This Easy Instant Pot Bolognese comes together in about 30 minutes – it’s a delicious, freezer-friendly sauce that pairs perfectly with pasta!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Extra-lean ground beef – swap out for ground turkey for an even leaner dish or ground tofu for a vegan option.
- Yellow onion – white or red onion would also be good.
- Celery stalks – swap out for bell peppers or leave this out entirely.
- Carrot – see substitution notes above.
- Garlic – I prefer freshly minced garlic but jarred minced garlic will also work.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
- Red wine – I’d recommend a dry red wine. You can use white wine instead, but it will change the flavor. If you don’t want to add in any alcohol, use water or beef broth instead.
- Jar marinara sauce – any pasta sauce will do, or even just tomato paste or a can of crushed tomatoes. If you’re using tomato paste, be sure to mix it with water first to give it more of a marinara consistency.
- Spaghetti – swap out for another pasta noodle like penne, rigatoni or pappardelle. Use tagliatelle noodles for an authentic dish like they make it in Italy!
- Parsley – leave this off if you don’t have any on hand.
- Parmesan – nutritional yeast is a great dairy-free substitute for parmesan.
How to make Bolognese in the Instant Pot
Step 1: Prep your ingredients.
Cook the pasta in boiling water until al dente, and chop up all the veggies.
Step 2: Sauté the ground beef.
Turn the pressure cooker to sauté mode then brown the ground beef in the pot.
Step 3: Add the veggies.
Add the onions, celery and carrot, and sauté until tender. Stir in the garlic, salt, pepper and red wine, bring to a boil and simmer until the wine has reduced.
Step 4: Pour in the sauce.
Pour in the jar of marinara sauce – DO NOT STIR!
Step 5: Cook on high pressure.
Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes, then do a quick release of the pressure.
Step 6: Serve and enjoy!
Serve the meat sauce over the cooked pasta, garnishing with parsley and parmesan if desired.
Variations of this recipe
There are a few different ways you can customize this bolognese Instant Pot recipe:
- Meat: Swap out the ground beef for ground turkey, ground pork, pancetta or Italian sausage removed from the casings.
- Pasta: Use any kind of noodles of your choice like tagliatelle, rigatoni, penne and more.
- Vegetarian: To make this sauce vegetarian, use ground tofu or your favourite meatless substitute in place of the ground beef. You could also leave out the protein and add more veggies like mushrooms and bell peppers.
- Gluten-free: Swap out the pasta for your favourite gluten-free pasta or serve the sauce over zucchini noodles.
- Alcohol-free: Substitute the red wine for an equal amount of water.
- Dairy-free: Leave off the parmesan or swap it out for nutritional yeast.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you keep spaghetti sauce from burning in the Instant Pot?
To make sure your sauce doesn’t burn in the Instant Pot and to avoid that dreaded burn notice, do not stir the jar of marinara sauce in with the rest of the ingredients. Simply pour it over top of the rest of the ingredients, then add the lid on and cook on high pressure. You should also make sure to scrape up any brown bits with a wooden spoon when you’re done sautéing the veggies, and before you add in the liquid.
Can you use another kind of meat?
You can swap out the ground beef for another meat of your choice like ground turkey, ground pork or Italian sausage removed from its casings. For a vegetarian option, try using ground tofu or your favourite meatless substitute.
What do you serve with bolognese?
Like a lot of my Instant Pot recipes, this Bolognese pasta good to serve on its own. However, if you’re looking to round out the dish, an arugula salad or some warm bread rolls would make great sides.
Can you make this recipe ahead of time?
If you’re making this dish for a party or potluck, you can make the sauce up to 5 days in advance. When you’re ready to serve, bring the sauce to a simmer in a pot on the stovetop or reheat it in the microwave, then serve over freshly cooked pasta noodles.
Storing and reheating
You’ll want to store the pasta and sauce separately. Once cool, transfer the Bolognese sauce to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
Reheat the sauce on the stovetop over medium-low heat until it begins to bubble, stirring as you go. You can also reheat it in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring halfway through. A trick to keep the sauce tasting fresh is to add some water to the bowl before you microwave it or run water over a paper towel, squeeze out the excess water and drape it over the bowl before microwaving.
Can you freeze Bolognese sauce?
Yes! Freeze the Bolognese sauce in a glass container or Ziploc bag for up to 3 months. To reheat, defrost the sauce in the fridge overnight then reheat as normal and serve with fresh pasta.
More Instant Pot pasta recipes
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls for the leftovers.
- I love getting my 100% grass-fed beef from Butcher Box, delivered frozen for your convenience!
- Freeze this recipe in glass microwave-safe bowls for up to 3 months.
Easy Instant Pot Bolognese {30 Minutes}
Ingredients
- 1 lb extra-lean ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1 (680mL) jar marinara sauce
- 1 lb spaghetti
- Parsley, for garnish
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese, for garnish
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to saute mode and wait for it to heat up. Once hot, add ground beef, sauteeing for 2-3 minutes until browned. Add in onions, celery and carrots, sauteeing another 5 minutes until veggies are tender.
- Stir in garlic, salt & pepper and red wine, bringing to a boil and simmering another 3-4 minutes untlil wine has reduced.
- Pour in the jar of marinara sauce – DO NOT STIR. Place lid on Instant Pot and make sure valve is set to seal. Press the pressure cook button and set to high, then pressure cook for 5 minutes.
- The Instant Pot will take about 5-10 minutes to come to pressure, then notify you it's done by beeping. Press the Cancel button then do a quick release of the pressure on the Instant Pot by flicking the switch at the top with a spoon. Open the lid when pressure gauge has dropped and the lid opens easily.
- Meanwhile, cook pasta in a pot of boiling water on the stove for 10 minutes and drain.
- Serve sauce overtop of pasta and garnish with parsley and parmesan cheese. Serve and enjoy!
