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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Excellent. I’m not a fan of the IP saute function so I did steps 1-3 on the stove top. I followed the recipe without really measuring carefully. I didn’t need the 1/2 cup of water. And the final reducing of the sauce means that you dont’ miss out on the wonderful kitchen smells!
No herbs, people! And not spaghetti!
I bought the IP for beans and the like and have been amazed that traditional stews like boeuf bourguignon, coq au vin, blanquette de veau, and so on actually turn out better. Maybe that’s because in the IP none of the flavors escape?
This was awesome! Everything I am looking for in a Bolognese. I have made several conventional Bolognese recipes over the years but this was hands down much better. I omitted parsley as I forgot to buy it but otherwise made it as directed.
Fantastic recipe and for those looking for umami…southern Italian recipe often sauté
3-4 olive oil packed anchovies prior to adding the soffritto. I am aware that this is not in accordance with strict traditional Ragu au Bolognese but as used in other gravy/sauce preparations and based on experience, does the trick in a bolognese preparation, too.
Delicious!
My husband couldn’t stop eating
!
I can’t wait to try this, however I’m confused as to how you bring the sauce to a simmer? Does the IP have that function? I never noticed it on mine.
Hi Dora, after pressure cooking, switch your Instant Pot to the lowest saute setting (usually cycled through as “less” as you hit the saute button).
thank you for such easy and delicious recipe. this is by far the best sauce i’ve ever made!
This recipe is fantastic. In the past, I’ve made J. Kenji Alt’s Bolognese recipe (easily found online), which is wonderful and yields a lot of sauce for freezing, but requires 4-5 hours and multiple steps. This lets me whip up a batch of ragù Bolognese in a fraction of the time. To match Kenji’s recipe a bit more closely, I add 2 tbsp. fresh (or 2 tsp. dried) sage, and after pressure cooking, a few shakes of good quality fish sauce (!) to bump up the umami profile.
Finally, as another reviewer mentioned above, I did experience the ‘burn’ warning with this recipe. I upped the liquid levels and it seems to have solved it. Thanks for this great recipe!
Made this last night and it was outstanding. Only addition I made was 1 tsp. Of Oregano and one extra garlic clove. Fed eight of us and still have left overs! Fun and easy to make! Five stars!
Easy, delicious recipe! Used antelope in place of the beef chuck, and a touch more heavy cream but otherwise kept the recipe the same. Turned out perfectly! We served it over gnocchi and used chèvre (only cheese on hand) and it was so so tasty. Will definitely make again :)
Hello,
I tried making this but received a burn warning (even though using the exact ratios indicated). Any tips please?
Hi Aleks,
We’ll be happy to help you troubleshoot. May we ask what Instant Pot model you’re working with? This recipe was developed in the 6-quart Duo Plus, and we haven’t gotten the Burn error. While we haven’t personally worked with them, we’ve heard that the heating element in the “Ultra” line of pots very often produces Burn warnings.
Burn notifications happen when the bottom of the pot gets too hot and triggers the heat sensor. In recipes where meats are browned before pressurization, this can happen if the pot isn’t thoroughly deglazed, or simply gets too hot during the browning process. After deglazing, it can help in some models to remove the pot from the IP and let it cool down for about 10 minutes before proceeding with the recipe.
If your model is one that is more prone to burn warnings, another solution would be to separate the addition of the water and tomatoes/puree, layering them instead of stirring everything together. This will allow the thin water to sit at the bottom of the pot and generate the pressurization.
Lastly, you can always add an additional 1/2 cup of water to the pot to get it to pressurize. In doing so, you’ll have to simmer the sauce for a little longer at the end to bring it to the proper consistency.
Hope that helps!
The Striped Spatula Team
I noticed that your noodles were already sauced before you topped it off. Did you just add some of the sauce to the noodles before hand?
Hi Richard,
Yes, we toss the pasta with sauce before adding a little extra on top in the bowl.
Happy Cooking!
The Striped Spatula Team
So delicious! The flavors were rich and warm – it’s my husband’s new favorite sauce.
Loved the convenience of cook it in the Instant Pot. All the flavor without all the time.
Will definitely be making this again!
Amanda, you NAILED this Bolognese sauce. It’s far better than spending the money at expensive restaurants that aren’t nearly as good. I followed the recipe very close; however, I did use the whole 3 oz. can of tomato paste. My husband and I both agreed we don’t need to order Bolognese out. We found our go to. Thank you for posting your recipe.
My Instapot is the 8 qt and it did require more liquid – so i added another 1/2 cup of water. The pot went to the “Burn”mode but was fine after i added the additional water. Thanks – usually i make this over the stove and it takes hours. :)
Thanks for the recipe! I only found whole san marzano, not purée or crushed. Will that taste the same? Should I crush it myself? Anything else I need to do other than crushing it? :)
Hi Casey,
You can definitely crush them yourself! Whole San Marzanos are typically canned with purée, so just crush them up, mix with the purée, and measure. It’ll taste the same as the ones that come pre-crushed.
Happy Cooking!
The Striped Spatula Team
OMG… this is amazing! I add 1tsp of Italian seasoning but other than that followed the recipe exactly! The BEST bolognaise sauce I’ve ever made!
Sauce had excellent consistency but will add a dash of cinnamon, a bay leaf thyme and oregano because it still needed a touch of depth.
Hi Mike,
Thanks for visiting and for your comment! As Italian bolognese traditionally doesn’t include herbs, we choose to omit flavors such as thyme and oregano from this recipe. The sauce’s depth of flavor lies in the soffrito, browned meats, San Marzanos, and wine. We add parsley just to bring a note of freshness to the dish after pressure cooking. You might be looking for more of an Italian-American style meat sauce recipe, which often utilizes the herbs you mention.
Happy Cooking,
The Striped Spatula Team
Fantastic recepie, family and friends loved it and we are Italian!
This was exceptional. I made it a hint better by using ground beef from Crowd Cow, and a dollop of balsamic vinegar for a hint of acidity. Flavors were deep and profound with several subtleties. Use freshly ground nutmeg if you can.
We loved this bolognese sauce. I’ve made it twice in my instant pot after getting one for Christmas. I was wondering if you’re going to be sharing your recipe for the traditional stovetop one too? I would love to try that one also.
I would love the stovetop version as well as I don’t have an Instapot yet. My friend made this recipe for dinner last night for us and it was fabulous.