7 Instant Pot recipe favorites

You can’t spend one minute on Pinterest or five minutes talking with friends without uncovering one fact: the Instant Pot device is the absolute FAVORITE of everyone who has tried it, and even for Very Busy Moms, it can make a marvelous supper with a minimum of effort and time. Combination slow-cooker and pressure cooker with a fantastic sauté feature thrown in along with many settings for everything from yogurt-making to steaming and making rice, the Instant Pot is only dependent on your imagination and some really good recipes.

The nice thing is that this is “Not your Grandma’s pressure cooker”. With no noisy rattling, splattering and steaming going on while it’s busily making supper (or lunch or breakfast or dessert!), it is the last minute save-your-sanity device that will result in fewer emergency trips to the grocery store for (another?!) rotisserie chicken, or out for greasy fast food. It is quiet, works without constant babysitting, has multiple safety features, and with all stainless steel cooking surfaces, you have nothing to worry about long-term as you might with nonstick surfaces. Simply put, it is easy, fast, and mess-free. The virtual opposite of motherhood!

TIP: One thing that you might not have heard about is the fact that, due to Billings’ elevation being around 3500’, we are affected by the “high altitude rule – For every 1,000 feet above 2,000-foot elevation, you must increase cooking time by 5 percent.” Therefore, it might take your pressure cooker a little bit longer to come to cook pressure here, and you should increase your cook time by about 10% over standard recipes. OK, 7.5% longer, if you want to get technical and live in the valley. No worries, as it is still HOURS faster than the oven!

A couple of these recipes are courtesy of my fabulous friend Vicki Shackleford, local Instant Pot expert and teacher. If you don’t know Vicki, you should!

Scroll on for 7 of our favorite Instant-Pot recipes! (Frozen to Fab Chicken, Chicken Enchilada Soup, Vicki's Super Easy Pot Roast, Vicki's Favorite Quick Meal, Instant Pot Poultry Bone Broth, Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs, Pressure Cooking Today’s Creamy Pressure Cooker Rice Pudding)

Frozen to Fab Chicken:

1-3 pounds frozen boneless skinless chicken breast

Options – choose ONE:

• Mexican: 1 cup salsa (red, green, mild or hot – your call!)
• BBQ: 1 cup BBQ Sauce
• Lemon Garlic: 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2-4 cloves minced garlic, ½ teaspoon basil
• Teriyaki: ¼ cup soy sauce or Braggs Aminos, ¼ cup orange juice, 1 tablespoon lime juice, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, squirt of Sriracha hot sauce

½ cup water

1. Place ingredients in your Instant Pot.
2. Lock lid in place. Be sure vent is closed on top back of lid.
3. Press Manual, display should show 30 minutes. Adjust to 30 if necessary.
4. When time is up, turn vent to manually release steam. When cover unlocks, remove lid and shred chicken with forks.
5. Use for on chicken tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, soup, sandwiches, pasta, rice, etc!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 can (28 oz) mild enchilada sauce
• 2 cups diced tomatoes
• 1 can (4.5 oz) chopped mild green chilies
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cans or 2 cups cooked black beans, drained, rinsed
• 2 cups corn, or 2” pieces of corn on cob

Optional toppings

• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• Shredded Mexican cheese
• Chopped fresh cilantro
• Tortilla strips or crushed tortilla chips
• Sour cream
• Diced avocado

1. Add chicken broth, enchilada sauce, tomatoes, and chilies to pressure cooking pot. Stir to combine. Add chicken breasts to the pot.
2. Lock lid in place. Be sure vent is closed on top back of lid.
3. Manually set timer to 10 minutes. (If chicken breasts are frozen, press 14 minutes).
4. When timer beeps, turn off pressure cooker, wait 10 minutes, then do a quick pressure release.
5. Remove chicken breasts from soup and dice or shred with forks.
6. Return chicken to soup and stir in beans and corn. If necessary, select Sauté and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until beans and corn are heated.
7. Serve with optional toppings as desired.

Vicki’s Super Easy Pot Roast

• 2-3 pound roast, frozen or thawed
• Salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary
• 1 packet gravy mix
• 1 cup hot water

1. Cut roast in fist-sized chunks.
2. Salt, pepper, gravy mix, thyme, rosemary to taste.
3. Add hot water.
4. Lock lid in place. Be sure vent is closed on top back of lid.
5. Manual timer to 50 minutes.
6. When timer beeps, turn off IP, then do a quick pressure release.
7. Remove roast and thicken gravy if desired, using 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch, on the Sauté setting.

Vicki’s Favorite Quick Meal

• 1 pound frozen meatballs
• 1 box of rotini noodles
• 1 jar of pasta sauce
• 1.5 jars of hot water (from pasta sauce jar)

1. Place all ingredients in IP.
2. Lock lid in place. Be sure vent is closed on top back of lid.
3. Manual timer to 3 minutes. (Yes! 3!!)
4. When timer beeps, turn off IP, then do a quick pressure release.

Going GAPS diet, or just love bone broth? 

When it’s just my family eating at home, they all know to tuck their finished chicken and turkey bones into a big Ziploc in the freezer. Pressure cooking will kill any germs, and it’s a great way to “waste not – want not!” I mix turkey with chicken for extra flavor.

Instant Pot Poultry Bone Broth

• Bones from 1-2 chickens or a turkey
• 1-2 carrots, snapped in half
• Ends and pieces of celery, or 2-3 stalks, broken in half
• Onion skins or pieces, or ½ onion, or 2 tablespoons dehydrated minced onion
• 3-4 cloves of garlic (who am I kidding, throw in the whole head. Or two.)
• ¼ teaspoon peppercorns
• A couple of glugs of vinegar, ideally apple cider vinegar. Critical!

1. Place all ingredients in Instant Pot.
2. Cover with filtered water to “Max Fill Line”.
3. Don’t forget the vinegar! It helps leach out the valuable minerals, etc. in the bones.
4. Lock lid in place. Be sure vent is closed on top back of lid.
5. Manual timer to 60 minutes. Quick release, or allow to come down normally.
6. Strain, salt to flavor, and enjoy as base for soup, for a cup of deliciousness, or store in closed jar in fridge for up to 7-10 days.

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

The easiest-to-peel eggs ever! Even if they are totally fresh from the hen.

• Eggs (fill the pot rack that came with your IP, or, use a steamer basket)
• 1 cup water

1. Place both ingredients in your IP.
2. Place lid on IP and secure. Be sure vent is closed on top back of lid.
3. Manual timer set to 5 minutes.
4. When timer beeps, turn off IP, then do a quick pressure release.
5. Place (hot) eggs in cold water to stop cooking.
6. Slip eggshells off and enjoy! Or refrigerate for up to a week with a big ol’ B written on in wax crayon or Sharpie.

Pressure Cooking Today’s Creamy Pressure Cooker Rice Pudding

• 1 ½ cups Arborio rice
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 5 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup raisins

1. In pressure cooker pot, combine rice, sugar, salt, and milk. Select Sauté and bring to a boil, stirring constantly to dissolve sugar. As soon as the mixture comes to a boil, cover and lock lid in place. Select Low Pressure and set timer for 16 minutes.
2. While rice is cooking, whisk eggs with half and half and vanilla.
3. When beeps sound, turn off pressure cooker, wait 10 minutes and then use a quick pressure release. Carefully remove the lid. Stir the rice in pot.
4. Stir the egg mixture in to the pot. Select Sauté and cook uncovered until mixture just starts to boil. Turn off pressure cooker. Stir in raisins.
5. Serve immediately, or pour into servings dishes to cool and then chill. (Pudding will thicken as it cools, so you may want to add a little extra half and half if you’re serving it cold.)

The Instant Pot just might turn into your new kitchen BFF. Share your favorite recipes in the comments below, and tag a friend!