It’s no secret that I’ve fallen in love with my Instant Pot. Over the last few years, I have made countless Instant Pot meals and converted several of my recipes for use in it. In honor of fall, I am sharing my five favorite Instant Pot recipes with you. You’ll love these recipes and they’ll find their way into your regular dinner rotation. Not to mention they’ll help put an end to the “what’s for dinner dilemma.”
Before I share my favorites with you, though, I should share what is so special about the Instant Pot.
Why I Love Pressure Cooking
The Instant Pot is a pressure cooker that uses steam pressure to cook food quickly.
It’s not actually “instant” as the name suggests. It takes time to create high heat and build pressure, then reduce it enough to open the pot when the cooking is over. But, it is definitely faster than conventional cooking.
What I love most about using the pot is how flavorful the food is. During the pressure cooking, the liquid is literally infused into meats and vegetables.
For example, if you add enchilada sauce or marinade to chicken breasts in the pressure cooker, the meat comes out stewed in the sauce.
The flavoring is superior to any other way I’ve cooked.
Something else I like is that you can cook frozen chicken in the pressure cooker and won’t come out rubbery. In fact, they’ll be tender and easy to shred.
What a time saver!
Another bonus is when it comes to soft or hard-boiled eggs, pressure cooking takes the prize. In minutes, you’ll have perfectly boiled eggs with shells that peel off with ease. Ideal for egg salad and deviled eggs, right?
Lastly, you can saute vegetables and brown meats right inside the pot before using the pressure or slow cooking settings. This is especially helpful when making stews and soups. This one-pot feature saves you time with meal prep and kitchen cleanup.
All this is why creating Instant Pot meals is probably my favorite cooking method. New to Instant Pot cooking? Learn more about cooking with the Instant Pot by reading How to Use the Instant Pot 101 and Instant Pot Guide.
What’s Covered In This Post
My Top Five Instant Pot Meals & Recipes
5. Chicken Tortilla Soup
What an incredibly flavorful soup this is! It’s adaptable and versatile, too. Just add whatever vegetable you have on hand. I’ve used both corn and zucchini in this soup.
Everything’s made right in the Instant Pot. The chicken pieces go into the pot whole, are taken out to shred, then go right back in.
Top this soup with your favorite garnishes like tortilla chips, Cotija cheese, cilantro, and avocado.
4. Chili Cheese Mac
Oh my creamy, this Chili Cheese Mac is so good! If you’re looking for a healthier alternative to Macaroni & Cheese, then this recipe is it.
With puree and diced tomatoes, onions, and bell pepper, it delivers on vegetables. Thanks to the ground beef and cheese, though, it doesn’t skimp on flavor.
Plus, this Chili Cheese Mac is quicker and easier to make than Macaroni & Cheese. Once you make this dish, you’ll have a new family favorite. The recipe includes modifications for conventional stove top cooking, too.
3. Chicken Posole
Posole is a traditional Mexican broth soup. One of the hallmarks of Posole is the addition of hominy. There are different versions based on the types of broth and meats added.
This Chicken Posole is a wonderfully tasty soup. It’s one of my husband’s favorites. In fact, he always asks me to double the hominy.
By using the Instant Pot, the preparation is quicker than traditionally made Posole, It takes less than an hour from start to finish, rather than 1-2 hours on the stove or 4-6 hours in a slow cooker.
I’ve lightened up my Posole recipe by using chicken and fresh tomatillos. When serving, yes traditional toppings like radishes, cabbage, cilantro, and lime.
2. Instant Pot Beef Stew
When I’m looking for a warm, tasty meal on a cold winter’s night, it’s Instant Pot Beef Stew to the rescue! Who can resist those tender beef chunks and flavorful beef broth? You can see why it’s one of my favorite Instant Pot meals.
In our home, we serve the beef stew over mashed potatoes. This means I leave the potatoes out of the recipe and add more vegetables in their place.
It’s an unconventional way to serve it, but if you’re a potato lover like my husband, you’ll love it, too!
1. Easy Lasagna
Here it is, my number one favorite meal to make in the Instant Pot. It’s Easy Lasagna for the win! You just can’t beat this winning combination of pasta, creamy cheeses, robust marinara sauce, and Italian sausage.
Until now, making lasagna was a long, time-consuming process. Well, let me introduce you to my Easy Lasagna. It’s quick, easy, and everything is made right in the Instant Pot.
Once you’re done, you just put the cooking pot into the dishwasher. There’s no messy casserole dish to clean. Plus, you haven’t touched your stove or oven, so they’re still clean, too!
Make this lazy lasagna soon, and you’ll be singing its praises. It’s one of the tastiest Instant Pot dishes I’ve made.
Frequently Asked Questions
Short Rib Beef Ragu. The Instant Pot is a master at shortening the cooking times for notoriously long recipes
Yogurt
Rice
Spiced Apple Cider
All The Soups
Hard-Boiled Eggs
Whole Roasted Chicken
Baked Potatoes
You aren’t really baking a cake in an Instant Pot, you’re steaming it. The cake will be moist — which works for something like bread pudding — but you won’t get a nice crust on the cake or the chewy edges that everyone fights over with baked brownies.
You can safely cook frozen meat in an Instant Pot because pressure cooking cooks foods quickly. Unlike a slow cooker, in which frozen food may stay in a dangerous temperature range for too long, the Instant Pot can quickly bring frozen food to a safe temperature.
I hope my Instant Pot Five Favorite recipes have inspired you to make something special this weekend!
Now we’re truly ready for fall, right?
I don’t know about you, but I’m still waiting for real fall weather. The kind where you need a sweater or jacket. We’re still experiencing warm October days here in Central California. Our daytime temperatures are in the low to mid 80ºs, but nice and cool at night. Next week, though, it’s supposed to drop into the 70ºs.
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