Name: Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon avocado oil (or canola oil); 1 pound ground beef; 1 pound Italian sausage; 1 medium onion (chopped); 4 cloves garlic (minced); 1 small green bell pepper (diced); 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (San Marzano preferred); 1 16-ounce can tomato sauce; 1 6-ounce can tomato paste; 1 bay leaf; 2 teaspoons dried oregano; 2 teaspoons dried basil; 1 teaspoon salt (more or less to taste); ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper (more or less to taste); ¼ cup grated fresh parmesan; spaghetti noodles (or preferred noodles, cooked simultaneously until al dente); additional grated parmesan

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The most delicious spaghetti sauce that tastes like it’s been simmering for hours… but made quick and easy in the Instant Pot! Made with a mixture of ground beef and sausage for the perfectly savory, flavorful taste, the whole family will love this spaghetti sauce. Freezes beautifully, too.

Overhead view of spaghetti noodles coated in rich, red Instant Pot spaghetti sauce in a large white pasta bowl on a table with tomatoes and silverware.

What Makes This Recipe So Good

If you’ve ever had spaghetti sauce that’s simmered on the stove for hours, you know just how rich and deep and incredible those flavors are. No matter how good that sauce is, though, you don’t always have hours to wait on spaghetti sauce to cook. The Instant Pot solves the problem, giving you a sauce that tastes like it’s been on the stove all day, but that actually came together in about 30 minutes.
Instant Pot spaghetti sauce is a great option for stocking your freezer! If stored properly, it’ll keep up to 4 months. Just let the sauce cool completely, then transfer it to airtight glass jars, freezer-safe sealable plastic bags, or freezer-safe airtight containers. If you store it in bags, press out as much air as possible, seal the bag completely, and lay the bag flat in the freezer until the sauce is frozen. After that you can stand it up how you need to and save a ton of space.

Chef’s Tips

Do you typically keep your pasta and pasta sauce separate until everything’s plated? Try this instead. Cook the pasta at the same time as you cook the sauce. Try to time it so the pasta is just slightly underdone when the sauce is done cooking. Take the cooked pasta out of the water without draining it and drop it straight into the Instant Pot with your spaghetti sauce. Toss the pasta in the sauce and then let them cook together for a minute or two. The pasta will absorb some of the sauce as it finishes cooking, giving you a richer, more flavorful spaghetti with an amazing texture.
If your sauce is thinner than you prefer, add in a little of the water you used to cook the pasta. The pasta starch left behind in that water will help thicken your sauce, plus it’ll make the sauce creamier.
You can make a meatless version of this Instant Pot spaghetti sauce SUPER easily. Just leave out the ground beef and Italian sausage! Sauté the onion and green bell pepper in avocado oil in the Instant Pot, then continue with the recipe as written. No need to adjust the cook time.