We crowed about how well we’ve been served by our three-way Instant Pot. We promised you a run-down of Instant Pot recipes. Without further ado:
Pressure cooking saves time
Here’s a simple one for a simple meal, brown rice.
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup brown rice, dash of salt
Cook on “rice” setting for 25 minutes, then allow rice to stand 10 minutes. Quick release at end of stand time.
Instant Pot recipe: Boiled eggs for no-dumb-clucks
Put 3 to 12 “hen fruit” in a steamer basket or on a rack. Add 1 cup of water to the pot. Lid on, and use high pressure for the time listed, then immediately release the pressure.
Soft set: 3 – 4 minutes
Medium set: 5 – 7 minutes
Hard set 8: – 9 minutes.
For the carnivore at heart—meatloaf!
Mix 1 ½ pounds ground beef with 1 envelope of onion soup mix, 2 eggs, 1 cup of crushed saltines, ½ cup of ketchup, and ¾ cup mixed vegetables (optional!). Mix well and form into a ball.
Put ½ cup water in bottom of pot. Place meatloaf on steamer rack. We build a cross-over “sling” out of aluminum foil to set between the meatloaf ball and the rack. This allows us to lift the meatloaf out of the cooker—but don’t cover the meatloaf itself with your lift.
Pressure 25 minutes on high, let rest for 10 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure. We toss potatoes on the bottom of the pot, with a piece of aluminum foil over them to keep the meatloaf juices from leaking down on the spuds.
Instant Pot recipe: Hamburger stroganoff with noodles
Use the sauté function of your pot to cook 1 pound extra lean ground beef with ¾ cup finely chopped onion and a clove of minced garlic. When browned, mix in ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper, 2 tablespoons flour, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, and 2 ½ cups beef broth. Mix well, then add 8 ounces of uncooked wide egg noodles. Put lid on it and bring to pressure, pressure cooking on high for just 5 minutes. Let stand after cooking for 10 minutes, then quick release remaining pressure.
Now stir in up to 1 cup sour cream, as desired.
Air frying—the healthy, tasty alternative!
Pork chops, Wowser!
We use boneless, 1” or thicker chops. Coat these bad boys with your brand of Shake ‘n Bake or equivalent. Spray the inside of the pot and the rack with spray oil.
Set the air fryer for 400 degrees, and air fry the chops for 7 to 10 minutes, flipping them about halfway through the cook time. We generally call our chops “done” when the internal temperature hits 145 degrees.
You can add more “character” to your chops by adding your own zesty seasoning to the shake ‘em, bake ‘em mix. Think “taco” as an example.
Chicken breasts on the fly
Again, like pork chops, we take the quick and dirty method and coat our chicken breasts with Shake ‘n Bake or Panko. Spray the inside of the pot and the rack with spray oil.
Set the air fryer for 380 degrees, and air fry the clucks for 10 minutes. Flip the birds at this point, spray the new “top” side with a shot of spray oil. Now cook them again for an additional 5 to 9 minutes. These biddies should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees, and best rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Slow cooker Instant Pot recipes
You probably already have a slew of your favorites, but here’s one of ours:
Slow cooker Baby Backs
Cut rib slab down into slices your slow cooker can handle. We find that 3 ribs per slice works nicely. Put ¼ cup water in the bottom of the pot, then layer rib slices with sliced onion. Put the next layer on top of the onion layer below, and top off with more sliced onion. Be careful and don’t overload your slow cooker—our 6-quart model handles a single side nicely.
Slap on the slow cooker lid, and cook for roughly 8 hours on low. In a hurry? You can try on high for 4 hours. The trick is to cook the ribs to “fall apart” stage. When the ribs are cooked, the next is the fork in the road (not on the plate). Will you:
1. Slow cook the sauce? Pull the ribs out and remove the onion. Put the ribs back in the pot and thoroughly coat them with BBQ sauce. Cook on high for an additional 30 minutes.
Or will you:
2. Caramelize the sauce? Pull the ribs out of the cooker and remove the onion. Put the ribs on a flat cookie sheet or cake pan and thoroughly coat them in BBQ sauce. Now shovel the works in an oven set at 375 for 10-15 minutes. Don’t overdo it! Just thicken up that delicious sauce.
Need your own Instant Pot? Here’s the one we use and recommend.
More Instant Pot info and recipes:
- Slow cooker to Instant Pot conversion: Recipe adaptation
- Did someone say bacon? Instant Pot bacon-wrapped turkey – Yum!
- A perfect fall recipe: Instant Pot Jambalaya with a twist
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