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Home » Instant Pot Recipes » Diets » Vegan

Instant Pot Vegan Bolognese

Published: Dec 2, 2019 · Modified: Jan 4, 2024 by Irena Macri · This post may contain affiliate links · 8 Comments

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If you love homemade Italian cuisine, you must try this Instant Pot vegan bolognese recipe. This meat-free version is made with red lentils and mushrooms, pressure cooked in a gorgeous, rich tomato sauce. You'll be surprised by how satiating and hearty this dish is, making it a worthy rival to its traditional meaty cousin.


Instant Pot Vegan Bolognese With Lentils & Mushrooms

In This Post:

  • ℹ️ Overview
  • 🛒 What You Need
  • 📷 How To Make It Step-By-Step
  • 📹Watch The Video
  • 📝 Go To Full Recipe
  • 🍝 Serving suggestions
  • ⭐️ Comment On & Rate This Recipe

If you love a good bolognese, which is traditionally made with ground beef and pork (in various ratios) but you're vegan or vegetarian,  avoiding meat for health reasons or simply incorporating more plant-based dishes in your diet, then this recipe is a must-try.

After trying a few different versions of vegetarian-friendly ragu sauce and experimenting with ingredients and seasonings, we have finally perfected our Instant Pot vegan bolognese.

Why Make A Vegan Bolognese

  • It's a great way to incorporate more nutritious lentils and veggies in your diet.
  • It's perfect for #meatfreemondays, or any time you want to eat a plant-based meal.
  • It's high in protein and fibre, and when served over pasta, rice or other grains, you'll be getting in the complete profile of amino acids. 
  • It's ridiculously delicious and very satiating and many of our recipe testers prefer this version to the meat one.
  • It's quick and easy to make in the Instant Pot! 
  • You can make a gluten-free version of this dish by using wheat-free Tamari sauce instead of soy sauce.
Instant Pot Vegan Bolognese

What You'll Need

Let's break down the ingredients you will need to make this dish. As with many sauces, the trio of onions, celery and carrots is the base of the recipe. Sauteed in olive oil, these veggies will caramelise slightly and lovely sweetness and flavours to the final dish.

Onions, celery and carrots for Bolognese

The star ingredients that will give the bulk to our sauce are red lentils (pre-soaked in water for 15-20 minutes) and finely diced mushrooms. You can use any type of lentils and any type of mushrooms. We used a food processor to chop the mushrooms but you can also do this by hand.

Lentil bolognese with mushrooms

Other (all accessible) ingredients that give this sauce sweetness, acidity, saltiness and umami flavours: garlic, vegetable stock cube, paprika, a couple of dates, black olives, chili, crushed tomatoes (or tomato passata), balsamic vinegar and soy sauce. 

Vegan bolognese ingredients

How To Make Instant Pot Vegan Bolognese

You will find the full list of ingredients, instructions and nutritional info in the recipe card below. Here are some step-by-step pics to guide you along.

  • Pre-soak the lentils for 15-20 minutes and rinse and set aside.
  • Dice the mushrooms very finely, ideally using a food processor. Set aside.
  • On Sauté, cook onions, carrot, celery and salt for 7-8 minutes, stirring a couple of times. Make sure not to burn the mixture.
  • Add the rest of the ingredients, except for water and crushed tomatoes. Stir well and then add the water. Stir the mixture well, scraping any bits that are stuck to the bottom to prevent the Burn notice. Press Cancel to stop the sauteeing.
how to make vegan bolognese in instant pot
  • Add tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes and stir briefly.
  • Pop and lock the lid and press Manual/Pressure Cook button, HIGH pressure, adjust to 12 minutes. Cook your preferred side (pasta, rice, polenta) in the meantime. Once the timer finishes, follow with natural pressure release.
  • Open the lid, add the tomato paste if using, and stir through. 
  • Optional: If you like a slightly smoother sauce, you can use an emersion blender to puree SOME of the sauce.
how to make vegan bolognese in instant pot 2

Watch The Video

IMPORTANT NOTE on BURN ERROR: A few folks with newer Instant Pot models have reported the burn ERROR using our original recipe. This is due to those models being very sensitive to ingredients like tomato sauce getting thickened and stuck to the bottom of the pot. We've revised the instructions to help you avoid the burn notice! This means that the video above will have a slightly different order of ingredients going in. Please use the instructions in the recipe below!

FREEZING BOLOGNESE

Allow the sauce to cool completely and divide between Ziplock freezer bags or containers. Freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge or microwave, reheat well and serve. In the fridge, the bolognese sauce will last for 3-4 days.

Freezing Bolognese

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

You can serve this vegan bolognese sauce with any kind of pasta but it's particularly good with spaghetti, fettuccine and tagliatelle. Gluten-free pasta also works well. Other options are rice, quinoa, polenta, mashed potatoes, zucchini noodles or cauliflower rice for a low-carb version. 

We like to sprinkle it with a few chili flakes and fresh parsley, and some nutritional yeast flakes for that cheesy, umami addition. If you eat cheese or have a dairy-free version, that also goes well on top.

Instant Pot Lentil Bolognese (vegan)

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  • Vegan Mac & Cheese With Artichokes
  • Hearty Pumpkin & Chickpea Chili
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  • Instant Pot Lentil Recipes
Instant Pot Vegan Bolognese

Rate This Recipe

4.25 from 4 votes

Instant Pot Vegan Bolognese

This hearty and delicious Instant Pot vegan bolognese recipe is made with lentils and mushrooms in a rich sauce. Perfect for a plant-based dinner, it can be served over pasta, rice, quinoa, polenta ot veggie noodles. Can be gluten-free with one small adjustment.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time20 minutes mins
Cook Time30 minutes mins
Total Time50 minutes mins
Servings: 5 4-6 servings
Calories: 262kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dry red lentils soaked for 15-20 minutes
  • 200 g button mushrooms 7 oz., diced into mince
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion medium, finely diced
  • 1 carrot large, finely diced
  • 1 celery rib large, finely diced
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 10 olives black or green, diced roughly
  • 2 dates roughly diced
  • 3 cloves garlic finely diced
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon chilli flakes
  • 1 teaspoon brown or red miso optional, white could be used
  • 1 vegetable stock cube
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 cups tomato sauce passata, or crushed tinned tomatoes

After cooking

  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste optional, makes it a bit more tomato-y

Instructions

  • Pre-soak the lentils for 15-20 minutes and rinse and set aside.
  • Dice the mushrooms very finely, ideally using a food processor. Set aside.
  • Turn the Instant Pot on and press the Sauté button. Add the olive oil, onions, carrot, celery and salt and cook for 7-8 minutes, stirring a couple of times. Make sure not to burn the mixture.
  • Add the rest of the ingredients, except for water and crushed tomatoes. Stir well and then add the water. With the water in, stir the mixture well making sure to scrape any bits that are stuck to the bottom to prevent the Burn notice. Press Cancel to stop the sauteeing.
  • Add tomato passata/crussehd tomatoes and stir through.
  • Pop and lock the lid and press Manual/Pressure Cook button, HIGH pressure, adjust to 12 minutes. Cook your preferred side (pasta, rice, polenta) in the meantime.
  • Once the timer finishes, follow with natural pressure release.
  • Open the lid, add the tomato paste if using, and stir through. Optional: If you like a slightly smoother sauce, you can use an emersion blender to puree SOME of the sauce.
  • Serving over pasta, rice, polenta or quinoa.

Notes

IMPORTANT NOTE on BURN ERROR: A few folk with newer Instant Pot models have reported the burn ERROR using our original recipe. This is because those models are very sensitive to ingredients like tomato sauce getting thickened and stuck to the bottom of the pot. We've revised the instructions to help you avoid the burn notice!
You can serve this sauce over pasta or any other side with a few chili flakes and parsley on top. We like to sprinkle some nutritional yeast flakes or you can also grate some vegan-friendly cheese.

Nutrition

Calories: 262kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 1451mg | Potassium: 931mg | Fiber: 15g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 2819IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 5mg
CourseMain
CuisineItalian
KeywordGluten-Free, Instant Pot Vegan Recipes, Lentil Bolognese, Lentils, Mushroom Bolognese, mushrooms, Vegan
Made this recipe?Mention @instantpoteats or tag #instantpoteats!

SAVE THIS VEGAN BOLOGNESE TO PINTEREST

Instant Pot Vegan Bolognese

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jenilee

    August 29, 2024 at 5:05 pm

    I love this recipe! Super flavourful, super easy, and really delicious. I have made it many times and it turns out perfect every time.

    Reply
    • Ann Fabrizio

      September 9, 2024 at 7:17 pm

      Thanks! Happy it was a winner.

      Reply
  2. Irene

    December 8, 2020 at 6:29 pm

    I made this and followed all the directions but I still got the burn signal so what I decided to try was to put the pressure on low for 12 min and it turned out wonderful . Also I replaced the water with organic vegetable broth and I added the tomato paste and some hot sauce , some garlic & onion powder and Italian spices . It tastes absolutely delicious!!! I will definitely be making this recipe again .

    Reply
    • instantpoteats

      December 10, 2020 at 9:57 pm

      Thank you, Irene. Yes, the Burn notice can be really annoying with anything tomato-based and it's such a great idea to use Low pressure. I will add it to our cooking notes in case someone runs into the same issue. Glad you enjoyed this dish!

      Reply
  3. Laura D Cooper

    September 2, 2020 at 7:59 pm

    Not a fan of these flavors. Had to douse it with balsamic vinegar to cover something up. I added everything in the recipe and something wasn't to my liking but I don't know what; dates? miso? soy sauce? At least the tomatoes didn't burn, as usual with tomatoes in the instant pot. Yay! The texture was fine and I'll make bolognese again but with caution as to what I include in the pot.

    Reply
  4. Instant Pot User

    January 6, 2020 at 3:06 am

    good flavor, but mine failed to pressurize. Should it have more water?

    Reply
    • instantpoteats

      January 6, 2020 at 9:45 pm

      Was the lid set to Sealing? Did you pre-soak the lentils? Not sure what else could have caused it to be honest. It should pressurize just fine with the amount of liquid suggested but you can always try adding more next time.

      Reply
    • M Ferner

      January 9, 2020 at 5:47 pm

      Mine failed to pressurize as well. However, despite the msg that it wasn't under pressure, it still was still cooked when I opened the lid to check it. I wasn't expecting the lentils to be soft, but they were - and it was delicious!

      Reply

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