Making French-inspired Instant Pot ratatouille is quick and easy. You have the option of roughly diced vegetables or a more artistic arrangement to impress your guests. This pressure cooker recipe is gluten-free, vegan, Whole30 and Paleo.
Originating in the south of France, ratatouille is a dish of stewed vegetables which was made particularly famous in the movie Ratatouille. I love both the movie and the dish, so it was only a matter of time before I decided to make Instant Pot ratatouille in my pressure cooker.
This recipe is gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan, paleo and Whole30 friendly (use regular balsamic vinegar rather than the aged, sweet balsamic vinegar).
HOW TO MAKE INSTANT POT RATATOUILLE
Stewing or braising vegetables in an Instant Pot takes hardly any time, so this recipe makes for a quick and tasty side dish. Grill a piece of fish or chicken while the pressure cooker is on and you have a lovely, French provincial dinner in 30 minutes.
Traditionally, ratatouille is made with tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, onion, garlic and herbs de Provence (thyme, basil, marjoram). There are many versions of this dish and some purists will cook every vegetable separately and then combine them together at the end. I like to think of my pressure cooker version as ratatouille express. Although it's not slow cooked and has fewer ingredients for simplicity, it still retains the classic ratatouille flavour and style.
You can use a 6" springform tin and foil (like me) or a solid heatproof 6" or 7" pan/dish such as this one, depending on the size of your Instant Pot.
Please note, previously the recipe had shorter cooking time but after readers' feedback, we retested the recipe and increase the cooking time to 12 minutes at HIGH pressure.
I wanted to recreate the presentation of the ratatouille in the movie, where the vegetables are arranged in a snail shape, overlapping each other. I think it looks beautiful, and I believe we eat with our eyes first. BUT, having said that, you are welcome to dice up the vegetables any way you wish and simply stir with the rest of the ingredients directly in the pot, before cooking begins.
MORE INSTANT POT VEGETABLE RECIPES
- Instant Pot Vegetables En Papillote (Paper Bag)
- Instant Pot Steamed Vegetables With Capers & Garlic Butter
- Instant Pot Honey Soy Carrots
- Instant Pot Green Beans With Butter & Pepper
- Instant Pot Collard Greens With Sun-Dried Tomatoes
- Best Instant Pot Zucchini Recipes
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Instant Pot Ratatouille
Ingredients
- 1 large zucchini sliced into thin circles
- 1 medium eggplant sliced into thin circles
- 2 medium tomatoes sliced into thin disks
- 1 small red onion sliced into thin circles or ½ large red onion, halved and sliced into half moons
- 2 large cloves of garlic finely diced
- 1 tablespoon of dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar sweet balsamic or regular
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Slice all the vegetables (see the picture) and sprinkle with half of the thyme, sea salt and pepper.
- Line a round springform tin with foil. This is to trap all the cooking juices inside. If using a solid metal dish, then no foil is needed as the juices won't leek through the bottom.
- Scatter some chopped garlic on the bottom. Going in a circle and alternating between eggplant, zucchini, onion, and tomato slices, layer the vegetables into a tight snail. I like to start with the outer circle and make my way inwards into the middle. See image for reference. Keep the slices close together, overlapping slightly. Once in place, sprinkle with the remaining garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper. Drizzle over evenly with vinegar and olive oil.
- Alternative:If this arrangement proves to be tricky, feel free to layer the vegetables in no particular form on top of each other. Sprinkle some thyme, salt, and pepper in between. You can also simply dice the vegetables and combine them with garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, vinegar, and olive oil in the inner pot of the pressure cooker and set to cook for the same amount of time.
- Place a wire rack inside the pot and add a cup of water. Carefully, place the tin inside the pot on top of the rack (see image). Place and lock the lid, make sure the steam releasing handle is pointing to Sealing. Press MANUAL (High Pressure) and set to 12 minutes. After 3 beeps, the pressure cooker will start to build up the pressure which will take about 10 minutes
- Once the time is up, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then use the quick release to let off the rest of the steam. Carefully remove the springform tin from the pot using tongs if needed.
- Serve on a plate in foil or transfer to a platter.
Notes
Nutrition
SAVE THIS RATATOUILLE RECIPE TO PINTEREST
Bonnie Chandler
Excellent! And the circular presentation is impressive and not hard. It seems there is an abundance of liquid so I served it over riced cauliflower. Can this be easily frozen?
Instant Pot Eats
Hey Bonnie, in general, ratatouille is pretty good for freezing. Sliced this way, the vegetables might not retain their shape so well but it won't impact the flavor.
Mary
Hello I am new to the instant pot. If I just dice the veggies and use the inner pot do I still need to add the water?
Thanks
Ann Fabrizio
yes, you still need water to create the steam and pressure.
Brendan
I used an angel food cake pan. Worked great.
Jane
Hi! I have been preparing ratatouille as a one pot dish for decades however the one pot has been an electric square skillet at between 275-350F. I slice all the participants in circular disks and cook it in layers starting with the onion (I use a sweet onion) and salt with sea/kosher salt and cover. After 10 min or so when the onion has softened and is turning translucent I add cloves of minced garlic to your taste and a lb of sliced crimini mushrooms and salt again (to help it sweat and stew) for another 10 minutes. Add the eggplant (I peel and soak in salted H2O first), salt and another 10 minutes and finally the tomatoes and cook another 10-15 minutes and then top with mozzarella, provolone, parmesan or your favorite mixture of white cheeses. After the cheese is melted serve and enjoy.
Laura
I had the same problem when I made this and over 10 additonal mintes at high pressure did not help. I believe the problem is lack of liquid. The IP does not cook anything under prsssure without liquid. I would try a cup of wine/water/stock/tomato sauce etc. also although the recipe looks pretty you can see in the photo the eggplant don’t appear cooked either. Since the instructions yeild a basically inedible result, I ended up cooking everything on the stove in tomato sauce (which is what ratatouie is, as other have pointed out - stewed). I do think the veg tart shown would work in IP with liquid.
instantpoteats
Hi Laura. You're right - you do need water for the IP to come to pressure and cook appropriately which we used. Sorry this wasn't specified.
instantpoteats
Hi Tali. I'm sorry it didn't work out for you. Was everything else cooked through? Perhaps next time you could add 2-3 minutes of cooking time.
Moriaelini
I just made my ratatouille tonight in my instant pot. Mine is not a traditional one except in the way I cook it sort of. I cube all my veggies, I do not use peppers but mushrooms, I add a little red wine and balsamic vinegar, I use herbes de provence and I do it entirely on top of the stove. So tonight I changed it up and did it in my instant pot AND I added cubed steak instead of my usual mushrooms. It is still in the cooking phase, but I will comment later about how it turned out, heh. The changes I make in mine were purely based on my family and our tastes and I never do it exactly the same each time. It is just something I whipped up years ago after reading several online ratatouille recipes.
CamF.
I followed the instructions as written and the result was pretty but much undercooked and very bland. I added some jarred tomato sauce and repeated the cooking instructions, and the eggplant was still underdone. My stovetop method requires the vegetables to be cheddar and sautéed separately, then stirred together and seasoned. More effort and time consuming, but delicious.
CamF.
Cubed, not cheddar. Dumb autocorrect.
instantpoteats
It might make sense to do a quick sautee before adding them to the IP! The recipe works for me, but perhaps you could tweak it better to suit your needs.
Tula
I had similar results. Ratatouie, as noted, is a stewed dish that gets its flavor because the veggies stew in garlicky tomato juices. There is not enough liquid to cook the eggplant through and not enough acidity to add flavor. It does look pretty, but in the end I ended up sauteeing everything with more tomato to cook the eggplant. Like you noted, it would work if the eggplant slices were seasoned and browned first, but of course then it is not a one dish meal. Even in the photo the eggplant appears undercooked. You could also try adding more liquid to the dish (red wine, tomatos..).Needs plenty of seasoning.
Maurice
This looks simply awesome and I'm going to do it in my instant pot but don't you think it's not very healthy to use aluminum foil considering what they're saying about aluminum ?
instantpoteats
Hey Maurice, you can probably use something like parchment paper. I only had aluminium on me, so that's what I used to trap the juices. If you're using a ceramic, heat-proof casserole dish or a tin that doesn't leak out, then you don't need to use any at all. For me it was to keep the juices in.
Melissa
What if you use cucumber instead of zucchini? Will it still be good?
instantpoteats
Cucumber doesn't cook very well, I wouldn't recommend it!
Marie
Hello, I am French and this does not look like a French ratatouille but more like a "tian de légumes provençal" except that the tian is cooked in the oven and not on the stove 😉
Moriaelini
Yeah I was going to say that this is closer to Confit Byaldi. From what I always understood about Ratatouille, it is a more of a vegetable stew. I always make mine like a vegetable stew and serve with crusty french bread spread with blue cheese butter...but that is my family's preference.
Tula
I was excited to see this Instant Pot recipe because it is 100 degrees in my kitchen, all the listed veggies are in season, and I love ratatouille but the long stewing time o the stove is not happening in this heat. I used a 8" springform pan, which fit fine in my 6 qt Instant Pot. I covered it first in foil and then in parchment paper (only because I don't like to cook in aluminum if I can avoid it). I followed the rest of the recipe as it is. It would be helpful to list the veggies by weight since a medium eggplant is a subjective beast. I ended up with lots of extra eggplant and zucchini, although I used less than what is pictured in the recipe and really packed it into the 8" instead of 6" pan.
A few caveats - after 6 minutes on high pressure + 6 minutes resting and then quick release (as described) the eggplant was not nearly cooked through. Another 5 minutes on high - still not cooked through. Another 5 minutes on high plus 10 minutes. Still tough. I am using fresh, baby Italian eggplants just like the ones pictured.
I would also recommend using more salt, and salting the eggplant separately first to allow it to soften.
If you like a moister ratatouille, you will need more tomatoes than 2 medium. I sliced the eggplant very thin - about 1/4" even slices, but maybe next time I will slice even thinner with a mandolin. I will also add more tomatoes and maybe a little red wine. Some acidity and moisture will help the eggplant to cook evenly and the dish will be more flavorful.
Still, I was inspired by the lovely photos and will keep trying until i get better results.
Kate
Great comments! I was also wondering about the 6qt size /pan size...I would love to hear what has worked for you in the end as far as the eggplant. Yum!