Cheddar’s Spasagna

Spasagna is a cross between spaghetti and lasagna! It is baked spaghetti with mozzarella, ricotta, sour cream and parmesan and then topped with Italian sausage and spaghetti sauce. It’s the best of both worlds! Use your Instant Pot to prepare this recipe faster!

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Instant Pot Spasagna

Spasagna! It’s a fun word to try and say. I haven’t gotten it down quite yet. This recipe is a take on a restaurant named Cheddar’s spasagna dish (although it is no longer on the menu). Of course I changed a few things and used my Instant Pot to put it together.

I think you will love the outcome! It is really a delicious and fun meal. The creamy, cheesy spaghetti is good on its own but when you add a hearty meat sauce to the top it just brings it to a whole new level!

This recipe does make a large amount. We fed 11 of us with this dish. So if you’re not feeding a crowd you can easily halve the recipe. Just cut all the ingredients in half but keep the cooking time the same. If you’re baking in the oven use a square 9×9 inch dish instead of a 9×13 inch dish.

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Spaghetti–or angel hair
• Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon
• Sour cream–or plain yogurt
• Ricotta–or cottage cheese
• Half and half–or whole milk or evaporated milk
• Shredded parmesan cheese–or grated parmesan in the green can
• Shredded mozzarella cheese–or Italian blend
• Garlic powder
• Kosher salt
• Italian seasoning
• Black pepper
• Ground Italian sausage
• Spaghetti sauce–use your favorite marinara sauce

Steps

Break spaghetti in half and scatter it in Instant Pot in a criss cross pattern. Pour the broth into the pot. By spreading the spaghetti in a criss cross pattern you will prevent it from clumping together. The spaghetti won’t be completely covered by liquid and that is okay.

Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. If foam starts escaping through the valve then move it back to sealing and wait 20 seconds before trying again. Remove the lid.

Do not drain any excess liquid in the pot. Stir in the sour cream, ricotta, half and half, parmesan, 2 cups of mozzarella, garlic powder, kosher salt, Italian seasoning and pepper.

Baking instructions with air fryer lid*: Once the mixture is well combined, pat it down in the pot in an even layer. Spread the sausage over the top of the pasta layer. Then pour the spaghetti sauce evenly over the top. Cover the Instant Pot with the air fryer lid. Use the bake button at 300° F for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes is up sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of cheese on top and bake for another 3 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Baking instructions with oven: Once the mixture is well combined spread it in a 9×13 inch baking dish. Spread the sausage over the top of the pasta layer. Then pour the spaghetti sauce evenly over the top. Bake at 350° F for 30 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of cheese on top and bake for another 3 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Notes/Tips

• Serve with a green salad and my favorite Olive Garden Italian Salad Dressing.
• I used my 6 quart duo crisp Instant Pot*. You can also make this in an 8 quart pot.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• To halve the recipe cut all the ingredients in half but keep the cooking time the same. If you’re baking in the oven use a square 9×9 inch dish instead of a 9×13 inch dish.
• The original recipe had 2 pounds of mozzarella cheese! I cut the cheese down to just 2 ½ cups. If you’re a cheese lover you can always add more but I found that 2 ½ cups was perfect for me.
• I browned the sausage on the stovetop while my spaghetti was cooking in the Instant Pot. Alternatively you can use the sauté setting on the Instant Pot to brown the sausage before pressure cooking the spaghetti and then set it aside until later. Just make sure to wipe out the pot so that nothing is sticking to the bottom.

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More Spaghetti Instant Pot Recipes…

Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for. 

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*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.