Meatball sandwiches are a great meal for a crowd. They are a breeze to make in the Crock Pot, today’s post shows that it’s just as easy in the Instant Pot!
I’ve been waiting for a chance to make them on a trip in the Instant Pot. The Hotter’N Hell 100-mile bike race in Wichita Falls, Texas turned out to be the perfect place. The company Mark works for is celebrating 100 years. Several staff members are cyclists and decided this 100 mile race would be a great “100 thing” to include in the year long celebration and asked Mark to join them.
After we got set up, it was time to pick up his race packet and scope out parking for race day. Wait! First I wanted to get dinner started!
The beauty of meatball sandwiches is how easy they are. It’s as simple as dumping a bunch of meatballs in the pot and stirring in spaghetti sauce. It’s a “set it and forget it” kind of thing with the Crock Pot and I’m happy to report it’s the same with the Instant Pot!
After you stir the meatballs and sauce together, it’s time to set the Instant Pot.
Put the lid on and set the vent to VENTING.
Press SLOW COOK then AJUST. The ADJUST button will toggle between the Less/Normal/More setting. Those translate like this from the the Crock Pot to the IP:
Less = Keep Warm
Normal = Low
High = Normal
When using the IP as a slow cooker and you need to cook on the HIGH function, you need to add 15 minutes cook time for every hour you plan to cook. For example, if you’re cooking it on HIGH for 4 hours with your Crock Pot, it would be 5 hours in your IP using the slow cooker. The default time for the slow cooker function is 4 hours which can be adjusted by pressing the + and – buttons.
I wasn’t sure when we’d be eating so I left the time at four hours. I had a second of panic when we got back from the race expo when the coach didn’t smell like dinner like cooking in a Crock Pot does. Silly me, all I had to do was take the lid off and instantly good smells swirled around us.
When you’re ready to eat, it’s time to assemble.
Start with your sandwich roll of choice. This time we used San Francisco French Bread Rolls. Sometimes we use bolillo rolls from the grocery store bakery. Line your rolls with provolone cheese slices. Mark likes two, I use one. Top with steaming hot meatballs. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
EAT!
When we make these at home, we’ll often put them under the broiler until the mozzarella is melted and bubbly. When we are camping, it’s time to eat as soon as the mozzarella is on the sandwich.
Since the sandwich is a big meal all by itself, most times we pair it with a dinner salad or sliced fruit. Tonight it was delicious watermelon.
Slow Cook Instant Pot Meatball Sandwiches
- Frozen meatballs
- Jarred spaghetti sauce
- Provolone cheese, sliced
- Mozzarella cheese, grated
- Place frozen meatballs in the Instant Pot inner pot. Pour spaghetti sauce on top and stir to completely combine.
- Press SLOW COOK button on IP. Press ADJUST button to set cook level. LESS equals Keep warm, NORMAL equals low and MORE equals high on a traditional Crock Pot. Default time is four hours, you can adjust by pressing + or – button. When meatballs are cooked and sauce is bubbly, it’s ready.
- To assemble, line your rolls with provolone slices, top with meatballs and mozzarella cheese. You can broil the sandwiches until the cheese is bubbly if you’d like.
- ENJOY! Refrigerator or freeze any leftover meatballs.