Vegetarian Instant Pot Baked Ziti - A quick & delicious pasta dish 'baked' in an Instant Pot. Ready in just 20 minutes. Makes a perfect weeknight meal minus all the precooking and layering. Instant Pot Video recipe + Stove Top recipe.
What is Baked Ziti?
A classic Baked Ziti is a pasta casserole layered with meat, tomato sauce, pasta and mozzarella cheese. It's saucy, cheesy, gooey and always a crowd pleaser.
However this Baked Ziti recipe is a vegetarian, meatless ziti 'baked' in the Instant Pot.
Why you will love this Vegetarian Instant Pot Baked Ziti Recipe?
- It's so cheesy and delicious for the amount of effort that goes into making Ziti in Instant Pot.
- It's meatless, perfect for vegetarians or those who are transitioning.
- Traditional Ziti takes a lot of time this is ready in just 20 minutes.
- Baked Ziti typically requires, precooking ingredients, layering them to perfection and cooking, it can't get easier than this literally dump and set recipe.
- It's saucy and packed with flavors.
- It's made using Mozzarella Cheese.
Vegetarian Baked Ziti Ingredients
- Pasta - If you have dry ziti on hand nothing like it, or else you can use any tubular pasta like penne or rigatoni. We have used penne in this recipe.
- Tomato Sauce - I prefer to use my Homemade Marinara Sauce just because I always have it handy and taste so much better than any store bought sauce. You can either make your own sauce in minutes or use a high quality pasta sauce.
- Onions - they add a nice texture to the finished Ziti.
- Garlic - a little garlic goes a long way, totally enhances the flavors and the aroma of this Vegetarian Ziti.
- Italian seasoning - you will love the aroma of these dried herbs. Oregano, basil, thyme, parsley, rosemary.
- Red crushed pepper - Adding a little zing perfectly balances the flavors here. So try not to skip the crushed red pepper flakes.
- Cheese - This Ziti does not use Ricotta cheese. We have used Mozzarella instead.
- Fresh or dried Parsley or Chives
- Oil
- Water or broth
- Salt
How to make Baked Ziti in Instant Pot?
Here is just a gist of the steps involved to make this Vegetarian Baked Ziti in Instant Pot. For a detailed recipes along with measurements, please refer to the recipe card towards the bottom of the post.
Step 1 : Saute
- Using the Saute function, heat oil in the inner pot. Once the oil if hot throw in the garlic, Italian herbs and onions. Stir and wait a couple minutes.
Step 2 : Dump Ingredients
- Add water and salt to the pot and deglaze it, making sure no food is stuck at the bottom of the pot.
- Add the pasta. Pour the homemade marinara sauce or any tomato sauce evenly covering all the pasta. Please do not stir.
- Make sure all pasta is covered under the sauce. If not gently press the towards the bottom, just enough to be covered by the sauce.
Step 3 : Pressure Cook
- Cover the lid, seal the vent and pressure for 8 minutes. It will take about 10-12 minutes for the pressure to build. Once the timer goes off quickly releasing the pressure.
- Carefully open the lid and throw in the mozzarella cheese, folding it in gently.
- Cover for a couple minutes and let the cheese melt and sauce thicken.
Garnish with parsley and Italian Herbs and serve warm.
New to Instant Pot?
Check out our easy Instant Pot Recipes for Beginners plus 15+ of our favorite tips and tricks to making Instant Pot cooking easy for you. Worried about Burn, read our post on Instant Pot says Burn Message. What is it, what it means, why you get it and how to avoid it?
Tips for making the best Baked Ziti in Instant Pot?
- Always add water or broth first after sauteing the onions. The idea of the sauce not directly touching the bottom of the pot avoids the burns.
- Always deglaze the pot after adding water by throughly scraping off any food stuck at the bottom of the pot. this also helps avoid burns
- Make sure the pasta or noodles are submerged under the sauce but please do not stir the ingredients.
- You don't want the Ziti to be dry so don't skimp on the sauce or water. Eventually the sauce will thicken up.
- Using a vegetable broth over water will definitely enhance the taste.
Can this Instant Pot Baked Ziti be made on Stove Top?
Yes, If you don't have an electric pressure cooker you can make this ziti on the stove top. Using a pot, follow step 1 and 2. For Step 3 - cover the lid and cook for the pasta for the time given on the packaging instructions. For the Penne we used it was 12 minutes.
I don't have dry Ziti, what other pasta can I use?
Yes, you can use any tubular pasta like penne or ragotini.
How to get a brown cheesy crust?
If you like a brown cheesy crust, transfer the pasta into an oven safe container and broil for 4 to 5 minutes to get a brown cheesy crust.
What to serve with this Vegetarian Baked Ziti?
- Garlic bread
- Dinner rolls
- Salad,
- Focaccia
- Steamed broccoli,
Can I freeze leftovers?
Yes. Once the ziti completely cools down transfer the ziti into a container and to avoid a freezer burn tightly wrap it with cling wrap. It can be frozen for upto 3 months. To reheat, place the container from the freezer directly into the oven after unwrapping it.
If you try this recipe, don't forget to come back and leave us comment and rate this recipe. Or tag us on Instagram @dbellyrulesdmind. For more easy recipes to make in the Instant Pot stop by our Instant Pot easy recipes for Beginners.
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Vegetarian Instant Pot Baked Ziti Recipe
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
- Diet: VegetarianDiet
Description
Vegetarian Instant Pot Baked Ziti - A quick & delicious pasta dish 'baked' in an Instant Pot. Ready in just 20 minutes. Makes a perfect weeknight meal minus all the precooking and layering. Instant Pot recipe + Stove Top recipe.
Ingredients
- 3 cups dried Pasta (penne or any tubular pasta)
- 2 cups Homemade Marinara Sauce or Tomato Sauce
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 Garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon crushed Red pepper flakes
- 2 cups Mozzarella Cheese, grated
- 2 cups Water or broth
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- Fresh or dried parsley or chives to garnish
- 3 tablespoon oil
Instructions
Vegetarian Instant Pot Baked Ziti Recipe
Step 1 : Saute
Using the Saute function, heat oil in the inner pot. Once the oil if hot throw in the garlic, Italian herbs and onions. Stir and wait a couple minutes.
Add salt & water and to the pot and deglaze it, making sure no food is stuck at the bottom of the pot.
Add the pasta. Pour the homemade marinara sauce or any tomato sauce evenly covering all the pasta. Please do not stir.
Make sure all pasta is covered under the sauce. If not gently press the towards the bottom, just enough to be covered by the sauce.
Step 3 : Pressure Cook
Cover the lid, seal the vent and pressure for 8 minutes. It will take about 10-12 minutes for the pressure to build. Once the timer goes off quickly releasing the pressure.
Carefully open the lid and throw in the mozzarella cheese, folding it in gently.
Cover for a couple minutes and let the cheese melt and sauce thicken.
Garnish with parsley and Italian Herbs and serve warm.
Stove Top Baked Ziti Recipe.
Using a pot, follow step 1 and 2.
For Step 3 - cover the lid and cook for the pasta for the time given on the packaging instructions. For the Penne we used it was 12 minutes.
Throw in the cheese and gently fold it in. Cover for a couple minutes and let the cheese melt and sauce thicken.
Garnish with parsley and Italian Herbs and serve warm.
Notes
Tips for making the best Baked Ziti in Instant Pot?
Always add water or broth first after sauteing the onions. The idea of the sauce not directly touching the bottom of the pot avoids the burns.
Always deglaze the pot after adding water by throughly scraping off any food stuck at the bottom of the pot. this also helps avoid burns
Make sure the pasta or noodles are submerged under the sauce but please do not stir the ingredients.
You don't want the Ziti to be dry so don't skimp on the sauce or water. Eventually the sauce will thicken up.
Using a vegetable broth over water will definitely enhance the taste.
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Additional Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Cuisine: American
