Instant Pot Bolognese (Hong Kong Style, 港式肉酱意粉)
Instant Pot bolognese sauce with a hint of sweetness and super creamy texture without any heavy cream. This easy recipe uses some Asian ingredients to reduce prep and cooking time and create a rich flavor. Perfect for a weekday dinner or meal-prep. {Gluten-Free adaptable}To make the dish gluten-free, use homemade oyster sauce or bottled gluten-free oyster sauce. Use dry sherry to replace the Shaoxing wine, and use tamari or coconut amino to replace the soy sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
- 1 can (28 oz / 800 g) tomatoes , crushed
- 1 medium yellow onion , minced
- 2 carrots , finely diced
- 2 celery stems , finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Serving
- Cooked spaghetti , tagliatelle, pappardelle, or your favorite pasta
- Grated parmesan cheese (or/and mixed shredded cheese)
- Chopped fresh parsley (Optional)
Instructions
Cook over stovetop
- Heat oil in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the ground beef and spread out with spatula. Let the beef cook for at least 1 minute without touching, until bottom is slightly browned. Then start to break up the meat into small pieces. Cook until the meat is broken into small pieces and charred on the surface.
- Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook and stir for 2 minutes.
- Pour in Shaoxing wine, scraping the bottom to remove any brown bits. Add crushed tomato, tomato paste, Shaoxing wine, oyster sauce, soy sauce, bay leaves, salt and black pepper.
- Once simmering, cover the skillet and turn to medium-low heat to simmer for 2 hours, until the sauce has thickened and the beef is very tender.
Cook in an Instant Pot
- Pour the olive oil into the Instant Pot. Swirl the pot so the oil spreads out and covers the bottom of the pan. Press “saute” on the Instant Pot. When the oil is hot, add the ground beef. Use your spatula to spread the meat to cover the bottom of the pan. Let cook without touching until the bottom turns golden brown, about 5 minutes. Break the meat into smaller chunks using your spatula. You can leave some big chunks to increase the meaty texture of the sauce. Cook until the beef has browned on the surface. Press “Cancel” to turn off the Instant Pot.
- Add the crushed tomatoes. Use your spatula to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Add the rest of the ingredients - onion, carrots, celery, garlic, tomato paste, Shaoxing wine, oyster sauce, soy sauce, bay leaves, salt, and black pepper.
- Seal the Instant Pot. Make sure the valve is pointed to “Sealing”. Set on Manual at high pressure for 25 minutes. Use the natural release method for 8 minutes, then switch to fast release by using a long spatula or other utensil to rotate the valve to “Venting”. Stay away from the Instant Pot to avoid being burned by the hot steam coming out of the pot when using fast release.
- How to serve and store
- Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning by adding more salt if needed. Remove the bay leaves and discard them. Stir everything to mix well.
- Serving method 1: Ladle the sauce over cooked pasta. Top with cheese, fresh parsley, and more ground pepper if needed.
- Serving method 2: Add cooked pasta to individual oven safe ramekins, top with the sauce, add shredded mozzarella or Italian blend on top. Bake at 400ºF (200ºC) until the cheese melt. Garnish with grated parmesan and fresh parsley. Serve hot.
- You can store the sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 250kcal, Carbohydrates: 21.3g, Protein: 27.3g, Fat: 6.3g, Saturated Fat: 1.9g, Cholesterol: 63mg, Sodium: 998mg, Potassium: 476mg, Fiber: 7.6g, Sugar: 13.6g, Calcium: 115mg, Iron: 17mg