A lasagna can be fairly time-consuming to make, what with making all those different elements that go into it and the layering and baking and so on. But I make it all that much easier for you with my vegan Instant Pot Lasagna. Now you can eat lasagna for a weeknight dinner--or for a special weekend meal with family or friends! And you can make it gluten-free.
Jay's a bit of a Garfield, in more ways than one, and one of those ways is his love for lasagna.
I don't think he's ever met a lasagna he doesn't like, and he loves my traditional vegan lasagna something fierce. So to keep my baby cat well-fed, I came up with this quick version of a lasagna that's made in an Instant Pot. A Vegan Instant Pot Lasagna.
This is not an approximation of a lasagna made in an IP with free-floating noodles -- it's a lasagna proper, layered and cheesy and filled with the tomato-ey goodness of my easy homemade marinara (although you can definitely use storebought).
I pretty much made this the way I make a traditional vegan lasagna, except that this time, when I had Desi photograph it, I used gluten-free lasagna noodles. It works just as well with regular lasagna noodles.
I wanted this recipe to be fuss-free so I didn't make it inside a springform pan or anything like that--I just cooked it up directly in the IP liner, and it worked fine. The only downside of this is that you can't quite slice it as neatly but who cares about that when it tastes SO good.
What we love about this lasagna
- It's a lasagna! Except it is made in an Instant Pot, so it's easier. But it tastes as delicious as any lasagna you will ever make.
- It's hearty.
- It's cheesy.
- It pops with delicious tomato flavor from the marinara.
- It takes minutes to assemble.
- You don't have to make it all from scratch. Use storebought marinara and just make the cashew ricotta at home--and the vegan parmesan. Both literally take minutes to make, but you can always make them in advance.
- It bakes in the IP from start to finish in about half the time it'd take to bake a lasagna in the oven.
- You can also try making this recipe on the "crockpot" setting of the Instant Pot. Follow instructions in my vegan crockpot lasagna recipe.
Tips and steps for making the best Vegan Instant Pot Lasagna
- If you have some time, make my five-ingredient homemade vegan marinara sauce. It's super easy and it's better than anything you can find on a store shelf. You can make it a couple of days ahead and refrigerate it.
- Same thing with the cashew parmesan and the vegan ricotta. You can stir them up in minutes, but you can also just make them in advance when you have a little time to kill. Then you're all set to make your lasagna whenever you feel like it (that sentence just made me feel so warm and cozy inside! Lasagna + whenever = heaven)
- I use oven-ready lasagna noodles for this lasagna, and I advise dipping them in cold water for about a minute before layering them. This is a small extra step but it will guarantee your lasagna noodles come out tender and nicely cooked when you actually eat the lasagna.
- I like mixing some meatless meat into the marinara sauce for a protein boost. If you like a lentil marinara, use lentils instead.
- I just thaw the meatless meat, mix it with the marinara, and then layer it all on. Or you can brown the meatless meat in the IP first (in a tiny bit of oil), add the marinara, heat it all together, then remove most of the marinara and start layering.
- Ok, so here goes. Add a couple of ladles of the marinara into the IP liner, then add a cup of vegetable stock (or water). Layer on four lasagna noodles -- place two noodles side by side in the IP liner, then place two more noodles criss-crossing them.
- Add a fourth of the marinara, a fourth of the vegan parm, a fourth of the cashew ricotta, and a fourth of the vegan mozzarella shreds (I used Daiya). Once again layer on four noodles--two side by side, then two more criss-crossing them, and proceed with layering on the other ingredients. You should have four layers and use 16 noodles in all, which is the number you'll usually get in a box.
- Finish up with a final layer of marinara, parmesan and ricotta but don't sprinkle on that final layer of vegan mozz yet. Add that only after your lasagna is cooked and you've released the pressure from the IP. Sprinkle on the mozzarella and cover with the lid and let stand another 10 minutes. Beautiful lasagna. Guaranteed.
Making your vegan lasagna gluten-free
- Noodles: I made this lasagna gf this time, and I used Barilla's oven-ready lasagna noodles which are vegan.
- If you use a meatless beef, make sure you buy one that is labeled gf. I usually use Beyond Beef, which is both gf and soy-free. Impossible's meatless pork and sausage are also glutenfree.
- You can also use brown lentils in your lasagna instead of meatless meat. Add 2 15 oz cans of brown lentils for this recipe. Drain them and stir them into the marinara just as you would the "meat."
Vegan Instant Pot Lasagna
This vegan Instant Pot Lasagna makes it that much easier to make your favorite pasta dish. Layers of lasagna noodles sandwich a creamy cashew ricotta and a flavorful marinara. Now you can eat lasagna for a weeknight dinner--or for a special weekend meal with family or friends! And you can make it gluten-free.
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Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 437kcal
Ingredients
- 16 no-boil lasagna noodles (I used glutenfree this time but wheat noodles are just as fine. Soak the noodles in a pan of water for just a minute before you layer them. Don't overdo it.)
- 16 oz meatless beef (I used Beyond Beef. Thaw before use.)
- 28 oz vegan marinara
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 1 cup vegan parmesan cheese
- 8 oz vegan mozzarella shreds
For the cashew ricotta:
- 1 ½ cup raw cashews (soaked 30 minutes, then drained)
- ¾ cup vegetable stock
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ¼ cup fresh parsley (chopped)
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make the cashew ricotta, by placing the cashews in a food processor with all ingredients except the parsley. Process for a couple of minutes until fairly smooth. Mix in the parsley and pulse until it's mixed into the rest of the ricotta. Set aside.
- Keep a pan of warm water handy to soak the noodles just before you layer them.
- Mix your marinara with the meatless meat or lentils. It might be easier to do this if you heat the marinara a bit, and you can just do this in the IP. Set the IP to the saute function. Place the liner inside, add the marinara, the meatless meat or lentils and the oregano, and mix well and let it all come to a boil. You can also do this on the stovetop. Make sure your marinara is seasoned to your liking and add some salt and pepper if you need to.
- As soon as the sauce comes to a boil turn off the saute function. Remove most of the sauce from the liner using a ladle, leaving just about ¼ cup inside. Add the cup of vegetable stock (or water) to the sauce that remains inside.
- Soak the lasagna noodles in the pan of warm water for a minute. Layer on four noodles into the bottom of the pan by placing two noodles side by side and two more on top, crisscrossing them. Since your IP liner is round and your noodles are rectangular, you are not going to get a perfect fit, but that's fine. The space on the sides is going to let the sauce bubble up and cook everything nicely.
- Layer on one-fourth of the meat sauce over the lasagna noodles.
- Layer on one-fourth of the cashew parmesan.
- Layer on one-fourth of the vegan ricotta.
- Layer on one-fourth of the vegan mozzarella.
- Repeat until you have built up three layers of the meat sauce and the cheeses. Over the fourth and final layer, layer the remaining meat sauce and parm and ricotta. Don't add the remaining mozzarella shreds.
- Cover the Instant Pot with the lid, then set to the manual pressure cooking function for 12 minutes.
- Let the pressure release naturally or force-release it 10 minutes after the end of cooking. Sprinkle on the remaining mozzarella and cover the lid and let it stand for another 10 minutes.
- The longer you let it stand, the more the lasagna sauce will thicken up, so I recommend leaving it alone for at least 15-20 more minutes. But if you simply can't wait, cut it, scoop it out and dig in!
Nutrition
Calories: 437kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Potassium: 175mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 267IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Please leave a comment and recipe rating below!
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Amy Patel
Hi Vaishali. Normal pasta in general is Vegan but not certified but Barillas time saving pasta has eggs in it. So its not Vegan or Gujarati Vegetarian, its so sad. But I pay a little more for the skinny long lasagna noodles. It's like Lasagna and Fat fettuccine had a baby. Those cook faster and you can weave it if you like. But honestly Lasagna breaks apart the second your utensils touch it so who cares. Veg is where the parties at, it infuses everything with your choices. Messy layering guys, if they want perfect they can dine out.
Joshua
I would recommend against using this recipe in the 8 quart Duo Nova. The amount of thing liquid that has to be at the bottom to avoid a false "food burn" error is so much that it makes the sauce runny and hurt the flavor of the dish. Had to remove everything from the pot and cook in the oven and by that time I had a poorly layered lasagna soup. I had just ordered $100 worth of accessories for the Instant Pot and I hope I can cancel, but I appreciate that your recipe led me to finding out that this machine isn't a good fit for me! 🙂
Sarah
I missed where to put in the vegetable stock, so my lasagna didn't have enough liquid. It burned on the bottom, and the noodles were still crunchy. However, I will make this dish again and just tweak it a little (lower pressure instead of high, add the vegetable stock, cook a little longer). The taste was absolutely amazing - I couldn't believe I was eating vegan lasagna.
Agnes P Smith
I made this yesterday. It didn't work in the Instant Pot, I'm afraid. After 12 minutes and then sitting for about 10 minutes, there was no pressure build-up in the pot and the noodles weren't cooked and the top wasn't even really warm. I tried starting over on the cooking and again, there was no pressure build-up. I gave up and threw the pot into a 350 oven for about 40 minutes. After that, it was fine and it was really delicious. Both my meat-eating husband and son-in-law thought it was great. I will make this again, but it will be in a casserole dish in the oven. I don't think there was enough water to cause enough steam to get it to any decent pressure.
Vaishali
Hi Agnes, thanks for letting me know. I am going to try this recipe again and see what could be the problem. I am glad you found a way to salvage--and enjoy--the lasagna.
Brandi
Wow so good & so easy! I didn’t use meatless crumbles or lentils, just cheese. It was a little runny, but firmed up. I will make this again!
Bob in Tennessee
I made this recipe today and the flavor is excellent! To start, I loved the recipes for your Parmesan cheese and the ricotta. They were easy and delicious! I used Kroger "Oven Ready" lasagna sheets and they were still hard after the 12 minute cook time in the instant pot. So, I cooked for an additional 8 minutes but that made the pasta gummy (totally my fault). One question: the ingredient list includes 1 cup of vegetable stock but I don't see where that is used in the recipe...is that the cup of liquid referred to in Step 4 of the recipe? Thank you for your amazing recipes!!
Vaishali
Hi Bob, thanks so much for the feedback. You could try increasing the pressure cooking time to 15 minutes the next time. And yes, that's the 1 cup, added to the marinara before you start layering. I'll clarify it!
Susan
Does anyone have a problem with the “burn” light coming on and causing difficulty since there isn’t the customary 2 cups of water in this recipe? I’ve had such an annoying problem with this in the past.
Thank you ??
Vaishali
Hi Susan, that is an old recommendation and 1 cup works fine here with the liquid from the ricotta and marinara. That said if you have trouble with your IP at that level of liquid use 2 cups and let the lasagna stand for a bit longer after cooking to let the sauce thicken.
Susan
Thank you!