Instant Pot. Beyond eggs and yogurt.

debrakgoogins
debrakgoogins Posts: 2,033 Member
in Recipes
What are your favorite meals to make in the Instant Pot? I am new to it. In fact, I have made exactly two meals - Mississippi Pot Roast and Meatloaf with sweet potatoes. Both turned out great but I am wondering what others are making besides eggs and yogurt (a quick search revealed plenty of posts about that).

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I use mine a lot for cooking rice or dried beans. It's also great for curries.

    I made this last night: https://www.veganricha.com/2018/03/instant-pot-tomato-soup-tofu-croutons.html

    It was really tasty.
  • debrakgoogins
    debrakgoogins Posts: 2,033 Member
    Thanks! Do you personal your beans or use the dry method?
  • RenaTX
    RenaTX Posts: 345 Member
    I use mine frequently to make rice and beans.

    Recipe wise I make many recipes which requires moist cooking.

    Baby Back Pork Ribs

    Chicken with 40 garlic cloves. Takes 15 minutes in the IP or 1 hour + in the oven.

    Jackfruit pulled pork. Takes about 15 minutes IP where traditional cooking is like 45 minutes.

    Syracuse Salt Potatoes


    There is a lot of recipes you can do. There is a Facebook group called Instant Pot community for inspiration if you are on FB.
  • jflongo
    jflongo Posts: 289 Member
    I do Corned Beef in ours 3 - 4 / month. Basically Corned Beef / Cabbage / Carrots / Veg or Chicken Broth. Cook the Corned Beef with broth for 85 - 90 minutes, pull it out, put the veggies back in for about 5 minutes, then shred the corned beef. I'm sure the recipe is online somewhere.
  • zilkah
    zilkah Posts: 207 Member
    I made Amy and Jacky's chili recipe last night ,super good. I do oats or shredded chicken . Bone broth and other soups .
  • debrakgoogins
    debrakgoogins Posts: 2,033 Member
    edited May 2018
    debrakgoogins wrote: »
    Thanks! Do you personal your beans or use the dry method?

    So, just reread this and that is supposed to say pre-soak. The woo was justified on this one. I have been using my instant pot regularly since my initial post but have yet to try dry beans. What is your experience with pre-soaking and cooking from dry in the IP? Side note, I like my IP so much I bought the Ultra model ($99 on Amazon right now) so I could have one at camp too.
  • amgreenwell
    amgreenwell Posts: 1,267 Member
    I make a lot of soups in it. I also make pasta at least once a week. Gives me time to hang with the kids while the pot does its thing instead of me standing over a hot stove.
    Pasta is super easy: 1/2 lb lean ground beef, 1/2 onion chopped, 2 cloves garlic minced set IP to sauté and cook until brown and crumbly (drain if you'd like) turn IP off, then put 8 oz of pasta (1/2 a 16 oz box), a 24 oz jar of pasta sauce and then 12 oz of water. Stir well. then set to manual for 5 minutes. Delicious pasta. Add cheese as desired and serve.
  • debrakgoogins
    debrakgoogins Posts: 2,033 Member
    amgreenwell wrote: »
    Delicious pasta.

    Is the pasta good? I keep picturing the water my pasta has cooked in and that doesn't seem tasty or appealing to me. Doesn't it make the sauce too thin and starchiy?
  • JKolb17
    JKolb17 Posts: 11 Member
    I use a lot of greek yogurt and I now make it in my instant pot. Cost savings and I know what goes into my yogurt.

    http://youmakeitsimple.com/2016/12/greek-yogurt-in-the-instant-pot-thick-creamy/
  • r3488
    r3488 Posts: 77 Member
    Barbecue pulled chicken. You throw in your chicken and favorite barbecue sauce. I have my own sauce recipe, so I throw in the chicken and all of the ingredients (no mixing necessary). When done, I pull out and shred the chicken then add it back into the sauce. Yum!
  • astronaught
    astronaught Posts: 103 Member
    I love making chicken and dumplings from a whole chicken, which I doubt I would have ever done if I didn't have an instant pot. I use the following recipe but substitute dumplings for the noodles, and add in more of all the vegetables.

    https://www.number-2-pencil.com/instant-pot-chicken-noodle-soup/

    I also like making Jambalaya from a super easy recipe I found online but can't find any more.

    2 boxes Zatarans
    6 cups water
    1 kielbasa sliced
    1lb cooked hot ground sausage
    1lb frozen large de-tailed shrimp
    brown hot sausage on sauté mode then add all the other ingredients.
    20 minutes, then quick release
  • debrakgoogins
    debrakgoogins Posts: 2,033 Member
    JKolb17 wrote: »
    I use a lot of greek yogurt and I now make it in my instant pot. Cost savings and I know what goes into my yogurt.

    http://youmakeitsimple.com/2016/12/greek-yogurt-in-the-instant-pot-thick-creamy/

    I make yogurt too and I use it for hard boiled eggs. It works great for both of those. Now, I am branching out and trying all kinds of different recipes.
    r3488 wrote: »
    Barbecue pulled chicken. You throw in your chicken and favorite barbecue sauce. I have my own sauce recipe, so I throw in the chicken and all of the ingredients (no mixing necessary). When done, I pull out and shred the chicken then add it back into the sauce. Yum!

    That is one of my husband's go to recipes for the IP. We love it!
  • debrakgoogins
    debrakgoogins Posts: 2,033 Member
    @astronaught Your jambalya recipe sounds great. I will definitely give that one a try.

    I make a chicken soup as well but dumplings would be devine. I had issues with the chicken falling apart so I did some research on how to fix that issue. Now, I use mesh produce bags I found on Amazon. I put the chicken into the bag then put that into the pot. I can just lift it out. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005E2QRPG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  • amgreenwell
    amgreenwell Posts: 1,267 Member
    debrakgoogins wrote: »
    amgreenwell wrote: »
    Delicious pasta.

    Is the pasta good? I keep picturing the water my pasta has cooked in and that doesn't seem tasty or appealing to me. Doesn't it make the sauce too thin and starchiy?

    @debrakgoogins NOT AT ALL. The water is all absorbed into the pasta during pressure cooking. Once you do a quick release and open the lid then you stir it all up and it is saucy and yummy. Believe me, my hubby or kids wouldn't eat no watered down pasta :)
  • debrakgoogins
    debrakgoogins Posts: 2,033 Member
    @amgreenwell I'll have to give it a try then. Maybe next week.
  • happytree923
    happytree923 Posts: 463 Member
    Not a meal but I love making chicken broth in mine. I save up chicken bones (legs and wings especially), add water, seasonings, and cook on high for 1 hour-1.5 hours. Let it cool in the fridge, scrape the fat off the top, divide into containers and freeze. I've saved so much money doing this.
  • astronaught
    astronaught Posts: 103 Member
    debrakgoogins wrote: »
    @astronaught Your jambalya recipe sounds great. I will definitely give that one a try.

    I make a chicken soup as well but dumplings would be devine. I had issues with the chicken falling apart so I did some research on how to fix that issue. Now, I use mesh produce bags I found on Amazon. I put the chicken into the bag then put that into the pot. I can just lift it out. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005E2QRPG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    Good idea with the bags. I'll have to try that out. My chicken hasn't fallen apart, but a lot of the onions end up in the body cavity. Also sometimes there will be a couple of pieces of skin in the final product, which is pretty gross, but that could be me doing a poor job of separating the chicken before putting it back in.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    Well now I have my menu set for next week :p
  • jflongo
    jflongo Posts: 289 Member
    I made corned beef and cabbage last night, that is an easy go to recipe. I also made Rice for the first time a few days ago, super easy, and turned out great.
  • 25lbsorbust
    25lbsorbust Posts: 225 Member
    I use mine often for slow cooker refried beans (delish) and white rice (1c white rice, 1c water, 1 min on high pressure, natural release for 20 minutes).

    It's basically a convenience machine because it's not saving me any time but I no longer wind up with burned rice or opaque rice water all over my stove, so I'm happy.

    I tried making a pressure cooker chicken broth recipe I found in it and it tasted like dirty dish water, even after reducing it. Nothing compared to stove-simmered.

    I should be more adventurous but most of the time I just eat pasta or rice, or I'm cooking out of a recipe book that isn't pressure cooker oriented so...
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    25lbsorbust wrote: »
    I use mine often for slow cooker refried beans (delish) and white rice (1c white rice, 1c water, 1 min on high pressure, natural release for 20 minutes).

    It's basically a convenience machine because it's not saving me any time but I no longer wind up with burned rice or opaque rice water all over my stove, so I'm happy.

    I tried making a pressure cooker chicken broth recipe I found in it and it tasted like dirty dish water, even after reducing it. Nothing compared to stove-simmered.

    I should be more adventurous but most of the time I just eat pasta or rice, or I'm cooking out of a recipe book that isn't pressure cooker oriented so...
    I’m right there with you. We got a pressure cooker as a gift back in August and I’ve only used it maybe 4 times :# most things that I like to eat are not slow cooker/pressure cooker type meals, idk... I just haven’t found much use of it. But I am going to start trying some things!
  • WilmaValley
    WilmaValley Posts: 1,092 Member
    These are GREAT ideas!!!!
  • plythacur
    plythacur Posts: 32 Member
    I make beans from dried without the pre-soak in mine all the time. They take about an hour to cook, and this generally works better with darker beans (pinto or black). White beans tend to get a little gummy and need rinsing (like canned) and chickpeas don’t have the best texture when cooked this way, so I only cook them from dry with no pre-soak if they are going into hummus. I can also get a full, thick, lots of broken down gelatin bone broth made in about 70-80 minutes, and I've never had any off flavors, but I pack it full of aromatics (garlic/onion/celery/bay leaves). I usually freeze my broth in 1/2 cup measurements to use in place of canned chicken broth in recipes.
  • debrakgoogins
    debrakgoogins Posts: 2,033 Member
    So, I am now a little more than a month in on owning an instant pot. We use it several times a week. BBQ pulled chicken, beef stew, chicken noodle soup, chicken for prep meals, Mississippi Pot Roast, beef stroganoff, and yogurt (never buying it again - seriously that good) are our favorites. We make a big batch of rice to use in recipes. I haven't ventured into beans yet but I will soon.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    astronaught wrote: »
    I love making chicken and dumplings from a whole chicken, which I doubt I would have ever done if I didn't have an instant pot. I use the following recipe but substitute dumplings for the noodles, and add in more of all the vegetables.

    https://www.number-2-pencil.com/instant-pot-chicken-noodle-soup/

    I also like making Jambalaya from a super easy recipe I found online but can't find any more.

    2 boxes Zatarans
    6 cups water
    1 kielbasa sliced
    1lb cooked hot ground sausage
    1lb frozen large de-tailed shrimp
    brown hot sausage on sauté mode then add all the other ingredients.
    20 minutes, then quick release
    I made this chicken and dumplings recipe and it was good. I was a bit sceptical bc of the soy sauce but it’s good

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