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Dinner doesn’t get much better than this quick and healthy Instant Pot spaghetti meat sauce! A hearty homemade sauce in just 20 minutes! The perfect weeknight dinner win!! Toss it with your favorite pasta, zucchini noodles, or spaghetti squash and you’ve got a meal everyone will love.
Spaghetti is always a classic in our house: comforting, hearty, and met with excitement every single time I make it! I love that this recipe not only gives me a delicious dinner, but also stretches into leftovers for another night. And the best part? The Instant Pot takes away the need for hours of simmering, while still giving you that rich homemade flavor. Just set it, walk away, and come back to a dinner that tastes like it cooked all day!!
As a nutritionist, I’m always creating Instant Pot recipes that are healthy, easy, and family-friendly. I know how busy life gets, and the last thing you need is another complicated dinner. This recipe is exactly what I turn to when I want something wholesome on the table without hovering over the stove.
How to make Instant Pot Spaghetti Meat Sauce
Start with sautéing. Turn your Instant Pot to the sauté function and heat a little oil. Add in chopped onion, garlic, ground beef, and sausage. Cook for about 5–6 minutes, stirring often, until the meat is browned and nearly cooked through. Then press cancel.
Deglaze the pot. Pour in red wine vinegar (or broth if you prefer) and scrape the bottom of the pot well with a wooden spoon. This step prevents anything from sticking and keeps the Instant Pot from giving you a burn notice. If your pot tends to be extra sensitive, you can also splash in a bit of water here.
Build the sauce. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and a mix of dried herbs with salt. Everything comes together so quickly and already smells incredible at this stage!
Pressure cook. Secure the lid, set your Instant Pot to high pressure, and cook for 7 minutes. Walk away and let the magic happen.
Finish and serve. Release the steam quickly, open the lid, and stir. Your rich, hearty spaghetti sauce is ready to ladle over pasta, zucchini noodles, or spaghetti squash — all in less than 20 minutes!!
Variations
- Swap the sausage for turkey, chicken, or Italian pork sausage.
- If the tomatoes taste a little too acidic, stir in a small pinch of sugar.
- Use chicken or beef broth instead of vinegar for a slightly different flavor.
Serving Suggestions
This sauce is perfect with traditional spaghetti, but I also love pairing it with spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles for a lighter twist. Add fresh basil, parmesan cheese, or crushed red pepper flakes to finish it off.
Looking for sides? Try my Asparagus and Spinach Salad, or Roasted Brussels Sprouts Salad. And of course, garlic bread is always a must!!
Storing + Meal Prep
This sauce makes fantastic leftovers. Keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 4 months. Just thaw overnight and reheat on the stovetop for an easy, stress-free dinner anytime.
The BEST Instant Pot Spaghetti Meat Sauce
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
- 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.
- 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.
- Now add tomatoes, paste, salt, and spices. Secure the lid. Select the manual function and cook on high pressure for 7 minutes.
- Use a quick release, and make sure steam is completely released before removing lid.
- Serve over noodles and squash. Add crushed red pepper, additional salt to taste, and garnish with fresh basil.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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.
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!!
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?
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
Okay!!!! So good!!! So fresh tasting!!
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!
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.
Love this recipe! I made it meatless with Yves Ground Round.
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!
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