Instant Pot Baked Ziti is a creamy, flavor-packed pasta dish, bursting with robust flavors of seasoned Italian sausage in a rich Parmesan-laden tomato sauce. This meal is whipped up effortlessly in your trusty pressure cooker -- it's a delicious weeknight win!
SAUSAGE: Set a 6-quart Instant Pot to 'sauté' mode. Add olive oil, followed by the Italian sausage. Sear for about one minute on each side before adding in the diced onion. Cook until the sausage is fully browned, breaking it into smaller pieces as it cooks. Once browned, mix in the entire can of tomato paste and all the seasonings. Stir well, sautéing until fragrant, one to three more minutes. Turn off Instant Pot.
ADD PASTA: Pour in chicken broth, water, and cream. Stir well to combine. Gently pour in pasta, but don't stir. Simply press down all pasta pieces below the liquid.
PRESSURE COOK: Secure the Instant Pot lid, making sure the valve is set to "seal." Select the "manual" or "pressure cook" setting and dial up or down to get to 4 minutes. Allow the Instant Pot to come to pressure and cook. Once done, let it release pressure naturally for four minutes. Immediately release the remaining pressure by carefully hitting the valve to release. Immediately remove the lid. It will look liquidy at first.
ADD CHEESE: Carefully remove the metal insert from the Instant Pot and set it on a trivet. Stir the contents gently with a wooden spoon. Gradually add the grated Parmesan cheese, ¼cup at a time, stirring well between each addition to ensure it's fully melted and integrated into the sauce. Taste the sauce and adjust seasonings if necessary (I typically add another ¼ tsp salt here).
SERVE: If desired, mix through finely chopped basil. Serve the ziti while it's hot and enjoy!
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Notes
Note 1: Sausage: Depending on personal preference, use mild or spicy sausage -- either works. Sausage can come in different-sized packages -- as long as you're in the general ballpark, this recipe will work just fine. We use one pound, but if you have a 19-ounce package, throw it all in if you like -- you'll just have a meatier sauce. If using Italian sausages with casings, be sure to remove the casings before cooking. We do not drain off the grease in this recipe.
Note 2: Tomato paste: Stick to tomato paste; it's far more concentrated than other tomato products which we need for this recipe.
Note 3: Fennel seeds: Measure and then crush the seeds (mortar and pestle or pound in a bag with the bottom of a frying pan) and add in. Ground fennel is stronger, so you'll need less. Note 4: Heavy cream: We don't recommend swapping out the heavy cream. The cream balances the acidity of the tomato paste and has enough fat to cook well in the Instant Pot. When we tested milk, it curdled!Note 5: Pasta: Stick to ziti for best results! If you're in a bind, look for a similar-sized pasta but make sure the recommended boil time matches ziti's.Note 6: Parmesan: Here’s the Parmesan we’re looking for for this recipe. Add it slowly, stirring gently in between additions for a smooth melt.