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! All the vegetables in this hearty vegetarian pasta recipe give the dish a meaty texture. The pasta and sauce are cooked together making it a delicious one-pot meal.
** New Readers: Please read an important message about this recipe right before the recipe card! **
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 for the cheese and parsley, and pressure cook. That’s it.
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.
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.
If you’re looking for a tasty Instant Pot Pasta recipe with meat, learn how to make Instant Pot Penne with Sausage and Tomato Cream Sauce – it’s fabulous; another one-pot pressure cooker pasta dish that’s quick and easy.
Tips and Substitutions
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 new to the Instant Pot and aren’t familiar with how to use it, please read the Instant Pot DUO Beginner’s Quick Start Guide or the Instant Pot ULTRA Beginner’s Quick Start Guide 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 ‘Cancel’.
- If there’s food stuck to the bottom, deglaze inner 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’ (or ‘Pressure Cook’) 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. Remove the towel after turning the knob.
- 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 ‘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.
January 2018: If you’ve made this recipe before, carry on! If you’re new to this recipe, please note that some new Instant Pot owners are getting the dreaded ‘burn’ message. Here are some things you can do to try and avoid a burn notice:
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After sauteing onions and garlic, deglaze really well
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Turn off the Instant Pot and let it cool down for a minute or two
-
Add water first, then remaining ingredients
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Depending on your Instant Pot, you may need to add an extra 1/2 to 1 cup of water
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Add tomatoes and pasta last and don’t stir, just submerge in the liquid
[Read: Everything you need to know about Instant Pot burn message]
Instant Pot Vegetarian Pasta | Rigatoni Bolognese
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!
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Servings: 6
Calories: 293 kcal
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
- 28 oz. (1 can) crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
- 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 - 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 ‘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’ (or 'Pressure Cook') 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
- Prep time does not include steps that are already accounted for in the ingredient list, e.g. chopped onions, minced garlic, diced chicken, etc.
- See the blog post for more detailed recipe tips
Nutrition
Serving: 1 serving | Calories: 293 kcal | Carbohydrates: 27 g | Protein: 10 g | Fat: 14 g | Saturated Fat: 5 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6 g | Cholesterol: 22 mg | Sodium: 513 mg | Fiber: 4 g | Sugar: 9 g
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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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Jacob Zelten
Re. the Burn message: I am convinced that there is a significant variation between individual IPs. (Personally I get Burn on *any* recipe with tomato unless I add water). Maybe it’s the thermostats, maybe its the flatness of the bottom of the pot creating hotspots… In any case, get to know your own pot and adjust accordingly.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks, Jacob. I do have to agree with you that every Instant Pot model and individual unit can perform differently. Regarding tomatoes, have you tried layering and not stirring (water on the bottom, tomato on top) – it helps A LOT!
EmilyOJ
Made several times and always turns out delicious! Company enjoyed it and asked for recipe.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks Emily! I’m thrilled to hear that you and your guests loved the recipe 🙂
Bethan
My son who hates pasta dishes ate it, my daughter who loves pasta dishes hated it! Typical contrary teenagers!! I thought it was ok and my husband loved it. The wine didn’t cook down enough for my taste, maybe I’ll try again and replace half the wine with stock.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks for your comment – well, at least someone liked it 🙂 If they are used to meat, that could be a reason 🙂 Yes, you can definitely use broth instead of wine.