Rich and hearty, this Bolognese Sauce recipe made in the Instant Pot brings the flavors of an all-day simmer to your table in less than half the time. Serve Bolognese over pasta, or layer with Béchamel in lasagna.
Being of half Italian heritage, I’ve been making (and eating) Bolognese sauce for as long as I can remember. Whether it’s a classic, meaty recipe, or a lighter mushroom variation, Bolognese is a stick-to-your-ribs type of sauce that warms and comforts.
To be honest, I can be picky about dishes like Bolognese, and I was skeptical about making it in the Instant Pot.
I wondered if I’d be able to come anywhere near close to the flavor (or aroma) that you get when you simmer a sauce slowly on the stove.
With a few tweaks to my family’s recipe, the sauce that emerged from the Instant Pot pleasantly surprised me. While I know that Bolognese sauce made with pressure cooking won’t always replace a slow simmer in my kitchen, the Instant Pot sauce was rich and full-flavored, and ready in a fraction of the time.
Delicious Bolognese sauce in about an hour and a half? Don’t mind if I do!
What is Bolognese Sauce?
Bolognese (or Ragu alla Bolognese) is, traditionally, a slow-cooked meat sauce. Its origins are believed to be traced to the area of Bologna, Italy in the 1700s.
I couch that statement with “believed,” because Bolognese sauce, its history, and what belongs in an “authentic” recipe are all topics that have been subject to debate and interpretation.
Interesting Read: Why You Won’t Find Spaghetti Bolognese in Italy
While individual ingredients vary across Bolognese recipes, the common thread between them is that the meat is the star of the show. Ragu Bolognese is not a thin, delicate sauce. It’s hearty, meaty, and only moderately “saucy”.
What are the Ingredients for a Bolognese Sauce?
Bolognese is most often made with minced and sautéed ground beef, pork, and pancetta (cured, unsmoked pork belly). Some recipes add veal, and less commonly, offal.
Most Bolognese recipes, including my family’s, start with a soffritto of carrots, celery, and onions (with or without garlic), cooked in olive oil.
Many go light on the tomatoes, some only calling for a bit of tomato paste added to the browned meat. We’ve always made our Bolognese sauce with our favorite San Marzano tomatoes.
A touch of dairy is added to almost all Bolognese, either by way of milk or cream. To be clear, though, this is not a creamy, dairy-heavy sauce. The splash of dairy serves to soften the acidity of the wine and tomatoes.
Adapting Our Bolognese Sauce Recipe For the Instant Pot
The most obvious difference in preparation of classic stovetop Ragu Bolognese and one made in the Instant Pot is a drastically shortened cook time.
After sautéing the soffritto and meats, classic Bolognese is simmered for 3-4 hours. Using the pressure cooker setting on the Instant Pot after the sauté, the sauce cooks for only 20 minutes on high pressure. This shortened cook time also necessitates a smaller overall quantity of liquid in the recipe.
In adapting my family’s Bolognese sauce recipe for pressure cooking, I made a few ingredient adjustments to make sure that the sauce would still have a rich flavor without a slow simmer.
White wine is most commonly used to deglaze the pan after browning the vegetables and meats. Here, I decided to go with a dry red wine to give the sauce an extra depth of flavor that pressure cooked foods can sometimes lack.
I also added a bit of tomato paste in addition to the San Marzano tomatoes. I don’t find that I need the rich flavor of tomato paste with a classic preparation, as the crushed tomatoes concentrate so beautifully on their own over 3 hours.
To make the best bolognese recipe in the Instant pot, the deep tomato flavor of the paste helped to give the sauce that all-day-cooked taste.
How to Use Bolognese Sauce
Since it’s a hearty sauce, Bolognese is best served with a pasta that can stand up to its weight. Tagliatelle (pictured) is the classic pairing, as are wide pappardelle noodles.
I’ve also served Ragu Bolognese with penne, campanelle, bucatini, and gnocchi. Very thin pastas, like angel hair, aren’t the best choice here.
Want to brush up on your pasta shapes? Check out this Pasta Shapes Dictionary from the National Pasta Association.
You can also use this sauce to make an incredible Lasagna Bolognese. Typically prepared without ricotta cheese, the dish is composed of layers of pasta, Bolognese, and creamy Béchamel. It is, hands down, my favorite type of lasagna.
Watching your carbs? This Bolognese sauce recipe is also delicious served with spaghetti squash.
Bolognese Sauce Recipe (Instant Pot)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1-1/2 cups diced yellow onion
- 1/2 cup diced carrots
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1 pound ground beef chuck
- 1/2 pound ground pork
- 4 ounces diced pancetta
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 28 ounces crushed San Marzano tomatoes , in purée
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup Italian parsley , divided
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- pinch ground nutmeg (to taste, optional)
- kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper
- cooked tagliatelle, pappardelle, or your favorite pasta , for serving
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in the Instant Pot insert on the hottest sauté setting. Add onions, carrots, and celery, and cook until softened and lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes.
- Add ground beef, pork, and pancetta to the Instant Pot with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper. Sauté, breaking up meats with a spoon, until browned and most of the juices have evaporated.
- Add garlic and tomato paste to the Instant Pot, and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant. Deglaze the insert with red wine, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, until most of the wine has evaporated.
- Stir in crushed tomatoes in purée, water, and 1/4 cup chopped parsley. Bring to a simmer. Place lid on Instant pot, seal, and set the unit to HIGH pressure for 20 minutes.
- Quick release pressure and carefully lift lid when the float drops. Switch the Instant Pot to the lowest heat sauté setting and bring to a bubble. Simmer, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce is thickened to your desired consistency.
- Stir in heavy cream, remaining 1/4 cup chopped parsley, and ground nutmeg (if using). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Toss with cooked pasta, adding a splash of pasta water to help the sauce coat, and serve with freshly-grated Parmigiano Reggiano on the top.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
About our recipes
Please note that our recipes have been developed using the US Customary measurement system and have not been tested for high altitude/elevation cooking and baking.
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So good!! I didn’t have any burn issues but I kept the tomatoes and half of the tomato paste on top during pressure cooking. I added the nutmeg and also added a bit of sugar and a bay leaf while cooking. Oh, and I added a sprinkle of my Penny’s roasted garlic because I feel like the Instant Pot always mutes the garlic. I love how easy this is to make in the Instant Pot, and it’s REALLY delicious! This is a keeper!!
Spectacular!
I was just visiting my son at college and this was one of the recipes one of his roommates requested. It turned out so good that I came home and I’m making it tonight for dinner for my family. I was craving it. I am trying it with nutmeg tonight as I did not have it at my son’s house yesterday
really good, very deeply layered flavors. 10/10, great recipe. I highly recommend adding the optional nutmeg
I see the 1/2 cup of water in the ingredients list but not in the instructions. Did I miss it somewhere? Maybe there’s why I got a burn message?
Hi Grace, the water is listed in Step 4, right after crushed tomatoes. If there was not enough liquid in the pot, this can certainly attribute to a burn error.
This was so delicious! I’m a bit of a hopeless cook sometimes and my husband’s an ex-chef so I can rarely impress, but this was definitely a crowd pleaser. I used what I had so subbed the wine for beef stock, skipped pancetta, and threw in a chopped punnet of cherry tomatoes that were past their prime. I will definitely save and try the proper recipe next time, I’m sure it takes it to another level. Thank you!
I went to Rome this summer and fell in love with the bolognese I had there. I’ve been trying to recreate it almost every Sunday since I returned. This is the closest I’ve ever gotten! My search is over! I used red wine (cab/zin) for the wine and subbed beef broth for the water. I also added a couple bay leaves and whole cloves. Thank you for this recipe!
Haven’t made it yet, but I have a question before I start. I am going thru my pantry and I don’t have any San Maranzo tomatoes BUT I have several jars of Passatta. Before starting the car and going out in the cold, what do you think about Passatta sauce. So thick, not runny. Thank you
PS, Good answer on Milly, 👍
Hi Jindabyne,
I haven’t tested this particular recipe with passata in the Instant Pot. My concern would be that the thickness could throw a burn warning and would need a little extra water. Unfortunately, I can’t advise how much since I haven’t tested it. I’m sorry this answer isn’t more helpful!
I found a tin of tomatoes!!! I pureed it and did everything else. I put in a tsp of unsweetened cocoa, nut meg and a weee bit of cinnamon and honey. Like you said and others, every chef does a bit of tweaking.
I added a tsp of cream cheese too. This recipe is outstanding and doing it in the instant pot is such a time saver. Thank you
Stay safe and well.
I made this last night and as my wife put it “This tastes as good as something you’d get at a Gordon Ramsay restaurant!” Whether that’s true or not is definitely debatable LOL but the whole family loved it.
Who cares what you call, it’s delicious. Thanks so much for it.
Thank you so much for posting this recipe. My last several attempts at cooking have not gone as expected, so it was wonderful to have one that worked as well as this. The only substitution we made was instead of wine, we filled the tomato can about halfway with warm water and added some chicken bouillon. Whisked together, scraping the leftover tomato from the inside of the can and pour into the instant pot to deglaze the bottom. Also, rather than dicing all the veggies in the mirepoix, we just chunked them in the food processor until they were pretty well diced down to very small pieces.
I was looking for an instant pot recipe for Bolognese sauce and luckily found yours! I had recently enjoyed a lamb bolognese sauce in a favorite restaurant. Since I had leftover lamb roast in the freezer I thought I would try my hand. Your recipe worked perfectly. The only change I made was to increase the cooking time on high to 40 minutes so that the meat would fall apart. Delicious!!
Thanks for sharing!
Woot, this was totally what I was looking for! Your instructions and ingredients were the recipe for success. (lol) WOW! So easy, and so, so good!
I had Italian sausage and meatloaf mix in my freezer, so I cut the sausage out of the casing and followed your recipe for all the rest. I didn’t need pancetta. Had lots of flavors going on in the meats I had on hand. Timing and instructions were perfect.
Just a quick tip, if you’re willing to bring out another piece of equipment. I was making a large batch so it was worth it for me: I put big chunks of carrot, onion and celery into the cuisinart and dumped it all chopped into the IP. Easy peasy!
I skipped the cream, but I’d bet that kicks it up a notch. Yeah, I nearly doubled the recipe so that I could freeze a few quarts of sauce for lazy winter night meals. Thank you!
So glad that I didn’t take any notice of Milly. Amanda’s recipe was great, although I didn’t follow it exactly. My question had been, “Could I use my pressure cooker for Bolognese?” Needing obviously, to save some money on my gas bill. The simple answer was, yes. I have just eaten my meal and it was delicious. Thank you so much.
This was absolutely fantastic. I didn’t even have pork so I used just ground beef and I used bacon instead of Prosciutto. I didn’t have the time to get to the store. It was so wonderful. Thank you for this recipe.
Hi Amanda,
I am from Australia and I only just got my first Instant pot. Your recipe is my very first as well (after boiling water) LOL. I truly liked your version as I am usually a stovetop only cook for Bolognese. Unfortunately, I did not have cream but used sour cream instead and loved it. Thanks for the recipe.
I’ve made this dish multiple times since I got my InstaPot, as listed (besides substituting the pasta for a GF & eggless pasta) and it is a crowd pleaser. My super picky, cautious about new foods allergy kid fell in love with this on his first taste. I’ve made this just so I can freeze portions for him to eat later.
Awesome (bolognese) sauce!
This should be a hell of a good recipe with all those excellent ratings and comments. I just do not understand… adding cream (and wine/parsley) to a real, true Italian Bolognese…
I just never ate, heard, read, seen that before…Apart of in US ‘based’ recipies. For me (lived in the Meditarean and 20km of Italy), a Bolognese is a grounded meat/tomatoes/carrots (optional celery) sauce simmered with lots of mediterian fresh herbs like romarin, thyme and basel (added at the end of cooking) with oignons and garlic. Definitely NO parsley or cream. A very pure, healthy, natural, diary free, Meditarian sauce. I cannot recall red wine or cream in it. Your sauce will probably be off a very good taste, but it is not a true Bolognese…
Milly,
Thanks so much for your commentary.
I don’t recall stating that this is a recipe for authentic Ragù alla Bolognese in my article. First and foremost, authentic bolognese sauce is not cooked in an electric pressure cooker. It requires an hours long simmering process, giving the sauce a texture and depth of flavor that is, frankly, difficult to replicate. I think I was pretty clear in the article that I made specific ingredient changes to my Italian family’s traditional recipe (red wine, splash of cream, hint of herbs) in an attempt to bring that depth of flavor to the pressure cooker version.
Secondly, the recipe that the Italian Academy of Cuisine registered with the Bologna Chamber of Commerce in the early 1980’s as the genuine preparation of Bolognese sauce contains, in part, a soffritto, white wine, milk, and no herbs whatsoever. As stated in my article, and as you’ve demonstrated by your own commentary, recipes undergo variations by cook. Personally, I am not acquainted with the herb-rich variation you’ve described, which is not a “true” Bolognese either.
Lastly, regardless of where you live, there is no reason to cast aspersions on those readers who have made and enjoyed this recipe. This is obviously not the version of Bolognese sauce you’re looking for, and we wish you the best in your recipe search.
Dear Amanda,
I was randomly searching the internet because I want to make a quicker version of bolognese for a small dinner party tomorrow, and I fully admit to my addition to my multi cooker. I have read so many recipes, trying to figure out which one would be best. I will be making this recipe tomorrow–full stop. That is one of the most brilliant dressings-down that I have read on the internet, and I now think that I’m slightly in love with you. Amazing work. Truly. (And the recipe does look really delicious).
Love this response. I can’t stand people that try to gatekeep recipes and complain that everything is not “authentic”. Cooking is an art form and everybody has their own style. I’m looking forward to making this tomorrow night.
This was really, surprisingly good. We took our time with making really small dice for the soffrito since the cook time was so reduced, and it was worth the extra attention even for someone whose knife skills are pretty basic. The flavor and texture was excellent (we used dried pappardelle pasta to go with) and I’m glad there were enough leftovers for lunches throughout the week. Thank you for the recipe!
1. LOVE this recipe!
2. Love that you put someone whose only intention was to be condescending FIRMLY in their place!
Love it all!!!
First off thanks for this recipe. Your well thought out and researched response to “not a real” bolognese was on point. I have eaten Bolognese at restaurants around the world. They all vary a little. That’s what chefs do to set their restaurant apart!
I must say that this recipient is up there on my lists of favorites. Partly because it’s soo damn tasty but also because it enabled me to wow some dinner guests when I didn’t have the time to put in the actual work it usually takes to make a sauce like this. Seriously only 20 mins of shopping, 20 mins of chopping, 10 minutes of stirring and the rest was done by the instapot. I just finished a huge plate of leftovers and thought to myself “ this is dangerously delicious”.