Okay, I’ve been meaning to blog about this recipe for months, but I just never got to it! This is one of my favorite meals to make for a large crowd because it’s easy, packed with flavor, healthy, and delicious! I love using my instant pot for quick meals. I’m not going to lie, the instant pot intimidated me at first, but after giving it a try, it wasn’t so hard after all! This lentil bolognese is so good, I could just eat it like soup. It can be paired with bread, pasta, rice, or quinoa. My husband loves it with pasta. This lentil bolognese is full of protein, fiber, veggies, and flavor. I can eat it by the spoonfuls. I can never get sick of lentils. I know the holidays can be kinda crazy, so this meal is definitely something you can whip up fast and not have to slave hours over.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups red lentils, washed
1 -28 oz. can of fire roasted chopped tomatoes
1 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 medium carrots, diced
1 can of tomato paste
4 cups of water
2 Tbsp of Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper, or to taste
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Instructions

Into your Instant Pot liner, add all of your ingredients through red pepper flakes. Give that a good stir to incorporate all of the ingredients. Place in your Instant Pot, close the steam release knob and set to manual for 15 minutes.
When it’s done cooking, allow the pressure to release naturally for the next 15 minutes. Then carefully manually release the steam. Once you open the top, add the balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Stir well. Taste test for seasoning/salt preference. Serve over your favorite pasta, bread, rice, or quinoa.
Enjoy!

Author: valeria.chao

(recipe adapted from Knead to Cook)

Easy Instant Pot Lentil Bolognese