Instant Pot Meat Sauce

This Instant Pot meat sauce turns a sauce that usually needs hours on the stove into forty minutes, start to finish, without losing that deep, long simmered flavor. It’s thick, meaty, and holds its shape on a fork instead of running thin like a lot of quick sauces do. I’ve made this one enough times to know exactly where people get a burn warning, and this version is written so you won’t.

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The Sauce That Buys Me a Free Weeknight

I make a double batch of this meat sauce probably twice a month, mostly because Thomas asks for spaghetti more than any other dinner in this house, and I’d rather spend twenty minutes on a Sunday than forty minutes on a Tuesday. I freeze half in flat bags so it thaws fast, and having it ready in the freezer has saved more weeknights than I can count.

For a long time, this recipe gave people trouble with the Instant Pot’s burn warning, and I heard about it in the comments. It turns out the fix has nothing to do with the ingredients and everything to do with one step people rush through: scraping the bottom of the pot completely clean before the lid goes on. I’ve rewritten the instructions below to make that step impossible to skip.

If I’m feeding a bigger group, I’ll double the meat and serve it two ways, spooned over pasta for the kids and ladled over Roasted Spaghetti Squash for the adults who want something lighter. And if you ever want the slow, stovetop version of this same sauce for a lazy Sunday, that’s my original Homemade Meat Sauce recipe.

Key Ingredients:

All ingredients and their amounts are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Ground Beef and Pancetta: I use grass-fed ground beef as the base, but the pancetta is what makes this taste like it simmered all day instead of forty minutes. It renders a little fat into the sauce that plain ground beef alone doesn’t give you.

Pro Tip: if your store doesn’t carry pancetta, bacon or a smoked sausage works. I’ve tested both, and bacon gives a slightly smokier sauce while smoked sausage adds more spice than depth. I’ve also made this with ground pork in place of half the beef, which makes it a little richer, and with ground turkey, which is lighter but noticeably less rich since it doesn’t have the same fat to carry the sauce.

Crushed Tomatoes and Tomato Sauce: I use both, not just one, because crushed tomatoes alone can make the sauce a little loose and tomato sauce alone can make it taste flat. Together they give you the thick, cling to the pasta texture this recipe is known for. If you’d rather build your own base from scratch, my Basic Tomato Sauce works here too, just skip the canned tomato sauce and use an equal amount.

Beef Stock: This is the ingredient people skip when they’re in a hurry, and it’s also the reason for the burn warning. A small amount of liquid at the bottom of the pot before pressure cooking is what keeps the Instant Pot from reading the thick tomato paste on the bottom as scorched.

Carrots and Celery: These two, along with the onion, build what’s technically a soffritto, the vegetable base that gives Italian sauces their body. I dice mine small on purpose. Big chunks of carrot in a meat sauce always feel out of place to me.

How to Make Instant Pot Meat Sauce

Before you start, dice your vegetables small and have your beef stock measured out. The vegetable size matters less for flavor and more for texture, since they’ll cook down into the sauce rather than staying as visible pieces.

1. Sauté the vegetables. Set your Instant Pot to Sauté on high. Add the olive oil, onion, carrot, and celery, and cook until the onion turns translucent, about 4 to 5 minutes. This step softens the vegetables enough that they melt into the sauce instead of staying crunchy under pressure.

2. Brown the meat. Add the pancetta and cook for 2 minutes, then add the ground beef. Break it up with a wooden spoon as it browns, about 7 to 10 minutes, then drain off the excess fat. Draining matters here, extra grease left in the pot is one of the things that can trigger a false burn warning later.

3. Bloom the seasonings. Stir in the garlic, tomato paste, and dried seasonings until everything is coated and fragrant, about a minute. Cooking the tomato paste briefly before adding liquid deepens its flavor instead of leaving it tasting raw in the finished sauce.

4. Deglaze completely, then build the sauce. Pour in the beef stock and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon until it’s completely clean, no browned bits left anywhere. This is the single most important step in this recipe. Any stuck bits under the sauce are what the Instant Pot’s sensor reads as burning. Once the bottom is clear, stir in the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and bay leaves, but don’t over stir once they’re in. A thick layer of tomato sitting still on the bottom is fine. Scorched bits underneath it are not.

5. Pressure cook. Lock the lid, set the valve to sealing, and cook on Manual or Pressure Cook at high pressure for 20 minutes. It typically takes about 15 minutes to come to pressure. When the timer ends, do a quick release by moving the valve to venting.

6. Finish and thicken. Switch to low Sauté and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce reaches the thickness you want. This last step is optional if you’re short on time, but it’s what takes the sauce from good to the thick, cling to your fork texture I aim for.

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Instant Pot Meat Sauce

3.54 from 103 votes

Author: Olivia Ribas

ServingsServings: 8 People

Prep TimePrep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Custom Time0 minutes minutes

Cook TimeCook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total TimeTotal Time: 40 minutes minutes

This Instant Pot meat sauce is thick, hearty, and flavorful. Make this pasta sauce recipe tonight for a quick and easy family favorite meal.

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Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
• ▢ ½ cup white onion diced
• ▢ 1 cup carrot diced
• ▢ ½ cup celery diced
• ▢ ½ cup pancetta diced
• ▢ 2 pounds grass-fed ground beef
• ▢ ½ tablespoon clove garlic — minced
• ▢ 1 ½ tablespoon tomato paste
• ▢ 1 teaspoon dried basil
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons Italian Seasoning
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ black pepper to taste
• ▢ ½ cup beef stock
• ▢ 28 oz 1 can crushed tomatoes
• ▢ 2 cups any tomato sauce you prefer
• ▢ 2 bay leaves
• ▢ 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Instructions 

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

 

• Set a 6-qt Instant Pot® to the high saute setting. Add olive oil, onion, carrot and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions in the pot are translucent, about 4-5 minutes.
  
• Add pancetta and cook for 2 minutes or so. Add ground beef and cook it until it’s browned about 7-10 minutes. Don’t forget to use a wooden spoon to break the meat up into small pieces in the pot; drain excess fat.
  
• Stir in garlic, tomato paste, dried basil, Italian seasoning, salt and black pepper.
  
• Stir in beef stock, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce and bay leaves.
  
• Put on the lid, lock it and check to see if the vent is at sealing. Then, select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 20 minutes. Mine took about 15 minutes to reach pressure. After the 20 minutes is up, do a Quick Release, which means move the valve to venting to release the steam.
• Select low sauté setting and simmer the sauce uncovered for about 5 minutes. Don’t forget to stir often. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and serve immediately.
  

Notes

Stove Instructions: 

In a large pot, olive oil, onion, carrot and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions in the pot are translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add pancetta and cook for 2 minutes or so. Add ground beef and cook it until it’s browned about 7-10 minutes. Stir in garlic, tomato paste, dried basil, Italian seasoning, salt and black pepper. Stir in beef stock, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce and bay leaves. Simmer partially uncovered for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Enjoy!

To store: You can tightly wrap the meat sauce, once cooled, and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days.

To reheat: Reheat in the oven until warmed through. You can also reheat it in the microwave.

To freeze: Tightly wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/8, Calories: 231kcal, Carbohydrates: 10g, Protein: 24g, Fat: 10g, Cholesterol: 65mg, Sodium: 399mg, Potassium: 484mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 5g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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