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Instant Pot Ziti with Tomato Sauce. Date Night Quick Pasta Meal with Ziti, sprinkled with vegan parm and fresh herbs. 1 Pot! Vegan Soyfree Recipe. Easily Glutenfree, Nutfree. Jump to Recipe
Sometimes you just need a simple pasta meal! And in a jiffy. This Ziti with herbed tomato pasta sauce fits just there. Put everything in an Instant Pot, pressure cook and done. 20 minutes to a fabulous meal. Add some vegan parm, cashew milk or vegan mozzarella for creamier or cheesier flavor. Add some veggies in with the sauce, fresh herbs for garnish and serve with some crusty garlic bread.
This Vegan Ziti comes together really quickly. It has some amazing flavor from the gently toasted garlic, tomato sauce that gets cooked to a wonderful flavor under pressure, and the pasta that cooks right with it. Sprinkle with some toasted breadcrumbs and vegan parm for a Baked Ziti kind of effect. Saucepan instructions in notes and tips for cooking pasta in Instant Pot below.
More Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Lasagna Soup with Red lentils. – So Easy
- IP Tikka Masala Simmer Sauce GF
- Instant Pot Vegan Butter Chickin(soycurls). GF – Creamy, Delicious
- Japanese Veggie Curry. GF
- IP Lentil Chili. GF
- IP Mushroom Wild Rice Soup. GF
- IP Potato Chickpea Soup. GF
Tips to cook pasta in Instant Pot
- Pasta and tomato based sauces in the Instant Pot pressure cooker can easily end up with issues such as burn errors, uneven cooking etc. For a well cooked pasta, mix with the sauce really well, pressure cook time for pasta is a min or so more than half the time listed on the pasta package. Letting the pasta sit for a few minutes before release helps cook any unevenly heated portions.
- Tomatoes and tomato based sauces easily scorch the bottom of the pot during sauteing. The scorching or sticking at the bottom is usually the reason the pot gives a burn message under pressure. Try some things like using oil, using a smoother tomato sauce rather than chunky, switching off saute earlier to avoid scorching, mixing the sauce or ingredients really well so that nothing is stuck to the bottom, and use a bit more liquid if the sauce is too thick.
- I also find that cooking the on saute actually helps, as it allows you to see if there are ingredients that are going to scorch when under pressure. If they start sticking or scorching during saute itself, there are more chances of them sticking under pressure. The heating up of the ingredients, allows the pot to come to pressure quickly, which also reduces the time the ingredients have to keep settling to the bottom.
- If you are adding veggies, add them finely chopped.
Instant Pot Ziti with Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tsp oil
- 4 cloves of garlic, , minced
- 14 to 16 oz tomato sauce,, marinara, pizza sauce or tomato puree
- 1.5 tsp italian herbs, (thyme, oregano, basil, use less or more depending on sauce used
- 1/4 tsp salt, (less or more depending on if the tomato sauce is salted or not)
- 1/4 tsp pepper flakes
- 2 cups uncooked Ziti or other pasta such as penne, , 6 oz or 200 gm
- 1.25 cup water, , 1.5 cups if the sauce used is thicker
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
- vegan parm as needed, , vegan mozzarella (optional)
- fresh basil or herbs as needed
Instructions
- Start the Instant Pot on saute. Add oil and garlic and cook until the garlic is starting to get golden. (see saucepan instructions in notes)
- Add the tomato sauce, herbs, pepper flakes and salt and mix in. Switch off saute. Add pasta and water and mix well to dislodge any stuck bits. Press the pasta into the sauce so the pasta is well covered in the sauce.Alternatively, add water, veggies if using, herbs, salt and mix in. Then add tomato sauce on top and pasta and press just to cover the pasta but dont mix. (some IPs are more prone to burn errors that others so try both to see which works. Also see tips above)
- Close the lid and pressure cook for 6 mins. (4 to 7 mins depending on the pasta used). Quick release after 4 mins.
- Add white pepper, olive oil , vegan parm, or vegan mozzarella and mix in. Garnish with more parm and fresh herbs.
- For tomato cream sauce, add 1/3 cup cashew cream and some nutritional yeast and mix in. Saute to bring to just a boil. Garnish and serve
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is such a great, quick dinner when I’m too lazy or tired to cook anything else. Thanks for creating it, it’s saved me from going to the store to get a pre-prepared meal dozens of times.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing.
This has become one of my favorite ways to cook pasta. I love making it in the IP. So easy and delicious!
Glad to hear!!
This has become one of my go-to comfort food recipes. So simple, so fast, and so very good! Thank you again!
yay!
If I want to substitute quinoa for lentils in many of your IP recipes that use lentils (my son is allergic to lentils, green peas and white beans), would I use dry or cooked quinoa? Are there any other substitutes for lentils in your recipes that might work? Would tofu or soy crumbles also work?
Hi Laura, I’ve made this a dozen times this year alone.
If you add quinoa and an equal amount of extra liquid, I think it should be ok. (Quinoa cooks in 1 minute with 1:1 quinoa:liquid in general.)
We love to add “meatballs” that we either make ourselves or buy commercially. We keep them frozen then just mix in (still frozen) with no change in time or ingredients, they cook perfectly and don’t fall apart.
Richa has a meatball recipe that uses chickpeas so I guess that won’t work for your son (https://www.veganricha.com/pesto-spaghetti-vegan-meatballs-chickpea-walnut/#wprm-recipe-container-19367). Her broccoli balls would be good too (https://www.veganricha.com/vegan-broccoli-balls/#wprm-recipe-container-27425). Sometimes I make steamed seitan balls with Italian herbs.
Soy curls or TVP would be great in this too. If you rehydrate them before putting them in, you shouldn’t need any modification to the recipe. Without rehydrating, I might start at maybe 1/2 cup tvp crumbles and 1/4 cup extra water.
Just some ideas, I hope you find something that works for you. This is a staple for us! Sometimes we are too lazy to saute garlic, still great 😉
If I wanted to add red or brown lentils would you recommend that I cook it any differently?
Add in 1/4 cup red lentils. Brown lentils won’t cook in the cook time. Also add in 1/2 cup more water
If I want to substitute quinoa for lentils in many of your IP recipes that use lentils (my son is allergic to lentils, green peas and white beans), would I use dry or cooked quinoa? Are there any other substitutes for lentils in your recipes that might work? Would tofu or soy crumbles also work?
Made this for lunch today! What a great recipe. The pasta was soft and saucy. Added some leftover shredded rotisserie chicken for more protein. Since I’m new to using Instant Pot, I was worried about the burn alert but it turned out perfectly when I followed the recipe. And under 20 mins! Never made a pasta so quick without any mess.
My first pasta recipe in the IP. Really tasty. It was gluten free pasta and I was afraid it mat make the pasta mushy but all worked well.
Thank you
Instant Pot – Instant Hit!! excellent!