Cheesy lasagna is even easier when you make it in the Instant Pot! This one-pot meal layers rich marinara, creamy ricotta filling, tender lasagna noodles, and a savory ground beef & sausage filling for a quick Italian dinner the whole family will love.
What Makes This Instant Pot Lasagna So Good
- Instant Pot lasagna is the easiest way to make everyone’s favorite layered pasta dish. There’s no boiling noodles beforehand, and all of the cooking happens right there in the pressure cooker! That makes clean-up almost as easy as the actual dinner-making.
- The ground meat and ricotta fillings are both perfectly seasoned so you’ve got the perfect amount of Italian flavors in every single Instant Pot lasagna layer.
- You can totally adapt this recipe to include your favorite lasagna ingredients! Change up the meat, swap out the spices, use a different sauce, add spinach – anything goes!
Key Ingredients for Instant Pot Lasagna
Marinara – Use your favorite store-bought marinara, or make your own. If you want to try your hand at a homemade marinara, we have a great recipe for one in our Eggplant Lasagna! For the best results, use a good, thick marinara. Thinner sauces will be runny and can turn the lasagna into a mess when it comes time to serve it.
Lasagna Sheets – Like I mentioned before, you don’t have to boil the noodles first! Just break up the dry lasagna sheets so they fit in the springform pan and layer as usual. They’ll still turn out perfectly tender thanks to the pressure cooker!
Ground Beef + Sweet Italian Sausage – Yup! BOTH. This blend gives the Instant Pot lasagna way more flavor than just one or the other. Of course, you could always use ground turkey or ground chicken instead if you’d prefer.
Chef’s Tips
- Alfredo sauce is also a good option for this Instant Pot lasagna recipe, especially if you’ve got picky eaters or just don’t enjoy the taste of marinara. Use a store-bought alfredo or make your own!
- I highly recommend buying fresh mozzarella and shredding it yourself. Sure, the prepackaged, pre-shredded cheese will work, but it typically includes fillers to keep the cheese from clumping. Those additives can make the cheese melt funny and might give it a strange texture.
- Don’t make your Instant Pot lasagna layers too thick! If you do, your noodles might turn out a little tough. Don’t skimp on the sauce, either! The lasagna sheets should be fully covered so the sauce can keep them moist.
- You can wrap the bottom of the springform pan in aluminum foil (before assembling the pan) which should help keep any sauce liquid from leaking around the base.
Be Sure to Try These Instant Pot Recipes, Too!
- Instant Pot Lentil Soup
- Instant Pot Applesauce
- The Best Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala
- Instant Pot Chicken Wings
- Dreamy Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
- Instant Pot Clam Chowder
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Instant Pot Lasagna
Equipment
- Large bowl
- Instant Pot or pressure cooker
- Wooden spoon
- Slotted spoon
- 7×3 springform pan (or other size that fits Instant Pot)
- Aluminum Foil
- Instant Pot trivet
- Broiler (optional)
Ingredients
- ½ pound ground beef
- ½ pound sweet Italian sausage
- 1 medium onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- 6 oven-ready lasagna sheets
- 3 cups marinara sauce
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella
For the Ricotta Filling
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- In large bowl, mix together ingredients for ricotta filling. Set aside.
- Set Instant Pot to Sauté mode. When hot, add ground beef and sausage. Brown 3 to 4 minutes, breaking up meat with wooden spoon. Add diced onion, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper to Instant Pot and stir quickly. Cook 2 additional minutes.
- Once meat is browned, use slotted spoon to remove everything from Instant Pot. Set aside food and quickly clean Instant Pot, then add 1 ½ cups water to pot.
- Starting with marinara, layer all lasagna ingredients in springform pan, alternating until all ingredients have been used. Layers should be marinara, lasagna sheets, â…“ of total ricotta filling, â…“ of total ground beef mixture, and â…“ of total marinara sauce. Break up lasagna sheets as needed to fit in pan.
- Repeat step 3 for a total of 3 layers of each ingredient, then top with shredded mozzarella.
- Cover pan with aluminum foil. Use Instant Pot trivet to lower pan into Instant Pot, then cover pot with lid and secure with vent in Sealing position.
- Set Instant Pot to Manual High Pressure and cook 24 minutes. After cook time is up, Natural Release pressure for 10 minutes, then carefully Quick Release any remaining pressure. Carefully remove trivet and springform pan from Instant Pot.
- Optional: place pan under broiler for 3 to 4 minutes to brown mozzarella cheese. Serve hot.
Notes
- This recipe was tested and perfected using a 6-quart Instant Pot. You may need to make small adjustments depending on the size of your Instant Pot, mainly to the size of the springform pan and the amount of water used. Cook times should stay the same regardless of pressure cooker size.
- Make it Gluten Free: Use gluten-free lasagna sheets and a gluten-free marinara.
- Make it Vegetarian: Use a ground beef substitute in place of the ground beef + sausage filling.
Nutrition
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Jasmine Comer is a food photographer and recipe developer from North Carolina. She grew up in the kitchen watching her mom cook all types of delicious meals. In 2016 she established Lively Meals, a food blog where she creates healthy recipes. This led to creating recipes for other blogs as well. In her free time she enjoys exploring new places and spending time in nature. Ultimately she’s grateful to be doing work she loves—cooking good food and sharing it with people.
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