Instant Pot Vegetarian Pasta – Rigatoni Bolognese – is a healthy, filling pasta dish that’s worthy to be in your regular meal rotation, and you won’t miss the meat!
Although I love traditional spaghetti bolognese with meat, a few years ago I found a Giada De Laurentiis recipe for a vegetarian rigatoni bolognese and adapted it to make a pasta dish that’s perfect for vegetarian meals and meatless Mondays. For the Instant Pot version of my recipe, I cook the pasta and sauce together, to make yet another delicious one-pot meal. The bolognese-style vegetarian sauce is made with lots of vegetables – onion, celery, carrots, bell peppers and mushrooms – which gives it a thick, meaty texture.
One of the things I love about making pasta in the Instant Pot pressure cooker is that I can cook everything together: the pasta and the sauce. It’s so convenient and easy to get this vegetarian pasta on the dinner table on busy days: in less than 30 minutes with minimum cleanup . Don’t be deterred by the list of ingredients! I know it’s long, but if you’re organized and can gather everything up before you start cooking, you’ll find that it comes together very quickly.
Saute your vegetables in the Instant Pot first, then put in the remaining ingredients except the cheese and parsley, and pressure cook. That’s it. The leftovers make a perfect vegetarian lunch the next day. You can make this Instant Pot vegetarian pasta for a crowd by doubling the recipe and cooking it in separate batches.
Porcini mushrooms are earthy, wild mushrooms that have a nice meaty texture. Dried porcini mushrooms are normally soaked in hot water, and the soaking liquid is added to the dish during the cooking process. In this Instant Pot Vegetarian Pasta recipe, I skip the soaking step and add the chopped dried mushrooms to the pasta along with the other ingredients. Dried porcini can be pricey, so you can substitute dried shiitake mushrooms or mixed mushrooms.
This vegetarian pasta is finished with mascarpone cheese and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Mascarpone is an Italian cream cheese that’s softer and creamier in texture than regular cream cheese and is used to make Italian desserts like tiramisu. If you can’t find mascarpone, you can try and substitute heavy cream or cream cheese.
If you’re looking for a tasty Instant Pot Pasta dish with meat, learn how to make Instant Pot Penne with Sausage and Tomato Cream Sauce – it’s fabulous; another one-pot pasta dish that’s quick and easy.
If you’re new to the Instant Pot and aren’t familiar with how to use it, please read the Instant Pot Manual / Beginner’s Quick Start Guide blog post first and then come back here to learn how to make Instant Pot Vegetarian Pasta.
Instant Pot Vegetarian Pasta Ingredients
Instant Pot Vegetarian Pasta Step-by-Step Instructions
- Press ‘Saute’
- Add olive oil to inner pot of Instant Pot
- Add onions, celery, carrots, bell peppers and garlic and saute for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes.
- Turn off Instant Pot by pressing ‘Keep Warm/Cancel’.
- If there’s food stuck to the bottom, deglaze pot with 2 tablespoons of water.
- Add in dried porcini mushrooms, crushed tomatoes, black pepper, salt, thyme, oregano, basil, sugar, balsamic vinegar, tomato paste, crushed red pepper, pasta, milk, wine and water.
- Stir to combine.
- Close Instant Pot Lid, and make sure steam release handle is in the ‘Sealing’ position.
- Press ‘Manual’ and ‘+’ or ‘-‘ until display reads ‘7’ (7 minutes).
- Instant Pot display will change to ‘On’.
- Once the Instant Pot is pressurized, the float valve will go up.
- The display will count down from 7 to 0; it will switch to ‘Keep Warm’ mode and display ‘L0:00’.
- Do a quick release: move the steam release handle to ‘Venting’. I like to place a folded towel over the steam release handle and move it to the venting position.
- When your Instant Pot is depressurized, the float valve will be in the down position.
- It’s now safe to open the Instant Pot. (Press ‘Keep Warm/Cancel’ to turn off Instant Pot.)
- There might seem to be more liquid than you’d like, but don’t worry, the liquid will get absorbed by the pasta.
- Stir in mascarpone cheese.
- Let the pasta rest for a few minutes and it will thicken up.
- Sprinkle each serving with Parmesan and fresh parsley.
Instant Pot Vegetarian Pasta | Rigatoni Bolognese
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 6
Instant Pot Vegetarian Pasta – Rigatoni Bolognese – is a healthy, filling pasta dish that’s worthy to be in your regular meal rotation, and you won’t miss the meat!
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped fine
- 1/2 cup celery, chopped fine
- 1/2 cup carrots, chopped fine
- 1/2 cup bell peppers, chopped fine
- 1 Tbsp garlic, minced
- 2 cups fresh mushrooms, chopped
- 1 cup water
- 1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms, chopped
- 1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme,
- 1 tsp dried oregano,
- 1 tsp dried basil,
- 1 tsp sugar,
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar,
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste,
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
- 12 oz rigatoni pasta
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup red wine
- 4 oz. mascarpone cheese
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated
- 3 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Press ‘Saute’ and add olive oil to inner pot of Instant Pot
- Add onions, celery, carrots, bell peppers and garlic and saute for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add fresh mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes.
- Turn off Instant Pot by pressing ‘Keep Warm/Cancel’.
- If there’s food stuck to the bottom, deglaze pot with 2 tablespoons of water.
- Add in dried porcini mushrooms, crushed tomatoes, black pepper, salt, thyme, oregano, basil, sugar, balsamic vinegar, tomato paste, crushed red pepper, pasta, milk, wine and water.
- Stir to combine.
- Close Instant Pot Lid, and make sure steam release handle is in the ‘Sealing’ position.
- Cook on 'manual' mode for 7 minutes.
- Do a quick release of pressure.
- There might seem to be more liquid than you’d like, but don’t worry, the liquid will get absorbed by the pasta.
- Stir in mascarpone cheese.
- Let the pasta rest for a few minutes and it will thicken up.
- Sprinkle each serving with Parmesan and fresh parsley.
Notes
Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis Vegetarian Pasta Bolognese.
Courses Main Dish
Cuisine Italian
Nutrition Facts
Amount Per Serving | ||
|---|---|---|
Calories 293 | ||
% Daily Value | ||
Total Fat 14 g | 22% | |
Saturated Fat 5 g | 25% | |
Unsaturated Fat 6 g | ||
Cholesterol 22 mg | 7% | |
Sodium 513 mg | 21% | |
Total Carbohydrates 27 g | 9% | |
Dietary Fiber 4 g | 16% | |
Sugars 9 g | ||
Protein 10 g | 20% | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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