This basic tomato paste made in an Instant Pot is packed with flavorful chunks of tomato. It has a natural sweetness from the onions, a delicate flavor from the stems of fresh basil, and it is more delectable than anything you could buy in a jar. By utilizing the Instant Pot, we are able to condense a cooking process that would normally take several hours into a splatter-free sauce that is ready to be used or stored in your freezer. If you've had trouble finding tomato sauces that have the appropriate seasonings and flavor profile to suit a variety of applications, your search is now over. If you use good canned tomatoes, this homemade tomato sauce has the added benefit of being plant-based, oil-free, and additive-free. Another perk of making your own tomato sauce is that it saves you money. Even if you adhere to a salt-free diet, this straightforward dish can be modified to meet your needs. Winner! This sauce is designed to be simple, and while it goes particularly well with pasta, it is versatile enough to be used in a variety of other applications as well. If you're craving pizza, we've got you covered. 
Craving veggie Braim casserole instead? This is the basis upon which you build. I won't even begin to express what this sauce does for a fast chili or stew since it's just that good. In a word, this sauce is ready to roll straight from the bowl, and it has the capacity to meet all of your saucy wants with just a few modifications to the recipe. INGREDIENTS The onion – This is not a typo: there should be 5 cups of diced onions. If you want to count them, that comes out to roughly 5 medium or 2 large onions. I can assure you that the sauce will not have the flavor of raw onion. When the onions are done cooking, they become translucent and melt into the sauce. Onions contain three types of sugar that fall under the category of "simple" sugars: glucose, fructose, and sucrose. As the onions are cooked, the sugars are liberated. That is why we begin by cooking them in a saute pan for five minutes. The cooking process requires two separate uses of broth, one of which being vegetable broth. To begin, use the onions in place of oil or butter because we don't utilize those ingredients in this culture. Second, I continued cooking the tomatoes in the soup by adding an additional cup of the stock. Garlic: You need to add enough garlic to the sauce so that it has a flavor, but not so much that it overpowers everything else. I found that four cloves was the perfect amount, but you could certainly use more or less of them depending on your taste. 
Tomato paste in pot
Tomato paste in a pot requires adding tomato paste to a dish enables the taste to become more concentrated. I tested this recipe both with and without it, and I can assure you that using it will yield the best results. Use three tablespoons if you prefer a gravy-like consistency for the sauce. The Instant Pot may be deglazed with red wine, and the wine also contributes flavor to the dish. If you don't want to use wine, you can substitute broth for it instead. Some of the most recent Instant Pot models are quite sensitive. It is possible for the dreaded "food burning" warning to be triggered even if there is only a trace amount of food remaining on the bottom of the pot. Because of this, you need to remove the food from the bottom of the Instant Pot using a wooden spoon or a flexible spatula numerous times. Flakes of dried red pepper We discovered that adding dried red pepper flakes to this sauce for a more robust and spicy flavor worked wonders. I would suggest using between a half and a full teaspoon. You don't want to cover up the robust flavor of the tomatoes with a fiery heat, and you don't need too much of it because the process of cooking under pressure will bring out more of the flavors in the tomatoes. 
basil stems Because this dish is intended for consumption either as is or with the addition of other flavors, the amount of spice called for is purposefully kept to a minimum. Nevertheless, the addition of a few fresh basil stems brings a touch of sweetness and helps balance out the tomatoes' natural acidity. If you are going to serve this sauce straight away, set aside the leaves so that you may use them as a garnish. Tomatoes in a can - It goes without saying that a tomato sauce needs tomatoes. You should choose them carefully because they will determine how the entire recipe turns out. Tomatoes, either diced or left whole, perform wonderfully in this application. Before adding them, if you are using them whole, you should first break them up with your hands or a knife. Make sure that you also include the juice. Tomatoes that have been canned have a more strong flavor than fresh tomatoes since they are cooked before being canned. Tomatoes in a can — what would our pantry be like if we didn't have them? Unsettlingly devoid of any furnishings at all! Tomato sauce from a can is an essential component of a tasty chili and goes well with any type of curry. Tomatoes that are canned or tinned, like vegetables that are frozen, are processed at the peak of their ripeness. This guarantees that they have the highest possible nutritional value and that they are packed to the brim with more lycopene than you would get even from fresh tomatoes. Because of this, you should never give the impression that you are making a concession by utilizing their services. 
Make tomato paste instant
Compared to making tomato sauce on the stovetop, using an Instant Pot is not only simple but also significantly less messy. Here are some of the most important points: Note: This recipe works best in an Instant Pot that is at least 6 quarts in capacity. To begin, sauté the onions in a half cup of vegetable stock with some salt and pepper before moving on to the next step. Note that if you are following a diet that restricts your sodium intake, you can omit the salt. For the first five minutes, set the Instant Pot to High Saute with the lid closed. Be sure that the handle for the steam release is set to the Sealing position. The onions become more pliable as a result, which allows the onions' inherent sugars to become more accessible. When you are finished with the sautéing step, use the fast release and take the lid off the pan. The contents are going to be piping hot. It's possible that there's still some liquid in the bottom. This is done so that there is no stickiness. After giving the onions a good toss, return the pot to the saute setting on the stove. Include the minced garlic and tomato paste in the dish. Please let the tomato paste to simmer for one minute. 
Mixing it up frequently After that, deglaze the saucepan with the red wine (or the broth, if you like). Sauté the vegetables until the wine has evaporated to at least half of its original volume. Stop the cooking process and add the tomatoes, chili flakes (if you're using them), basil stems, and vegetable broth after the pot has been turned off. After you have reattached the cover to the Instant Pot, move the handle that controls the steam release to the Sealing position, and then set the pot to High Saute for 25 minutes. Do nothing once the timer alerts you with its beeping sound. That's right, you should let the steam another 15 minutes to release itself in a natural way. After this, take the cover off of the pan and whisk the sauce. You are quite close to finishing it, unless you decide that you want it to be a little bit more substantial. If this is the case, select the Saute function on your Instant Pot, and then remove the lid and let the sauce to simmer for 5–10 minutes. First, give the sauce a few minutes to cool for a few minutes before transferring it to a bowl or blender. To purée the sauce, you can either use a stick blender (also known as an immersion blender) or a regular blender. 
Do you happen to have any other herbs that would go well with this sauce? Because this is just a basic tomato sauce, we won't be adding any more herbs to it. On the other hand, if you want to add more dry herbs, you might want to think about using oregano, basil, or Italian mixed herbs. The completed sauce would be enhanced visually by the addition of freshly chopped parsley or basil as a garnish. Is freezing tomato sauce even possible? For the best results when freezing this sauce, first ensure that it has cooled to room temperature before transferring it to a freezer-safe container or a heavy-duty freezer bag. Put in the freezer for up to three months. What causes burning in an Instant Pot when using tomato sauce? The primary reason why your Instant Pot displays the message "food burning" is either because there is not enough liquid in the pot or because there is food that is stuck to the bottom of the Instant Pot. Because of this, it is of the utmost importance to completely deglaze the Instant Pot before continuing with the sautéing of the onions and any other ingredients. Make sure to use a wooden spoon or a flexible spatula to frequently scrape the bottom.