Instant Pot Italian Meat Sauce

This instant pot Italian meat sauce comes together quickly, and thanks to the magic of the instant pot is cooked super fast without compromising on flavor! Rich meat sauce over a plate of noodles, topped with a bit of parmesan and fresh basil. Who doesn’t have fond memories of a fragrant pot of tomato sauce simmering away on the stove for hours on end? I wish I could say that I have stories of sauce bubbling in a pot on my Italian grandmother’s stove, but alas, I don’t have a drop of Italian in me as far as I know (onlike Beth’s hubby, who helped to create this crockpot version with his childhood memories.) I’m an Irish, Scottish, and English type of gal with a bit of American mutt. So no Noni for me. Thankfully, my Mid-west mama had a love for lasagna and pasta of all kinds so we frequently had delicious sauce simmering away on the stove. Tomato sauce develops a rich and hearty flavor that can’t be achieved in 30 minutes. That delicious flavor only happens when you slowly simmer the sauce for a few hours or all day on low heat. That is until the Instant Pot came into play. With this amazing gem, you can reduce the cook time to just over 30 minutes! Note: When you count in the pressure rising and falling, the entire time will be about one hour. This Instant Pot Italian Meat Sauce is perfect for those days when you forget to plan dinner or, you’re an INFP like me and you just get distracted with all the other things in life around you. (After you make this delicious sauce, check out this list of recipes to add to your rotation). The active time is no more than 15 minutes to chop the onions and garlic, saute them, and partially cook the Italian sausage. You can make your own sausage or buy it uncooked from the store. After that you put the lid on, set the cook time and there you go, you can forget it until the pressure naturally releases about 45 to 50 minutes later. By then you can have your pasta cooked and drained, a simple salad or whatever vegetable you feel like making, and the table set, no stirring or hours waiting involved. The results are almost the same as a sauce that has simmered for several hours on the stove. Bon apetit! Looking for more posts like this one? Check these out:

• 19 Easy (Real Food) Instant Pot Recipes for Hesitant Beginners
• 4 Things I Learned About My Instant Pot in the First 6 Months