Instant Pot Lasagna with Cottage Cheese

This Healthy Instant Pot Lasagna with Cottage Cheese is a delicious recipes that is so easy to cook! Cottage cheese boasts some great health benefits when compared to ricotta, so we’re taking advantage of it in this recipe!

No boiling noodles, no watching the oven. Everything cooks together right in the pot – even the meat! Nothing beats a homemade lasagna on a busy night.

Instant Pot Lasagna Ingredients 

This recipe is made with minimally processed ingredients. Whole grain lasagna noodles, homemade pasta sauce, and lean ground turkey are some of the ingredients that make up this dish.

You’ll find some substitutions mentioned in the ingredient section below as well as the Recipe Tips.

• Cottage cheese or ricotta cheese: This recipe and nutrition information is based on 2% cottage cheese because it has less saturated fat and cholesterol than ricotta. I like to rinse mine to help reduce the sodium in it. You can use ricotta cheese instead, if you’d like.
• Mozzarella cheese I prefer to buy it unshredded, as it doesn’t have as many ingredients. Shredded cheese contains additional ingredients that help the cheese no stick together or clump. You can shred cheese easily in a food processor or with a hand grater.
• Crushed tomatoes: Be sure and use crushed, not whole or diced. Crushed creates the perfect amount of liquid for your noodles to cook. If you’d like to use store bought spaghetti sauce, peek a the Recipe Tips for instructions.
• Dry spices: Oregano, Thyme, Parsley, Onion powder, Garlic powder (my favorite Italian seasoning!) If I have fresh parsley, I love using that.
• Whole wheat lasagna noodles: You can use regular or oven ready noodles (also called no boil lasagna noodles), just be sure and grab whole grain pasta. They’re going to cook differently than regular lasagna noodles, as well. This lasagna recipe is specifically written for wheat noodles.
• Ground turkey: You can add this to the recipe cooked or raw. If using raw, please make the chunks of turkey very thin so they cook all the way through. Please see Recipe Tips if you’re going to use another meat, like ground beef.
• Spinach: A powerhouse of fiber, vitamins A, C and K.

Recipe Tips

• This recipe is wonderful for meal prep. You can assemble it and freeze before or after cooking. 
• I use this baking dish for the recipe: Instant Pot Official Cake Pan. You can also use the springform version in this link, but sometimes it’s difficult to put together, so I prefer the solid pan.
• If you’re looking for a 21 Day Fix lasagna, the container calculations below are based on using 6 whole grain lasagna noodles for the entire recipe. 
• Hiding extra vegetables is super easy in this recipe. I love adding extra spinach, grated carrots, or finely chopped bell peppers. 
• If you’re substituting turkey with ground beef or ground Italian sausage, you’ll need to cook them ahead of time and drain before adding them to this recipe. Beef and sausage release too much liquid while cooking to use raw in the Instant Pot. 
• Use fresh spinach for this recipe, not frozen. Frozen spinach will add too much liquid to the recipe.  
• I love making homemade tomato sauce, but if you buy store bought look for one that has no added sugar. Do not add the tomatoes or Italian seasonings from this recipe if you use store bought marinara sauce.
• If making this recipe right in your Instant Pot liner (and not a separate pan), do not begin your layers with sauce, as it can cause a burn warning. Add 1/2 cup water to the pot, followed by turkey, then pasta, spinach, cheese, then sauce. You can make more layers, but be sure to start with water and then meat.
• Spray your foil with cooking spray before covering your lasagna to prevent the cheese from sticking to it. 
• If your trivet does not have handles, you can make your own sling by folding a 20” long piece of aluminum foil in thirds, lengthwise. Set your pan in the middle of the foil and carefully use the ends to raise and lower in and out of the Instant Pot.
• Top this recipe with freshly grated parmesan cheese and fresh basil, if desired.
• Naturally releasing the pressure in your pressure cooker is important to this recipe – it allows you to let the entire cooked lasagna sit and the noodles to absorb any extra liquid from the recipe. It also allows for a few more minutes of cook time to make sure your noodles and meat are finished cooking. Skipping the natural release step can result in an undercooked and soggy lasagna.
• Refrigerate leftover lasagna in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze lasagna for up to 2 months.

Instant Pot Cooking Instructions

The time estimate includes prep time, cook time, and time for your pot to come to pressure and release pressure. Of course, this changes a bit depending on the altitude of your pot and the size of the Instant Pot you use.

1. Make your cheese layer In a small bowl, mix together the cottage cheese and ⅔ cup shredded mozzarella cheese.
2. Prepare your homemade tomato sauce Skip this step if using jarred pasta sauce. In a separate bowl, mix the crushed tomatoes, oregano, thyme, parsley, onion powder and garlic together.
3. Make your layers Add half of the sauce to the bottom of a 7 inch springform pan. Break your noodles into pieces that will cover the sauce in a single layer. Top with half of the cheese mixture, half the ground meat, and half of the spinach.
4. Repeat Continue to layer lasagna until the pan is full. Cover the top of the pan with foil. This stops liquid from getting into the pan.
5. Prepare your pot Place a trivet in the bottom of the Instant Pot insert and pour 2 cups of water in the bottom.
6. Pressure Cook Place the uncooked lasagna on top of the trivet and close and lock the lid. Turn your pressure valve to sealing. Select high Pressure Cook and set the cook time for 20 minutes.
7. Natural Release Once the cooking time is complete, allow pressure to naturally release. If after 20 minutes the pressure has not completely released, then quick release the remaining pressure. Once the pressure valve drops, remove the lid and carefully remove your cooked lasagna.
8. Broil This step isn’t necessary, but it only takes a couple of extra minutes and really does make the lasagna look and taste better. Remove the foil cover from the lasagna and place the pan under the broiler for 1-2 minutes to brown the cheese. Keep a close eye on your lasagna – the broil setting on most ovens is very fast.

Oven Instructions for this Easy Instant Pot Lasagna Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. In a small bowl, mix together the cottage cheese and ⅔ cup mozzarella cheese. 
3. If using jarred sauce, you can skip this step. Make your homemade marinara sauce by mixing crushed tomatoes, oregano, thyme, parsley, onion powder and garlic together in a separate bowl to make your tomato sauce. 
4. Add half of your sauce to the bottom of an oven safe casserole dish. Place a layer of noodles on top of the sauce, top with half of the cheese mixture, half the ground turkey, and half of the spinach, repeat. Top your lasagna with remaining ⅓ cup of mozzarella cheese, then cover your pan very tightly with aluminum foil. 
5. Bake for 60 minutes. Remove the foil and check your noodles by sticking a sharp knife into the lasagna. If it moves to the bottom of the pan quickly, the noodles are soft enough to eat. 
6. Turn your oven to the broil setting and broil your lasagna for 1-2 minutes until the cheese is lightly browned. Keep a close eye on the lasagna when you do this, as the broil setting works fast.
7. Remove from the oven and top with fresh basil, if desired, and serve!

Healthy Eating Plans

This lasagna recipe is perfect for special diets like 2B Mindset and the 21 Day Fix! I’ve given a ton of helpful information about making this lasagna for the 21 Day Fix, and trust me–your family and friends will love it too, and they won’t even know it’s healthy!

21 Day Fix/Ultimate Portion Fix

These counts are based on using 6 lasagna noodles for the entire recipe: 6 Red Containers, 6 Yellow Containers, 6 Green Containers, 3 Blue Containers.

A serving is ⅙ of the lasagna. Per serving: 1 Red Container, 1 Yellow Container, 1 Green Container, ½ Blue Container. 

2B Mindset

Eat with additional vegetables for a complete lunch. 

Looking for WW Lasagna?The WW version of this recipe is a bit different because we use different ingredients to lower the points. You’ll want to click over to that recipe if you’re on WW.

More healthy Instant Pot recipes

• Instant Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup
• Dill Pickle Chicken Salad
• Instant Pot Spaghetti with Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
• Vegan Minestrone Soup
• Quinoa Tacos
• Instant Pot Spanish Rice