The 42 Best Instant Pot Meal Prep Recipes
11/17/2020 by Richmond Howard
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A year ago my wife bought an instant pot and it has been a total game changer for our meal prepping.
We still love using our crockpot to meal prep, but honestly, meal prepping with an instant pot might be better. They work faster, are easier to clean, and you dont have to plan ahead nearly as much.
We wanted to share our favorite instant pot meal prep recipes so that you can save time, money, and eat healthy!
If youre new to meal planning, be sure to check out our ultimate beginners guide to meal prepping and these meal planning apps.
Want to pick up our favorite meal prep containers for keeping food fresh?
This is the Utopia kitchen glass container set. These are microwave safe, oven safe, freezer safe, and dishwasher safe. Whip up your favorite meal prep and store them in these long-lasting containers!
Day : Boneless Pork Chops
This Instant Pot Boneless Pork Chops recipe will teach you all about the Saute button! Youll use it twiceonce to brown the meat and once to make a flavorful tomato-mushroom gravy!
These boneless pork chops are cooked until theyre fork-tender in an easy tomato-mushroom gravy thats made super quick from onion soup mix, mushrooms, and tomato paste.
Saute Tip 1: When you brown meat in the pressure cooking pot, be sure to add the water and scrape off ALL of the browned bits from the bottom of the cooking pot. The browning will add a rich flavor to your sauce, and keeping the bottom of the pot clean will help you avoid the burn notice.
Instant Pot Meal Plan: 7 Days Of Easy Instant Pot Recipes For Beginners
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This Instant Pot Meal Plan is perfect for beginners! Each day youll make a meal that introduces a new pressure cooking skill and easy pressure cooker recipes. By the end of the week, you should feel much more comfortable using your new pressure cooker!
I have a new Instant Potwhat recipe should I cook first?
This is one of the most common questions we get at Pressure Cooking Today. And its an important one!
Dont start your pressure cooking journey with a burn notice! Use these tested recipes to make sure you have a good first week of using your new Instant Pot!
Weve put together a week of easy Instant Pot recipes to get you loving your new machine.
Plus, subscribe to our weekly recipe updates, and well send you the full shopping list for free!
Interested in having us teach you how to start cooking in your Instant Pot?Our Instant Pot 30-Day Jumpstart beginners course is OPEN for new students until January 14th!.
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Instant Pot Freezer Meals
On October 17, 2022 by Mindy
**This post may contain affiliate links, but we promise only to point you to products we use and love!**
The Instant Pot is our new favorite kitchen appliance. It isnt required for freezer cooking, but it certainly does help, because you can cook your meals directly from the freezer. No thawing!
To get you started, we have adapted the instructions for 50 of our best comfort food recipes to make them instant pot freezer meals. We also have resources, tips, and an Instant Pot Meal Plans to introduce you to freezer cooking with an Instant Pot.
The Instant Pot Makes Hot Breakfast Better
Have a busy morning? Forget about cold cereal. You can get a breakfast casserole started before you hop in the shower. I loved having a warm and healthy breakfast and its even better when you have company youd like to impress. Next on my list: this Frittata Provencal.
I also love oatmeal before work. It gives me an energy boost and helps curb my sweet tooth. This Cherry-Almond Oatmeal was absolutely delicious and it only takes twelve minutes to cook. Such a life-saver in the a.m.
Read Also: How To Set Instant Pot To Manual
Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash With Marinara
This might be the easiest way to cook spaghetti squash pierce a whole squash all over with a fork, then cook it in a pressure cooker until perfectly tender. It cooks in a fraction of the time it would take in the oven, and there’s no need to struggle with cutting the sturdy squash beforehand.
Get the Recipe: Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash with Marinara
Classic Comfort Food Recipesin The Instant Pot
Weve got a real soft spot for comfort foodthe only downside is that it often takes a really long time to cook. But pressure cookingwhich is what an Instant Pot doesspeeds up the time between craving and satisfaction by a lot! For example, our Instant Pot mac and cheese cooks in just three minutes!
- Instant Pot Mac and Cheese. Grab a bowl, because our Instant Pot mac and cheese recipe is ready in FIVE MINUTES.
- Instant Pot Ribs. Our Instant Pot ribs are nothing short of magical. Seasoned with loads of garlic, honey, chili paste and soy sauce, theyre absolutely irresistible.
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Instant Pot Chili Verde
From The Cookie Rookie, this pork stew is flavored with a mix of green peppers, like green chilis and jalapenos. All the spice in all the right places! Fry up some tortillas and lay them at the bottom of the bowl for extra crunch and texture.
This Instant Pot chicken stew with mushrooms is hearty, creamy and delicious. Using a pressure cooker, its a quick and easy dinner for the whole family. Serve with rice, potatoes, pasta or veggies. Keto-friendly!
Best Instant Pot Recipes With Chicken
Whether you want a tasty dinner with chicken breasts, whole chook, wings or frozen poultry, these are some of the most popular Instant Pot chicken recipes. We have separate roundups for individual types of poultry meat if youre interested in one of these in particular: chicken breast recipes, chicken thighs, frozen chicken recipes, whole chicken, wings, turkey.
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Instant Pot Lunch Meal Prep: Quinoa Black Bean Salad
This is a great nutritious salad you can make ahead of time and divide between lunchboxes to enjoy for a couple of days. As with most salads, its best to store the dressing separately to keep it fresh and crunchy.
Shopping list: 1cupquinoa, 1canblack beans, rinsed and drained, 1red pepper, 1red onion, 1cupedamame, 1cupcorn, 1/4cuplemon juice, 1tbspdijon mustard, 1tbspchili powder, and fresh cilantro.
Prep tips/make-ahead: This salad tastes great served warm or cold, so its perfect year-round! Divide into single servings or family-sized servings and place them into airtight containers, meal prep containers, or freezer bags. If stored in an airtight container, it can be left in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or you can freeze the leftovers for up to 6 months.Recommended sides: Great as is but you can never go wrong with a dollop of guacamole or sour cream on top!
Dinner 2 Tasty Taco Meat
Taco Tuesday, Friday Burritos or Sunday Enchiladas? This taco meat recipe is super versatile and you can make a batch of it to use up right away or to freeze for later in the week. Use it in tacos, burritos, enchiladas, over rice with beans, and grated cheese.
Shopping list: 1 medium onion, 1/2 serrano or jalapeno chili, 1.8 lb / 800 g ground beef, 5 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon ground coriander seed, 2 teaspoons ground cumin, 2 teaspoons paprika, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 cup chopped tinned tomatoes.
Prep tips/make-ahead: Taco meat will keep for 3-4 days in the refrigerator and up to 3 months in the freezer. Make sure to cool down the meat first before storing it in an airtight container or heavy-duty freezer bags. Make sure to label the containers if storing in the freezer. To use frozen taco meat, defrost it overnight in the fridge or in a microwave. Recommended sides: You can add avocado, cilantro, rice, lime, shredded cheese, refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, and sour cream to fill your tortillas. Taco meat can also be used in burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas as a topping on salads, naked burrito bowls, nachos sandwiches, sliders, wraps, and burgers in rice casseroles or pasta, dips, lasagna, and much more.
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Instant Pot Fettuccine Alfredo
From Simply Happie Foodie, this is a dump it all in and push start type of recipe. It is a creamy, rich, and delicious one-pot, easy pasta dinner! If you want to add chicken, just lay the chicken pieces over the noodles and season them, and away you go.
From Jo Cooks, a classic Russian dish consisting of sautéed beef and mushrooms in a rich sauce with sour cream. All of this deliciousness is usually served over egg noodles to soak up all that sauce.
Healthy Instant Pot Meal Plan #6
We are continuing our Instant Pot Meal Plan series with the sixth edition! This weeks light and healthy menu features 5 dinner meals, 2 lunch dishes, and 1 breakfast, all made in your pressure cooker. This healthy Instant Pot meal plan focuses on dishes with lots of vegetables, protein, and fewer refined carbohydrates or sugar.
You can find other Meal Plans here and our Vegetarian Meal Plan #3.
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The Winning Three Recipes
Oh my gosh, HOW TO DECIDE? This was unbelievably hard, and being that all these recipes are already extremely well-rated and popular, I think you could make any of these and be very happy with your choice.
We deliberated on this for a long time, reviewing our notes and ratings and calling back to mind all the taste-testing wed been doing.
In the end, we landed on three recipes that just really spoke to us:
- Honorable Mention: Zuppa Tuscana
The base of our decision was how the recipes tasted, but we did also consider the amount of work involved with each recipe and, combining both the taste and ease factors and considering how likely wed be to actually make them at home.
There are several others on this list that Krista mentioned shed make again, and same goes for me. But if we listed them all for you, wed just list the whole list again!
It was so super fun to try the best of Instant Pot recipes from around the internet. Thank you to the authors of these recipes for keeping us all well-fed with your delicious creations!
Readers: This is a new type of post for us! Tell us what you think! What was helpful, and what were you wishing for more of? It took several weeks to put this together, but we had so much fun doing this and would love to do more of it in the future.
And most importantly: which Instant Pot recipes do you think we need to try next?
The Day Before: Instant Pot Brown Rice
Get the recipe:Instant Pot Brown Rice
The day before you begin this meal plan, prep two batches of Instant Pot Brown Rice. You’ll use the cooked rice twice for this plan, on days one and four. Making the rice ahead of time allows you to focus on the main protein for that night, rather than worrying about making two separate recipes. It also saves you from having to clean out the pressure cooker between recipes. Each batch of rice makes four servings.
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Lunch 1 Instant Pot Taco Meat Bowls
Taco meat can be made with ground beef, pork, or chicken and is super versatile. Served alongside cauliflower rice or roasted sweet potatoes, with shredded coleslaw or fresh salsa and guacamole on top, taco meat bowls are fantastic for Whole30 lunch or dinner. Try our recipe for taco meat here. and these taco bowls from The Healthy Consultant here.
Shopping list: 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 onion, 1/2 serrano or jalapeno chili, 1.8 lb / 800 g ground beef, 5 cloves garlic, 1 tsp ground coriander seed, 2 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp dried oregano, and 1 cup chopped tinned tomatoes.
Prep tips/make-ahead: If using more ground beef, make sure to add more water and more crushed tomatoes you can also add a little more of each spice.
Serving suggestions: Taco meat can be used in so many ways besides tacos. You can use it as a filling in burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas as a topping on salads, naked burrito bowls, nachos, in sandwiches, sliders, wraps, burgers, in rice casseroles, pasta, dips, or lasagna.
More Instant Pot Meal Plans
Ive been creating my Instant Pot Meal Plans for quite some time and have accumulated over a years worth of meal plans. Im making all of my previously published meal plans available to you via the list of links below. You can access each month of the year by simply clicking on the one you want to look at, the link will then take you to the recipes for that particular month.
Since I carefully select each recipe for each month, every month has a unique list of recipes. Browse through each month to see all the different recipes and get ideas for creating your very own meal plans. Feel free to peruse each of the months!
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Dinner 4 Whole30 Beef & Broccoli
In the mood for some Chinese food? This Instant Pot beef and broccoli dish is just the ticket! Its much healthier than the beef and broccoli you would normally get in your takeout and only takes 30 minutes to put this on the dinner table. Get the recipe here.
Shopping list: 1.5 pound flank steak, 23 crowns broccoli, 3/4 cup beef broth, 1/2 cup coconut aminos, 2 tbsp avocado oil or olive oil, 2 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp minced garlic, 1 tbsp arrowroot flour, 1/2 tbsp grated ginger, 1/2 tbsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, sesame seeds to garnish, and chopped green onions for garnish. Optional: Bag of cauliflower rice to serve with.
Prep tips/make-ahead: If you use a chuck roast, make sure to trim any extra fat prior to cooking. Those cuts of beef typically are a bit fattier, but theyre also cheaper so its a good budget option. Optional way to cook broccoli: Once done the beef is done, do a quick release, remove the lid, place it in broccoli. Close the lid again, set to 0:00 on manual, and set to sealing to steam broccoli. This will cook the broccoli more thoroughly as opposed to lightly steaming it for more fork-tender broccoli.
Recommended sides: This Whole30 instant pot beef and broccoli is great served with cauliflower rice, broccoli rice, or just on its own!
Quick And Easy Taco Chicken In The Instant Pot
Making taco chicken in the Instant Pot is a super easy way to get dinner on the table or to do some advance meal prep! This versatile pressure cooker taco chicken can be used for tacos, burrito bowls, enchiladas, quesadillas, nachos, and more!
The uniqueness of Cincinnati Chili is part of what makes it so special, and you’ll love how easy it is to make this copycat Skyline Chili recipe in the Instant
Also Check: Can I Put Frozen Chicken In Instant Pot
Here Are Some Of My Favorite Kid Friendly Instant Pot Recipes
Contains affiliate links
When it comes to family friendly dinners, here recently I have been turning to my Instant Pot. I use it for basically everything meat, poultry, soups and stews, rice, even oatmeal and it cooks it all in no time at all. This summer I am trying my best to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible and instead creating as many memories as I can with with Big D and Little D, and the Instant Pot is helping me do this.
Why I Love My Instant Pot
Use it for Perfect Prep Food
Easy Peel Hard Boiled Eggs Perfect Basmati Rice, Brown or White. Fluffy Quinoa Shredded Chicken DYI Sandwich Meat Sweet Potatoes
Pot in Pot For Easy Lunchs
Cooking pot in pot has been a game changer! This means I can cook the protein and the starch, all at the same time, yet it is separate.
Dumb and Go Dinners
On Sunday, I prep my dinners RAW, and then during the busy weeknight we just dump it into the IP and go do something else while dinner cooks.
Also Check: How To Make Cheesecake In Instant Pot
Instant Pot Loaded Potato Soup
for this recipe from Belle of the Kitchen.
What we loved:
- So super cozy, nostalgic, and family-friendly. This reminded me of something I would have grown up eating in small-town Minnesota.
- Short and sweet ingredient list.
- Potatoes kind of go with anything, so it gives you a good base where you can play with the toppings! We had it with bacon, cheddar cheese, and green onion, but I think you could go lots of directions with this, like adding roasted broccoli, kale pesto, grilled sourdough toasts, etc.
Dinner 1 Bolognese With Zucchini Noodles
Our Instant Pot Bolognese sauce is perfect for a cozy Italian meal that is Whole30 and Paleo-friendly. Swap pasta for zucchini noodles or cauliflower rice. Leftover Bolognese is also great for lunch with a side of grilled zucchini or roasted sweet potatoes. Get the recipe here.
Shopping list: 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 onion, 1 carrot, 2 celery ribs, 3 oz / 90 g bacon, 2.5 lb / 1.1-1.2kg ground beef, 4 cloves garlic, 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder , 1 tsp dried thyme or basil, 2 bay leaves, 1/2 cup dry white wine , 1 cup chicken or beef stock, 2 tbsp tomato paste, 14oz/ 400 g of tomato sauce or puree, also known as passata , and 2 tbsp tapioca or arrowroot flour. Plus, 1 large zucchini per person for the zucchini noodles. Garnish with fresh parsley or basil and grated parmesan cheese.
Prep tips/make-ahead: For a bolder, more in-depth flavor, the sauce recipe calls for a little sugar and soy sauce. Omit the sugar and replace soy sauce with coconut aminos or fish sauce. You can use a vegetable spiralizer or carrot peeler to make zucchini noodles and briefly toss them in a hot pan with a little olive oil to heat up.
Serving suggestions: Garnish with fresh parsley or basil and grated parmesan cheese.
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