Instant Pot Bolognese
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
Now you can make the most EPIC bolognese sauce in just 1 hr rather than 3-4 hrs! So rich, hearty, and chockfull of meat and veggies!
There’s honestly nothing better than this.
A giant bowl of pasta smothered in the meatiest, heartiest bolognese sauce ever, sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan and paired with a glass of red wine.
Nope, nothing better, especially in this cold Chicago fall season we’re having right now.
And that vat of bolognese? Yes, I’ll take that in one bath, please.
That vat is conveniently the Instant Pot, which helps cook the bolognese in just 1 hour. I know. No more 3-4 hour bolognese sauces. The pressure cooker makes this too easy and fast, and it infuses the flavors even more, making this my all-time favorite bolognese sauce.
It’s also enough for 8 servings so it’s perfect for company or for leftovers because let’s be honest – it’s too cold to go out to eat right now!
Instant Pot Bolognese
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 celery rib, diced
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ½ pound ground pork
- 4 ounces pancetta, diced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ cups dry red wine
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- ½ cup beef stock
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Set a 6-qt Instant Pot® to the high saute setting. Melt butter; add onion, carrot and celery, and cook, stirring often, until onions have become translucent, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add ground beef, pork, pancetta, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and cook until browned, about 5-10 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef and pork as it cooks; drain excess fat.
- Stir in tomato paste, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, nutmeg and cinnamon until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in wine, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot, and cook until reduced, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in crushed tomatoes and beef stock. Select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 20 minutes. When finished cooking, quick-release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions.
- Select low sauté setting; simmer, uncovered, stirring often, until thickened to desired consistency, about 5-10 minutes. Stir in heavy cream and parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
It was good but a pinch of sugar makes it sweeter and just what it needs. Hard to judge because it depends on the tomatoes. I used Centos. Maybe I should have invested in San M?
Absolutely the best bolognese recipe!! I get rave reviews whenever I make this for family and friends, and it’s so easy to do! It tastes like it’s been simmering for hours. My favourite meal!
I got a Burn notification when it started pressure cooking. I have time, so I’m slow cooking the rest of the time.
I should have read all the comments. Added more broth and no more burn notice
I liked it. I didn’t think the cinnamon needed to be in there. But, it was great.
Today is the third time I’ve made this. Having to make 2 batches to feed several people. Apparently word got out about how good it is
What a great recipe and a wonderful sauce. I do ramp up the crushed red pepper a bit for a little kick.
Delicious but got burn notice, even after doing the sauté in a Dutch oven. Just too thick for instant pot but easily solved by adding 3/4 cup of water. I didn’t want to put the tomato paste on top as some suggested, because I think it needs a bit of a sauté to reduce acidity. The water was the trick.
I wouldrate this a 10 needs more stars! My husband who is meat and potates guy said he would eat pasta every night if it had this sauce. hanksa for a great recipe.
This was super tasty, will become a family staple! Do you know if the 6qt Instant Pot will fit double the recipe? Would love to cook some and freeze half for another time!
the answer is not really…I did it once but now do two separate batches. Sorry 🙁 Just goes over the top line.
I’ve made this so many times for my family and as comfort food for others. 10/10 it’s so good and absolutely a go to.
Just curious if anyone has used this for lasagna? Just looking for feedback.
I have! It’s awesome. I didn’t do low fat meat bc I don’t like it. Otherwise, made it as written and didn’t need to do anything different when I put it in lasagna.
This was beautiful. I really enjoyed the flavour. Will definitely make again.
I made this in my Crockpot Express Multicooker. Yummy and very easy!!
Thanks
Very good Bolognese sauce, I added basil and a pinch of sugar. Can’t imagine sauce without either added. Just set the tomato paste on top before cooking and it incorporated nicely into the sauce without a burn notice. I pressure cooked this the night before and I served it with fettuccine and freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese.
I love 3 hour Bolognese. Don’t have 3 hours most of the time. This was an awesome recipe for a week night. Add more liquid to avoid burn notice, just boil it off between adding cream. Very tasty! My vote is cool the pasta al dente, don’t trust pressure.
I made this last week and it was incredible! I subbed the protein for a pound of mild Italian sausage and 1/2 pound of regular bacon. I also made homemade fettuccine and stirred that in at the very end. The depth of flavor was amazing. I absolutely loved this sauce!
Don’t stir in the tomatoe paste per step 3 as if can cause the “burn” message (as do burned bits stuck to the pan from the sauté). This is true for any thick tomato, cream-based sauce, or starch-thickened roux. Instead, after everything has been sauteed and combined (except the tomato paste), and just before you’re ready to secure the lid and start pressure cooking, dump the tomato paste on top of the contents and just let it sit there. Secure the lid, start the pressure, and the tomato paste will be incorporated as the sauce cooks. I learned this handy tip from other IP recipes that use tomatoe paste and it works like a charm. Also, this bolognese is delicious — I will be making it again!
I got the burn notice three times tonight. Eventually just ate it without pressure cooking (still good, but not damn delicious). Wish I’d read your review first!! Thank you; I’ll try it next time.
you need to cook off tomato paste to avoid the acidic taste that will be created. cook it on a lower heat and use wine to deglaze the browned bits at the bottom of the pan, thats the flavour bomb
Hello,
My son asked me to make spaghetti Bolognese one night and I really didn’t feel like cooking for hours.
Your recipe solved my problem especially with the instant pot.
I didn’t have all the ingredients you listed so I just used ground beef without the pork and pancetta. It still tasted delicious.
It definitely hit the spot for my teenage son.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with the instant pot. We are a fan of instant pot and use it at least once a week so your recipes are a hit in our household.
This was absolutely delicious! Our favorite instant pot meal yet!
We got a burn notice before fully pressurized and were able to scrape around the bottom and try again. We used an 8 qt so maybe next time we just need more liquid (found that suggestion in another comment)? Fortunately we only got the one notice and then it was smooth sailing.
Other than that it was absolutely perfect! 10/10 will make again!
This is truly incredible!! I made it tonight and was drooling from the smell as it all came together. The taste was mouth watering and I will definitely be making it again!
Delicious! I think next time I’ll use a yellow instead of sweet onion. I also used diced tomatoes because the store i was at didn’t have crushed tomatoes.
This recipe looks great and I am going to try it tomorrow. Wondering if after I make the sauce can I put spaghetti right on top and pressure cook it? Thanks!
I love this recipe… I make slight alterations based on what I have laying around for proteins but this turns out awesome every time!
I’ve made this several times and LOVE it, it’s been a staple in our kitchen.
My partner decided to put the ground beef in the freezer this morning. Can I use frozen ground beef for this??
This is great and easy. Start cooking 1.75 hours before company arrives and change your clothing from what you cooked in before they get there. I have made this recipe twice. I give it 4 stars for my first make and 5 stars for my second make. On my second make, what gave it the extra edge was that I used San Marzano canned tomatoes and sprinkled crushed Merlot Bellavitano on top before I served. Ricotta on top is also delicious!
Followed the recipe exactly! Fabulous!!!!!
This was so good. I followed the recipe to a T except for one thing. After reading the burn notice comments, I really wanted this to turn out so I cooked it slowly on top of the stove. Hubs liked it and said it was good.
I forgot to give it a five star rating.
I have made this several times and it is wonderful every time. I freeze leftovers and then can have a quick meal another night!
This came out absolutely delish. I sauteed the veges and meat in another pan and drained the oil afterwards. I only used ground beef and 4 slices of pre-cooked bacon in place of the pancetta. I reduced the wine in that pan as well. I have found that if you do not “mix” tomato sauce, gravy or other thickening agent or sauce with sugars that can burn but layer. I placed the beef/vege mixture in first after rubbing the pot with olive oil. The the wine and water ( I use Better then Boullion) 1/2 tsp not mixed. Carefully poured the crushed tomatoes on top then the tomato paste, do not mix in. Once the time is up I stirred together and proceeded as directed. I served Rigatoni that was finished with the sauce in a saucepan to soak up all of the flavors. Topped with parm cheese. Very, very good.
Loved this dish! I’ve been looking for a good bolognese recipe and this one is fantastic!
I couldn’t give it all 5 because of this burn thing going on. I don’t think it has anything to do with the saute step — I don’t do that in the instant pot. (Its not that hard to clean a non-stick pan and you have so much better control of the saute on the stove.) It gave me a burn notice and shut down. I added a bit more liquid and it worked the second time with only a minor scorch on the bottom. (When the burn notice happens I pick up the whole instant pot and give it some swirls to mix it. I wish someone would come up with an instant pot that also had internal stirring.)
To be a bit pedantic … why do things burn? My list: 1) Too much heat in one place (the bottom) and not enough convection/stirring; 2) too little liquid to build up the steam pressure quickly; 3) ingredients that easily burn.
So what in this recipe burns easily?
The sauce is pretty thick even before cooking. That reduces the heat convection. Natural sugars in the tomato easily burn. And maybe I didn’t add enough fat, which may reduce burnability… but I’m guessing here.
I mixed the whole thing up pretty well before cooking. Burning might be reduced if there was a less thick, more watery layer on the bottom. That is hard to do. Maybe a fine screen standup insert would work though . I’m thinking trying to get a quarter inch of watery stuff on the bottom and the real stuff above it.
I did adjust the recipe for some dietary constraints (FODMAP-friendly). Garlic-infused olive oil instead of garlic; no onion (wah!); extra celery and a red pepper to make up for the onion. Heavy on the spices and herbs to make up for the onion. I also skipped the ground pork and pancetta and just increased the burger (this was a cook-from-the-pantry night). Threw in some chopped bacon and sautéed shitake mushrooms (fodmap friendly mushrooms).
Also 20 minutes wasn’t quite long enough to fully cook the carrots I diced … I suppose a smaller dice would have worked better (< 1/4 in). But a little crunch on the carrot isn't so bad.
Love the recipe- new family favourite! It would be really great if you could include nutritional information as well.
Great recipe. Making it for tomorrow even though it’s supposedly late spring! I have never gotten the burn notice with the ip. When I was learning how to use it, the best tips I got were don’t put anything in, even oil or butter, until it says hot. And then always completely deglaze after the browning or saute step.
This recipe is amazing!! It tastes as good as the Bolognese that cooks all day! We love your insta pot recipes. They have so much flavor and are sos great for those times you don’t have all day to prepare!!
Sauce was delicious. For all you “BURN” notice reviewees… I have given up sauteeing in my IP because I am tired of getting this error message AND I don’t like having to reach down into the vertical IP liner to brown the meat and veggies. Call me old fashioned and crazy, but I saute in a frying pan on my stovetop to avoid the IP drama. Yes, I have an extra pan to clean out but it’s worth not having the aggravation of bringing the IP to pressure multiple times.
Damn Delicious!!! For those getting the “burn notice” on their instapot put a little bit of olive oil in with your butter to raise the heating temp on the butter. It should do the trick Now excuse me while I go pig out with my family on this delicious creation!!
Thanks
Instant pot and instant preparation of meals. I liked it.
The flavor turned out well, but I had a hell of a time cooking this. I kept getting the “Food Burn” error when I tried to bring my IP to pressure. After the third attempt (and adding a bit more broth + water), I ended up sauteing this on low heat for 15-20 minutes until I was happy with the consistency and cooked off the additional liquid I added. Did anyone else have this issue? If so, what did you do to combat it?
Quick and easy. Generous portion size too. Better the next day. Might add some additional tomatoe paste and seasoning to bump it up a notch. Will definitely try it again.
This was so easy, and so delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
I tried this recipe tonight but when I put the pot on high pressure, I got the burn message before it reached full pressure and I had to stop, stir and finish on low pressure to avoid a burned dinner. Any ideas on how to avoid the burn message in the future? I followed all steps and ingredients exactly as in the recipe up to that point.
I also got “burn” message while cooking this. I turned it off and scraped the bottom of the pot and added some more canned tomatoes with its juice. Turned it back on on Low pressure, but still got the burn message again.
I also got the burn message. I usually brown my meat and so the rest in the crock pot. Thought I could speed it up tonight. No dice.
Same thing happened to me. Got the burn notice before it came to pressure. I have the 8 qt. model. Maybe I needed more liquid/broth. After getting the burn indication, I scooped out the sauce (without touching the bottom of the inner pot) into another saucepan and finished cooking on the stovetop on low heat for just a few minutes more.
Despite this hiccup, the sauce tasted amazing!!!! The whole family, including kids, loved it!
Proclaimed “the best sauce I’ve ever tasted” when I made it last night. Fantastic!
This was absolutely delicious and easy to make! my whole family enjoyed it and it was perfect for a cold winter night. So comforting! I will definitely make this again!
This was absolutely delicious! My kids asked for seconds and wanted leftovers in their lunch 🙂 Definitely a keeper and easy for a weeknight meal.
This was amazing!! I’m huge on spaghetti and I make my own sauce, but I wanted to switch it up a little. This did the trick. This was dinner and leftovers for 2 people, and we still had some left over that we used as a sauce base for homemade pizza. It made the best pizza sauce as well! Thanks for this recipe, I cant share it enough.
This. Recipe. Was. SO. Good. So, so, so good. I used bacon instead of pancetta and free handed the seasonings. It was perfect.
Is there a substitute you would recommend for the heavy cream to make this dairy-free? Could I just omit it? Thanks!
You can omit or use a non-dairy creamer. I sometimes substitute coconut milk when a recipe calls for heavy cream, but you have to like the taste. But as always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications. Good luck! 🙂
As always, damn delicious did not disappoint! Other than having a heavy hand on the seasonings, I didn’t change a thing. Thanks for another great recipe!
This was so incredibly good! My husband loves spaghetti and he said this is the best ever! It makes a lot for two people – although we didn’t mind eating it for three meals in a row! Have you tried freezing the sauce? I would like to make it again and freeze the leftovers for a couple more meals.
Absolutely! You can freeze in covered airtight containers or heavy-duty freezer bags prior to adding the heavy cream. 🙂
If I want to make the sauce ahead of time to use the next day would I also omit the milk? Or can I add milk, let mixture cool and then refrigerate? Thinking of using this sauce for a lasagna.
Loved this! I added extra crushed red pepper because I love spicy sauce. I also didn’t have any pancetta so I subbed with bacon.
But I don’t think this recipe needed any modifications at all!! Spot on. Highly recommend.
Thanks for this great recipe! Fast, easy, & tasty! I followed to a T at first then I tasted the seasoning before adding the heavy cream. I felt it needed a bit more seasoning, prob just my taste buds needed more, so I added about 1/2 of the oregano, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes you originally called for with a splash of red wine, Super tasty! The kids had seconds and enough for left overs! Thanks it’s a keeper!
Thanks so much for your feedback, Christina!
Marked it as 5 since it sounds delicious and that’s a required field…I’m just starting to use my instant pot. This may sound like a silly question, but any suggestions for how to drain off the fat? I’m used to browning meat in my skillet and using a lid to hold the meat back while draining and my instant pot doesn’t have a lid. Thanks in advance!
Beth, you can use paper towels directly in the Instant Pot (my preferred method) or you can carefully lift the insert using pot holders/towels to drain the grease. Totally up to you! 🙂
I made this today! Absolutely fabulous! I do not have an insta pot so I simmered it on my cooktop for two hours and then added the cream at the end with the parsley and s & p to taste. Delish!
Hi, do you think it would work to make meatballs with the meat instead? Thanks!
I made this last night for dinner, on the stovetop, it turned out delicious. For all those asking if it can be made that way, yes, I let it simmer for about an hour and it was a rich sauce. Just follow the exact same directions for sautéing/browning and let it simmer with a lid over it slightly ajar so that some steam can escape.
My vote for time savers of this kind. Always !
Hi..cannot wait to try this! Is it possible to use whole milk instead of cream for calories?
Yes, but please be mindful that the consistency will vary a bit with this substitution.
Recipe looks terrific! I do not have an insta pot. How long do you recommend simmering on the cooktop? Thanks!
Hi this looks great and I can’t wait to make and eat it! But if I want to make 4 servings instead of 8 should I just half the ingredients but stick to the same cooking times as instructed? Any alternative I can use instead of wine?
You can substitute beef stock for the wine.
As for halving the recipe, yes, cooking time may have to be adjusted as needed. But as always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
I noticed you didn’t cook the noodles with this. What type do you recommend?
You can use your desired pasta/noodle. We used fettuccine in this. 🙂
Thank you, I have crushed tomatoes Italian style instead of plain is that okay?
Sure! 🙂
Do you think this would fit in a 4qt instant pot?
It should be okay but space may be a little tight? As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications. Good luck!
Can you make this stovetop style? Thank you!
This sounds……MAGNIFIQUE!!! However, I don’t own an Instant Pot and was wondering if you have a version that can be adapted for cooking on the stove?