When I make spaghetti sauce with meat I usually start at 3:30 in the afternoon. I want the sauce to simmer for at least 3 hours. If things at work get the best of me and I can’t make it home in time…I punt on the process and make something else. I’m not sure anyone else in the family is as picky as me, but I like a sauce where the meat dissolves in your mouth, and time is the only way I’ve known to achieve this.
Enter the Instant Pot. If it can cook a savory stew in 30 minutes, surely it can make a nice red sauce quickly as well, no? I gave it a try to find out.
I started using the saute function to brown 1 lb hamburger (ground sirloin), and threw in 1/2 diced onion, 1/2 – 1 tsp salt. The onion and meat cook together without any problem. Once the meat looses its water and you’ll know the browning is finished. The bottom of the pan was getting a little rough. At this point I throw in 1 Tbl of tomato paste and stir it around in the meat, then some red wine to deglaze the pan and provide liquid for the steam. After 30 seconds I throw in a jar of sauce – it doesn’t really matter what brand, just pick something you like. My wife likes Ragu, I like Rao’s. I put the sauce on top, I don’t even stir it, then I put the lid on, set it to 25 minutes (meat/stew setting), and voila! I let it do natural release for at least 10 minutes before opening it up and giving it a good stir. The consistency is fine as is, or you can thicken it using the saute function and stirring. It’s a great way to have a delicious sauce that tastes as if it’s been cooking for several hours in basically a single hour start to finish.