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This Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce recipe uses simple ingredients and fresh or canned tomatoes to create a rich and hearty pasta sauce that tastes like it has been simmered all day, yet is ready in under an hour.
Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce That Tastes Like It Simmered All Day
This recipe for Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce was inspired by my mom's crockpot spaghetti sauce, which is known for its rich depth of flavor.
And while that recipe is near and dear to my heart, the Instant Pot speeds up the process to deliver spaghetti sauce that is rich, nuanced, and simply delicious! While easy enough for any night of the week, Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce is guaranteed to level up the flavor of any pasta dinner.
Happy Cooking! xo Kristen
Notes on Ingredients
You will find the full list of ingredients, along with quantities in the recipe card. Below is a quick glance at what you need and tips to help you make the right selection.
- Tomatoes: Use a combination tomato paste for a rich, concentrated tomato flavor with crushed tomatoes, tomato puree, passata, or fresh tomatoes that have been peeled and seeded.
- Stock/Broth: Vegetable broth, chicken stock, or beef broth all work. Use what you have on hand.
- Dry Red Wine: Optional, but encouraged for deep rich flavor. Select a dry red wine that is suitable for drinking, such as a Malbec, Cabernet, or Merlot. Never use cooking wine which is overly sweet and metallic in flavor.
- Yellow Onion: For flavor, but feel free to speed it up/make it more kid-friendly, by omitting the fresh onion and replacing it 1 teaspoon of onion powder.
- Garlic: Go for peeled garlic cloves over minced garlic, for a sweet, mellow flavor.
- For Balance: A bit of butter and honey (or sugar) will help to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes.
Ingredient Tip
If using canned tomatoes, I personally recommend San Marzano tomatoes. A bit pricier, but the flavor and texture make them (and your spaghetti sauce) superior!
How to Make Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce
If you are unfamiliar with cooking in an Instant Pot or the functions of your Instant Pot, be sure to start with my guide for using an Instant Pot for the best results on this and future recipes. You will find the full recipe in detail in the recipe card below.
- Saute Onion. Use the saute function to briefly saute a minced yellow onion in a bit of olive oil until softened.
want to add Meat?
Add up to 1 pound of ground beef, ground turkey, or Italian sausage along with the onion and saute until the meat is cooked through. Drain off any excess grease if needed and proceed with the recipe as directed. Or follow my Instant Pot Bolognese recipe for a really rich meat sauce!
- Delglaze the Inner Pot. With the Instant Pot still on the saute function, add in the dry wine (or additional broth) and scrape up any browned bits from the inner pot. Let it simmer for a couple minutes, to let the wine reduce slightly.
- Layer with care. Add the broth, dried seasonings, and garlic and give everything a good stir. Then add the crushed tomatoes and dollop the tomato paste on top of the crushed tomatoes. Finally top with butter and honey. DO NOT STIR! This will prevent a burn notice from occurring.
No Burn Notice
Tomato sauce + Instant Pot CAN equal a burn notice. Prevent that by adding broth to the sauce and NOT stirring the tomatoes into the sauce until after pressure cooking. I can't stress this enough!
- Pressure Cook with Natural Pressure Release. Don't try to speed this recipe up by doing a quick release of pressure. You will be left with hot liquid spewing out of your vent knob! It is best to allow for at least 10-15 minutes to pass after the cooking time is complete before releasing pressure.
- Stir and Discard. Once pressure has been released, remove the lid. Give the sauce a stir to fully incorporate the ingredients together, removing the bay leaves and cloves of garlic as you come across them.
Serving Suggestions
Instant Pot Spaghetti sauce is obviously delicious served over spaghetti noodles topped with parmesan cheese (along with some homemade meatballs). Add a side of homemade garlic toast and a Copycat Olive Garden Salad, and you have a simple, yet amazing meal! Of course, feel free to use this sauce in any recipe calling for spaghetti sauce. Below are some of my favorites:
Recipe FAQs
As written, no, I don't recommend it. Lemon juice would need to be added before proceeding with pressure canning. Here are detailed instructions for pressure canning homemade tomato sauce.
If you scraped the bottom of the inner pot after sauteeing the onion and layered the ingredients as directed, this is unlikely to occur. But if you still get a burn notice, don't panic! Some models are super sensitive and will throw this notice, but then continue to cook and all turns out perfectly!
If you want to double this recipe, I would only do so in an 8 or 10-quart Instant Pot. You can cut the recipe in half using ONLY a 3-quart model. The cooking time will remain the same when doubling or halving the recipe.
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce
Video
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, minced
- ½ cup dry red wine, or additional vegetable broth
- 1-½ cups low-sodium vegetable broth, or beef stock/chicken stock
- 3 cloves garlic , peeled and crushed
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes, or tomato puree/passata *see note for using fresh tomatoes
- 12 ounces tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, or additional olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey, or granulated sugar
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot on using the saute function. Add 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and let briefly heat. Once heated, add in 1 small yellow onion and saute for 2-4 minutes, or until the onions begin to soften.
- Add the ½ cup dry red wine (or additional broth) to the instant pot. Scrape up any browned bits that may have formed on the bottom of the instant pot, allowing the wine to saute and reduce for 1 minute or so. Then hit cancel on the Instant Pot to turn off the sauce function.
- Add the 1-½ cups low-sodium vegetable broth, 2 teaspoons dried oregano, 1 tablespoon dried parsley, 2 dried bay leaves, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, 3 cloves garlic , and stir to combine.
- Add 28 ounces crushed tomatoes on top of the broth and dollop 12 ounces tomato paste and 1 tablespoon unsalted butter on top of the sauce. Drizzle the 1 tablespoon honey over the tomato and butter mixture. DO NOT STIR.
- Secure the lid on Instant Pot and make sure the vent knob is sealed. Cook on high pressure for 25 minutes by hitting manual/pressure cook and using the +/- buttons to adjust the time to 25 minutes.
- After the cooking time has elapsed, allow the pressure to release for at least 10 to 15 minutes before releasing pressure. Remove the bay leaf and cloves of garlic stir well, and use as desired or allow to cool before storing.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was the best I ever tasted. I didn’t have crushed can tomatoes, I put a can of diced tomatoes in the blender. It was perfect. It wasn’t thin. Could I bottle with this recipe for food storage?
Hi Connie! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe so much. As for canning, I don't have specific instructions. I do know that you need to add 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice or ½ teaspoon of citric acid per quart of tomatoes, to ensure safe acidity in tomato products.
This is AMAZING! I added a little salt and some extra dried herbs to suit our taste. We enjoyed this with homemade meatballs. Thank you so much!
Thank you Lauren! I am so glad you enjoyed.
Turned out so delicious and made a good volume of sauce.
I am so glad you enjoyed Hannah!
Hi! I don't have tomato paste on hand. Can I make this without?
Hi Meredith! Yes, you can certainly make this without the paste. The sauce may be a bit thinner and less rich...but it works. And right now we have to make do.
I also just realized I only have diced or stewed tomatoes. I also have an immersion blender...Which do you recommend and do I alter any measurements as a result?
Hi Meredith! You can use diced tomatoes to make stovetop tomato sauce and simmer with the lid off for the excess liquid to evaporate and flavors to deepen and then blend. As for making in the Instant Pot, I am not really sure how to advise changing things up without experimenting for flavor I would think stewed would taste better, but without experimenting, I am not sure how to advise changing up quantities.
I just made this tonight for my stuffed pasta. It was so thin. I added a slurry and it helped but I was disappointed at how thin it was. Maybe less broth next time? Let it reduce a little longer? Aside from that it was delicious. I used one regular can of tomatoes and and one fire roasted salsa style. I used Herbes de Provence in place of the other spices. If I had a straw, I would have eaten it just like that. Great recipe!
Hi Christina! I am glad you enjoyed the flavor so much! The reason your sauce was so thin was due to the fact that you used diced tomatoes--this recipe calls for crushed tomatoes (or tomato sauce) which is much thicker.
absolutely delicious and SO EASY!!!!!!!!!
I am so glad you enjoyed Jenny!
When I finished cooking the spaghetti sauce, and stirred the tomato paste into the sauce, what an absolute surprise. The sauce thickened into the perfect consistency and was absolutely delicious. I misplaced the recipe so I searched and searched until I found it again. This Italian lady recommends this sauce.
WAHOO!!! I love hearing that Ramona!