The Best 7 Ways to Use the Instant Pot

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My experience with the Instant Pot has grown a lot since I bought mine 11 months ago.  The instant pot intimidated me, so I was a little late to the game.  I didn’t know how to use it and was certain the lid would blow off and cover me with scorching hot liquid.  (I read about this happening to some lady on the internet and you know that everything you read on the internet is true, right?  Pretty sure hers was some off brand and not Instant Pot brand, but it still made me think twice before purchasing one).

Honestly, I don’t even remember what I made the first time I used my instant pot.  (I probably blocked it out because I was traumatized. Okay, not exactly, but I definitely told my kids to stay away from it the first time I used it). I just remember reading the entire instruction manual twice to make sure that I knew what I was doing.  I mean, I am an intelligent person and know my way around a kitchen, but the idea of pressure cooker scared me a little.

There have been some successful experiences in my house in regards to the instant pot and some not so successful. I definitely have a lot to learn and there are many recipes that I still want to test out (like making soups or instant pot bread, creating a recipe for cooking sweet corn perfectly, and using the instant pot to can pickles or salsa. Stay tuned for these experiments). Below are my thoughts, so far, on the best 7 ways to use the instant pot. You will also find my tips for cleaning the instant pot at the bottom of this post.

1. Cooking meat

Whether you are cooking my instant pot shredded chicken, my instant pot ribs, ham steaks, or a roast, the instant pot is the perfect method.  Three big things: make sure you know the appropriate cooking time (check out this instant pot cooking times chart), if you want your ribs or roast to be a little crispy on the outside you will have to broil them in the oven for a few minutes after they are done cooking in the instant pot, and it is best to cut up a roast into chunks versus leaving it as one piece.  If you cut the roast into several smaller pieces it will cook more evenly.

2.  Cooking vegetables

This is really simple to do in the instant pot.  You can steam pretty much any vegetables you like.  My 7 year old and I love asparagus so we have asparagus a lot.  Set your instant pot to cook the asparagus on high for zero minutes. I know what you are thinking ,”Zero minutes, that doesn’t make sense.”  If you are curious, check out my Instant Pot Steamed Asparagus recipe to find out.  Here is a complete guide on cooking vegetables in the instant pot.

3. Hard boiled eggs

These instant pot hard boiled eggs are very easy.  I have the special little trivet specifically for this.  The instant pot does a good job, but I still like boiling them on the stove-top better.  You can take a look at my recipe for perfect hard boiled eggs.

4.  Sticky Rice

              I am no expert on sticky rice but I have made it a couple of times in my instant pot when I made my own sushi rolls. (This was totally a learning experience.  The sushi tasted great. It definitely wasn’t as pretty as what you would get a great sushi restaurant nor did it taste as good. I would’ve loved to use shrimp tempura, but that seemed like too much work.  Imitation crab was much easier). This recipe for instant pot sticky rice is super easy.  You have to buy special rice sweet rice. Also, if you are an amateur at making sushi, like I am, this sushi making kit is awesome.  I was intimidated by making sushi, but, with this cool gadget, it was a breeze. 

5. Cooking meat and pasta at the same time.  

I just recently came up with a recipe for instant pot chicken spaghetti. It was so good.  The kids devoured it and asked for more. My picky husband liked it and even said it was “blog worthy.”  (I feel like the whole blog thing is becoming the norm in my house. My 7 year old asked me, after I ate all of the chicken spaghetti off my plate, “mom, did you forget to take a picture of this?”)  The best part about the chicken spaghetti recipe, other than the fact that it was awesome, was that I could cook both the pasta and chicken at the same time.

This will forever change how I make pasta dishes.  If you want more details on how this works, take a peek at my Instant Pot Chicken Spaghetti with Sun-dried Tomato Pesto. (I didn’t make the pesto. Gasp! It was from a jar. I don’t make absolutely everything homemade. That’s a bit unrealistic. When I use something from a jar, I try to find the best products. The pesto sauce I use for this recipe is from Aldi, so it’s okay).

6. Yogurt

Ever since I’ve had my instant pot, I wondered about the yogurt button. How hard is it to make yogurt and how do you make it?  An important thing to note is that the yogurt setting is not pressurized. Since it is not pressurized, I like to use the instant pot glass lid so that I can see what is going on.  (I can’t handle the unknown, in cooking and in life). When you are ready to make your first batch of yogurt you will need a yogurt starter.  You can buy an actual yogurt starter or just use some yogurt you bought at the store as your starter. I have not personally tested the method of using store bought yogurt as a starter, but I have friends that say it works.  My vanilla yogurt recipe is here. 

7. Proofing dough 

  So, I tested this out with my Homemade Soft Pretzel recipe.  I love pretzels. My kids love pretzels. My husband, not so much, but that’s okay, more for me.  I knew the kids would like soft pretzels, and I have always wanted to make my own. My original recipe requires you to let the dough rise for 1.5 hours or until double in size.  Using the instant pot, it only took 45 minutes to double in size. (An important note here: using the instant pot to proof dough is not done under pressure. I like to use my instant pot glass lid for this also, so that I can easily see when the dough has doubled in size). 

Using the instant pot to proof your bread dough cuts your proofing time in half.  This is such a time saver. If you want to get the exact directions on how to proof your dough in the instant pot, take a gander at my Homemade Soft Pretzel recipe. 

Tips on cleaning your instant pot

Wash lid with hot soapy water.  Remove the quick release valve, sealing ring and the shield that covers the steam valve on the inside.  The sealing ring can be removed and washed in the top rack of the dishwasher. If yours is cracked, warped, or you just can’t get the stink out of it, you should replace it.  New sealing rings on amazon are fairly inexpensive.

The inner pot is dishwasher safe, so why on earth wouldn’t you wash it in the dishwasher.  I suppose if there are some hard to remove spots then you would need to scrub it. The lid is also dishwasher safe, but I would recommend cleaning it by hand once a month for a deep clean.

I would also recommend steam cleaning your instant pot once a month.  Add 1 cup water, ½ cup vinegar, and one lemon sliced in half and juiced into the instant pot.  Place the lid on the instant pot, heat for 3 minutes on the steam setting. Let it naturally release for 10 minutes then open the valve.  Open up the instant pot once it has depressurized, throw away lemons, dump out liquid and let air dry. Remove the seal and let it air dry as well. 

One last instant pot product, that will make you smile, and that my kids love is the Steam Mate. This is kind of a novelty accessory, but it does serve a purpose.  It directs the steam away from your cabinets. My kids love ours because it is a dragon and it looks like the steam is coming out of the dragon’s mouth.

Let me know your instant pot experiences

I am sure that I will continue to learn about the instant pot and will come up with more than my best 7 ways to use the instant pot. (We never stop learning, right? I don’t believe the old saying that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. I learn new tricks every day. Ha!) You will be the first to know about any of my new instant pot adventures. I would love to hear from you about your great, or not so great, experiences with the instant pot, and any tips you might have. Leave a comment here, or send me a message through my contact page.