Farmhouse Instant Pot Loaded Lasagna
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Farmhouse Instant Pot Loaded Lasagna is an easy family meal that even picky eaters like. Using tomato juice ensures the pasta noodles are always soft and full of flavor. We love hiding vegetables in this delicious lasagna casserole!
If you enjoy this recipe you may also like our Cajun Sausage Pasta and Mostaccioli Casserole.
Instant Pot Lasagna No Spring Form Pan
Lasagna is one of our family’s all-time favorite meals and now we have an Instant Pot version that is much easier and saves several dishes versus making lasagna in the oven. Our Farmhouse Crock Pot Spaghetti is one of our most popular recipes, so we took some ingredients in this recipe to develop a delicious Instant Pot Lasagna!
This meal is just like our Spam Fried Rice – perfect for a family because we can hide vegetables in the layers that cook down is just six minutes in the electric pressure cooker. Two cups of baby spinach and eight ounces of mushrooms really increases the nutrients and fiber in this recipe and the kids don’t even mind eating them. When kids eat vegetables without a fight this is winning!
This is the first meal I’ve made that I feel like has truly saved a lot of time and dishes compared to the traditional recipe. Instant Pot Lasagna is so good it is regularly on our menu! The leftovers reheat well which is a requirement for our family.
The 6 quart Instant Pot is the perfect size to make enough lasagna for 6 to 8 people. A larger Instant Pot would need to be used to increase the size of the recipe.
Another pasta recipe we like to make in the Instant Pot is Mac and Cheese with Velveeta.
Do No Boil Lasagna Noodles Work?
Plenty of tomato juice and pasta sauce, as well as adequate cook time, make the no boil lasagna noodles work very well in this recipe! The pressure cooker really distributes the tomato sauce throughout all of the ingredients which helps the no-boil noodles stay soft.
We’ve all had lasagna where the top layer of noodles is crusty or crunchy and this top layer is soft. Not this recipe. There’s plenty of pasta sauce and flavorful tomato juice which perfectly complements the flavors in lasagna. Lasagna really gets the flavor of the sauce and noodles, so we like using tomato juice much more than chicken broth.
Another trick to making no boil lasagna noodles work well is to break them up into small pieces and make layers that fill up as much of the circular Instant Pot as possible like the picture below.
Best Instant Pot Lasagna Casserole Recipe
Making pasta in the Instant Pot and loading it with vegetables like mushrooms, onions and spinach makes this easy lasagna recipe taste like a casserole. Use a metal spoon or a serving utensil that can cut down to the bottom of the Instant Pot so that each serving is filled with each delicious layer.
Serve warm and add cheese and/or sauce when reheating leftovers if desired.
Tips for Making Lasagna in the Instant Pot
- Brown hamburger and onion in the Instant Pot on the saute setting
- Use lean ground beef to avoid having to drain
- Be careful not to get burned if you do drain excess fat off the ground beef
- Break no boil lasagna noodles into small pieces to make even layers of pasta
- Use pasta sauce in as many layers as desired and pour all of the tomato juice evenly over the top of the entire lasagna
- Do NOT stir the pasta before pressurizing
- We love this lasagna without vegetables, but be sure to add extra layers of sauce to avoid getting big clumps of noodles
- Add cheese and other dairy products after the lasagna is done cooking
- When done use a quick release, remove lid and add cheese, return lid for 2 – 4 minutes until cheese is melted and serve
Other Easy Instant Pot Meals
- Best Instant Pot Pulled Pork
- Instant Pot Chicken and Bacon Carbonara
- Old Fashioned Sausage, Potatoes and Green Beans
- Instant Pot Chinese Chicken Salad
- Instant Pot Pork Tenderloin with Apple Cranberry Sauce
Easy Instant Pot Lasagna Farmhouse Style
Farmhouse Instant Pot Loaded Lasagna
Author: JenniferIngredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 cup onion finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 9 ounces oven ready lasagna
- 24 ounces pasta sauce
- 2 cups baby spinach washed and drained
- 8 ounces fresh mushrooms sliced
- 2 cups tomato juice
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to saute setting. Add ground beef, onion, salt and pepper. Cook until browned throughout. Use a spatula to stir and separate pieces of meat.
- Carefully remove pot and drain beef if there is excess fat. Lean beef may not require draining. This dependent on your meat and is a personal preference.
- Break lasagna into small pieces so that even layers can be made inside the Instant Pot. Take half of the lasanga noodles, half of the spinach, half mushrooms and half of the spaghetti sauce and make layers. Use vegetables and sauce to separate lasagna noodles so they don’t stick together. Repeat with the remaining half of these ingredients.
- Pour tomato juice evenly over top of the noodles and do NOT stir. Cook on high pressure for 6 minutes. Use quick release.
- Remove lid and add shredded cheese in an even layer on top of the lasagna. Return lid for 2 – 3 minutes and allow the existing heat to melt the cheese.