Instant Pot Cheater Lasagna–if you love the flavors of lasagna but don’t like the effort it takes this recipe is for you! You can make this Instant Pot lasagna pasta recipe with 6 ingredients and in just a few minutes.
Instant Pot Cheater Lasagna
I love this recipe! We all scarfed it down it like 2 seconds flat. Mostly I love how easy it is to put together and how few ingredients you need to make it.
I love lasagna but sometimes all the layers get tedious to put together. This is a great solution to a lasagna-type dinner without all the work. These are my favorite dinners…fast, easy and delicious!
A few notes about ingredients…
Sausage: I used ground Italian sausage. I always buy the mild kind. I like Italian sausage for this recipe because it has all the flavors for lasagna in it. If you wanted to use an unseasoned ground beef or ground turkey you could. However you will need to add salt and pepper and perhaps some Italian seasoning to the meat as you brown it.
Pasta: Lately I’ve been buying my pastas from the bulk section of Winco. I decided to try a cute skinny curly pasta that was labelled as Fusilli. You can use many types of pasta with this recipe with great results. To find out how many minutes to pressure cook the pasta just take the suggested boiling time that is on the box, divide by two and subtract 1 minute.
More recipes you’ll love…
Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Tortellini Soup
Recommendations
Instant Pot Italian Sausage Tortellini
Instant Pot Homemade Hamburger Helper
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Cheater Lasagna I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.
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Instant Pot Cheater Lasagna
- Total Time: 19 minutes
- Yield: 5–6 servings 1x
Description
If you love the flavors of lasagna but don’t like the effort it takes this recipe is for you! You can make this Instant Pot lasagna pasta recipe with 6 ingredients and in just a few minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage (mild or hot)
- 12 ounces pasta (I used a small fusilli pasta but you can also use bowties, rigatoni, penne, macaroni, cavatappi etc.)
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 (28 ounce) can or jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
- 1 cup ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
- 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. When the display says HOT add in the Italian sausage. Break it up (this is the tool I use*) and brown the sausage. Drain off any excess grease.
- Dump the pasta into an even layer in the Instant Pot. Cover the pasta as best as possible with the broth. Dump the spaghetti sauce evenly over the top of the pasta. Don’t stir.
- Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure the valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button for 4 minutes (4 minutes will work for most pastas–mine was super skinny and small so I set it for 3 minutes. Usually I take the suggested boiling time that is on the box, divide by two and subtract 1 to determine how long to cook for in the Instant Pot).
- When the time is up move the valve to venting. If foam starts escaping then move the valve back to sealing and wait 20 seconds and then try again. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the cottage cheese and the mozzarella. Scoop onto plates and serve. If desired, sprinkle with some Parmesan cheese.
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
To make gluten free: Double check your broth to be sure it does not contain gluten. Substitute noodles for GF noodles and decrease cook time by 1 minute.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Italian
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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.
Another excellent recipe! I also made this in my 3 qt. Instant Pot Mini and cooked it for 4 minutes. Thanks again, Karen!
★★★★★
Woo hoo! Thanks for the 5 stars.
Will be making this again. So easy and good. I used my 3 qt.instant pot. Also I only used 8 oz. of pasta. Cook it for 4 minutes and it was perfect.
★★★★★
Thanks for the 5 stars Elizabeth!
I made this for dinner last night and it was a big hit for our 7 picky eaters. My hubby and I loved it and so did our kiddos! I will definitely be making this again! It made dinner so easy with my hectic mommy life of 7 kiddos!
★★★★★
WOOHOOOOO!!!
Delicious! I liked it even better than lasagna because it had lots of sauce. Keeper for sure. Even better as leftovers. Thank you!
★★★★★
You are welcome! Thanks for the 5 stars!
Have you tried cooking zucchini “zoodles” with any recipes in the Instant Pot?
no I haven’t! But they would cook so quick that I would probably use a zero minute cooking time: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/instant-pot-zero-minute-vegetables/
This recipe is the B.O.M.B.! So fast & easy & tastes amazing. Use the sausage. No more hot kitchen/baked lasagna for our house. Hubby loves it & it’s even better a few days later as leftovers. Try it, you’ll like it….& you’ll like that you didn’t make a big mess & spend a lot of time doing it. I use the Victoria brand Arrabbiata Spicy Marinara, get it at Walmart.
★★★★★
I will defs have to try that sauce Kim!
I almost didn’t try this recipe because the pasta recipes tasted “too starchy” to me. But, hubby shared it, so I tried it. SHOCK & AWE! It was delicious! I used marinara sauce, mild Italian sausage, rigatoni pasta, with no extra seasonings. I did add 1/2 cup more water as my sauce was only 24 ounces. Cooked 5 minutes with 1 minute keep warm. It was perfect!!! Hubby was a happy man!
Thank you!
★★★★★
Yay! So happy that you and he both liked it. I love this recipe!
My family LOVES this recipe!
★★★★★
Yay! We love it too Karen.
Fabulous. Loved it with GF spirals. I used a 16 oz bag of pasta. So I upped the sauce and the broth a bit. Did 2lbs of meat, only one cup of ricotta and cheese. It was so perfect.
★★★★★
Good to know the gluten free pasta worked! Thanks for sharing 😊
Good recipe but that’s not lasagna. Lasagna is a type of flat pasta.
★★★
This is a recipe for a lasagne-type casserole, which would be evident to anyone reading this with a 4th grade education.
Wow, totally uncalled for comment. Quite rude.
Wow. Just…Wow!! My 1st full meal in my new Instant Pot. Tasted as good or better than any real lasagna and was super simple. I added onions and mushrooms to the sausage, and used my homemade riccotta. Very satisfied and full!! Thanks for all the help, your recipes and tips have been great! Can’t wait to try more!
★★★★★
I like that idea…to add mushrooms! Will have to try.
I want to try this out but my pressure cooker is not a IP. It is a old school canning pressure cooker that you use on the stove top and it does not have settings it has 4 different sized valves to determine the pressure. I use it all the time for meats and vegetables but cooking pasta in it is a little intimidating. Do you think it could still work and with wait time to come to pressure I wonder how long I should leave it on and if I should do a natural release your open the valve to release?
I just don’t know! I really am not help as I’ve only ever used Instant Pots. I would try pressurecookingtoday.com or hippressurecooking.com for ideas on the stovetop cookers.
My mother had the same as you do. For stews and soups. You can make this recipe in your Pressure Cooker as described but leave out the PASTA for the cooking part. Do all of the first part of the recipe and cook it. I’m sure you know your cooking times for stews it will be about the same. Release the pressure after cooking. Be careful of the pressure relief. It will be hot, so you can add your pasta into the sauce and mix it up. Replace the cover and seal it. I’m not sure if you should turn your stove back on, but I would for about 12 min. to get it back to pressure. Turn off your stove and move your pressure cooker to another element and let sit. This should allow the pasta to soften. I hope this will help you. I use different methods by trial and error.
Could I use ground beef, love your recipes
Sure!
I’ve had my instant pot for at least a few years now and you just taught me that the lid fits in the handles and it blew my mind. Thank you thank you!
★★★★★
LOL Steph!
I made this two weeks in a row as my meal prep for dinners, as I couldn’t find a container of ricotta or mozzarella in anything but twice what’s called for and I wanted to make sure to use it all up. I don’t regret this choice one bit! It’s the first recipe I’ve tried in my IP and I ate every bit of it! I added garlic, mushrooms, and fresh basil, and with the sausage, the flavors were irresistible. I used two different types of pasta (first farfalle, then orechiette), and the provided calculation worked perfectly each time. A bit more al dente on day one, but leftovers were never mushy. Thanks for inspiring my first successes with the IP and meal planning! Very encouraging. =D
★★★★★
YaY!!!! So glad to hear this Sarah!
So easy and yet so flavorful! Adding that ricotta is key for our family. Next time, I will add in some minced garlic in the meat, we are garlic lovers around here. Made a sizeable serving for four, smaller servings for six. Thank you for this recipe…. it’s added into my regular rotation now, and I”ll share on my facebook page!
★★★★★
Thank you Debbie. I am a garlic lover too! I need to add that next time 😊
I just made this for our supper and it is so good!!! I put more beef broth (4 cups) than was called for because the noodles were not covered and I worried they might not cook them properly without the extra broth. My lasagna ended up being too watery but I went ahead and used the sauté feature on high for just a few minutes (before adding the cheese) to reduce the extra liquid and it worked perfectly! Thank you! This lasagne is phenomenal!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed it!
I made the “Cheater Lasagna” yesterday and we LOVED it! It’s a quick method of satisfying our craving for lasagna when I don’t want to take the time to make regular lasagna! My recipe for lasagna takes 3 hours – this was so much quicker! Mine turned out a bit soupy so I served it in bowls with garlic bread. I’m not sure what happened – I followed the recipe exactly – except I added an additional handful of mozzarella cheese. Thanks for this recipe!
★★★★★
Glad you loved it Teresa! It’s so much easier than regular lasagna!!
I made this recipe recently, and I love it.
forget all the prep and waiting to bake for 45 minutes.
4 minutes and done.. glad I found this.
I used ground turkey and turned out great.
Yay!!! Love this one too 😊
Made this for dinner tonight. SO good! We’re not fans of ricotta so I chose cottage cheese and blended it up. Happy that it made a large amount because we’re having it for leftovers tomorrow. My favorite food blog to follow!! Thank you!
★★★★★
Ahhh, thank you Michele! So glad you liked it.
While I will have to try this, I cannot imagine anything being easier than your regular IP lasagna recipe! It was the third or fourth recipe I did in my IP and I LOVE IT!!! Have made it for company – always a popular choice!!!! Thanks!!!!
Oh haha! That is great that you like that one. Both are good! A little different but good!
What would the cooking time be if I used whole wheat pasta? Can I use chop meat instead of sausage?
Thank you.
Yes you can. And I’d keep the same cooking time!
I have made this recipe no fewer than 6 times. It is my favorite go-to recipe, and also the first one I ever made with my InstaPot! Thank you SO MUCH for this amazing recipe!!
★★★★★
YAYYYYYY!
Can I use ground turkey sausage? I don’t have any Italian sausage right now. Thanks.
It will taste a bit different but should work.
Yes you can!
Can the full recipe be made in the 3 qt instapot?
★★★★★
yes, it should work fine in the 3 quart.
I made it in the 3qt & it’s like juuust last the max line but still ends up okay… haha! However, I had to add like double beef broth to try to cover the pasta?? I’m not seeing any other comments with that problem? It’s still cooking so it may be fine, just odd
How did it turn out? Super watery?
Hello,
I have a 6 qt instapot I Wanted To know if i could double.
Thank You!
★★★★★
yes you can!
Would the cook time be the same if the recipe is doubled? Thanks!
Yes! https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/how-to-double-instant-pot-recipes/
I have found the gluten free pasta foams a lot more than regular pasta. It takes forever to do the release. I open the valve and close it and open it and close it until there is no more foam. Have other people had the same experience with gluten free?
If you’re vegetarian, could you omit sausage and put pasta on bottom? Or do you need a layer of maybe sauteed onions underneath to prevent Burn notice?
The sauteed onions are a good idea. I haven’t gotten the burn notice myself but I know others struggle with that.
This was wonderful, it was my first dish in my instapot and I didn’t have any problems! My family loved it, thank you!
★★★★★
Good for you!!!! Here’s to many more IP meals.
Can I use chicken broth instead of beef broth?
yes
Could I use oven ready lasagna noodles? Would I need to not add the broth?
I bet you could use those. You’ll still need broth. Maybe not as much. You also might want to cut the cooking time down by a minute. Will you be breaking the lasagna noodles in pieces?
Just took IP out of box. This is the first google hit for easy IP recipes so here goes. Just to be clear: The sausage I have to cook prior in a skillet and then put in the IP cooked? But the noodles go in the IP uncooked?
Hi Sarah, I am glad you found this site. You actually brown the sausage in the Instant Pot using the saute setting. The noodles do go in the pot uncooked.
If I use a full pound of pasta what would I change?
I would use 3 1/4 cups of beef broth instead of 2 cups.
Excellent! To reduce the sodium somewhat, used less sausage and a lower sodium beef broth. Also added fresh mushrooms and fresh spinach (placed on top of the pasta and beef broth). Used campanelle pasta which more closely resembles lasagna noodles. Also used homemade marinara sauce. Will definitely make again.
★★★★★
GREAT ideas! Can’t wait to try it your way Sharon.
I just made this a few days ago. So good. I used baby portabella mushrooms and a handful of spinach again. It makes a lot even though it’s only 12 oz. of pasta. Can feed 6 easily.
★★★★★
I love the idea of portabella mushrooms!
I made this tonight for the first time. It is so easy and quick. You are right, it tastes like lasagna. I’m going to make this a lot now.
Thanks Karen for ask the terrific recipes. I’m telling everyone to go to your website.
★★★★★
Thank you so much Susan!
This was incredible. However, my husband doesn’t like ricotta, so I substituted cream cheese. It turned out sooo good! This will be a keeper for us! Thank you!
Good idea! I love cream cheese.
Our family has fallen in love with this recipe! My daughter says this is the best lasagna she has ever eaten( don’t tell her papa or grandma 😉). She is a part of the “clean plate” club every time I’ve made it! It’s so easy to make, especially after a long day at work! I’ve probably made it at least 5 times now and each time it gets better and better!
★★★★★
This is so nice to hear! Thanks for sharing!
I just finished eating this delicious recipe for dinner. I used a pound of pasta so I added a little extra broth to compensate. Cooked it for 4 minutes and came out great!!
This one will be prepared often at our home!!!
★★★★★
So glad you liked it!
Can I half this recipe in my 3quart IP? I’m using brown rice pasta, how much broth do you recommend?
You can halve it. However I would be worried about the brown rice pasta. you may need to decrease the cooking time or it may get mushy.
The brown rice pasta I use typically takes 14 minutes to cook on the stove top. According to your recommendation that would suggest i cook it for 6 minutes? Do you suggest less? Thank you!!
I haven’t tried it myself so I’m not sure but that is what I would try!
This was really tasty, but a few of my noodles were still crunchy. I made sure the noodles were completely covered by the spaghetti sauce when I put everything in. Do I need more liquid? More cooking time? I did 4 minutes with fusilli pasta. Thanks!
you could try a little more liquid, that may help
This was terrific! In case my changes could benefit someone else, I used 16 oz. gluten free pasta (brown rice penne from Trader Joe’s), 3 cups broth, 3 oz. fresh spinach (could easily double) and 8 oz. mushrooms (sliced) (on top of the pasta and before the sauce) and it turned out great. I set the IP to 6 minutes, which was tooooo long; I will try 4 minutes next time. I think your formula to calculate time is spot on and I have no idea why I didn’t use your instructions. Thank you so much for such a yummy recipe!
★★★★★
Thanks for this veggie option!
I have an 8QT. iP think I can safely double this? And would you double all the ingredients?
Yes double everything and keep the time the same.
I haven’t made any of your recipes. I’m just learning my Power Pressure Cooker, after 2 years of having it. I like your site because it is teaching me so much. I’ve learned a lot here. Please continue!!
Will do!
Entire family LOVED this!! Added a layer of frozen peas on top of noodles, also added some garlic, basil, and ground fennel. I was using an 8 quart IP—cooked for 6 minutes to compensate for peas. ABSOLUTELY a keeper!
★★★★★
NICE!!! sounds great 🙂
Thanks for the wonderful recipe!! Super easy, fast and delicious!!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed it Robin!!
Do you happen to have the slow cooker version of this recipe or something similar?
Sorry that I do not. I wish the slow cooker was better with pasta but it turns out weird and mushy.
Could you make this recipe in the slow cooker but leave out the pasta and just cook it on the stove?
I would just cook the whole thing on the stove rather than the slow cooker. you’ll have to brown the sausage anyway. I would brown the sausage, boil the pasta and stir everything together in a large pan.
If cooking in the IP, how long can it sit on keep warm?
I’m taking it to a pot luck and need to have it ready close to an hour before we have to leave.
Thanks!
It’s fine for up to 2-3 hours on warm.
Would I need to change any amounts if I’m using the 8 quart?
keep everything the same, except put 2 cups of water in the bottom of the pot so that it can come to pressure.
Put the two cups of water after I sauté the meat? Sorry, this will be my first time!
Sorry one more question! Two cups of water in addition to the two cups of beef broth?
oh sorry Jami! I was thinking of a different recipe when I commented back. Sometimes that happens to me late at night. You can keep everything the same for this recipe in the 8 quart pot. It should work great.
Do you think this would work with broke up lasagna noodles, or would a tubular noodle be better?
both would work. I would prefer a tubular noodle.
I am new to this. Do I leave the sausage in the pot and add the pasta on top of it? Thanks.
yep!
This was the question I was looking for. It doesn’t state it in the recipe. Thanks! Trying tonight!
This recipe arrived at the perfect time! Yesterday was a super busy day and I had no dinner plan. I used ziti pasta and we really liked the size and texture. I also added some oregano, basil, onion powder and garlic powder during the pressure cooking cycle. This meal was SO good! My husband loves lasagna but I hate making it, and this was a perfect substitution. It will definitely go into the regular rotation 🙂
Thanks for all of your great recipes!
★★★★★
So glad you liked it Susan!!! We loved it too 🙂
Can I use this same recipe (amounts etc) in a 3qt Instapot?
yes I believe that will work. I think you’ll need to increase cooking time by one minute.
No, you can’t. Spices are made a specific recipe. This recipe is for a 6Qt and must be followed. If you are using a 3Qt cut the spices by a 3rd. When you double the recipe the same goes. Cut spices by a 3rd. If you don’t the spices will overwhelm the taste. I know this from experience.