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Spaghetti night just got easier with this Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce. Making this sauce is quick, tasty and perfect for a last minute meal.
What kid doesn’t like pasta?! Spaghetti night is a huge hit in my house and I’m sure many of yours. This sauce is super easy. Throw everything in and set the Instant Pot to 10 minutes and you’re in business. If you want to add meat or other vegetables you can and it would taste wonderful too.
This homemade Instant Pot spaghetti sauce would taste delicious served over any pasta or spaghetti squash. It’d taste great drizzled over chicken parmesan too, or as the sauce for comfort-food-level cabbage rolls.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- This recipe is almost as easy as cracking open a store bought jar but this tastes so much better.
- Throw a bunch of pantry ingredients into the pot, set to pressure cook, and then walk away!
- Make dinner in a snap with only a 10 minute cook time!
Recipe Ingredients
- Tomato sauce
- Diced tomatoes – You can switch this out for your favorite type of canned diced tomatoes, or use about 5-6 fresh diced tomatoes as well.
- Tomato paste
- Soy sauce: Worcestershire sauce can be substituted here.
- Italian seasoning
- Dried basil
- Garlic powder: If you prefer to mince a few garlic cloves yourself to add into the instant pot, feel free!
- Onion powder: Instead of onion powder, try chopping up an onion, cooking it on sauté mode in the instant pot, and adding the rest of the sauce ingredients afterwards.
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities
How to Make Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce
Step #1. Add all ingredients into the pot of your electric pressure cooker and stir well.
Step #2. Lock and seal the pressure cooker (Instant Pot), then cook on high for 10 minutes.
Step #3. Sprinkle the sauce with your fresh parsley is desired and add salt and pepper to taste.
Step #4. Serve your hot, freshly made sauce with your favorite pasta.
Recipe FAQs
The “Burn” error message is the worst to get. That usually means there is not enough liquid in the Instant Pot and the ingredients are burning at the bottom. Make sure that you mix everything well before cooking, it will help there to be less chunks to sink to the bottom.
You can use fresh or canned tomatoes. Using fresh will talk a little but longer because you will need to quarter them first.
You can definitely add your favorite meat to this spaghetti sauce. For ground meat like beef, sausage, turkey, or chicken, saute the meat with some butter until cooked through in the instant pot before making the rest of the sauce as directed. If you want to add something like frozen meatballs that have already been cooked, include them with the sauce ingredients and add a few minutes to the cooking time.
I also recommend adding other vegetables that you might like to include. This recipe is mainly the base for a sauce, but adding things like onion, peppers, squash, carrots, mushrooms or garlic will make it more memorable and delicious. I recommend sautéing the vegetables in the pot on the sauté setting until they are softened, but not quite fork tender.
It usually takes between 10-15 minutes for the Instant Pot to reach desired pressure. You will know when the correct pressure is reached because the pressure valve will pop up and the pot will beep one time.
Expert Tips
- Whisk the tomato paste thoroughly into the sauce to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot, which could trigger a burn notice.
- For a richer sauce, consider adding a splash of red wine or a tablespoon of sugar to balance the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Brown ground beef, sausage, turkey, or any fresh vegetables you would like before adding the other ingredients to make a heartier sauce.
- While dried herbs work well, finishing with fresh basil or parsley will elevate the flavor and add freshness.
How to Serve and Store Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce
Serve this sauce over your favorite pasta shape or my Homemade Noodles. Pair with homemade chicken, turkey, Italian, or porcupine meatballs or a side of garlic bread for a hearty, comforting meal. For a lighter option, serve the sauce over spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles.
Place any leftovers into an airtight container and set them in the refrigerator. These will keep for about 4-5 days. However, the best thing about this sauce is that it freezes well. You can freeze this sauce for 3-4 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and then reheat on the stovetop.
More Pasta Recipes to Consider
Recipe Collections
Zucchini Recipes
Chicken Recipes
Garlic Parmesan Chicken and Pasta (One Pot!)
Pasta Dishes
Easy Slow Cooker Vegetable Lasagna
Pasta Dishes
Pumpkin Alfredo
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Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 3 tablespoons fresh minced parsley, optional
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, soy sauce, Italian seasoning, dried basil, garlic powder, and onion powder into the pot of your electric pressure cooker. Stir everything together well.
- Lock and seal the pressure cooker (Instant Pot), then cook on high for 10 minutes. Release pressure using either the quick release or slow release.
- Sprinkle the sauce with your fresh parsley is desired and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve your hot, freshly made sauce with your favorite pasta.
Notes
- Make sure to whisk in all of the tomato paste. If it’s not mixed in well enough, you may be left with bits burning on the bottom during the cooking process and you might get a “burn” notice.
- This is a great base recipe so feel free to make it your own! You can add ground meat and a large assortment of other vegetables this this dish with great success.
- Just be sure to brown them on sauté mode before adding other sauce ingredients
- While dried herbs work well, finishing with fresh basil or parsley will elevate the flavor and add freshness.
Excellent! Easy too