Instant Pot Spaghetti Bolognese

Instant Pot Spaghetti Bolognese recipe is a delicious spaghetti with a rich meat sauce with vegetables. This thick, flavorful meat and tomato sauce with spaghetti is a favorite family recipe for a busy weeknight. This is a true one-pot meal and such a great Instant Pot dinner idea. Have a wonderful Spaghetti Bolognese in under an hour.

 
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Instant Pot Bolognese

If you have never cooked pasta in your Instant Pot electric pressure cooker, you are missing out on a one-pot method of pressure cooking that makes getting dinner on the table easier and faster.

What is Bolognese?

• Bolognese sauce is a classic Italian meat sauce (named for Bologna, Italy) with a rich flavor, made with ground meat such as beef or pork. It is a meat-centric sauce, but usually contains a small amount of tomatoes/tomato paste.
• Traditionally it is slow cooked with a soffrito (Italian mirepoix) of onions, carrots, and celery, wine, tomato paste, among other ingredients, and finished with cream or milk.
• Normally, traditional Bolognese sauce is made as just the sauce, then the sauce is used for lasagna, and other pasta dishes.

For this InstaPot Bolognese recipe we are combining the Bolognese sauce with the pasta and broth to create an Instant Pot Pasta Bolognese. A true one-pot meal because the sauce cooks at the same time as the spaghetti noodles.

If you are looking for more delicious Instant Pot recipes, click here.

What Meat is Used to Make Bolognese?

• Classic bolognese sauce is made with ground Italian sausage or beef. I have seen it made with multiple meats as well.
• You can use any ground meat you like, such as ground turkey or chicken (but not breast meat as it is too dry).
• Turkey sausage is very good as it adds a nice sausage flavor. And a ground Italian ground sausage is also very good.

Ingredients Needed for Instant Pot Bolognese

See the recipe card at the bottom of this article for exact measurements.

• Olive Oil
• Ground Pork - (or lean Ground Beef or ground turkey)
• Yellow Onion, Carrot, Celery - (called a soffrito).
• Minced Garlic - Fresh is best, but use jarred or garlic powder, if that's all you have.
• White Wine - or Red Wine or Sherry (or just use more broth).
• Salt and Black Pepper
• Italian Seasoning
• Beef Broth - Or use Chicken Broth.
• Spaghetti Pasta - Uncooked, or other pasta shape (use 12-ounces).
• Crushed Tomatoes - with juice. A 28-ounce can. Or use a jar of spaghetti sauce or marinara sauce.
• Tomato Paste - Adds a richness and depth of flavor that is important to this recipe.
• Heavy Cream - To finish off the Bolognese sauce. Adds creaminess and richness.

How to Make Bolognese in the Instant Pot

This is a delicious easy recipe that is total comfort food! See the recipe card for the full instructions.

• Gather all of the ingredients together and prep them before you start cooking.

Sauté

• Turn Instant Pot on to the sauté setting. Once the pot is hot, add the olive oil, then add the ground pork. Brown the meat, breaking it up as you stir it.
• Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic and continue to sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Pour in the white wine to deglaze the pot (using a wooden spoon to scrape up all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pot).
• Add the salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning, and beef broth. Stir well. Cancel the Sauté setting.
• Break the uncooked spaghetti noodles in half and add on top of the meat mixture in a random pattern (See photo).

Add Pasta and Tomatoes

• Next, add the crushed tomatoes over the top of the noodles, covering them as much as possible, and Do Not Stir.
• Add the tomato paste on top of the tomatoes and again, Do Not Stir (this prevents the Burn Error).
• Close the lid and turn the steam release valve to the Sealing position, if not self-sealing.

Pressure Cook

• Press the Pressure Cook/Manual button or dial, then the +/- button or dial to select 7 minutes cook time (8 minutes for softer noodles). High Pressure. The pot will take several minutes to come to pressure.
• When the cook cycle has finished, turn the steam release pressure valve to the Venting position to Quick Release the steam/pressure. When the pin in the lid drops back down, open the lid. Stir well to separate any noodles that may have stuck together.
• Stir in the heavy cream and let sit for 3 minutes.
• Serve as-is or garnish with grated parmesan cheese.

Which Instant Pot is Best to Buy?

There are so many models and brands out there now, it can be confusing. I'll make it simple for you.
• All you need is an Instapot that can brown food and also pressure cook it. All of the other buttons and settings are variations, or presets, of those two functions. You don't need anything complicated to make these recipes.
• I trust the original brand of Instant Pot®. The best model, in my expert opinion, is this one, the Instant Pot DUO 7-in-1. It has all you need, and easy to use.



• Accessories are very nice to have, but you don't need to go nuts. Here I explain and link to my most used: Instant Pot Gift Guide

What Do I Serve Bolognese Sauce On?

If you were to make just a Bolognese sauce recipe, then serve over your favorite pasta, spaghetti squash, mashed potatoes, gnocchi, zucchini noodles, or cauliflower rice.

What to Serve with Spaghetti Bolognese?

You can serve this Instant Pot Spaghetti Bolognese with garlic bread or rolls, and a green salad or steamed vegetables.

Leftover Instant Pot Spaghetti Bolognese Storage

Store leftover spaghetti Bolognese in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.

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If you make this easy Instant Pot Spaghetti Bolognese please let me know! Leave a comment with a star rating below.