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Your kitchen deserves the right tools. Welcome to A Guide to Equipping Your Kitchen, where I’ll guide you through selecting the best small appliances for your space—and help you say goodbye to those you don’t need.
If you’ve recently joined the ranks of Instant Pot enthusiasts (or are thinking about getting one), you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed. With so many programmable features, picking your first recipe can be tricky. But don’t stress. Take a deep breath, skim through the manual, and dive into one of these seven mouthwatering recipes to get started.
What exactly is an Instant Pot?
Let’s take a moment to explore what we’re dealing with. The Instant Pot is a versatile “7-in-1 multi-function cooker,” combining the power of a pressure cooker, sauté, slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, yogurt maker, and food warmer. Nowadays, you can find models offering even more, like 9, 10, or 11 functions.
I’ll admit, I was initially doubtful about something claiming to be so good at so many tasks, and the devoted community around it made me a bit hesitant. I finally gave in, primarily because I needed both a rice cooker and a pressure cooker but didn’t have the counter or cabinet space for two separate gadgets. The Instant Pot offers both, plus five more functions, allowing me to retire my slow cooker and even experiment with making yogurt. With several models available (most of them similar; some have self-sterilizing or additional customization options), there's plenty of choice.
By the way: the Instant Pot is not exactly intuitive, and I wouldn't recommend just diving in without learning how it works. It comes with lots of buttons, functions, and features, so take some time to familiarize yourself with them. Though it’s one of the safest pressure cookers available, it's still a pressure cooker, so make sure you know how to seal and release it properly before getting started. But don’t let that scare you off—it’s actually quite easy to master after a few tries. Let’s begin with the simplest recipe.
Check out the latest top-rated Instant Pot models:
Instant Pot Pro 10-in-1: Includes sterilizer and five programmable presets.
Instant Pot Pro Plus Wi-Fi Smart: Control your cooker and get recipe suggestions through the app.
Instant Pot Duo Crisp 11-in-1: The classic Instant Pot now features air frying capabilities too.
Peel some effortlessly crackable eggs
Hard-boiled eggs (sprinkled with a touch of Maldon Salt) are one of my favorite quick and satisfying snacks. The Instant Pot makes perfectly cooked, easy-to-peel soft and hard-boiled eggs in minutes. This method from Hip Pressure Cooking is a great technique—and it’s incredibly simple. Just place whole eggs—however many you want—into the pot using a steamer basket or the metal rack that came with it, along with a cup of water. Close the pot, seal the vent valve, and press the “Manual” button. Set the pressure to “High,” and adjust the cooking time according to your egg preference:
“Poached” Style: For soft whites and runny yolks, set the timer to 1 minute.
Soft Boiled: 4 minutes
Hard Boiled: 5 minutes
When the timer goes off, release the pressure by sliding the steam release handle to the “venting” position, keeping hands, faces, pets, children, and important documents safely away from the steam. Use gloves or tongs to remove the eggs, then drop them into ice water to stop the cooking process. Serve immediately or place them in the fridge until you’re ready to enjoy. When you’re ready to crack open your eggs, gently tap the shell to crack it, then be amazed at how easily the shell peels away from the egg white. (I’ve peeled a lot of eggs, and these were some of the easiest I’ve ever dealt with.)
Prepare stock, sip soup, and whip up some hearty chili
Stock, soups, and chili are essential comfort food during cold months. By combining the sauté function’s browning power with the pressure cooking’s intensity, the Instant Pot allows you to pack incredible flavor into these dishes in no time. A great soup starts with a great stock, so let’s begin with that.
Build your stock
There’s something calming about simmering bones and vegetables on the stove for hours, but honestly, who has that kind of time? Any pressure cooker can make stock in half an hour, but with the Instant Pot's sauté function, you can brown the meat right inside the pot before switching to the pressure cooking mode. This eliminates the need for an extra pan and builds deep, savory flavors. The video above shows you how it’s done, but the Instant Pot’s versatility really simplifies the process:
Using the “Sauté” function (press the button and wait for the word “Hot” to appear), brown two and a half pounds of chicken carcasses in one tablespoon of oil. Remove the chicken and deglaze the pot with 100 milliliters of liquid, scraping up all the flavorful brown bits (the video uses water, but I prefer sherry).
Return the chicken to the pot, along with chopped vegetables like two small onions, a couple of carrots, two celery stalks, and four garlic cloves. Add two bay leaves, a teaspoon of whole peppercorns, salt to taste, and any other herbs you wish to include.
Pour in 10 cups of water, close the pot, set the release valve to “sealing,” and use the “Manual” setting to cook on “High” for an hour. Once done, vent, strain, cool, and skim off the fat.
You now have a flavorful, collagen-rich stock ready for soups, rice dishes (like risotto), and even pasta, and the best part? You didn’t have to babysit a pot on the stove or clean an extra pan.
Quick and easy soup
Now that you have a delicious broth, you’re ready to turn it into a full meal. “Soup” is a broad category, but a comforting chicken noodle is always a great option to have on hand (or at least know how to make). You might already have a go-to recipe, and I wouldn’t dream of changing it, but the Instant Pot can help you make it even faster. (If you need a recipe, this one from Live Simply is excellent.)
Start by salting some chopped vegetables (likely carrots, onions, and celery) and cooking them in a tablespoon or two of butter using the “Sauté” function. Get a good sear on everything, add some aromatics (garlic, thyme, etc.), and sauté for another minute or two. Add eight cups of broth, a couple of cups of shredded chicken, and your favorite dried noodles. Turn off the sauté function, seal the pot, and press the “Soup” button. Adjust the time to four minutes, then relax and watch a funny YouTube video or two. (The Instant Pot will take about 10 minutes to pressurize, so enjoy those videos.) Once done, release the pressure using the valve, open the pot, and enjoy your meal.
Enjoy chili when the weather turns cold
Chili is typically a multi-step recipe that starts with soaking beans—if you’re making the bean version, which I know some non-Texans enjoy—and ends with a good long simmer. The Instant Pot takes care of all that for you; you don’t even need to soak the beans.
To prepare a hearty batch of chili beans, you will need:
2 pounds of ground meat, such as beef chuck
1 diced onion
2-4 minced garlic cloves, based on your taste
1 large can of diced tomatoes with their liquid
2 cups of dry pinto beans
Spices like chili powder and cumin
About two cups of stock or broth
Your preferred chilies, based on how spicy you like it
Activate the “Sauté” function, and once the display reads “Hot,” cook your meat, onion, and garlic in a couple of tablespoons of oil (or, even better, bacon grease). Remove the meat and all the flavor from the pot, then add a can of diced tomatoes, using the liquid to deglaze the pot and scrape up all the delicious brown bits. Return the meat mixture to the pot, along with the remaining ingredients, and run everything through two cycles of the “Beans” function. Release the pressure via the valve and savor your creation.
Prepare a tender, succulent whole chicken with ease
Cooking a whole roasted chicken doesn't have to be complicated. In fact, using an Instant Pot can make it even more convenient. Begin by seasoning a fresh or thawed chicken generously with salt and pepper. Use the 'Saute' function to brown the chicken on both sides in a tablespoon of oil. Once browned, pour in a cup of stock and add fresh herbs like thyme and rosemary into the bird's cavity. Place the chicken on the metal rack insert in the pot, and set the cooking time to 'Manual' on 'High' for 6 minutes per pound of chicken, plus an additional 2 minutes. For a 5-pound chicken, this would total 32 minutes.
Once the cooking time is over, let the Instant Pot release pressure naturally by allowing it to cool for about 15 minutes. If the float valve hasn’t dropped by then, you can release the remaining pressure manually. After removing the chicken, slice it to perfection and savor the delicious result.
Cook up a batch of perfectly baked potatoes and sweet potatoes
The first dish I made with my Instant Pot was baked potatoes, and they took just 15 minutes. It felt almost like a cheat, honestly. All I had to do was drop a couple of large russets onto the metal rack insert, add a cup of water, and prick them all over. Then, I set the 'Manual' function to 'High' and cooked them for 12-20 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes.
Once the cook time is over, use the valve to quickly release the steam and carefully take out your hot potatoes. You can split them open and enjoy them as is, but if you're craving crispy skin, coat them in olive oil and salt, then pop them in a 400-degree oven for 10-15 minutes. You can use the same method for sweet potatoes and yams, so feel free to get creative.
No need to spend time on risotto
There is something undeniably charming about slowly ladling stock into arborio rice and watching it transform into a creamy masterpiece. However, we all lead busy lives with things to do. I absolutely love risotto, and the idea of making four servings in less than 30 minutes is just the kind of magic I need to keep me going.
The video above explains the whole process, but gone are the days of standing over a boiling pot of stock. As with many Instant Pot recipes, you’ll begin by pressing the 'Saute' button. When the display reads 'Hot,' saute 10 ounces of diced chicken along with a chopped onion, two minced garlic cloves, and a couple of ounces of diced pancetta in two tablespoons of butter and one tablespoon of olive oil for two or three minutes.
Season generously with salt and pepper, then add 1 ½ cups of arborio rice, a tablespoon of fresh thyme, and half a cup of wine. Stir everything together, close the Instant Pot, press the 'Rice' button, and set the cooking time for 12 minutes. Once the time is up, release the pressure, stir the risotto, and add five more tablespoons of butter and four tablespoons of grated Parmesan. Stir again and let it sit for three minutes. Serve in bowls, topping with more Parmesan and freshly cracked pepper, then enjoy.
After preparing these delicious dishes, you’ll feel confident to explore your new favorite kitchen tool. There are plenty of online recipe resources (The Kitchn, The Prairie Homestead, and Nom Nom Paleo are all excellent places to begin), but there’s no reason to limit yourself to other people's creations. If you’re familiar with using a stove-top pressure cooker, you can easily adapt your favorite recipes to the Instant Pot. Just keep in mind that electric pressure cookers operate at a lower pressure (around 11 psi, compared to the 15 psi of stove-top models), so add a couple of extra minutes to the cooking time. The Instant Pot’s versatility and speed make it perfect for experimenting with all types of dishes, from well-cooked dried beans and grains to your go-to slow cooker favorites, all without crowding the counter with multiple appliances. Plus, the passionate Instant Pot community ensures there’s no shortage of inspiration.
