Instant Pot Marinara Recipe | The Gracious Pantry (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep spaghetti sauce from burning in the Instant Pot? ›

Add a little oil. Before adding any ingredients, it's a good idea to drizzle some oil in the Instant Pot liner. This will help prevent the sauce from sticking to the bottom and burning.

Add butter

Yes, that's right. Toss in a few tablespoons of butter, and let it melt into the sauce. If you've never tried it before, it might seem strange, but a little butter makes tomato sauce rich and smooth, and also balances out too much acidity, which is common in jarred sauces.

In the case of this recipe, the tomatoes contain more than enough liquid to bring the pot to pressure because they will release their moisture as the pot heats up, without burning or sticking to the bottom.

It may sound a little unusual to add cream cheese to a pasta recipe, but it adds a tangy note and rich creaminess to the sauce. You can also add extra seasonings and other ingredients to the base recipe to fit your personal taste.

Lai says the most common cause for a burn notification is not adding enough liquid to the pot or using thick ingredients like a thick tomato sauce. "If you sauté prior to pressure cooking and you do not properly deglaze the bottom of the pot, food stuck to the bottom can cause the burn notification," says Lai.

Preventing Burned Sauce in the First Place

There's no need to use a high flame or high heat setting. This isn't boiling pasta, so stick to a low heat. Keep on stirring. Sauce won't be able to stick to the bottom or sides of the pot if you keep things moving.

Add fresh herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary, bay leaf), and let them simmer to give a punch of fresh flavor.

Add a little milk to tomato sauce for a sweeter taste to offset the acidity of the tomatoes. This is a well-kept secret amongst Italian grandmothers. In northern Italy, Bolognese sauce is never made without milk! It can be added at the beginning or end of cooking.

What types of pots are should be avoided when making tomato sauce ? Tomatoes cooked in an unlined copper pan will cause food borne intoxication. Tomatoes should be cooked in a heavy-gauge non-reactive stainless-steel pan.

What pressure for tomato sauce? ›

It sounds unconventional to use milk in a meaty red sauce, but upon further investigation, it makes total sense why Italians swear by it. According to our Food Director Amira, not only does milk add a rich flavour to the bolognese, but it also “helps cut through the acidity of the tomatoes and red wine”.

Once the pasta is in the sauce, add pasta water. This is the most vital step in the process. Starchy pasta water doesn't just help thin the sauce to the right consistency; it also helps it cling to the pasta better and emulsify with the fat and cheese you're going to be adding.

While bechamel sauce is made with milk and flour, alfredo sauce is mainly made with heavy cream and cheese. Both have a creamy texture that thoroughly coats pasta noodles, but bechamel tends to be thicker than alfredo sauce.

The other thing that I have found to work is to start with a cold pan, put just a thin skim of cold water on the bottom and then gently add the sauce on top of the water. Under gentle heat watch until the sauce steams but does not boil, stir and serve.

You can avoid a burned pasta sauce by keeping it on the lowest heat setting on the stove and stirring it often. Good tomato sauce simmers for hours, so all the flavors meld together.

Add a ¼ teaspoon of baking soda to your tomato sauce to help neutralize the acid.