75+ Best Instant Pot Recipes for Dinner, Dessert & More (2024)

FAQs

Is Instant Pot good for baking? ›

The Instant Pot can gently steam and bake with ease — and keep you from heating up the oven when you want a sweet treat. Instant Pot desserts are their own particular brand of delicious — so you don't want to try taking your favorite cheesecake recipe and throwing it on high pressure for 20 minutes.

Benefits of a 6-quart Instant Pot: The 6-quart (and new 6.5-quart variation) Instant Pot is the most popular size for home cooks, as most recipes are written for that size. Generally, a meal cooked in a 6-quart model feeds three to six people.

Despite its popularity in professional kitchens, a pressure cooker is rarely featured on cooking shows. But that doesn't mean celebrity chefs don't appreciate their value. In fact, many renowned chefs have sung the praises of pressure cookers.

If there's one thing we find magical about Instant Pots, it's how quickly and perfectly they cook chicken and rice. The rice is the perfect texture and the chicken is insanely tender. This is 100% the meal we cook in the Instant Pot the most often.

Con– The Instant Pot uses steam under pressure to cook food and not everything is meant to be cooked in the Instant Pot. I attempted a crustless quiche which turned out well but it was too wet and moist to my liking and I prefer to cook it in the oven with dry heat.

The 6-quart Instant Pot (in any series) is the most popular size by far, and it's the one we recommend for most folks. It offers plenty of capacity for weeknight dinners, soups and stews, a pot of beans, or even a whole chicken, yet it doesn't take up a crazy amount of counter or shelf space.

Also, an overly-full Instant Pot can lead to a clogged pressure release knob, because food and liquid can get sucked up inside. To stay on the safe side, don't fill your pot over that two-thirds line, and stay below half full for foods that expand while cooking, such as beans and lentils.

Under different ownership after last year's bankruptcy, the popular multicooker is no longer part of the appliance conglomerate that owns Pyrex and Corelle.

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.

What does the 7 in 1 Instant Pot do? ›

The Instant Pot Duo is proud to proclaim it's a “7-in-1” appliance, featuring the following functions: Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Steamer, Sauté, Yogurt Maker, and Warmer. The device has its temperature and pressure sensors dialed in, resulting in precise results when cooking.

The Instant Pot is also a useful kitchen tool for winter recipes in particular (all those soups and stews!), so consider how you cook from season to season to determine what size you need. The 6-quart option is Instant Pot's most popular size, as it does the job for most home cooks.

It is safe to cook frozen food in a pressure cooker because it uses pressure to move food through the "Danger Zone" quickly. As a result, you don't run into the issues that you would find by cooking frozen food in a slow cooker, where it can stay too long in the Danger Zone and could become unsafe.

Cooking times: Instant Pots can often prepare food more quickly than air fryers. Food choices: Although both small kitchen appliances can prepare a wide range of foods, Instant Pots offer more recipe options. Ease of use: Air fryers are good for beginners, while Instant Pots have a learning curve.

While the Instant Pot may seem to be the solution for quick and easy homemade meals, it's not meant to replace a stovetop or oven. Using the stovetop and oven may be better suited to certain foods.

Normal 8- or 9-inch round cake pans do not fit inside an Instant Pot, so you will need to get either a 6-inch round cake pan or a 7-inch round cake pan if you don't already have one.

You will first need to find a 6 or 7 inch oven-safe dish that fits nicely inside of your 6 quart Instant Pot so that you can cook ”pot in pot”! This will allow you to do marvelous things like assemble casseroles, bake cake, make frittatas, and much more!

First, you must add liquid to the Instant Pot before cooking. Without sufficient liquid, pressure won't build — and you'll likely get the dreaded “burn” error. Unless otherwise specified in the recipe, you'll need just enough liquid (usually water or broth) to bring the cooker to pressure.