Healthy Instant Pot Baked Ziti
Save time and make this Healthy Instant Pot Baked Ziti for the 21 Day Fix whenever you are craving a bowl of warm and cheesy comfort food! Gluten-free with a dairy free option, as well!
Prep Time10 minutes mins
Cook Time2 minutes mins
Total Time12 minutes mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 512kcal
- Olive oil cooking spray
- 1 ¼ lean ground beef or Italian poultry sausage removed from casing
- ½ onion diced
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- Himalayan salt
- ½ cup water to scrape off any burned bits
- 2 ¼ cups gluten free pasta
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes 1 large can
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil or 1 tsp dried
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 2 cups chopped spinach
- ¾ cup ricotta cheese
- 1 cup freshly shredded or cubed mozzarella
- ⅓ cup Pecorino Romano or high quality Parmesan Cheese
Set Instant Pot to saute and coat with olive oil cooking spray. Add in meat and brown until almost cooked through. Add in diced onions and cook until onions begin to get tender. Drain meat if necessary, then add in olive oil and garlic. Stir and cook until garlic is fragrant. Sprinkle meat mixture with salt.
Add water to the Instant Pot and use a wooden spoon to scrape off any brown bits at the bottom of the pot, so you don’t trigger a burn notice. Then layer uncooked pasta over meat mixture.
Mix basil and oregano into the crushed tomatoes and then layer that over the pasta. Do not stir!
Place lid on your Instant Pot and set on manual/pressure cook for three minutes if you are using Banza pasta, for regular gluten free (brown rice or corn based), set it for two minutes
After cook time, do a quick release. When it’s safe and all air has been released, carefully open lid. Give everything a stir, then add in chopped spinach. Allow spinach to wilt for a moment before stirring in ricotta and parmesan cheese. Top with shredded mozzarella and place lid on IP so cheese will melt. Alternatively, you can place the pasta mixture in a broiler safe dish, top with cheese, and broil for a few minutes watching carefully until cheese is brown and bubbly.
Enjoy with addition parmesan cheese, if desired!
21 Day Fix: 1 YELLOW, 1 RED, 1 1/4 GREEN, 2/3 BLUE (I usually top with more Pecorino Romano to make it a perfect blue), 1/3 TSP (per serving)
WW link for personal points: Instant Pot Baked Ziti
Serving: 1.25cups | Calories: 512kcal | Carbohydrates: 84g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 394mg | Potassium: 521mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1549IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 284mg | Iron: 2mg