make the meatballs

Prepare the Sauce

I really like the depth of flavor that a small amount of chilli can bring - but just a pinch. Stir in all the ingredients to prepare the base for the sauce.
mix in the sauce
put in the meatballs to the sauce

Put back the Meatballs

Now it is time to place the meatballs back. Mix them all in the sauce mix so they are covered well. 

Then put on the lid and follow the cooking instructions in the method above.

Plating up - Ready to Eat

With our favorite pasta, we plated up and sat down to a really nice meal all in under an hour. Sprinkling a little parmesan cheese made the dish so nice.
peeling the chilli

We also have a great Beef Bourguignon recipe that is worth a try.

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