How To Make Rice In Instant Pot
Here are step-by-step instructions for making medium-grain and long-grain white rice such as Basmati or Jasmine rice. We used Instant Pot Duo Nova 6-quart pressure cooker for this recipe.
Step 1. Prepare the ingredients. Wash the rice under cold water 4-5 times to remove excess starch. This will result in fluffier, most separated cooked rice. Use your hand to rub the rice underwater. Strain and add rinsed rice to the inner pot.
Step 2. Add water and salt and stir. Pop the lid on top, secure and lock in place.
Step 3. If using classic Instant Pot Duo, check that the steam release handle is pointing to Sealing. Select Pressure Cook button . Make sure the pressure level is set to HIGH and use and + buttons to adjust the time to 4 minutes. If you need to change from LOW to HIGH, press Pressure Level to toggle between settings. You can leave the Keep Warm default setting on.
After 3 beeps, the display will show ON and two status icons at the top indicating that the pot is heating up and the pressure is building. This will take about 5 minutes.
Step 4. Once pressure is built up, the cooking timer of 4 minutes will display. The float valve on the lid will also rise up as the pressure is built up. Once the cooking timer is done, the Keep Warm cycle will begin with a new 00:00 timer. During this stage, the Instant Pot will start to depressurize and cool down. Leave it undisturbed for 3-4 minutes to release some of the pressure naturally.
Safety Time Steam Is Hot
Steam is hotter than boiling water, and it can burn you badly. Keep your hand clear of the steam release valve when you do a quick release. Sometimes I even use the handle of a spoon to push it open instead.
If you have your Instant Pot near cabinets, be mindful when you do a quick releaseit can get a lot of condensation on your cabinets, which can damage them over time. To keep the steam at bay somewhat, you can tent the valve with a kitchen towel during a quick release. Foods like oatmeal, beans, and porridges can sputter goop through the steam valvethe towel trick is handy for those times, too.
Instant Pot Blueberry Corn Muffin Bites
These mini muffin bites quickly come together in your Instant Pot®, thanks to corn muffin mix and a silicone egg bites mold. With only five ingredients and thirty minutes to spare, you can have a delicious blueberry muffin at the ready for breakfast or snack time.
Get the Recipe: Instant Pot Blueberry Corn Muffin Bites
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Inspecting Your Instant Pot Before Each Use
1. Remove the stainless steel inner pot and look inside the instant pot base. You will see the heating element. The heating element should always be free of debris and dry before you use you the Instant Pot. After washing, I always dry my stainless steel inner pot thoroughly before returning it to the base unit.
2. Check that the silicone sealing ring is fitted properly onto the lid and is clean and free of tears.
3. Remove the steam release valve from the Instant Pot lid by gently pulling it straight up. Make sure it is clean and free of debris. Some foods, such as applesauce, pasta and oatmeal may froth and foam when you cook them and can clog the steam release valve. Check the steam release valve each time you use your Instant Pot. If it is dirty clean it under running water and then put it back on the Instant Pot lid.
4. Check the float valve to ensure it is clean and free of debris. Clean it with warm water as needed. You may place the lid under running water as needed to wash it.
Making sure that all parts of your Instant Pot are clean and in good working condition can help you to have the best success with pressure cooking. My post about the Instant Pot burn message tells you both how to prevent getting this warning and what to do if you do get a burn message.
Instant Pot Cream Of Turkey Soup
My grandma was the first person to ever teach me about using up leftovers and it would have been her 91st birthday today. She always had a use for every type of leftover and was always incredibly frugal too.
If you are not frugal and want to more frugal with your home cooking, there is no better place to start than making your own soups from leftovers, or vegetables and meat you have on hand.
One old school recipe that I adore is Monday Pie. The idea is that you make a pie that is topped with mashed potatoes from what didnt get eaten for the Sunday roast.
It is a wonderful concept but what I did instead is take what is leftover from the Monday pie and turn it into a delicious sauce to serve with pasta.
Next time you have a ladle of stew, casserole, one pot dinner, then use a hand blender to turn it into a sauce and then you have a base for a soup or a pasta dish.
This is a similar method that I am going to show you with this instant pot cream of turkey soup, though I do have another variation too if you are not using leftovers.
Plus, as well as our free newsletter, we also have a free instant pot mini course. It is ideal for instant pot beginners or those that want to get more confident with their instant pot. The free course runs for 5 days with a new lesson delivered each day to your inbox.
Recommended Reading: How To Defrost Ground Beef In Instant Pot
Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
This healthy and easy Instant Pot butternut squash soup is creamy and cozy with no creamy at all! It’s spiced with sage, with a hint of cinnamon and a smoky undertone. The squash and carrot give it an electric orange hue, and it’s rounded out with potato and apple for sweetness. Really, it’s pure gold in a bowl!
Instant Pot Caramelized Onions
Caramelized onions typically require a great deal of attention and time, as the low and slow cooking provide a perfectly tender and golden brown result. But thanks to the Instant Pot®, this typically labor-intensive recipe because an achievable weeknight dish. These sweet and jammy onions are the perfect accompaniment to sandwiches, grain bowls and more.
Get the Recipe: Instant Pot Caramelized Onions
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What Foods Are Best For A Pressure Cooker
Pressure cooking uses wet heat only. You gotta have liquid in the cookerthe steam creates the pressure. No liquid, no steam, no pressure.
Pressure cooking is for boiling, steaming, and braising. For example, you wouldnt cook French fries or make a crusty loaf of bread from start to finish by pressure cooking.
But anything boiled or steamed or simmered is ace in your Instant Pot.
Coco Morante
Read Also: What To Do If Your Instant Pot Says Burn
Instant Pot Mini Pot Roast
A pot roast is often a big meal made for a big pot. If you just want a special dinner for two, this is your go-to recipe. Simply choose a smaller cut of meat to make it work, and the rest will fall into place. This should help you figure out similar meat and veggie recipes, too. Recipe from Home Pressure Cooking.
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Understand How Your Instant Pot Works
To cook properly, its important to have a basic understanding of how the Instant Pot works.
Inside your Instant Pot is a metal pot. This is where youre going to place your food and cooking liquid. The pot slips into the outer Instant Pot and is heated from a heating element below.
The heating element boils the liquid, and all that energy is then trapped inside the Instant Pot. The pressure, steam, and heat then cooks the food much quicker than boiling or using a crockpot. Dry beans, for instance, can take half a day in a crockpot, but can be cooked in under an hour in an Instant Pot.
Recommended Reading: Spiral Ham In Instant Pot
How To Use Your Instant Pot: Everything You’ve Wanted To Know
It’s not just a supercharged pressure cooker — it’s a way of life.
Like a microwave or an electric kettle, the Instant Pot has become a kitchen staple. This versatile pressure cooker replaces so many countertop appliances, from rice makers to slow cookers. It’s introduced a new generation to pressure cooking, and shown us just how quickly it can cook a healthy meal.
Whether you’re a new Instant Pot owner or it’s long been stored away in a cabinet, this guide is for you. A longtime Instant Pot owner myself, I’ll guide you through the basics, including explaining those strange buttons and some basic recipes.
To kick things off, let’s walk through Instapot basics. Even if you’ve owned yours for a while, there’s something here for you, too. Let’s get started.
More tips:15 healthy Instant Pot recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner | Does the Instant Pot destroy nutrients in your food while cooking? | The best paleo Instant Pot recipes | Best Instant Pot accessories you need right now | Best air fryers of 2020
Recommended Reading: How To Make Yogurt In Instant Pot Without Yogurt Button
Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash
Spaghetti squash takes about 1 hour to roast in the oven: but the Instant Pot cuts that time in half! Spaghetti squash can be a healthy side dish recipe , or used as part of a main dish. Our Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti is cooked with garlic and herbs, then doused in marinara sauce for a low-carb take on spaghetti.
Instant Pot Mini Accessories
Part of the fun with the Instant Pot is making different types of recipes and with that comes the need for accessories! PS if you know someone that recently purchased an Instant Pot, accessories make a great gift!
If you have a 3 quart Instant Pot, the selection of accessories is not as vast compared to the 6 quart.
At a minimum, make sure you purchase:
- an extra sealing ring or two, because they notoriously pick up cooking smells, and
- an extra liner insert if you think youll try cooking a few dishes back to back.
I also like the glass lid to keep splatters down while sautéing.
Youll also need to find smaller pans that fit inside the liner for pot-in-pot cooking. What youll find is that you can reuse certain accessories for different types of recipes, if youre concerned about cluttering your kitchen with even more stuff. The Daddio Push pan is a popular favorite to use for anything from small cakes, cheesecakes, mini lasagna or potentially meatloaf.
Read Also: How Long To Cook Turkey Tenderloin In Instant Pot
Adjusting Recipes To The 3 Qt
OK, now that youve gotten more details about the differences and how much will actually fit in the cooker, heres how to shrink down a recipe or even evaluate if it is possible.
Pressure Cook Baby Potatoes
Pour 1 cup cold water, then place a Stainless Steel Steamer Basket in Instant Pot Pressure Cooker.
Place 1.5 lb baby potatoes in the steamer basket.
Close lid and turn Venting Knob to Sealing position.
- Pressure Cooking Method: Pressure Cook at High Pressure for 15 minutes, then Quick Release.
*Pro Tip: This will produce creamy and soft baby potatoes. If you prefer a firmer texture, reduce the pressure cooking time by a few minutes.
Once the pressure cooking cycle ends, carefully turn the Venting Knob to Venting position to release all the pressure.
Open the lid immediately once the Floating Valve has dropped.
Set aside the pressure cooked Instant Pot baby potatoes.
Discard water in the inner pot & towel dry inner pot.
Then, heat up the Instant Pot using the Saute function.
Press Cancel button, then Saute button.
Once the indicator says HOT, add 2 tbsp unsalted butter and 1 tbsp olive oil in Instant Pot.
Add pressure cooked baby potatoes in Instant Pot Pressure Cooker.
With a wooden spoon, gently stir the baby potatoes in Instant Pot to coat them with butter.
Sprinkle 1 tsp garlic powder and 1 tsp onion powder on the baby potatoes. Gentle mix the baby potatoes, then allow the powder to darken & harden a little.
Taste & season Instant Pot Roasted Potatoes with salt and black pepper .
*Pro Tip: For reference, we used roughly 4 pinches of coarse kosher salt.
Also Check: Cleaning Instant Pot Lid Dishwasher
Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers
You can make hearty stuffed peppers without the long bake time, thanks to your Instant Pot! Just build the ground beef and rice filling in the Instant Pot itself, then stuff into large bell peppers and pressure-cook until perfectly tender. Finish off with some extra-sharp Cheddar and chopped parsley for a great weeknight meal.
Get the Recipe: Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers
First Things First What Is An Instant Pot
Links in this post are Amazon affiliate links to products we love.
The Instant Pot is an electric pressure cooker but also a slow cooker, yogurt maker, rice cooker, big sauté pot, steamer, and more. We have the 6-Quart Instant Pot Duo which is what we use for all our Instant Pot recipes. They also make a 3-Quart Instant Pot Mini and a hefty 8-quart Instant Pot.
The Instant Pot is an absolute game-changer, especially on busy nights. Most recipes are dump and cook, and all you have to do is set it all up and then WALK AWAY to do other fun stuff like watch TV, walk your dog, clean your house, have a dance party, etc.
BONUS: it also cooks food way faster than other ways to cook and its all done in one pot. Do you get why we love this thing yet?
If youre still not convinced, the Instant Pot is PRIME for meal prepping and freezer meals no thawing required. You can check out all our freezer meal Instant Pot recipes here if youre into that kind of stuff .
Well also just drop the obvious: its also a pretty excellent gift for a certain holiday coming around the corner.
Alright, lets get on with it. Here are some of our favorite ways to use this little gem.
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What Do You Hate About The Instant Pot
Not every appliance is perfect! One downfall is the pot is a little small, so its hard to cook giant batches of meat.
Luckily this is a small batch recipe blog, so its not an issue for us. Its also a bit deep, so you have to use tongs instead of a spatula to flip anything.
Its also hard to check on the meat until the pressure cycle is over, so if your meat isnt fully cooked in the middle, you have to repeat the cycle.
That means you have to spend extra time waiting for the pressure to build back up before the timer begins. Luckily since the appliance is already hot, it wont take as long the second time around.
It also takes longer to cook than advertised. Sure, the beef itself may cook in 30 minutes, but then you have to wait for the pot to come to pressure THEN the 30 minute timer starts. After its done, then you have to wait for the steam to be released before opening.
I find the Instant Pot useful for tough cuts of meat that typically take a few hours normally, but for easier things like pasta and rice, I wouldnt drag out the machine for them.
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
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Instant Pot Duo Mini 7
July 20, 2017 By Jill Selkowitz / Updated August 15, 2019 / As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs I earn from qualifying purchases see all disclosures.
This Instant Pot Duo Mini 7-in-1 Pressure Cooker Review introduces the newest member of the Instant Pot family of Programmable Electric Pressure Cookers.
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