If you've got an Instant Pot and a craving for a hearty meal, making Bolognese sauce is a breeze. This classic Italian meat sauce is packed with flavor and can be easily whipped up in your Instant Pot in no time. Get ready to enjoy a delicious and satisfying meal with minimal effort - your taste buds will thank you!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Easier to make than the traditional recipe
- A hands-off meal perfect for busy nights
- Minimal prep time and done in just 1 hour
- Gluten-free if served with gluten-free pasta
What is Bolognese Sauce
Bolognese sauce is a hearty, meat-based sauce that originally stems from Italy.
It can be made with a variety of ground meats and usually combines classic flavors like onion, celery, and cloves of garlic with a hint of tomatoes before being simmered down until thick.
Parmesan or a splash of heavy cream is then added to make it creamy, rich, and irresistible.
What You Need to Make It
- Butter and olive oil: you can use both or just one of them. Whichever is on hand, but a combination gives the very best flavor.
- Yellow onion gives a more traditional flavor but shallots and red onion work well too.
- Ground beef is best, but you can also do a fifty-fifty split with ground pork.
- Beef stock: I use a cube and water, but pre-made beef broth is fine - even better if it's homemade. Use the same beef stock as the amount of water listed.
- Choose ripe and juicy tomatoes and remove the stem for the best experience. Better overripe than underripe. Crushed tomatoes are fine too.
- Parmesan cheese: any Italian hard cheese will work in Instant Pot bolognese, Grana Padano is a good (cheaper) substitution.
- For a unique flavor swap the water for white wine, though dry red wine works too.
Sauté First
- On the sauté setting, cook the onion, garlic, and carrots in the butter until soft.
- Add in the tomato paste and mix well.
- Stir in the ground beef and cook until browned, scraping the brown bits off the bottom of the pot.
- Add the stock cube to the instant pot along with the water. Mix until dissolved.
Set It and Forget It
- Add in the tomatoes and dried herbs.
- Change the setting to cook at high pressure and let the bolognese sauce cook.
- Release the pressure, then add in the parmesan cheese.
- Mix well and season the instant pot bolognese with salt and pepper to taste before serving.
Tips & tricks
- Make it gluten-free by choosing gluten-free spaghetti or tagliatelle noodles. Quinoa ones work best.
- Cook the tomato paste to maximize the depth of flavor in the Instant Pot Bolognese sauce.
- Allow the beef to brown and break it into chunks as you stir it for the best flavor.
- Save time by using a pressure cooker but know the meat sauce can be made on a stove top as well.
- Stove top cooking: follow the instructions but instead of pressure cooking, simmer the sauce (covered) for at least one hour.
- Pasta options: Classic spaghetti noodles are shown here, but Instant Pot bolognese can also be served over spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles for less carbs.
- Release pressure naturally for at least 10 minutes, for the best flavor
How to serve it
Serve the Instant Pot Bolognese over your favorite pasta noodles. Then garnish it with:
- Freshly grated parmesean
- A sprinkle of salt
- Chopped parsley
- Freshly cracked black pepper
This dish is quick enough to make on busy weeknights but classic enough to serve as a Sunday night dinner with a simple arugula salad to start and passion fruit gino for dessert.
Know that this sauce can also be repurposed as the filling for Sloppy Joes, the base of a lasagna (add a few bay leaves) or in stuffed pasta shells.
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