This instant pot spaghetti sauce is fairly easy to make, it tastes delicious and my family and me think it’s delicious! It makes 32 ounces of sauce, which is the perfect amount of sauce for 1 pound of pasta.
If you have an abundance of tomatoes ripening from your garden like I do, then you will love this recipe. It’s super simple to throw into the instant pot and go about your day while it’s doing it’s thing.
The best part is that you don’t have to cut your tomatoes or do any peeling of the tomatoes if you don’t want to. There is an option to remove the skins if you don’t like them in your sauce, I will add this step in the recipe below but it isn’t a necessity. I blend the skins up and don’t really notice them much in my sauce so I usually skip that step.
In this recipe, we will place the whole tomato with just the stem area removed into the instant pot. It gets cooked whole and then blended with an immersion blender, a food processer or a blender. Ideally an immersion blender will work the most time efficient and easiest, however, a blender or food processor will also work.
Be sure to use safely when using a food processor or blender to blend hot foods to avoid getting burned. Hot items blended will have steam so they need a place for that steam to go when blended or they will blow out of the blender or food processor and could burn you. So use a vent with a towel over it or let the tomatoes cool until warm before blending.
This recipe can be water bath canned but you will need to add either citric acid or lemon juice to this recipe to get the ph levels where they need to be for safety. I will add the amounts and directions below for canning.
What you need to make Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce: (printable recipe is below)
Makes ~32 ounces of sauce
- ~ 5 pounds tomatoes – stem area removed but left whole
- 1 head of garlic – peeled, cloves left whole
- 2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup water
- (If canning) 2 tablespoons lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon citric acid added at the end
Instructions
- Add whole, uncut tomatoes into instant pot along with garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, sugar and water.
- Cook on high pressure for 20 minutes with a quick pressure release.
- When you open the instant pot you will see all the liquid that was released from the tomatoes.
- Remove roughly 4 cups of liquid from the tomatoes, this can be saved for soups or other uses or discarded.
- If you want to remove the skins from the tomatoes, you can do so now by carefully peeling them. The skins should come away easily from the whole tomatoes, you can run them under cold water to help this process. If you don’t mind the skins in the sauce then skip this step. After peeling, return the tomatoes to the instant pot.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the tomatoes or place tomatoes into a vented blender or food processor being careful not to get burned.
- Once tomatoes are blended, turn instant pot on the sauté setting and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until sauce is to desired consistency. Stir sauce occasionally during this process. If sauce starts to pop and splatter, place instant pot lid loosely over the pot with the vent in open position so steam can escape but the popping sauce cannot.
- Once sauce is to desired thickness, you can use immediately, store in the refrigerator for about 1 week or freeze in a bag or container for about 6 months to a year or you can water bath can this sauce, directions for that are below.
- To bottle this spaghetti sauce you will need to add either 1/2 teaspoon citric acid or 2 tablespoons lemon juice to your fully cooked sauce.
- Place sauce into a clean jar, you can use 2 pints or 1 quart for this sauce.
- Fill jar up leaving a 1/2 inch head space at the top of the jar.
- Clean the jars rim then place the lid on and only tighten lid ring until it’s shut but not tight, don’t over tighten (the air needs a place to escape through when it’s canned).
- Place into a hot water canner that has boiling water and process for 35 – 40 minutes, taking note that higher elevations may need additional processing time.
- Remove from canner and place on a counter for 24 hours. The seal should form and the lid will have no bounce or give in the center. If the lid pops when the center is pressed on or bends-in excessively then the jar didn’t seal. Remove the lid and repeat the processing steps. Store on the shelf for up to a year.
Here are a few other recipes you may love:
Fried Green Tomatoes
Italian Rice Stuffed Tomatoes
Freezer Marinara Sauce
Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients
- ~5 pounds tomatoes stem area removed but left whole
- 1 head garlic peeled, cloves left whole
- 2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup water
- If canning 2 tablespoons lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon citric acid added at the end
Instructions
- Add whole, uncut tomatoes into instant pot along with garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, sugar and water.
- Cook on high pressure for 20 minutes with a quick pressure release.
- When you open the instant pot you will see all the liquid that was released from the tomatoes.
- Remove roughly 4 cups of liquid from the tomatoes, this can be saved for soups or other uses or discarded.
- If you want to remove the skins from the tomatoes, you can do so now by carefully peeling them. The skins should come away easily from the whole tomatoes, you can run them under cold water to help this process. If you don’t mind the skins in the sauce then skip this step. After peeling, return the tomatoes to the instant pot.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the tomatoes or place tomatoes into a vented blender or food processor being careful not to get burned.
- Once tomatoes are blended, turn instant pot on the sauté setting and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until sauce is to desired consistency. Stir sauce occasionally during this process. If sauce starts to pop and splatter, place instant pot lid loosely over the pot with the vent in open position so steam can escape but the popping sauce cannot.
- Once sauce is to desired thickness, you can use immediately, store in the refrigerator for about 1 week or freeze in a bag or container for about 6 months to a year or you can water bath can this sauce, directions for that are below.
- Canning Instructions:
- To bottle this spaghetti sauce you will need to add either 1/2 teaspoon citric acid or 2 tablespoons lemon juice to your fully cooked sauce.
- Place sauce into a clean jar, you can use 2 pints or 1 quart for this sauce.
- Fill jar up leaving a 1/2 inch head space at the top of the jar.
- Clean the jars rim then place the lid on and only tighten lid ring until it’s shut but not tight, don’t over tighten (the air needs a place to escape through when it’s canned).
- Place into a hot water canner that has boiling water and process for 35 – 40 minutes, taking note that higher elevations may need additional processing time.
- Remove from canner and place on a counter for 24 hours. The seal should form and the lid will have no bounce or give in the center. If the lid pops when the center is pressed on or bends-in excessively then the jar didn’t seal. Remove the lid and repeat the processing steps. Store on the shelf for up to a year.