Instant Pot tomato sauce tastes super fresh, made with fresh tomatoes and with no peeling or seeding required! Use it as a topping on pasta! This is the easiest most flavorful sauce on the planet.
Why This Recipe Works
Summer is just beginning here in Minnesota, so my boys and I find ourselves wanting to get out of the house often. The weather has been so delectable! The farmer’s market is something we all enjoy this time of year.
We like to grab some freshly baked cookies and honey sticks and I always salivate over all of the beautiful fresh produce. We ventured out to our favorite Minneapolis farmer’s market a few days ago.
I never come home empty-handed after a trip there, and this time was no different. I brought home some beautiful green beans that I turned into Instant Pot Green Beans.
Then I spotted THE MOST BEAUTIFUL cherry tomatoes I’d ever seen and grabbed as many as I could. Well, I paid for them, obviously, then I grabbed them. On the drive home I pondered what they would best turn into. Roasted tomatoes? Or tomato sauce?
I polled my Instagram peeps and most thought I should roast them. Then a blogger friend sent me a message and said, DO BOTH! Ahhh, brilliant! Those beautiful cherry tomatoes turned into the most delicious, creamy tomato sauce with such rich flavors.
In fact, I used it more like spaghetti sauce than I did tomato sauce. I fell fast in love.
Recipe Ingredients
- Cherry tomatoes – Replace with equal amounts of any variety of whole tomatoes, if desired.
- Olive oil – Replace with any type of oil.
- Garlic – Up to 1 tsp garlic powder can replace the 3 cloves of fresh garlic.
- Onion – Sweet onions, yellow onion, red onion or green onions can be used in the recipe.
- Carrots – Baby carrots or regular carrots can be used.
- Fresh basil – 1 tbsp dried basil can replace the 1/2 cup fresh.
- Seasonings – My favorite seasonings are simple yet delish! A combination of Italian seasoning along with salt and pepper are perfect. Feel free to change up fresh herbs and seasonings to match your own preferences.
- Red wine – This ingredient is optional, but will add a robust flavor that you’ll fall in love with!
How to Make Instant Pot Tomato Sauce
Step 1
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the tomatoes into a single layer on the sheet. Drizzle olive oil over the tops and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, stirring halfway through.
Step 2
Set Instant Pot to sauté setting. Melt the butter then add the garlic, onion, carrot and fresh basil to the bottom of the pot. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until soft and fragrant. Add the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and red wine (if using) and give the mixture a stir.
Place the cover on the pot and set pot to pressure cook setting on high pressure for 5 minutes. It will take the pot around 8 minutes to build up pressure before it begins cooking.
Step 3
When cooking time is done, release the pressure by doing a quick release and allow the remaining pressure to release. You’ll know the lid can be removed with the silver pressure valve drops.
Use a potato masher or an immersion blender to create a smooth consistency. Once you’ve crushed the tomatoes, transfer the sauce to jars and store in the refrigerator.
Recipe Notes
- Use around 3 pounds of tomatoes of your choice. Delicious options include: cherry or grape tomatoes, plum tomatoes, san marzano tomatoes, roma tomatoes or vine-on.
- To save time, skip roasting the tomatoes before pressure cooking them. However! I do not recommend skipping this step because it adds INCREDIBLE flavor.
- You can definitely make this recipe on the stove top instead of a pressure cooker, but the flavor will not be as big and bold if you go that route.
- To spice up the sauce, add red pepper flakes and/or cayenne pepper.
How To Thicken Tomato Sauce
Tomato sauce is a bold, delicious base for many recipes such as soup, chili and sauces. Learn how to thicken tomato sauce to create a robust texture for your next recipe.
18 Homemade Sauces to Use Now or Freeze for Later
Making homemade sauces is a great way to know exactly what ingredients are going into them, they are more affordable than store-bought and they’re just tastier! Homemade all the way!
FAQ About Tomato Sauce
Homemade tomato sauce recipes are typically gluten free. Check labels for store-bought varieties, but these should be good as well.
Tomato paste combined with an equal amount of water is the best substitution for sauce. Another option is using whatever type of canned tomatoes you have on hand. Drain, puree and drain again. Ketchup and tomato soup also work in a pinch!
One cup of tomato sauce contains approximately 16 grams of carbohydrates.
Tomatoes themselves are not harmful for dogs, but other common sauce ingredients such as onions and garlic are. To be safe, avoid letting your dog pal consume tomato sauce when other ingredients have been added.
Tomato sauce freezes extremely well. Store in a freezer bag or airtight container in the freezer for up to 6 months for best results.
Marinara is a a great tomato-based sauce option to use on pizza in place of pizza sauce.
What To Make With Tomato Sauce
- Add them to your next batch of scrambled eggs.
- Replace homemade pasta sauce with it for your next plate of spaghetti.
- Use it as an ingredient in your next vat of amazing chili.
- Use it as a salad dressing (seriously, I did this and it ROCKED).
- It makes a great dip for garlic bread!
- Stir it into a bowl of comforting mac and cheese.
Best Instant Pot Recipes
The list of recipes you can make in an Instant Pot is endless! It can cook soup, chili, pasta, meat, potatoes, veggies, cake, beans and so much more. Here are a few of my favorite Instant Pot recipes:
Homemade Sauce Recipes
I’m obsessed with making savory homemade sauces! Down with store bought! Here are a handful of my favorites that you are sure to fall in love with. These all make for great gifts, too!
- Homemade Enchilada Sauce is more delicious than anything you can buy at the store and it is super easy to make. It only requires a handful of ingredients and is done in 15 minutes, with perfect flavor and consistency.
- A copycat recipe of the famous Arby’s Sauce that makes sandwiches sing! This zingy flavorful BBQ style sauce is so delicious.
- This homemade Pizza Sauce takes less than 25 minutes to make!
- Make your own Taco Sauce to use in a variety of Mexican dishes, such as tacos, burritos and taco salads. Ditch the store-bought version so you know EXACTLY what goes inside!
- Homemade Vodka Sauce from Nourish and Fete.
Avoid The Instant Pot Burn Notice
- Stir heavy sauces or soups just before placing the cover on the pot for cooking. You will want the heaviest ingredients toward the top in order to ensure they don’t stick to the bottom and burn.
- Make sure your pot contains enough liquid! Add extra beef broth or chicken broth if it is already an ingredient in the recipe. If the recipe does not contain a thin liquid (e.g., a recipe that requires a trivet), add 1 1/2 cups of liquid to the bottom of the Instant Pot before cooking.
- I do not use an 8-quart IP, but from what I have read this size is much quicker to burn than the 6-quart version. The 8-quart Instant Pot may require more liquid than the 6-quart does.
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Instant Pot Tomato Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 lbs cherry tomatoes halved
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt and pepper each
- 2 tbsp salted butter
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 yellow onion chopped
- 1 carrot peeled and sliced
- 1/2 cup fresh basil chopped
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 3 splashes red wine optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the tomatoes into a single layer on the sheet. Drizzle olive oil over the tops and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes.
- Set Instant Pot to saute. Melt the butter then add the garlic, onion, carrot, basil. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until soft and fragrant. Add the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and wine (if using) and give the mixture a stir.
- Place the cover on the pot and set timer to 5 minutes on high pressure (pressure cook setting). It will take the IP around 8 minutes to build up pressure before it begins cooking.
- When cooking is done, do a quick release and allow the float valve to drop. Be careful as you open the lid for any additional hot steam.
- Use a potato masher or an immersion blender to create a smooth consistency. Transfer the sauce to jars and store in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Use around 3 pounds of tomatoes of your choice. Delicious options include: cherry or grape tomatoes, plum tomatoes, san marzano tomatoes, roma tomatoes or vine-on.
- To save time, skip roasting the tomatoes before pressure cooking them. However! I do not recommend skipping this step because it adds INCREDIBLE flavor.
- You can definitely make this recipe on the stove top instead of a pressure cooker, but the flavor will not be as big and bold if you go that route.
- To spice up the sauce, add red pepper flakes and/or cayenne pepper.
My sauce is extremely watery and runny. Are you supposed to drain it? I followed the directions exactly!
Hi Renee, tomatoes are going to be a wild card for sure. I’ve had crops of tomatoes that I’ve grown myself that are watery one year and less flavorful, other years not watery and more flavorful. Buying them in the store is the same. But I’m not sure about it being completely runny. You can follow my directions for thickening up a sauce here: https://pipandebby.com/pip-ebby/how-to-thicken-tomato-sauce/
I wouldn’t discard it, just try simmering it and letting it thicken up, careful not to scorch it.