This spaghetti and meat sauce is another easy recipe with ingredients you probably have in your pantry and freezer. I was craving Italian so I made this in my instant pot! I didn’t have spaghetti so I used linguine! Just as good.
I guess you would say this is an Italian-American Sauce. Many Italian sauces like a Sunday sauce will start with 3 or 4 different cuts of meat and they aren’t ground meats expect for some Italian sausage. This recipe has ground pork and ground beef, typical in an American style meat sauce. You know, the meat sauce we grew up with.
I started the recipe with sauteing onions and garlic in olive oil and then I added the ground beef and pork allowing it to brown. I then added wine scraping up the bits to get all the flavors. Even though I made this in the Instant Pot all of the steps to build flavors still apply. The use of the instant pot is just to cut down on the 2 to 3 hour simmer on the stove-top, not to cut out the steps to build the flavors necessary for a good meat sauce.
instant pot meat sauce with pasta…
You always want to use a good tomato in sauces. I used Mutti puree because I love their products and I didn’t have to squish a bunch of canned tomatoes. Here’s what I used: https://amzn.to/2w76AhM. You don’t have to buy this many, but if you can’t get them at your local grocery store, this is a good choice.
Honestly, how can something be so beautiful and not be good.
I added fennel seeds to this meat sauce because it adds a sweetness which I love in a meat sauce. I also added some red pepper flakes because I like a little kick. You don’t have to add either, but just some suggestions to add extra flavor.
I have made a bolognese many times, but you know we just need a simple meat sauce like this recipe. If you decide to make a bolognese here’s a great recipe: https://the2spoons.com/hearty-satisfying-bolognese-sauce/.
Here’s the recipe for this easy instant pot meat sauce with pasta…Bon Appetite!
instant pot meat sauce with pasta
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 medium yellow onions, diced
- 6 garlic cloves peeled and chopped
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- salt
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds (optional)
- 3/4 cup dry white wine
- 24 oz tomato puree plus
- 3 cups water
- 1 6 oz can tomato paste
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in the instant pot in the saute mode on normal. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally until golden. Add the garlic and cook stirring until it starts to brown. Add the ground beef and the ground pork. Season lightly with salt. Cook, stirring to break up the meat until the meat changes color and the water it gives of is boiled away about 10 minutes.
- Continue cooking until the meat is browned about 5 minutes. Add the bay leaves, fennel and oregano, then pour in the wine. Bring to a boil and cook, scraping up the brown bits that cling to the pot until the wine is almost completely evaporated.
- Pour in the tomato puree, then stir in the tomato paste until it is dissolved. Season lightly with salt.
- Place the lid on and set for 35 minutes. When finished, do a quick release. Skim off the fat and check the seasoning. Add salt if needed. Serve over your favorite pasta.