21 Easy And Comforting Instant Pot Recipes To Try This Winter (2024)

FAQs

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

She's still on the fence about the Instant Pot, though. “I bought one but haven't used it,” she says. Garten says she isn't anti-gadgets or newfangled cooking appliances but that having high-quality sheet pans, knives, pots and pans is more essential in developing cooking skills.

The Instant Pot is a fantastic small kitchen appliance for beginners as well as those who want to cook simple meals, like stews and oatmeal. But it's also excellent for more advanced cooking projects that involve tougher cuts of meat like baby back ribs or other proteins that usually require a long cook time.

Foods containing dairy, like milk, cream, or yogurt, should not be pressure-cooked. The high heat and pressure can cause dairy products to curdle or separate, ruining the texture, taste and flavour of the dish. Cooking fried foods is a strict no no, when it comes to pressure cookers.

Con– The Instant Pot uses steam under pressure to cook food and not everything is meant to be cooked in the Instant Pot. I attempted a crustless quiche which turned out well but it was too wet and moist to my liking and I prefer to cook it in the oven with dry heat.

It takes about 5 minutes for the cooker to come up to high pressure, 5 minutes to cook the eggs, and then 5 minutes of natural pressure release before removing the eggs from the cooker—hence the "5-5-5" method.

In general, the Instant Pot Duo seems to be the most popular, because it offers excellent value — it's the most affordable model but still cooks seven ways and has basic, intuitive controls. The Duo also offers the Duo Crisp model that can also air fry.

Ease of use: Air fryers are good for beginners, while Instant Pots have a learning curve. Price: Although both are quite affordable, Instant Pots offer better value for the money because of their versatility.

They are most commonly used in industrial settings to quickly prepare meat or stocks. However, in most scenarios, Elite Chefs avoid using pressure cookers because they provide less control over the final dish. Chefs often prefer slow cooking techniques that accentuate and pull out the flavors of the food.

Is an Instant Pot just a fancy pressure cooker? ›

Yes, while Instant Pots are technically multi-cookers - with functions including slow cooking, rice cooking, steaming, warming and sautéing - they're all pressure cookers.

The 6-quart Instant Pot (in any series) is the most popular size by far, and it's the one we recommend for most folks. It offers plenty of capacity for weeknight dinners, soups and stews, a pot of beans, or even a whole chicken, yet it doesn't take up a crazy amount of counter or shelf space.

The Instant Pot Duo Plus 8-Quart Multi-Use Pressure Cooker, V4 had a nearly perfect score for easy use, and it didn't falter in any other category, either. The control panel was straightforward, with the preset buttons and status updates making it simple to get the cook we needed with the pot's guidance.

In general, Instant Pots do so much more than just pressure cooking and can be used as a rice cooker, slow cooker, steamer yogurt maker, sauté pan, and a meal warmer.

In general, seafood such as fish, oysters, shrimp, muscles and clams are just too delicate for pressure cooking and slow cooking modes.

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.