Hearty Instant Pot Vegetable Bolognese Sauce Recipe

This is my go to hearty bolognese sauce. I eat this almost daily for lunch and put it over Shirataki Noodles. This recipe is inspired by Nisha Vora’s One Pot Bolognese Sauce. I adapted the recipe to add extra vegetables and cut down on some of the oil to make it lower in fat.

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 medium carrots
• 2 medium zucchini
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 teaspoons dried oregano
• 3 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 0.5 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 8 ounces Shitake mushrooms
• 6 ounces Rigatoni or Pene Pasta
• 2 Tablesppons of tomato paste
• 0.5 cups dry red wine
• 3.5 cups (720 mL) low sodium vegetable broth
• 1 cup (185g) red lentils, soaked (see step #1)
• I Tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon Miso
• 1 (14.5-ounce/410g) can of crushed tomatoes or diced tomatoes
• 1 1/2 tablespoons high-quality balsamic vinegar**
• 2 Cups Marinara Sauce (I use Classico)
• Flat-leaf Italian parsley, chopped (optional)

Directions

1. Soak the lentils in water for 30 minutes, or up to 60 minutes.
2. Chop the onions, carrots, and zucchini
3. Turn on Instant Pot to Saute
4. Heat the olive oil
5. Saute the onions, carrots, and zucchini – about 3 minutes
6. Chop the mushrooms while the vegetables are sauteing
7. Add the mushrooms and garlic to the instant pot and saute for approximately five minutes allowing the mushrooms to release their juices
8. Add the oregano, thyme, nutmeg, red pepper, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper and stir covering the vegetables for approximately 30 seconds
9. Add the red wine and cook for approximately five minutes until the wine loses its alcohol smell
10. Hit cancel button on Instant pot
11. Add the vegetable broth, drained lentils, pasta, soy sauce, miso, and one Tablespoon of the balsamic vinegar
12. Stir and submerge the pasta in the liquid
13. Add the canned tomatoes and tomato paste on top
14. Close the lid and hit pressure cook
15. Cook for three minutes
16. Release the pressure or allow to naturally release
17. Open the lid and add the two cups of marinara sauce and remaining 0.5 Tablespoon of balsamic vinegar – stir.
18. Serve as is or over Shirataki Noodles to add extra bulk without calories
19. Garnish with chopped parsley, if using.

This recipe was heavily inspired by Nisha Vora’s One Pot Bolognese from her The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook. I really love her recipes and use her book regularly, I usually adapt the recipes to make them a little lower fat but so far all the recipes have been delicious and my husband loves them too!

If you are interested in Nisha’s Cookbook you can find it here:

The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook: Wholesome, Indulgent Plant-Based Recipes

$13.75

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07/05/2026 10:05 pm GMT

If you haven’t yet jumped on the Instant Pot bandwagon, I strongly recommend. It makes work night dinners so easy and makes plant based recipes a breeze. The one that I use is linked below:

Instant Pot Ultra 3 Qt 10-in-1 Multi- Use Programmable Pressure Cooker

$109.99

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07/06/2026 06:07 pm GMT

If you try this recipe let me know what you think in the comments below.

Also, if you are interested in using the Shirataki Noodles but don’t know how to prepare them – or don’t know what they are, click here for my blog post