Pressure Cooker Veggie Filled Meat Sauce

Looking for the perfect meat sauce with a slow cooked taste in less time? Try this easy pressure cooker Italian sauce filled with veggies. Super hearty, perfect for spaghetti, lasagna or baked pasta dishes!

I was a bit slow to jump on the pressure cooker bandwagon…not sure why! Now that I have experienced how amazing cooking with one is, I’ll never go back. As any busy mom knows, making a simple home-cooked meal in under 30 minutes can be complicated…kids need allllll of your attention after school and it’s witching hour. Aka – chaos!

Whenever I can, I like to use a little help from the store. This pasta sauce was one of the first meals I made for Ricky. We had just started dating and I thought I would impress him with some comfort food. Needless to say, he’s still around. Ha!

If you’re not a fan of beef, substitute ground turkey or chicken, even ground chicken sausage. Make it your own! Olivia doesn’t like zucchini, but she gobbles it up when it’s shredded! Use this recipe as a guide to make your own classic meat sauce.

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Pressure Cooked Italian Beef & Veggie Sauce

This sauce is perfect for any Italian dish you have planned: pasta, lasagna or even with zoodles! Best part: it cooks up in under 30 minutes, but tastes slow roasted.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 12 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1.25 pounds ground beef We like 85/15 variety
• 1 whole yellow onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large carrots, peeled and grated
• 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
• 2 cups spinach, chopped
• 1 large zucchini, grated
• 1 jar Favorite pasta sauce 24 oz
• 2 whole bay leaves optional

Instructions

1. Set your pressure cooker to the Brown/Sauté function. Add ground beef and crumble as it browns with a flat spatula. Allow to cook until no longer pink, about 8 minutes. Strain, if desired. (Usually using 85/15, there isn't too much extra oil). Remove from pan.
   

2. Add to the empty pan olive oil, onion and garlic. Cook for 1 minute, then add carrots, zucchini and spinach. Season with Italian seasoning. Add bay leaves. Cook for another minute.
   

3. Return Beef to the pan. Stir and add jar of pasta sauce, plus fill the jar with water once. Stir. Set pressure cooker on HIGH and the Meat/Stew setting for 20 minutes.
   

4. Once finished cooking, remove bay leaves. Serve as desired with pasta, for lasagna or even with zoodles!
   

Recipe Notes

To freeze, allow to cool in a large zip top baggie. Put on a cookie sheet to freeze flat. Great for up to 6 months!

Modifications:

For a slow cooker: brown meat and veggies before adding to slow-cooker. Cook on HIGH setting for 4 hours, LOW for 8-10

For stove top: Bubble for 45 minutes-all day on LOW (stirring frequently) after following the steps before pressure cooking.

Stay tuned for a delicious baked shell recipe using this sauce. I was able to get 2 full meals out of this one batch of sauce. Always a win!

Do you own a pressure cooker? What recipes do you love?