Instant Pot Pasta Sauce
I must toot my own horn and say this pasta sauce is so worth making at home, way better than any bottled/canned sauce!
Now that you know how to use the sauté mode on your Instant Pot, this should be so quick! I like making this sauce in larger quantities and freezing it every now and then so I have a quick, hearty and very healthy pasta sauce on hand for even the laziest of days. Let me also add, that even if you don’t have the Instant Pot, you can easily make this same sauce stove top (I used to do). Follow the same steps and instead of pressure cooking the tomatoes let them cook at a slow temperature until they liquify.
This mixed veggie, tomato based sauce packs in a handful of veggies and cooks in one pot so you don’t have to worry about washing multiple pots and pans. The best part is, in addition to making the sauce in one pot, you can also make the whole meal in the same pot. Throw in the pasta using the pot in pot method (on top of the sauce) or add it to the sauce once it’s cooked and you have yourself a meal. To clarify, I cook the pasta separately because I like to blend the tomatoes after they cook and become mushy. I also throw in additional veggies after I am done blending, so they stay al dente.
If you don’t care to have any other veggies in your sauce and want to make it a plain, chunky tomato sauce, you can throw in the pasta to cook with the tomatoes. It all depends on how you like your pasta.
Give it a try and let me know your Insta-pasta-sauce turns out!
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1-2 serrano pepper diced or sliced
- 3 - 4 garlic cloves
- 12 tomatoes quartered
- 2 carrots roughly chopped
- 1/2 bell pepper roughly chopped
- 1 zucchini roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup of water
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- herbs to taste
- 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup of cottage cheese or other preferred cheese (parmesan, ricotta, mozzarella)
- Use the SAUTE mode on LOW to saute onions, serrano pepper and garlic.
- Remove sautéed ingredients from pot and set aside. (I remove this because I take out a non-spicy portion for the kids, you can leave the saute in pot if you don't need to make a separate portion).
- Add all chopped ingredients and water to the pot
- Close pot, make sure the valve on the lid is pushed toward the back to the SEALING position
- Select MANUAL mode, pressure should be HIGH and reduce cooking time to 20 minutes
- Let the pot naturally release pressure and then open
- Use an immersion blender (or a regular blender if you don't have one but that makes 2 "pots" dirty, alternatively you can mash it with a fork or potato masher for a chunkier sauce)
- Add in cheeses, mix and allow them to melt
- **remove any non spicy portions for a kid/others now**
- Select the SAUTE mode on LOW and let the sauce thicken and simmer for 12 minutes
- Add in sauteed ingredients which were set aside
- Add any other spices at this time
- Add in any other raw veggies
- You can add in an additional 1/2 serrano pepper during the last saute/simmer
- After making this recipe once, you may chose to omit the 1/4th cup of water based on how well the sauce cooks in your pot. If the pot is burning on the bottom the water may be necessary. If your sauce is watery, you can omit it. Each pot heats and cooks slightly differently so you will have to experiment with this
- You can add the uncooked pasta in the last saute/simmer and it will cook right into the pot, just be sure to remove any extra sauce from the pot if you will be using a smaller portion of sauce.