There’s nothing like an Italian red sauce for a comforting, filling meal. This Instant Pot meat sauce is a snap to make and excellent served over pasta, polenta, or in lasagna.
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My mom makes the best meat sauce. The best. It’s one of those meals that I just can’t quite replicate perfectly. Or at least I always feel like it’s not quite right. My sons, on the other hand, will tell you that mine is as good as Grammy’s — maybe even better. (Mom’s is always best, right??)
This red sauce is an adaptation for the Instant Pot, for those of us who need to get dinner on the table in a hurry without stirring a pot on the stove for hours.
An easy meat sauce that comes together in under an hour in an Instant Pot, but tastes like it’s been simmering all day? It’s a winner.
Notes on this Instant Pot meat sauce recipe
This recipe calls for Italian sausage and ground beef. If you prefer a different kind of ground meat, that’s perfectly fine. Ground chicken or ground turkey will make a little bit lighter red sauce. (I just wish they’d stop using Styrofoam to package it!)
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The red pepper adds a bit of sweetness to the sauce, the pepper flakes, a bit of spice. The red wine gives the sauce a richer flavor, but if you prefer to leave it out, the meat sauce will still emerge from the Instant Pot tasting great.
This recipe calls for canned tomatoes. If you’re a home canner, feel free to substitute your homemade version in equal amounts. Not everybody has tackled home canning yet, though, and I wanted this easy meat sauce recipe to be easy enough for everyone to make. You can also use fresh Roma tomatoes; use about eight cups of chopped Romas to replace the canned tomato products.
If you do not have an Instant Pot, no worries. Simply follow the instructions, but use a large stock pot instead. For a really flavorful sauce, cook over medium-low heat for two-to-three hours, stirring often to prevent sticking.
Meal Ideas
Of course this sauce is delicious on pasta. But with half of the people in my household avoiding wheat, we don’t eat it that way very often. Most of us have come to prefer eating it scooped over a hot bowl of polenta or cooked spaghetti squash. It’s a must in homemade lasagna, and it’s a tasty topping for baked potatoes.
★ Did you make this Instant Pot meat sauce? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below! ★
Instant Pot Meat Sauce
This rich and flavorful meat sauce is easy in the Instant Pot. Serve it over pasta, polenta, or just alongside a loaf of crusty French bread for dipping!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground Italian Sausage, mild
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1/2 red pepper, chopped
- 2 cups tomato sauce, 15 ½ ounce can
- 1 3/4 cups diced tomatoes, 14 ounce can
- 3 3/4 cups tomato puree, 29 ounce can
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 cup red wine, optional
Instructions
- Turn the pressure cooker on to saute mode. Add in the ground beef, sausage and onion. Brown meat and drain any excess grease.
- Add remaining ingredients and close the lid on the pressure cooker. Turn the pressure valve to sealing.
- Set for a manual high-pressure time of 12 minutes, allowing for a quick pressure release at the end of the cooking time.
Notes
Serves 12
If you prefer a different kind of ground meat, that’s perfectly fine. Ground chicken or ground turkey will make a little bit lighter red sauce.
This recipe calls for canned tomatoes. If you’re a home canner, feel free to substitute your homemade version in equal amounts.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 388Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 10gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 81mgSodium: 943mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 3gSugar: 7gProtein: 20g
Also, if I don’t have any wine and only 2 lbs of ground meat would I adjust the other liquid amounts?
Changing a recipe will definitely change the end result, but try to keep the amount of liquid the same.
If I only have crushed tomato cans and diced cans, would I just substitute equal parts or would it come out different?
Try to keep the tomato quantities the same.
I am excited to try this recipe. Do I understand this right? If I use 8 cups of cut up roma tomatoes I do not need the canned sauce, puree, and diced tomatoes? Need to cut some of the sodium down. Thank you.
I think that would work!
Taste great. I doubled the recipe, added a chopped jalepeno and garlic. Looking forward to making lasagna with it.
This truly needs some minced garlic!
Sugar or honey, even carrots would cut the acid vs. chopped red peppers which are too pricey!
What I love about cooking is that we can all modify recipes to our own liking!
I’ve made this over and over and can’t believe I haven’t left a comment. Thanks for posting this recipe! It’s now our families favorite meat sauce!
Oh, I’m so glad! Thanks for telling me. 🙂
I freeze whole tomatoes and use them for sauces. Would I still need 8 cups for the sauce?
Yes, I’d use equal amounts of fresh tomatoes to the various tomato products.
Made this tonight for dinner and it was a real hit. I work full time and just started using an instant pot for the first time. I loved how straight forward and quick this recipe was to make. The ingredients were simple but the sauce is full of flavor. We will be making this one again if we ever finish eating all of this batch. It makes a lot! Which is perfect if you want to put some up.
Glad to hear it!
This sounds like a goooood recipe except cooking beef, sausage, and onions and then draining the “oil”.
Where do all the seasonings from the sausage and the juice from the onions go. DOWN THE DRAIN!!!!!!!!!!
It depends some on how fatty the meat is. If it’s swimming in grease, I’ll drain. If it’s just a small or moderate amount, feel free to not drain.