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Instant Pot Cheese Ravioli & Italian Sausage
Easy weeknight dinners are my favorite and this Instant pot ravioli is no exception. Using the sauté function to brown the Italian sausage and then simply layering all of the other ingredients on top. Instant Pot Ravioli is done in 30 minutes and will have your family asking for more.

How Long to cook frozen ravioli in the Instant Pot
Ravioli is a quick-cooking pasta. If you were preparing it on the stovetop in boiling water the cooking time would be around 5-8 minutes. When cooking it in the Instant Pot that translates to a very quick 1-2 minute cooking time followed by a quick release of the pressure.
Ingredients:
Olive Oil
Mild or Hot Italian sausage
Water
Red bell pepper sliced
Orange or Yellow bell pepper sliced
Small red onion sliced
Fresh baby spinach
Frozen cheese ravioli
Canned spaghetti sauce or jar of your favorite jarred marinara sauce.
Shredded Parmesan cheese
How To Avoid The Burn Message With Tomato Sauce
If using a store-bought jarred spaghetti sauce that is thick add ¼ cup of water to the sauce to thin it out. If using a homemade canned spaghetti sauce that is the consistency of a marinara you won’t need to thin out the sauce first. For this recipe, it is very important to follow the direction on how to layer the ingredients in the Instant Pot. By adding the spaghetti sauce last and not stirring you will keep it off of the bottom of the pot, therefore, avoiding the burn message.
To start press the sauté button and add EVOO, when the display reads HOT, add the Italian elk sausage and brown. I use Elk sausage my husband makes but you could substitute any Italian sausage you like. Fully cook the sausage and hit cancel to turn off the sauté function.
How to deglaze the Instant Pot
After sautéing meat and before pressure cooking you need to deglaze the bottom of the inner pot. Deglazing involves adding a thin liquid like wine, water, or broth to the hot surface and scraping the bottom with a spatula. For this recipe, you’ll need to add ½ cup of water and a wooden spatula like this one to remove the caramelized and brown tidbits that are stuck to the bottom of the pot. This is a very important step, do not skip it.
Layer Ingredients In The Instant Pot
Next, place the sliced peppers, fresh spinach, and frozen cheese ravioli into the pot layering as you go. Pour the entire jar of spaghetti sauce on top. DO NOT STIR. Place the lid on and the vent knob turned to the sealing position.
Select manual high pressure for 1 min. Once the cooking time is complete immediately release the pressure. To avoid spaghetti sauce from coming out of the steam vent you may need to do a pulse release and then quickly release the rest of the way.
Give everything a good stir to combine all of the ingredients. Depending on how thin your spaghetti sauce was to start you may want to saute for 2-3 minutes to reduce the sauce slightly. If needed stir while the sauce is reducing to avoid burning the food to the bottom of the pot. Top with shredded parmesan cheese and serve.
Recipe Variations
For a vegetarian version of this Instant Pot ravioli, you could omit the Italian sausage and add extra sliced bell peppers, mushrooms, or squash. If you prefer a smaller-sized pasta you could use frozen cheese tortellini or mini ravioli. Remember if altering the recipe to avoid the spaghetti sauce from touching the bottom of the Instant Pot.
Stovetop Ravioli and Italian Sausage Directions
To convert this to a stovetop recipe start by bringing 8 cups of water to a boil and add the frozen ravioli cook per manufactures instructions. Strain the ravioli and set it aside. Next, add olive oil to a Dutch oven or large pot. Heat over medium heat and brown the Italian sausage. Add to the pot the purple onion and bell peppers and sauté until soft. Add the cooked ravioli to the pot along with the jarred spaghetti sauce. Stir gently to combine the ingredients. Add the fresh spinach on top and cover to allow the spinach to cook for 2 minutes. Stir to combine the ingredients and serve with grated parmesan cheese on top.
Should I Buy An Instant Pot?
YES! If you love quick and easy weeknight dinners just like this one then you should definitely buy an Instant Pot. These are the models I have and love. Instant Pot 6-quart Duo and the Instant Pot 6 quart Max. Learning how to use the Instant Pot is a game-changer for busy moms. Recipes that used to take hours now take minutes and you can literally walk away and the Instant Pot does the hard work for you!
Other Related Recipes

Instant Pot Ravioli & Italian Sausage
Easy and quick Instant Pot Dump Recipe the whole family will enjoy.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbs. Olive Oil
- 1 lb. Italian sausage
- ½ Cup water
- 1 Red bell pepper sliced
- 1 Orange or Yellow bell pepper sliced
- Small red onion sliced
- 2 Cups fresh baby spinach
- 24 oz bag frozen cheese ravioli
- 1 Pint canned spaghetti sauce or 24 oz jar of your favorite jarred marinara sauce.
- Shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Turn on the sauté function when the display reads HOT, add the olive oil, brown the Italian sausage.
- When Italian sausage is browned, turn off/cancel the saute function.
- Add water and deglaze the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- Layer the sliced peppers, sliced onions, and fresh spinach on top of the sausage
- Place the frozen cheese ravioli on top of the vegetables.
- Pour the entire jar of spaghetti sauce into the pot and DO NOT STIR. (see notes)
- Place the lid on and the vent knob turned to the sealing position.
- Select pressure cook/manual high pressure for 1 min.
- Once the cooking time is complete release the pressure immediately in a pulsing manner at first to avoid the sauce from spraying out of the vent.
- Quick-release the remaining pressure.
- Give everything a good stir and serve with shredded parmesan cheese on top
Notes
This takes approx 20 minutes to come up to pressure making the total cook time about 30 minutes. One pint of homemade spaghetti sauce is about 32 oz, so this may be a bit saucer than using a jar of store-bought spaghetti sauce. If using a store-bought thick spaghetti sauce add ¼ cup of liquid to thin it out before adding it to the top.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1 cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 483Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 59mgSodium: 396mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 5gSugar: 12gProtein: 23g
Nutrition information is an estimate.
Yes! In fact, I recommend cooking frozen ravioli rather than fresh in the Instant Pot because ravioli is a quick-cooking pasta. Briefly cooking frozen ravioli and releasing the Instant Pot’s pressure immediately will avoid the ravioli from being overcooked and turning to mush.
In order to cook ravioli in the Instant Pot with a jarred tomato sauce, you’ll need to thin the liquid or strategically layer the ingredients to keep the sauce from touching the bottom of the Instant Pot.
Any recipe that uses the saute function will ask you to deglaze the bottom of the pot. This is very simple and just means to add some liquid like broth or water and use a wooden spatula to scrape any food that is stuck on the bottom of the pot. This will help you avoid the dreaded BURN error message.

Katie
Obsessed with this instant pot ravioli! It’s incredibly easy to make!
Jess
Such a fun way to make ravioli
asma khalid
i am planning to buy an instant pot, and ravioli is my all-time fav food, saving it for when my first recipe in instant pot
amberhollis918@gmail.com
Can’t wait for you to be in the Instant Pot club! Let me know how you like it and if you ever need any help.
Michelle Gast
What a great idea! I can cook this for my family. Thanks for sharing!
~Michelle
https://michellescrazybusylife.net
amberhollis918@gmail.com
Let me know how they like it! It’s a favorite at my house!
Jimmy Clare
I want some of this can you send me some?
amberhollis918@gmail.com
It’s even better with our homemade Italian Elk Sausage.
Doreen
Very informative. I just used an instant pot for the first time this past Saturday and I loved it. I’m going to try this. Thank you.
amberhollis918@gmail.com
I love my Instant Pots! If you ever have any questions feel free to reach out.