Last month I published a “basic” Instant Pot recipe. Today, I continue that trend. I do this because last year when I first got my Instant Pot I was a bit afraid, I did not know what to do with it, and I see people on Instant Pot groups saying things such as “I don’t know how to use it, don’t know what recipe to make” and so I thought: why not make a basics series? The Instant Pot is great when it comes to “complicated stuff” but it’s even better when it comes to the basics. Today’s basic recipe: Instant Pot Tomato Sauce
La recette est en français tout en bas du post!

Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need:
- Tomatoes: the riper, the better.
- Carrots
- Leek (I had some ugly leek in the fridge, hence why it’s already cut in the picture: do not throw food that is still perfectly edible!)
- Garlic
- Onion
- Spices: Thym, basil and oregano and some olive oil.
- Optional: Tomato paste

How to make this very basic Instant Pot Tomato sauce ?
The recipe in itself is very easy but it is also very important to not forget the order in which you place the ingredients. You probably noticed there isn’t any “liquid” in this recipe. That is because the tomatoes will give all the liquid the recipe needs.
So, we will cut the tomatoes (skin included), place them at the bottom of the Instant Pot.
Then we will add the carrots, leek, onion and garlic on top. And then we will spread the spices on top of this veggie mountain: Do. Not. Stir! Otherwise you’ll get the burn message and we don’t want that.
Now that all of the ingredients are ready: The instant pot ritual aka all the process from A to Z: Close the lid, set the valve to sealing, press the manual / pressure button, set the timer to 15 minutes. Then we will do a complete natural release (NR).
Once all of that is done, we will use a hand-mixer and just mix all the flavors. If you are using some tomato paste, add it here. Amazing. Stunning. If you feel it is missing some salt, don’t hesitate to add a bit.
Alternatives
This recipe is great and it’s a great base to make other tomato sauces:
- want some spiciness? Add a bit of chili or spicy cayenne pepper with the spices and you’ll end up with a great tomato sauce with a punch.
- don’t want carrots? swap them with some mushrooms! it will be delicious
- want a bit more texture? add a bit of cream/milk (vegan) and some silky tofu, the difference will be great and sooo delicious.
If you want to check out my entire “Instant Pot basics series”, here it is.
If you try one of my recipes, don’t forget to tag @tofu_cado ! would love to see the results.
Have a nice monday!
Instant Pot Basic Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 medium sized tomatoes very ripe
- 2 carrots
- 1/2 cup celery
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 onion
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp thym
- 1 tbsp basil
- 1 tbsp oregano
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 3-4 tbsp tomato paste Optional
Instructions
- Add the chopped tomatoes at the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- Then put the carrots, onion, garlic and leek on top. Make a tiny mountain of veggies. Add a splash of olive oil
- Add the spices carefull, making sure none of them fall to the bottom (very important to avoid the famous "burn" message).
- Close the lid, set the valve to sealing and click on manual. Set the timer to 15 minutes. The Instant Pot will take around 10 minutes to reach pressure. When the timer goes off, do a natural release. It will take around 25 minutes for the floating valve to come down. When it is down, turn the sealing valve to venting (even though the steam is already out) and carefully open the lid.
- Add the tomato paste if you are using some. Mix the ingredients with a hand-mixer and enjoy your beautiful tomato sauce.
Recette en français – Sauce tomate fait maison avec l’Instant Pot
Ingrédients
- 6 tomates très mûres
- 2 carottes
- 100 g céleri
- 4 gousses d’ail
- 1 oignon
- 1 cuillère à soupe de: thyme, une autre de basilic et une autre d’origan.
- Sel et poivre au goût
- 3 à 4 cuillères à soupe de concentrée de tomate (Optionnel)
Étapes
- Ajouter les tomates au fond de l’Instant Pot.
- Ajouter les carottes, oignon, ail et céleri au-dessus. Ajouter un peu d’huile d’olive
- Puis on ajoute les épices en faisant très attention. Nous ne mélangons pas, sinon on aura le “burn” message de l’Instant Pot.
- Fermer l’instant Pot, vérifier que la sealing valve est bien sur Sealing. Sélectionner le mode “Manual/Pressure cooker” et ajouter le timer à 15 minutes. L’instant Pot prendra 10 minutes à arriver à la pression maximale.
- Quand le timer est terminé, nous allons faire une natural release (NR), on ne touche pas l’Instant Pot. Quand la floating valve est descendue par elle-même, nous pouvons bouger la sealing valve à venting et ouvrir l’Instant Pot très doucement.
- Utiliser un mixeur plongeant et bien mélanger. Ajouter à ce stade là le concentré de tomates si vous le souhaitez.
- Déguster avec ses pâtes, lasagnes, riz, … tout autre plat avec lequel vous utilisiriez de la sauce tomate!
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