This Easy Instant Pot Lasagna is like a lazy lasagna – you’ll sauté the ground beef and layer the noodles right in the pot!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Extra-lean ground beef – you could also try making this lasagna with ground turkey or chicken. Italian sausage or ground pork would also be good.
- Yellow onion – white or red onion can be used instead. If you don’t like onions, feel free to leave them out altogether.
- Garlic – freshly minced garlic is best, but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
- Lasagna noodles – you’ll need to break the noodles up a bit so they fit into the pot.
- Ricotta cheese – small-curd cottage cheese can be used but make sure to strain it first to remove some of the excess moisture.
- Baby spinach – fresh spinach is best but frozen spinach will work if you remove the moisture. You can also leave the spinach out altogether.
- Jar marinara sauce – use any store-bought marinara sauce of your choice. If you’re feeling fancy, you can use homemade sauce instead.
- Mozzarella – I suggest grating a fresh ball of pizza mozzarella for best results.
How to make lasagna in the Instant Pot
Step 1: Brown the ground beef.
Sauté the ground beef with the onion, garlic, salt and pepper.
Step 2: Remove most of the beef mixture.
Set aside 2/3 of the beef mixture in a large bowl, then add water to the Instant Pot.
Step 3: Layer the noodles and ricotta.
Step 4: Add the spinach and beef.
Step 5: Top with the marinara sauce.
Step 6: Cook on high pressure then serve!
Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes then do a quick release of the pressure. Sprinkle some mozzarella over top then close the lid to melt the cheese. Serve and enjoy!
Layering your lasagna
Lasagna is all about the layers! For this Instant Pot lasagna recipe, you’ll have three separate layers. Follow the instructions below to layer it perfectly:
- Add water to the bottom of the pot.
- Layer in 4 lasagna noodles.
- Top with half the ricotta, half the spinach, and 1/3 of the ground beef.
- Pour in half the jar of marinara sauce.
- Top with another layer of 4 lasagna noodles, the remaining ricotta, the remaining spinach and the remaining 1/3 beef mixture.
- Add on a final layer of 4 lasagna noodles.
- Pour the rest of the marinara sauce and the remaining cup of water over top.
And voila! Three layers of delicious lasagna goodness.
Frequently Asked Questions
This lasagna recipe is designed to have three layers, but there really aren’t any hard and fast rules. Just keep in mind that four layers might take you over the max capacity for the Instant Pot, which you don’t want.
When serving a hearty meal like this one, you really don’t need to serve a side dish unless you want to. A light garden salad is a nice choice, and of course, just about everyone enjoys warm breadsticks with pasta dishes.
It can be frustrating (and a little bit concerning) when the Instant Pot gives you a burn message. It’s a very common issue, so if it happens to you, don’t panic. Just turn off and unplug the Instant Pot before you attempt to fix the problem. To avoid the problem altogether, be sure you add water to the bottom of the pot with the ground beef. Also, don’t stir anything around after you’ve added it.
If you want to make this lasagna vegetarian, swap out the ground beef for some sautéed veggies of your choice. Mushrooms and bell peppers would both be delicious! Layer and cook the lasagna as normal.
Storing and reheating
This recipe makes enough lasagna for 6 people, so if you’ll be serving less people than that, you can refrigerate the leftovers in an airtight container. This recipe is also great for meal prep! Just transfer individual serving sizes to meal prep containers. The leftovers should last in the fridge for up to 5 days.
To reheat, sprinkle some water over top so the lasagna doesn’t dry out and microwave for 2 to 3 minutes.
How to freeze lasagna
This lasagna recipe freezes beautifully! After cooking it in the Instant Pot, you can freeze the entire lasagna or single serving sizes. Make sure to store any leftovers in an airtight freezer-safe containers so ice crystals don’t form on top of the food. The lasagna should last in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When you’re ready to enjoy, defrost the lasagna in the fridge overnight or microwave each slice straight from frozen for 6 to 7 minutes. Make sure you sprinkle some water over top before reheating so the dish doesn’t dry out.
More Instant Pot pasta recipes
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls for the leftovers.
- I get all my grass-fed ground beef from Butcher Box.
Easy Instant Pot Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 lb extra-lean ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper
- 2 cups water, divided
- 12 lasagna noodles, broken up
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 2 cups baby spinach, chopped
- 1 (680mL) jar marinara sauce
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to saute mode and wait for it to heat up. Once hot, add ground beef, onion, garlic and salt & pepper, sauteeing for 5 minutes until browned. Turn off saute mode.
- Remove two-thirds of the ground beef mixture and set aside in a bowl. Add 1 cup water to bottom of the pot, then layer in 4 lasagna noodles. Top with half the ricotta cheese, half the spinach and another third of the ground beef mixture.
- Pour in half of the jar of marinara sauce, then top with another layer of lasagna noodles. Repeat with the remaining ricotta cheese, remaining spinach and the final third of ground beef mixture. Top a final layer of lasagna noodles and pour the rest of the jar of marinara sauce and the remaining cup of water overtop.
- Place lid on Instant Pot and make sure valve is set to seal. Press the pressure cook button and set to high, then pressure cook for 5 minutes. The Instant Pot will take about 5-10 minutes to come to pressure, then notify you it's done by beeping. Press the Cancel button then do a quick release of the pressure on the Instant Pot by flicking the switch at the top with a spoon. Open the lid when pressure gauge has dropped and the lid opens easily.
- Sprinkle mozzarella cheese overtop and close lid to melt cheese for 2 minutes. Cut lasagna into slices, then serve and enjoy!
