When You Need Dinner to Practically Make Itself, Try These Instant Pot Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What foods should not be cooked in an Instant Pot? ›

If you're a tech-savvy home chef looking for versatility and convenience, the Instant Pot might be your ideal match. However, if you value time-tested reliability, durability, and a focus on the art of pressure cooking, a classic pressure cooker could be your perfect culinary companion.

This age-old preparation method is found among almost all ethnicities and cultures, and as its name suggests, it needs just one pot or pan. This pot may be a Dutch Oven, casserole dish, tagine, roast pan, skillet, or wok. All your vegetables, protein, and starches are mixed in just one vessel.

You can still pressure cook leaner pieces – like eye of round and top sirloin – but these work best if they've been stuffed, shredded or rolled (with other ingredients). Best cuts of beef to use: Chuck steak, Round Roast, Shoulder, Pot roast, Ribs, Brisket, Oxtail.

Chuck roast, brisket and short ribs are the best cut because they contain a lot of connective tissue. During both slow & pressure cooking, that connective tissue breaks down and turns into gelatin giving the beef a rich, meaty flavour and a tender, juicy texture.

If you're looking to save counter space or don't want to spend a lot of money on separate appliances, then an Instant Pot could be worth the expense. However, if you're only going to use one or two functions of the Instant Pot, it's worth considering if separate devices would be more cost-effective.

If you're using your pressure cooker on a daily basis and investing in regular maintenance, it may last you up to five years. On average, though, most pressure cookers perform well for up to three years. After that, it's time to consider investing in a replacement.

It's tough, less flavorful, and dry. How to tell if your meat is way overcooked in the pressure cooker? It's tenderized, but dry and flavorless (without the sauce). Some people call this the distinct “pressure cooker taste”.

Given Instant Pot's popularity, it was surprising to some when last week Instant Brands, the maker of Instant Pot — as well as other household brands including CorningWare, Snapware and Pyrex — announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which is frequently referred to as a "reorganization" bankruptcy.

Avoid leaving food inside the cooker overnight

The food will discolour the cooker and make it that much harder to clean.

What is the new cooking pot craze? ›

First available to buy in 2010, the Instant Pot has become a veritable craze, a success built through social media word-of-mouth instead of traditional TV or print advertising.

Cooking in an “instant pot” or pressure cooker is a great method for preparing your food on many levels — including the nutritional level, according to registered dietitian Beth Czerwony, RD. “Instant pot recipes are absolutely healthy as long as what you put in the recipe is healthy,” she says.

Advantages of the Pressure Cookers:

Reduces Cooking Time: The biggest advantage of the pressure cooker is the reduction in cooking time, often by up to two-thirds. Pressure cooking expedites the process by effectively trapping steam within, opposite to traditional woks and pots where energy dissipates.

Some might ask: Is pressure cooking healthy? They can reduce cooking times by up to 50% and retain nutrients well, making them a healthy cooking method. If you've never used one before, then this is a great place to start.

Is pressure cooking better than boiling? Because pressure cookers create a pressurized environment that can exceed a boiling point of 212ºF they can tackle tasks that take longer in regular boiling water. They also excel at tenderizing meat and making stock much faster than regular cooking methods.

I know that the Instant Pot Max has a button for canning, however, the research done by the National Center for Home Food Preservation found that it is not safe for canning because the temperature fluctuates during processing. This fluctuation can cause under-processing and you can risk foodborne illness.