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Instant Pot Meatballs with Mushroom Sauce

Published: September 11, 2020 | Last updated: September 11, 2020 1 Comment

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Instant Pot Meatballs with Mushroom Sauce are delicious and easy to make. Perfect for a weeknight meal. They reheat well and great for meal prepping work and school lunches.

Closeup of a platter with meatballs and sauce.

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Nothing screams comfort like a bowl of steaming Meatballs with Mushroom Sauce. Serve them with mashed potatoes and it’s the ultimate cozy comfort meal. The mushroom sauce (or gravy) is lusciously creamy and delicious. Meatballs are soft and juicy.

If you like creamy mushroom sauce, then you should also try Instant Pot Pork Tenderloin with Mushrooms.

Making meatballs in Instant Pot means that you don’t have to worry about watching the pot on the stove. Electric Pressure Cooker does all the work and you can totally let everything cook and mingle in the pot without needing to watch the stove.  

There are a couple of ways of making Meatballs with Mushroom Sauce in Instant Pot. One way (the one I documented in the video and with process photos) is a little bit more involved and another way is a bit easier. The flavour and texture between those options will be slightly different but both versions will still taste delicious.

Tray with all the ingredients to make the recipe.

Ingredients to make Instant Pot Meatballs with Mushroom Sauce

For meatballs:

  • Ground chicken
  • Breadcrumbs (plain or seasoned)
  • Seasonings (I use Mrs. Dash seasoning, garlic salt, pepper)

For the mushroom sauce:

  • Onion
  • Garlic
  • Mushrooms
  • Vermouth (or wine or water for deglazing)
  • Chicken broth
  • Seasonings (I use fresh thyme, salt, pepper)

Also needed:

  • Oil
  • Cornstarch
  • Cream

Top down view of a bowl with mashed potatoes and meatballs.

How to make Instant Pot Meatballs with Mushroom Sauce

Option 1:

Collage of process photos showing how meatballs are made.

  • Make the meatballs. Combine the ground chicken, breadcrumbs, seasonings and form meatballs about the size of a ping pong ball or a bit smaller. About 14-16 meatballs.

Collage of process photos showing how meatballs and mushrooms are supposed to look after sautéing in Instant Pot.

  • Sauté the meatballs in Instant Pot in a bit of oil for a few minutes on each side. No need to cook through. This step is only to add a bit of crust and develop flavour. 
  • Remove the meatballs from Instant Pot and set aside.
  • Add more oil to Instant Pot. Add the onions, mushrooms, and garlic to Instant Pot and sauté for another few minutes stirring occasionally.
  • Deglaze the pot with Vermouth and scrape the bottom of Instant Pot really well to make sure that there are no little bits stuck to it. If there are bits stuck to the bottom of the pot then Instant Pot may show a “burn” message and not come to pressure.
  • Add the sautéed meatballs on top of the mushrooms, add broth. 

Collage of process photos showing meatballs in Instant Pot right after cooking and then after sauce is thickened.

  • Cook on High Pressure for 5 minutes. It’ll take about 7-8 minutes for Instant Pot to come to pressure.
  • Once cooked, let the pressure release naturally for at least 15 minutes or until it’s fully released.
  • Add a few tablespoons of hot liquid from Instant Pot into a bowl with cornstarch and mix really well until it’s fully dissolved.
  • Add the cornstarch slurry into the pot. It helps the sauce thicken.

 

  • Add the cream and mix well.
  • Turn Sauté function on and cook for another 2-3 minutes until the sauce is thick and creamy.
  • Serve with Instant Pot mashed potatoes or Instant Pot Polenta.

Option 2:

Do not sauté the meatballs. You can also skip sautéing the onions and mushrooms (although this is the step I suggest you try not to skip as it really develops the flavour but if you are pressed for time, then you can skip it). Proceed with the rest of the steps as in Option 1.

Top down view of a bowl with mashed potatoes and meatballs.

Tips and Variations for the recipe

  • Meatballs
    • Feel free to use your favourite meatball recipe.
    • You can make turkey, beef, chicken, etc meatballs as you like.
    • You can use store-bought meatballs also (either pre-cooked or not).
    • You can use frozen meatballs also. You’ll need to omit the first step of sautéing them.

 

  • Vermouth
    • This is my absolutely favourite way of deglazing pans. I don’t drink wine often so I rarely have a bottle open.
    • Vermouth is fortified wine so an open bottle will last for months.
    • Vermouth has a very earthy and savoury flavour so it’s great for cooking.
    • I use either sweet or dry vermouth.
    • You can use wine, broth, or even just water for deglazing.

 

  • Broth
    • I always use Better Than Bouillon when I don’t have homemade broth in my fridge.
    • You can use any kind: chicken, vegetable or even beef.
  • Cream
    • Can be omitted.
    • The sauce will still be “creamy” because of the cornstarch slurry. Although the flavour will change.

 

  • Spices and seasonings
    • You can use your favourite seasonings, herbs and spices to flavour the meatballs and mushroom gravy anyway you like.
    • I am a huge fan of Mrs. Dash original no-salt seasoning. It has a blend of herbs and spices that really works for me. I prefer not to re-invent the wheel and just use it. 
    • I also love fresh thyme with mushrooms. You can add tarragon, rosemary, sage, or your favourite herbs.

 

More Instant Pot Meatballs Recipes:

  • Instant Pot Creamy Pasta and Meatballs
  • Instant Pot Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes
  • Instant Pot Meatball Soup

DO YOU WANT MORE INSTANT POT RECIPES?

Join my Real Ingredients Instant Pot Recipes Facebook Group!!! It’s a fun and safe place to share your own Instant Pot recipes made with Real Ingredients.

Top down view of a bowl with mashed potatoes and meatballs.
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Instant Pot Meatballs with Mushroom Sauce

Instant Pot Meatballs with Mushroom Sauce are delicious and easy to make. Perfect for a weeknight meal. They reheat well and great for meal prepping work and school lunches.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword instant pot, meatballs, mushrooms
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Sauté and pressure release 35 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 323kcal
Author Julia

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons Canola oil (divided)

Meatballs

  • 1 lb ground chicken
  • 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Mushroom Sauce

  • 1 onion, finely diced
  • 1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons Vermouth (or broth or wine or water)
  • 1 cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup 10% cream

Instructions

  • Make the meatballs. Combine the ground chicken, breadcrumbs, seasonings and form meatballs about the size of a ping pong ball or a bit smaller. About 14-16 meatballs.
  • Press Sauté button on Instant Pot.
  • Add half the oil to the pot and wait for the display to read Hot and for the oil to heat up.
  • Sauté the meatballs in Instant Pot in a bit of oil for a few minutes on each side. No need to cook through. This step is only to add a bit of crust and develop flavour. 
  • Remove the meatballs from Instant Pot and set aside.
  • Add the rest of the oil to Instant Pot. Add the onions, mushrooms, and garlic to Instant Pot and sauté for another few minutes stirring occasionally.
  • Deglaze the pot with Vermouth and scrape the bottom of Instant Pot really well to make sure that there are no little bits stuck to it. If there are bits stuck to the bottom of the pot then Instant Pot may show a "burn" message and not come to pressure.
  • Add the sautéed meatballs on top of the mushrooms, add the broth. 
  • Turn Sauté off. Close the lid. Turn the valve to sealing.
  • Press Manual or Pressure Cooker button (depending on your model) and using the arrow buttons set the cook time to 5 minutes. Use default High Pressure.Depending on your Instant Pot model, it'll take around 5-7 minutes to come to pressure. Once the Instant Pot beeps that the 5 minutes of cooking are done, do a Natural Pressure Release for about 15 minutes. It means that do nothing for 15 minutes and the pressure will naturally release from the pot. Finish with a Quick Release, this should be very quick. Open the lid.
  • Add a few tablespoons of hot liquid from Instant Pot into a bowl with cornstarch and mix really well until it's fully dissolved. This is called cosntrarch slurry and it helps thicken the sauce.
  • Add the cornstarch slurry into the pot.
  • Add the cream into the pot. Mix.
  • If Instant Pot automatically turns Keep Warm function on, then press Cancel.
  • Press Sauté button again and let everything cook for about 1-2 minutes until the mushroom sauce thickens.
  • Serve with Mashed Potatoes or Polenta.

Video

Notes

You can omit cream if desired.
Equipment
Instant Pot.
Instant Pot

Nutrition

Calories: 323kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 103mg | Sodium: 779mg | Potassium: 901mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 77IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 2mg
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Filed Under: Instant Pot, Meat, Mushrooms, Recipe Tagged With: meatballs

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Comments

  1. Kristin Photography says

    November 28, 2020 at 3:40 am

    Nice Blog .

    Reply

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