Instant Pot Lasagna–a super easy and totally delicious recipe for lasagna with Italian sausage, spinach, mushrooms and 3 types of cheeses.
Get the SLOW COOKER version of the recipe here
Instant Pot Lasagna (Video Tutorial)
I’ve been seeing all sorts of instant pot lasagna recipes on facebook and decided that I needed to join in the fun and make my own version. I love making lasagna in the slow cooker and knew that if I could figure it out I’d love making it in the electric pressure cooker as well. It took a couple tries to get it just right but I figured it out and it tasted amazing. A few notes…
Spinach and mushrooms: I decided to add in spinach and mushrooms and I loved the texture and volume it added. If you’re not a fan of spinach and mushrooms you can totally leave them out.
Ricotta or cottage cheese: I actually really like to use cottage cheese instead of ricotta in lasagnas. But use whatever type of cheese you prefer.
Noodles: I used the “oven ready” or sometimes called “no boil” lasagna noodles. This makes it so you don’t have to boil the noodles. You can find these at any grocery store next to the regular lasagna noodles.
The pan I used for the lasagna: You can’t just start layering ingredients into the bottom of the pressure cooker like you can with a slow cooker. It would totally burn and never reach pressure. You have to use the “pot in pot” method. So you’ll have to get a pan that will fit inside your instant pot. I use this Corningware dish. You could also use a deep 7 inch cake pan like this one. You’ll layer all the ingredients in the pan and then place the pan on a trivet (my Instant Pot came with one). Cover the top of the pan with foil. Put 1 1/2 cups of water in the bottom of the pot and then carefully lower the trivet and lasagna pan into the bottom of the pot.
More lasagna recipes…
Slow Cooker Pesto Mushroom Lasagna
Crockpot Mexican Lasagna
Slow Cooker Vegetable Lasagna
Slow Cooker Tortellini Lasagna Casserole
Instant Pot Lasagna Soup
Pressure Cooker Sloppy Lasagna from Pressure Cooking Today
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Lasagna I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I also own the 6 quart Instant Pot IP-LUX60 V3 Programmable Electric Pressure Cooker.* They are both great pressure cookers! The first one I mentioned has a yogurt making function but other than that they are fairly similar.
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Instant Pot Lasagna
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 21 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 36 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
A super easy and totally delicious recipe for lasagna with Italian sausage, spinach, mushrooms and 3 types of cheeses.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage
- 1 (24 oz) can pasta sauce
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 cup chopped mushrooms (optional)
- 2–3 cups fresh spinach (optional)
- 1 egg
- 1 cup ricotta or cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese, plus more for sprinkling on the top
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 6 oven ready (no boil) lasagna noodles
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot onto the saute setting and brown the Italian sausage. Break it up with a spoon. Drain off the excess grease and place the sausage into a medium sized bowl. Clean out the bottom of the Instant Pot. (You can also do this step on the stove top in a frying pan. It’s totally up to you.)
- Add pasta sauce, garlic powder, basil, mushrooms and spinach to the bowl with the Italian sausage. Stir together. Set aside.
- In a small bowl whisk the egg and ricotta/cottage cheese together. Stir in the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Set aside
- In a 1 1/2 quart round dish that fits inside your Instant Pot (I like this 7 inch by 4 inch cake pan* or sometimes I use this Corningware dish*) begin the layering.
- Thin layer of sauce
- 2 noodles (break up the noodles to fit into a single layer)
- Sauce
- Half of the cheese mixture
- 2 noodles (break up the noodles to fit into a single layer)
- Sauce
- The rest of the cheese
- 2 noodles (break up the noodles to fit into a single layer)
- The rest of the sauce
- Sprinkle the top with extra mozzarella cheese.
- Cover the dish with foil. Place it on top of the trivet. Pour 1 1/2 cups of water into the bottom of the Instant Pot. Carefully lower the trivet and dish into the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- Place the lid on top and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual pressure cook button to 21 minutes. Once the timer beeps let the pressure release naturally. It took mine 10 minutes to release.
- Remove the lid. Carefully remove the trivet and pan. Let it sit for about 10 minutes before eating it. If you’d like to brown the cheese on top you can place it under your oven’s broiler for 2 minutes.
Notes
To make Instant Pot Lasagna I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Instant Pot
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Love your lasagna recipe. In your new cookbook it says 1/2 pound of sausage, online recipe calls for 1 pound? Is here a table of contents available for your new cookbook.
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Hi, you can download table of contents and index here: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/order-your-cookbook-now/
I made/cooked extra and froze one. How long would it take to reheat the frozen cooked lasagna in the Instant Pot (6qt size)?
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If it’s solid frozen I bet it will take a while with the pot in pot method. I would try 30 minutes and then go from there if extra time is needed.
Thank you! 🙂
Hi Karen,
I just made this for dinner and it was perfectly spectacular! Thank you for such a great recipe, it is my go to lasagna now — goodbye oven, it’s been nice ;p
~ jean
Haha! I’m glad you liked it Jean!
The lasagna turned out very good. I’ve made it with both cottage cheese and ricotta cheese, and like it a bit better with the ricotta cheese. To save an extra bowl to wash, I browned the sausage in a skillet, drained the sausage and then added the next 5 ingredients to the skillet. The natural release took about 20 minutes instead of 10 minutes, but it was worth the wait.
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Glad you liked it!!
I am very excited to let you know that your Lasagna recipe came out wonderful!!! My hubby liked it very much. To date all your recipes that I have made have come out great. Thank you so much!!
So glad to hear this Karen!
Another fantastic recipe Karen. I did have to cook it longer though , my family really enjoyed it. It’s deferentially a keeper. Nice to find a recipe just the right size to feed the 3 of us. Lasagna is one of those casseroles I don;t like a lot of left overs on.
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Sorry but you ruined a good lasagna dish by putting spinach and mushrooms in it
lol!
I’m new to pressure cooking and am in a serious learning curve. I tried doubling the recipe and stacking in my stainless pot-in-pot set. My machine couldn’t come to pressure. It just kept releasing steam and never got to cooking. Any advice or ideas? I’m using a 6 qt IP Nova Plus.
Sometimes if the pans don’t let enough air circulate around them the pot can’t come to pressure. I’m so sorry that it didn’t work out the way you hoped. I have never doubled this recipe. It might not be the best one to double.
My lasagna is in my Instant Pot as I type. I followed your directions, got the lasagna into the pot, turned around and saw the cooked Italian sausage in a bowl on the counter ☹️. I scrolled back through your directions and never saw where it should have been mixed with the sauce. I guess I can warm it up and put it on the dinner plate with the lasagna. We’re looking forward to eating this tonight!
Oh bummer! I thought I was clear in the directions but I’m sorry I wasn’t. I changed the recipe to make it clearer.
I’ve made this Lasagna recipe many times and it’s a fav at our house. I don’t use instant
pot or crockpot,,,,, just good old fashioned oven or have been used toaster oven. This is a fantastic recipe. The only thing I change is I double the mushrooms. Excellent recipe Karen. We LOVE it. Thank you Karen !
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Sounds so good with the extra mushrooms!
I made this recipe a couple of days ago. I followed the recipe exactly. It turned out amazing!!! I just put it under the broiler for a few minutes to brown the cheese. It was better than made in the oven!! ☺
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NICE!!!
Hi, I tried your IP Lasagna tonight with my own IP pasta sauce and it was a smashing hit! Thank you for sharing.
I’m new to IP cooking and learning fast that I love it! Time to donate my old stove top pressure cookers.. and perhaps a slow cooker or two as well.
I wish I could share with you the photo I took of my Lasagna!
I can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Thanks so much!!!! 🙂 🙂
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Oh I’m so glad you liked it! I wish I could see your photo!
If I don’t have the oven ready noodles, do I boil regular noodles and then add them? Thank you!!
I bet that would work!
That’s what I did! I don’t care for oven ready.
Late reply, but I use regular noodles and don’t boil them-haven’t in 30 years of oven lasagna and do the same now with my IP. In the oven I add slightly less than 1oz water per noodle but since there’s no evaporation in the IP I don’t bother. I make a veg version so plenty of moisture there. A meat version with no veg might need a little water added.
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I tried this with just cheese, doubling the Ricotta mixture. I have the same baking dish, so used that. I added 2 minutes to baking time, but the lasagna wasn’t done. Put back in for another 10 with 5 minutes NPR. Noodles not quite done, but edible. With waiting for pressure to build, then release twice, the oven would have been faster.
Hi!
I’m excited to try this. Have you ever tried to make 2 at a time by stacking one on top of the other? I’m just curious, as I’m allergic to milk, but my family isn’t. I could use vegan ricotta and mozzarella for mine, and regular for theirs. I could cook them separately, though, if I needed to.
Thanks!
I bet that would work. I haven’t tried it yet though. I might add a few more minutes to the cooking time.
Jo, did you try this? I too am allergic to dairy.
I love your recipes!
I made this meal tonight and it was good but watery. What would you suggest?
really? hmmm. I would cut down on the water. Maybe in half. So use 1/4 cup water instead of 1/2.
I had the same problem. Very watery. But it was delicious! Will cut down the water next attempt.
Okay good to know. I didn’t have that issue. Did you use regular noodles or no boil noodles?
Ok this is confusing. The only water mentioned by amount is the 1.5 cup water that goes into the bottom of the IP. In the instructions it mentions putting water, no amount listed, into the bowl with the sauce, meat, etc. Please clarify.
Thanks
I’m so sorry about that. That was a typo. It is now fixed.
Thanks
Sorry, but after reading your comment I checked the recipe and the water is not there. I could see it in the video when I stopped it. Don’t know what happened. Just wanted to let you know in case the edit didn’t save. Thanks again. Love your recipes.
The recipe used to have water in it but after trying again without water it turned out better so I took it out of the recipe card.
Thanks for the information. This looks so yummy!
Thanks for all your great recipes
you’re welcome!!
I enjoy your recipes. Thank you. I have never used an insta pot. I use my crockpot almost every day. I do not work, but love that I can start dinner in the morning and not worry. I just wondered if it is worth buying an insta pot. What are your thoughts?
Hi Jayna, I was like you before too. I didn’t really understand why me, a stay at home mom, needed an instant pot. I was able to use my slow cooker anytime of day. Here’s the thing though…it just has added so much flexibility to my life. I can choose to put something in the crockpot in the morning or in the evening use the instant pot. I also like the IP for making rice, hard boiled eggs, cooking up a batch of chicken to shred, etc. I love that if I miss my “window” of opportunity earlier in the day to use the crockpot I can still have a hands off method of getting dinner on the table. I don’t think you NEED it per se but I think you’d really like it!