16 Instant Pot Recipes (2024)

FAQs

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

The Bottom Line

The Instant Pot DUO manual states: “Always add at least 18 fl oz / 500 mL of liquid for minimum liquid requirement.” 18 fluid ounces is about 2.25 cups. So as long as you have that much liquid in there, you can safely pressure cook any amount of food, large or small.

Hard-, medium, and soft-cooked eggs come out perfectly when cooked on a low-pressure setting. Along with eggs, you might see an occasional recipe for vegetables and fish use low pressure. Most of those recipes, however, give an alternative for cooking at high pressure with a shorter cook time.

Dried beans, stock, and rice are all great places to start since they only use the pressure setting, while the other recipes in this list are easy enough for beginners and will open your eyes to the possibilities of the Instant Pot.

Mostly we boil potatoes in a pressure cooker, but like rice, potatoes also contain a lot of starch. This is the reason why boiling or cooking in this pressure cooker is not considered good for health. If you still plan to use cooker for the same, add a lot of water and wash them thoroughly post cooking.

The Instant Pot's burn message simply means that your Instant Pot has detected that its inner pot has gotten too hot. There may be a slight amount of burned food at the bottom of your pot, but not enough to ruin whatever you're cooking.

Your Instant Pot needs liquid to work. If there's not enough, your pot won't be able to create enough steam to build pressure. About 1 cup is the minimum amount of liquid, so if you're cooking a recipe that will absorb water, like rice or beans, you'll need even more.

You absolutely must add water so that the Instant Pot can create the steam it uses to pressure cook the meat. Tip: You can also use stock for some extra flavor.

Is it worth buying an Instant Pot? Yes, we do think an Instant Pot is worth it, particularly for pressure cooking. There's a reason it's one of the most popular kitchen appliances out there.

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.

Do Instapots make meat tender? ›

The pressure cooker makes that all-day flavor attainable in a fraction of the time. The veggies and beef pieces become perfectly tender and flavorful in a scrumptious, cozy-to-your-core broth.