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
-
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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| Instant Pot Penne with Sausage | Instant Pot Ratatouille | Instant Pot Beet Salad |
Rani
Any recs in what (And in what quantity) to substitute in lieu of dried porcini mushrooms (not available).
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Rani, if you can find a ‘meaty’ mushroom, like portobello, shiitake, baby bella use those. Otherwise just use regular button mushrooms. Maybe about 1.5 cups. Hope you like the recipe 🙂
Jasmine
This is the first recipe I’ve tried in my instant pot and It is so flavorful, and delicious!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Jasmine, I’m really glad you liked the recipe. It really is so hearty!
Archana
This is an amazing recipe.. I just skipped red wine. My family loved it… Thanks a lot for this wonderful recipe… Will definitely make it again
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thank you, Archana, for letting us know the modification you made – that’s helpful to other readers who wish to skip the wine. I’m really glad you liked the recipe 🙂
Prerna
Hello! I’m planning to make this tomorrow using the 3 quart instant pot. I will half the quantity of ingredients. My question is should the manual mode pressure time of 7 minutes reduce also? Or stay the same? Also is there anything I can replace the milk with? Trying to omit dairy.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Prerna, yes you would halve all the quantities but keep the cooking time the same. The dairy comes from milk and cheese. Replacing them would change the taste a lot. I’m not sure how almond milk would work – it would give it a different taste but maybe okay?
Maggie
Hello! I am planning on making this tonight, however it needs to be dairy free. Do you think I could substitute the milk for coconut milk and the cheese for Nutritional Yeast? I know it won’t taste quite the same, but hopefully more or less?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Sorry, Maggie, if this is too late. I suppose you could make those substitutions but it will be a completely different taste, not sure. I use coconut milk for curries, etc but never for Italian 🙂
Rohan
Thank you for the recipe! I have a 3 quart IP, so if I want to make the sauce to later serve over pasta, as opposed to pressure cooking the pasta, how should I adjust the cooking time?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Rohan, the recipe contains quite a bit of extra liquid to allow liquid to be absorbed by the pasta. Reducing that liquid will probably result in a burn message when you pressure cook, because of the tomatoes. You could cook in ‘Saute’ mode or on the stovetop.
Deb
silly question: how much is “12 oz” of pasta? the box says 1 lb (?16 oz?). Can I use a whole box? or do I remove ⅓ of the pasta? Thanks
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Deb! The recipe was tested for 12 oz (I use a kitchen scale), which is 3/4 of the box. If you use the whole box, make sure you increase the quantity of liquid by about 2/3 cup (e.g. milk, water, broth, wine, etc). It should work.
Joseph
Made the meal for my fiance and she loved it. Thank you for postung.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Lucky fiance 🙂 I’m so glad to hear y’all liked the recipe. Thank you for taking the time to comment and rate the recipe!
Hallie
Can you half this recipe and make it in 3 quart? I’m new to this. Thanks.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hallie, I haven’t tried making it in a 3 quart, but I don’t see any reason why not, because there will be enough liquid for the 3 quart to come to pressure.
Rani
Sorry if this is silly question but I’m new to Instant Pot. In order to deglaze, do I remove the contents, then clean the pot and then put the contents back in?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Not a silly question, Rani. You do not need to remove the contents. You just add a tablespoon or two of liquid and scrape the bottom. Key to deglazing is that the pot needs to be hot and that helps dislodge the browned food from the bottom. Good luck with your new Instant Pot!
Rani
Great thanks! Does the water just burn off?
Paint the Kitchen Red
That’s right, Rani – it does evaporate. The key is not to add too much liquid – just a few Tbsp at a time.
Neha
Hello! Can you double this recipe in the six quart IP? I’d like to make this, but need it for about fifteen people!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Neha, I don’t know if you can double the recipe, I haven’t tried that. You need to make sure that the pasta and liquid together don’t go past the halfway mark, to account for expansion. You might be able to do 1 1/2 times.
BDK
Can you substitute something or simply eliminate the wine?
Paint the Kitchen Red
You can substitute the wine with broth, but the flavor will be different since red wine adds depth to the dish. You might be able to eliminate it but the quantity of liquid will change, and I’ve not tried making the dish with less liquid 🙁
Dhanya
Hi Neena,
Do you think the flavor of the pasta be affected greatly if I simply omit the dried porcini mushrooms?
Thanks,
Dhanya
Paint the Kitchen Red
Dhanya – you should be fine, maybe add a few more of the other mushrooms for more bulk, but not necessary. The dried porcini absorb some of the liquid.
Zack
I made this yesterday and all was going well until I got the “burn” message about two minutes into pressure cooking. Was able to thicken the sauce up some on sauté and it still came out tasting pretty amazing. But I was wondering if you might know what I did wrong. The only difference I know of is that I was using a ceramic non-stick insert instead of the standard aluminum. I was using the IP Duo 6qt. Prior to pressure cooking I scraped the bottom and nothing was stuck to it as far as I could tell. Any advice would be great! Thanks!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Zack, some newer Instant Pots have been showing the burn message, especially the 8 quarts. Next time try this:
– Stir everything up except crushed tomatoes and pasta
– Then add those final two ingredients last and DON’T stir; just push down to make sure they’re covered by the liquid.
– You might need to add a 1/4 cup more liquid, but you might want to try without first.
Keep me posted if you find anything out. Thanks for your question.
Zack
So I can’t speak for this one yet, but I just tried your adaped instructions with the penne with sausage in tomato cream sauce And that worked perfectly! No “burn” message. Thanks so much for the help!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Oh, great! That’s great to know. Did you add any additional liquid in that recipe? Thank you for updating us!
Zack
No additional liquid other than the fact that I used two 15oz cans of crushed tomatoes instead of one 28oz can but I doubt the 2oz made much difference. No additional water though just water first in with the sausage, then noodles, then peppers and other ingredients, then crushed tomatoes. Came out perfectly!
Karen
Want to make this but hubby is lactose intolerant. What can I substitute for mascarpone cheese?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Karen, thanks for the question. The mascarpone balances out the tomato and thickens the sauce a bit. I haven’t used a vegan cream cheese, but is that an option for you? Otherwise, try and omit the cheese and see how you like it. The pasta and sauce thickens on its own after cooking is complete but if you want to thicken some more, just cook on saute mode for a few minutes, stirring often.
An Instant Pot enthusiast in NY
Excellent recipe! I subbed eggplant for the 2 cups of fresh mushrooms and it still turned out really yummy! I also don’t eat onion or garlic and omitting those still produced a delicious pasta dish. (I increased the amount of carrot and celery to compensate for the omitted onion.)
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thank you for the comment – I’m really glad you liked it and were able to change it suit your tastes!
Kristi
Hi! Excited to try this recipe but I’m new to the instant pot——is the pasta I cooked when you put it in? Or did you cook it ahead of time? Thanks!!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Kristi, the pasta is uncooked. Hope you like the recipe. and enjoy your new Instant Pot!
Karen
Oh my gosh, so good. I didn’t even wait for him to get home! Shhhhhh
Paint the Kitchen Red
Karen – haha! That’s usually me with anything having to do with chocolate ? I’m so happy you liked it!
Monica
Delicious! Another family favorite. So rich and flavorful, didn’t miss the meat one bit.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thank you Monica! I think the mushrooms and other vegetables add a nice ‘meaty’ texture to the pasta. Just made this myself two nights ago.
Cheryl
Simple, healthy, tasty – we loved it. Thank you!