Toss all your ingredients into the Instant Pot to make this quick and easy spaghetti meat sauce. A weekend night dinner win, ready in 20 minutes! This recipe is Keto friendly, low carb, Paleo, and Whole30. Serve over zucchini noodles for a healthier version, or your favorite pasta! It’s so easy to freeze and enjoy later, or enjoy as meal prep.
Beloved spaghetti: hearty, delicious, healthy and always met with enthusiasm whenever I make it! Homemade spaghetti is also a bonus with it’s ability to stretch a few days with leftovers. But one of my absolute favorite parts of this recipe: 20 minutes in the Instant Pot!!!
As a nutritionist, I am consistently trying to create more ideas for easy and healthy Instant Pot recipes. These recipes are perfect for our hectic schedule, and allow me to be present doing my other mom duties! I love being able to throw together a handful of simple ingredients in the Instant Pot, walking away, and having dinner ready in no time.
This is exactly what we are doing with Instant Pot Spaghetti Meat Sauce. Let’s get started!
How to make Instant Pot Spaghetti Meat Sauce
If I am being a little biased, I have never in my life tasted a better spaghetti recipe. I am IN LOVE with my version! It’s the addition of both ground beef, sausage (can use turkey or chicken sausage), herbs, red wine vinegar, and San Marzano Tomatoes. That is what we need to make this amazing sauce. Here are the simple steps:
- Set the Instant Pot to saute, and add oil to coat the pot. Once hot, saute the onion, garlic, and ground beef and sausage. Using a wooden spoon, cook for 5-6 minutes, or until meat is no longer pink (or close to it). Select cancel.
- Pour in the vinegar and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to be sure nothing is sticking (this helps to prevent the burn function!) Side not here: IF your Instant Pot is particularly sensitive to the burn function, add in 1/4-1/2 cup of water.
- Stir in the San Marzano tomatoes, tomato paste, spices and salt. Secure the lid and cook on high pressure for 7 minutes. Walk away!
- Use a quick release and remove all steam before removing the lid.
I am really loving that the Instant Pot can make the process so much easier. I don’t have to wait for 2 hours of cooking, it’s honestly less than 20 minutes total!
Serving
So what to serve? My two favorites are spaghetti squash and acorn squash for their buttery nutty flavors. I also like over zucchini noodles in the summer. Plain pasta for the kids and everyone is happy! Optional toppings include fresh basil, crushed red pepper, and fresh parmesan.
For a complete meal, I also love to pair with my Easy House Salad, Roasted Lemon Garlic Broccoli, or Honey Roasted Brussels sprouts.
Is this recipe Paleo, Keto, and Whole30 compliant?
As written, this recipe is Paleo, Keto and Whole30 compliant. If you serve over zucchini noodles, it satisfies the requirements for all 3. If you serve over spaghetti squash or acorn squash, the recipe will not be Keto but still Paleo and Whole30.
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The BEST Instant Pot Spaghetti Meat Sauce
Toss all of your ingredients into the Instant Pot to make this quick and easy spaghetti meat sauce. A weeknight dinner win, ready in 20 minutes!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 medium sized white/yellow onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground sausage
- 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 28 oz cans San Marzano Tomatoes*
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 1 tsp sea salt + more to taste
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- Crushed red pepper optional
- Fresh basil to taste
- 1/4-1/2 cup water** (see note)
Instructions
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Set your instant pot to saute. Once hot, add oil. Coat the pot, then add both meats, onion, and garlic. Mix around until beef is almost cooked (a little pink is fine). Now select cancel.
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Pour vinegar over meat mixture. Using a wooden spoon, be sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to prevent any of the onion/garlic sticking. This will help prevent the burn signal! See the note below, as some IP's are sensitive to the burn signal and this sauce may require a bit of water.
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Now add tomatoes, paste, salt, and spices. Secure the lid. Select the manual function and cook on high pressure for 7 minutes.
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Use a quick release, and make sure steam is completely released before removing lid.
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Serve over noodles and squash. Add crushed red pepper, additional salt to taste, and garnish with fresh basil.
Recipe Notes
*San Marzano tomatoes are the highest quality canned tomatoes and make a difference in taste! I have a hard time using anything else as they taste so good.
**About 1/4 cup water may be needed for this recipe if you get the burn signal. Not all IP’s are the same, and some are more sensitive (the newer models). I don’t have a problem with mine showing the burn signal, but if you do, you may need to add in a bit of water and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.
What does the asterisk by the tomatoes mean? What type of tomatoes do you recommend? Diced? Whole? Maybe something that will hold up? I’m excited to try this!
Hi Krystal! It’s supposed to be Whole Tomatoes because they are better quality than diced. You can break them up after cooking. The asterisk was just there to say that San Marzano are preferred because they are the best quality! Hope you enjoy ????
I’ve had my Instant Pot for almost 2 years but never made spaghetti sauce because. I didn’t think it was possible! I was wrong! I followed your recipe as a guide adapting my own variations. I’m sorry I broke up the tomatoes (Muir Glen whole tomatoes) but overall the sauce came out delicious. Added kale & Swiss chard from my garden, white beans and Italian chicken sausage. Served over spaghetti squash and pasta- yum Thank you!!
I put in all the ingredients according to your recipe, but my instapot kept saying BURN and would never pressure cook. Did i do something wrong? I did cook beef from frozen in saute mode and I added some powdered garlic, but that was the only difference.
I honestly don’t know what could have gone wrong? It definitely should have come to pressure. I have had a few friends who sometimes have issues with their IP, but I’m not sure how to trouble shoot! My only guess would be the valve wasn’t set. So sorry! That IP can be the best thing, but also randomly be a pain to navigate.
Mine said burn too, when it came to temperature. I emptied it, totally cleaned it and put the sauce back in. When it came back up to temperature, it said burn again. I finished it on the stove.
Made this but deleted the sausage (family is not a fan of sausage) and let me say, it was DELICIOUS!!!!!!!! Served with linguini, has a great texture, light yet so flavorful. My family loved it. Thank you for a terrific recipe!
Yay!!
I believe I know why it said burn. I forgot to coat the pot with the oil, and just put the oil in the bottom, then added other ingredients. Mine too said burn, so I hit cancel, let out the steam, there wasn’t much since it has not been cooking long, and stirred the sauce real good. It cooled a little and then I put the cover back on, set the release valve again, and turned the pressure down to low, for 7 minutes. This time it didnt burn. And turned out delucious!
Glad to hear, Robin!!
This turned out AMAZING.
I didn’t have canned tomatoes, but had cans of spaghetti sauce on hand, so I substituted. Everything else was pretty much the same though
How would you recommend adjusting this recipe for a slow cooker
Soooo…..I would brown the meat in a regular pot with the onion. Than transfer everything to a slow cooker. Set for low 4-5 hours.
Just wanted to say that this recipe has become a weekly staple in my household! I don’t eat it since I’m vegetarian, but it’s the perfect simple yet delicious dinner for my meat-loving boyfriend. Every time I make it, he asks if we can have it every night, haha! Other than using regular spaghetti noodles and sometimes halving the portions, I follow this recipe exactly as written – no changes needed! This is seriously such a stellar recipe! Thank you SO MUCH for providing me with a quick and easy weeknight meal solution for those times when I’m too tired or busy but still want to make something yummy and fulfilling for my boyfriend 🙂
Hi Amy;
I cant find a nutritional label for this. I absolutely love this recipe! I’m trying to find the sodium content or potassium.. per serving. My father has only 1 kidney so reduced sodium is a must. Do you know what I can use for tomato’s for instance that would get close to that flavor?
Hi there! Just updated the recipe with the nutrition facts! They are listed at the bottom of the recipe card in the Notes section.
Fantastic! Everyone loved it from ages 2-50. Thank you for all your recipes. They are great!
Would this recipe work if I didn’t include the sausage and just used the Ground beef with all other ingredients to? Thanks!
Yes! Definitely
This is hands down the best I have ever had. My husband says it needs to be a weekly menu item. Those tomatoes were amazing. Make sure you only use the kind she has in the recipe. I did not have to add any water. It was perfect!
Love this recipe! I made it meatless with Yves Ground Round.
If I wanted to halve the recipe would that work and would all the cooking times/instructions be the same? Thank you!
I want to say that it should, BUT….. Sometimes that conversion is not easy because of the liquids. You will still need the same amount of water, so it will be more liquified. Also, this is a great recipe to freeze! So you may want to do the entire recipe and freeze half for another time.
Cooking this recipe in the instant pot right now for a friend recovering from surgery and very excited! Found the whole canned San Mariano tomatoes too!! I didn’t use sausage but did manage to toss some meatballs in there in which I just smashed up! I’m hoping for good results!
Okay!!!! So good!!! So fresh tasting!!
Got the burn alert about 7 times, then when it was finished cooking there was still so much water. Wouldn’t recommend. There are better meat sauce recipes and they take longer
Usually cook spaghetti sauce for hours and it works out great. Pressure cooking would speed that up but how do you thicken sauce in a pressure cooker/ instapot?
Delicious base sauce! I use this to start & sometimes customize with different veggies, like red bell pepper & mushrooms. I also add different and more seasonings, it needs more than what’s in recipe.i have also made this recipe as is & its delicious, just needed to increase the seasoning measurements. You can use different meat too. Turkey..chicken. it’s easy to make and makes a lot. I always have 3 meals worth of sauce, and it freezes like a dream. Glad I found this one!
So happy to hear that!!
Good taste, but the cook time didn’t seem long enough to create a nice tender meat sauce. Turned it back on for another 7 mins, and that helped to create that slow cooked, all day authentic sauce we crave. Thanks for a great recipe otherwise.
Our new favorite sauce!! Easy to make and sooooooo delicious. Thank you for sharing.
clay says: i am 65 years old and i have cooked a lot of spaghetti sauce. This beats them all. I only made 2 additions , 1 stick of blue bonnet and about a tablespoon of sugar. thank you very much ,this goes in the book.
I am 65 years old and I have cooked a lot of spaghetti sauce. This beats them all. I only made 2 additions , 1 stick of blue bonnet and about a tablespoon of sugar. thank you very much ,this goes in the book.
Best ever sauce. I’ve been cooking spaghetti sauce for 50+ years and by far this takes 1st place.