Instant Pot Cowboy Lasagna

Instant Pot Cowboy Lasagna—a hearty, meaty lasagna that can be made fast in your Instant Pot or slow in the Crockpot.

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Note: the SLOW COOKER instructions are listed in the recipe card below

Instant Pot Cowboy Lasagna

Have you tried making lasagna in your Instant Pot or slow cooker yet? If not I highly recommend it! This cheesy, meaty lasagna with three types of meat and three types of cheese will hit the spot for sure.

We didn’t get home until late last night because we were watching Skyler’s track meet. I had made this lasagna before we left and just left it in the Instant Pot on warm. Three hours later when we got home it tasted absolutely perfect! We were all starving and took the whole pan down quickly! That’s what is so great about the Instant Pot–the food is ready when you are!

What you’ll need to make Instant Pot Cowboy Lasagna

• ground beef–I used lean ground beef. You can also try ground turkey.
• ground Italian sausage–I used the store brand of ground Italian sausage but I also like using Jimmy Dean Italian Sausage in the roll too. I like mild but if you want to kick up the heat then use hot.
• ricotta cheese–if you don’t like ricotta cheese try cottage cheese. I’ve made lasagna with both and they work great!
• egg–the egg serves as a binder. It makes the ricotta cheese more spreadable, and solidifies the layers together when it is heated.
• pasta sauce–I used Classico Tomato and Basil Pasta Sauce. There are all sorts of great sauces out there so use your favorite brand and flavor!
• lasagna noodles–in the Instant Pot I have had the best success with the no boil/oven ready lasagna noodles. If you can’t find the no boil noodles give this recipe a go with regular lasagna noodles. I would increase the pressure cooking time by 3-4 minutes if you try that.
• pepperoni–the pepperoni brings this lasagna to a whole new level!
• parmesan cheese–for best results grate off the block. I also like buying the big bag a shredded parmesan cheese from Costco and keeping it in my freezer for recipes like this one.
• mozzarella–for best results grate mozzarella off the block rather than buying the pre-shredded mozzarella. Off the block melts better and is creamier.

How to make Instant Pot Lasagna

You can make cowboy lasagna in the Instant Pot or the Crockpot. Both methods work great! For the Instant Pot version you’ll use the pot-in-pot method with a deep dish*. So you’ll layer everything 3 times. For the slow cooker version you’ll only layer everything 2 times if you use a large oval 6 quart slow cooker. However if you use a small, round 3 quart pot you can layer everything 3 times.

Instant Pot Instructions:

1. Brown the ground beef and the Italian sausage together and drain off excess grease. I did this step on my stove top but you can also use the sauté setting of your Instant Pot to brown the meat. 
2. You’ll need a deep pot-in-pot dish for this recipe. I used a Fat Daddios 7 inch by 4 inch pan*. Another choice is to use the 3 quart Instant Pot liner inside the 6 or 8 quart Instant Pot liner.  Spread a few spoonfuls of pasta sauce into the bottom of the dish to prevent the noodles from sticking. Mix the ricotta cheese and the egg together until smooth. The egg helps the spreadability of the ricotta and it binds everything together.
3. Begin layering the ingredients as follows: 2 lasagna noodles (break in half to fit), ⅓ of the pasta sauce, ⅓ of the meat, ⅓ of the pepperoni, ⅓ of the ricotta, ⅓ of the parmesan and ⅓ of the mozzarella. Repeat two more times. 
4. Cover the pan with foil. Pour 1 ½ cups water into bottom of Instant Pot. Place the lasagna dish on top of a sling/trivet*. The OXO sling is my favorite because it serves as a sling and a trivet and it works great in the 6 or 8 quart pot. Lower the dish into the Instant Pot. 
5. Cover Instant Pot* and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 20 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for at least 10 minutes and then move valve to venting and release any remaining pressure. My lasagna sat in the pot for over 3 hours on warm and it came out beautifully. The pot-in-pot protects it from burning and getting crusty.
6. Remove the lasagna dish and remove the foil. Let sit for a few minutes before slicing and eating. This allows the lasagna to solidify a bit.  

Slow Cooker Instructions:

1. Brown the ground beef and the Italian sausage together and drain off excess grease. If you have a slow cooker with a stove top button you can do this step inside your slow cooker.
2. Spread a few spoonfuls of pasta sauce into the bottom of slow cooker. This helps the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the crockpot. Mix the ricotta cheese and the egg together until smooth.
3. If you are using an oval 6 quart crockpot then begin layering the ingredients as follows: 3 lasagna noodles (break to fit), ½ of the pasta sauce, ½ of the meat, ½ of the pepperoni, ½ of the ricotta, ½ of the parmesan and ½ of the mozzarella. Repeat one more time. If you use a round 3 quart crockpot then you can layer everything 3 times instead of 2 times.
4. Cover and cook on LOW for about 4-6 hours or HIGH for 2-3 hours. 
5. Unplug the slow cooker and let it sit 10 minutes before serving. This allows the lasagna to solidify a bit.  

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What should I serve with lasagna?

Serve Instant Pot cowboy lasagna with Crazy Bread or garlic bread and a green salad.

More Instant Pot Lasagna Inspired Recipes…

Instant Pot White Chicken Lasagna

Instant Pot Lasagna Soup

Instant Pot Chicken Queso Lasagna

Instant Pot Dump And Go Meatball Lasagna

Easy Instant Pot Tortellini Lasagna

Instant Pot Spinach And Ravioli Lasagna

Instant Pot Lasagna

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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.