With the help of an Instant Pot, you can make this easy and delicious Marinara Sauce using fresh tomatoes in under 40 minutes! This beginner-friendly recipe yields a sauce with a robust flavor, perfect for pasta, pizza, and more.
Why This Recipe Works
- Simple Ingredients: This Marinara Sauce is made from fresh tomatoes, herbs, onions, and garlic, which are all readily available and wholesome ingredients.
- Versatility: It can be used in numerous recipes, including pasta, lasagna, and pizza.
- Instant Pot Magic: Using the Instant Pot cuts down on cooking time and ensures a richly flavored sauce.
Ingredients
- Fresh Tomatoes: The star ingredient! Fresh tomatoes give a vibrant, tangy flavor that canned tomatoes just can’t match. However, if you want to use canned tomatoes, go for it!
- Dried Oregano and Basil: These herbs make any tomato sauce taste amazing! I used dried herbs for convenience, but fresh herbs would also be great here.
- Salt: To season the marinara sauce.
- Olive Oil, Yellow Onion, and Garlic: Use olive oil with heat smoke point, and saute the onion and garlic until tender and fragrant. If you’re in a hurry, you can skip the sauteeing step but I wouldn’t recommend doing that.
- Water: We’ll use just a half cup of water for a 6-quart Instant Pot – that’s enough liquid to get the right consistency and to get the pressure cooker to pressurize.
- Granulated Sugar: A touch of sugar balances the acidity of the tomatoes. If your tomatoes are sweet, skip the sugar.
Complete list of ingredients with quantities and instructions is located in the recipe card below
How To Make Marinara Sauce in the Instant Pot
- Set your Instant Pot to the sauté function. Add the olive oil, and once heated, add the diced onion. Sauté until the onion becomes translucent.
- Add the minced garlic to the Instant Pot, and sauté for a minute until it becomes fragrant. Switch off the saute setting.
- Add the chopped fresh tomatoes, dried oregano, dried basil, salt, water, and sugar if using.
- Close the lid on the Instant Pot, ensure that the vent is set to ‘sealing,’ and set it to Manual or Pressure Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes.
- Once the cooking time is over, allow the Instant Pot to naturally release pressure for 10 minutes, then do a quick release.
- Using an immersion blender or a standard blender, carefully blend the sauce until smooth. If using a standard blender, ensure to allow the sauce to cool a bit before blending.
- Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning if needed. If it’s too watery, you can reduce it using the saute setting. Your fresh tomato marinara sauce is now ready to be used in your favorite recipes.
Recipe Tips
- Tomatoes: Fresh, ripe tomatoes will give the best flavor. If they’re a little too ripe, that’s even better! Canned tomatoes in their juices will also work here.
- Spices: Feel free to add more or less of the dried herbs, depending on your preference.
- Sugar: If your tomatoes are particularly acidic, you may need to add a bit more sugar to balance the flavor.
- Storing: Any leftover marinara sauce can be stored in an airtight food container and will keep well in the fridge for 3 to 5 days.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, if you’re using a 6-quart Instant Pot. I haven’t tested this recipe in an 8-quart, but I imagine half a cup of water will still be enough as the tomatoes will produce juices when they’re heated.
Marinara sauce is incredibly versatile! Use it as a base for pasta dishes, a topping for pizzas, a dipping sauce for breadsticks, or even in some casseroles.
Make sure to check out my other Instant Pot recipes. My favorites include my Instant Pot Hamburger Helper, Sweet and Sour Chicken, and Instant Pot Chicken Fajita Pasta.
I hope you love this Instant Pot Marinara Sauce recipe as much as I do. It’s one of those recipes that, once you try, you’ll want to make over and over again. It’s just that good! Be sure to leave a comment, rate the recipe, and let me know how it turned out for you. Happy cooking!
Instant Pot Marinara
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 pounds fresh tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons dried basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar optional
Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot to the sauté function. Add the olive oil, and once heated, add the diced onion. Sauté until the onion becomes translucent.
- Add the minced garlic to the Instant Pot, and sauté for a minute until it becomes fragrant. Switch off the saute setting.
- Add the chopped fresh tomatoes, dried oregano, dried basil, salt, water, and sugar if using.
- Close the lid on the Instant Pot, ensure that the vent is set to 'sealing,' and set it to Manual or Pressure Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes.
- Once the cooking time is over, allow the Instant Pot to naturally release pressure for 10 minutes, then do a quick release.
- Using an immersion blender or a standard blender, carefully blend the sauce until smooth. If using a standard blender, ensure to allow the sauce to cool a bit before blending.
- Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning if needed. If it's too watery, you can reduce it using the saute setting. Your fresh tomato marinara sauce is now ready to be used in your favorite recipes.
Notes
- Tomatoes: Fresh, ripe tomatoes will give the best flavor. If they’re a little too ripe, that’s even better! Canned tomatoes in their juices will also work here.
- Spices: Feel free to add more or less of the dried herbs, depending on your preference.
- Sugar: If your tomatoes are particularly acidic, you may need to add a bit more sugar to balance the flavor.
- Storing: Any leftover marinara sauce can be stored in an airtight food container and will keep well in the fridge for 3 to 5 days.
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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