Instant Pot (affiliate) Sausage Ragu delivers the great taste that usually takes hours to develop, in a fraction of the time! Learn how to make pasta sauce in an Instant Pot (affiliate) with this easy to follow recipe.
What is Instant Pot Sausage Ragu?
If you found your way to this pot, chances are you are very familiar with the amazing kitchen gadget known as the Instant Pot (affiliate). An awesome plug and play culinary invention, the pot allows you to easily saute and pressure cook meals, vastly speeding up the time it takes to make many of your favorite dishes.
Ragu, of course, is the traditional tomato and meat pasta sauce we all grew up on. Typically made with meat, onions, tomato puree and wine. And yep, we follow those rules with this awesome, tasty dish.
When to make Instant Pot Sausage Ragu?
Thanks to the Instant Pot (affiliate), you can make fully developed pasta sauce on any weeknight. Typically a Sunday meal because of the time it takes a ragu to develop its flavor, the Instant Pot (affiliate) turns it into a one hour dish. And if you don't have an hour, you can easily plan ahead and make the sauce one night, store it in the fridge and simply reheat it the next night for a super fast dinner.
Instant Pot Sausage Ragu Tips and Tricks
- Freshly grated parm is the move here, not the can of craft powder. The sharpness of the good stuff makes a world of difference.
- I recently changed from cans of tomato paste to the tubes, mostly because I'd use a very little bit then have to throw out the rest. The tubes allows me to squeeze out just what I need and save the rest for later. A great way to eliminate waste and save money in the long run!
- The choice of pasta here is not do or die. I like it over a tubular penne like this. It would also go great over bucatini, spaghetti, or even some homemade pappardelle.
- We're going to season this with salt and pepper at several layers, so go light each time. Just a pinch or so will do, tasting it for final touches at the end.
Let's Make Instant Pot Sausage Ragu
Mise en place
Begin by preparing your mise en place:
- Chop celery and carrots and put in bowl together.
- Dice red onion and bell pepper and place in a separate bowl.
- Chop garlic and set aside.
- Cut parsley and place in a small container.
- If mushrooms came whole, slice them thin (I bought my already sliced).
- Line up remaining ingredients on counter
Let's Get Cookin'
Turn Instant Pot (affiliate) on Saute->High. When the display says "Hot", add olive oil and heat for 30 seconds. Add sausage, breaking up with a spatula. Cook until brown. Remove sausage from pot and set aside.
With Instant pot (affiliate) still on Saute->High, add mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. The salt will help to draw the moisture out of the mushrooms, which is what we want. When the mushrooms release the moisture, use a spatula to scrape the fond from the bottom of the instant pot (affiliate), getting that flavor up and into our sauce.
Add chopped garlic to pan and cook until fragrant, about 90 seconds. Stir occasionally to make sure garlic does not burn. Dump in onion and yellow bell pepper and fold into mushrooms/garlic. Hit again with some salt and pepper. Cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add diced carrots and celery and cook 2 additional minutes.
Add in oregano, thyme and parsley and mix together. Cook one minute then return sausage to pot. Stir for an additional minute, bringing sausage back up to temp. Pour in marsala wine and cook for one more minute.
Carefully dump in entire can of whole peeled tomatoes, including juices. Break the tomatoes up with your spatula. Be careful, they're juice and will spray around if you're rough.
Add bay leaves and worcestershire sauce, then stir together well.
Close and twist lid shut on Instant Pot (affiliate). Do this with the valve set to "venting", then twist it to "sealing" once the lid is on for a firm closure.
Next, hit the "keep warm" button, then set it to Manual->High for 15 minutes.
Finishing Touches
Allow instant pot (affiliate) to naturally release for 10 minutes before turning vent to "venting" to release the remaining pressure.
Meanwhile, prepare your pasta according to instructions on packaging. Try to time it up to complete when the sauce is done. I started my water with 5 minutes showing on the instant pot (affiliate) timer. When pasta is finished and drained, add back to pot (with water drained and removed from heat) and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and stir together well.
When Instant Pot (affiliate) has released pressure and the pressure indicator is down, carefully remove the lid. Add in tomato paste until and stir together. Let sauce sit for 5 minutes and taste for salt, adding more if needed. Spoon over cooked pasta and garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
What to serve with Instant Pot Sausage Ragu?
When it comes to pasta and a red sauce, salad and bread are always safe bets. This would go great with a ceasar salad to start. I served up some of my favorite Costco yeast rolls alongside.
What do I do with leftover Instant Pot Sausage Ragu?
The leftover sauce can be stored either in the fridge or freezer, depending on when you'll finish it. It will keep well in the fridge for about 5 days. Longer than that, you should place it in a freezer safe ziploc bag and freeze for up to 6 months. To thaw it, place the bag in a bath of lukewarm water until thawed, then reheat over medium on a stove in a pot. Serve over freshly cooked pasta.
Print
Instant Pot Sausage Ragu
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 portions 1x
Description
Instant Pot (affiliate) Sausage Ragu delivers the great taste that usually takes hours to develop, in a fraction of the time! Learn how to make pasta sauce in an Instant Pot (affiliate) with this easy to follow recipe.
Ingredients
- ½ red onion (diced)
- 1 yellow bell pepper (diced)
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 lb italian sausage
- ¼ bunch fresh italian parsley
- 1 carrot (diced)
- 1 stalk celery (diced)
- 8 oz white mushrooms (sliced)
- 1 oz extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp fresh oregano
- 2 tsp fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ cup marsala wine
- 28 oz can (wholed peeled tomatoes)
- 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 pound penne pasta
- 3.5 oz Tomato paste
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot (affiliate) on Saute->High. When the display says "Hot", add olive oil and heat for 30 seconds. Add sausage, breaking up with a spatula. Cook until brown. Remove sausage from pot.
- With Instant pot (affiliate) still on Saute->High, add mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. The salt will help to draw the moisture out of the mushrooms, which is what we want. When the mushrooms release the moisture, use a spatula to scrape the fond from the bottom of the instant pot (affiliate), getting that flavor up and into our sauce. Add chopped garlic to pan and cook until fragrant, about 90 seconds. Stir occasionally to make sure garlic does not burn.
- Dump in onion and yellow bell pepper and fold into mushrooms/garlic. Hit again with some salt and pepper. Cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add diced carrots and celery and cook 2 additional minutes. Add in oregano, thyme and parsley and mix together. Cook one minute then return sausage to pot. Cook an additional minute while stirring. Pour in marsala wine and cook for one more minute.
- Carefully dump in entire can of whole peeled tomatoes, including juices. Break the tomatoes up with your spatula. Be careful, they're juice and will spray around if you're rough. Add bay leaves and worcestershire sauce, then stir together well.
- Close and twist lid shut on Instant Pot (affiliate). Do this with the valve set to "venting", then twist it to "sealing" once the lid is on for a firm closure. Set Instant Pot (affiliate) to Manual->High for 15 minutes. Allow a natural release for 10 minutes before turning vent to "venting" to release the remaining pressure.
- Meanwhile, prepare your pasta according to instructions on packaging. Try to time it up to complete when the sauce is done. I started my water with 5 minutes showing on the instant pot (affiliate) timer. When pasta is finished and drained, add back to pot (with water drained and removed from heat) and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and stir together well.
- When Instant Pot (affiliate) has released pressure and the pressure indicator is down, carefully remove the lid. Add in tomato paste until and stir together. Let sauce sit for 5 minutes and taste for salt, adding more if needed. Ladle over cooked pasta and garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Notes
- Freshly grated parm is the move here, not the can of craft powder. The sharpness of the good stuff makes a world of difference.
- I recently changed from cans of tomato paste to the tubes, mostly because I'd use a very little bit then have to throw out the rest. The tubes allows me to squeeze out just what I need and save the rest for later. A great way to eliminate waste and save money in the long run!
- The choice of pasta here is not do or die. I like it over a tubular penne like this. It would also go great over bucatini, spaghetti, or even some homemade pappardelle. We're going to season this with salt and pepper at several layers, so go light each time. Just a pinch or so will do, tasting it for final touches at the end.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: Pasta Sauce, Spaghetti Sauce, Dinner Recipe