Why I love my Instant Pot: Here’s where it excels and where it’s a waste of time
The Instant Pot has become a cooking trend over the past few years. The name sounds magical—will my meal appear instantly? Honestly, there is some gimmickyness to it. Recipes claiming to make soup in 5 minutes discount the fact that the pot will first need to come to pressure and then release pressure at the end, and each may take an additional 10 minutes. Sometimes you’re better off making a 15-minute soup on the stovetop. There also seem to be misguided attempts to use the Instant Pot for everything in order to avoid learning to use other kitchen essentials. Instant Pot steak? No thank you!
I’ve had an Instant Pot for 4 years, and it is an excellent tool for certain applications. Here's why I love it:
Beans cooked in the Instant Pot are superior to any other method I’ve tried. The pressure forces moisture and flavor into the beans, resulting in the creamiest, most perfect beans. You don’t have to soak them, but I usually do because it still saves cooking time and ensures the beans are cooked consistently. And, as mentioned above, it cooks them 3 times as fast!
The Instant Pot pressure cooker feature makes the best rice! As with beans, the Instant Pot forces steam and flavor deep into the rice, creating fluffy rice that never sticks. The natural extension of this is that I can easily make one-pot rice dishes like brown rice jambalaya and shrimp biryani, where everything cooks together and the rice absorbs all the delicious juices and spices far, better than I could on the stovetop or oven. Likewise, risotto is a million times easier in the Instant Pot. Cooking risotto the traditional way takes a lot of babysitting. But there is no need to labor over a pan stirring and adding dribs and drabs of broth. The Instant Pot will cook the rice to perfection and you just give it a stir at the end.
Here's the simple formula for cooking rice. Whether it is white or brown, it’s a 1:1 ratio of rinsed rice to water. White rice cooks for 5 minutes at high pressure; brown rice cooks for 20 minutes at high pressure. Either type of rice then rests for 10 minutes before releasing the pressure.
I was surprised to find that one of my favorite Instant Pot applications is pasta. It ends up taking about the same amount of time as it would on the stovetop, so the appeal here is not speed. The benefit is that you can make a one-pot pasta meal that cooks in its own sauce and does not stick to the pot. Because the starchy liquid doesn’t get drained out, but rather thickens to a sauce, it is a replacement for a white sauce (or roux). If you want a creamy or cheesy dish like mac and cheese with secret cauliflower, you can stir cheese or milk right in after cooking and the sauce won’t break thanks to the pasta starch.
I started with a 6 quart model, then upgraded to an 8 quart, which I much prefer. Most importantly, it has more surface area for sautéing. Even though it’s just the two of us in our household, we like to cook for leftovers and for the occasional party. Gotta make a double batch of jambalaya for a crowd!
I’ve had an Instant Pot for 4 years, and it is an excellent tool for certain applications. Here's why I love it:
1. It multitasks.
The Instant Pot is truly a multitasking tool: pressure cooker, slow cooker, THE BEST rice cooker, yogurt maker, bread proofer, steamer, and sauteer. I’ve given away my old slow cooker and the Instant Pot has a smaller footprint, so I’m saving counter space! I primarily use it to saute and then pressure cook my food. I love that it has a powerful saute feature so I can sear and brown my ingredients (e.g. onions and garlic) in the same pot everything gets pressure cooked in, saving me dishes.2. It saves time on long-cooking recipes.
The Instant Pot excels at recipes that take a long time to cook using traditional methods in a moist environment. For example, my Louisiana red beans and rice takes 1.5 to 2 hours to cook on the stovetop, but has a cook time of 35 minutes in the Instant Pot! It’s also excellent for braised meat dishes (but I’m now pescatarian, so there are better people than me to give you meat cooking tips).3. It cooks grains, beans, and pasta BETTER than traditional methods.
There are certain applications where the Instant Pot actually results in better food than conventional methods. It truly excels at cooking grains, pasta, and beans. |
| Coconut dal |
Beans cooked in the Instant Pot are superior to any other method I’ve tried. The pressure forces moisture and flavor into the beans, resulting in the creamiest, most perfect beans. You don’t have to soak them, but I usually do because it still saves cooking time and ensures the beans are cooked consistently. And, as mentioned above, it cooks them 3 times as fast!
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| Mushroom rice |
The Instant Pot pressure cooker feature makes the best rice! As with beans, the Instant Pot forces steam and flavor deep into the rice, creating fluffy rice that never sticks. The natural extension of this is that I can easily make one-pot rice dishes like brown rice jambalaya and shrimp biryani, where everything cooks together and the rice absorbs all the delicious juices and spices far, better than I could on the stovetop or oven. Likewise, risotto is a million times easier in the Instant Pot. Cooking risotto the traditional way takes a lot of babysitting. But there is no need to labor over a pan stirring and adding dribs and drabs of broth. The Instant Pot will cook the rice to perfection and you just give it a stir at the end.
Here's the simple formula for cooking rice. Whether it is white or brown, it’s a 1:1 ratio of rinsed rice to water. White rice cooks for 5 minutes at high pressure; brown rice cooks for 20 minutes at high pressure. Either type of rice then rests for 10 minutes before releasing the pressure.
I was surprised to find that one of my favorite Instant Pot applications is pasta. It ends up taking about the same amount of time as it would on the stovetop, so the appeal here is not speed. The benefit is that you can make a one-pot pasta meal that cooks in its own sauce and does not stick to the pot. Because the starchy liquid doesn’t get drained out, but rather thickens to a sauce, it is a replacement for a white sauce (or roux). If you want a creamy or cheesy dish like mac and cheese with secret cauliflower, you can stir cheese or milk right in after cooking and the sauce won’t break thanks to the pasta starch.
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| Pasta toscana |
Want to get started?
Instant Pots are almost always on sale somewhere! I bought mine on consecutive Amazon prime days for around $65 each.I started with a 6 quart model, then upgraded to an 8 quart, which I much prefer. Most importantly, it has more surface area for sautéing. Even though it’s just the two of us in our household, we like to cook for leftovers and for the occasional party. Gotta make a double batch of jambalaya for a crowd!
Here are my favorite Instant Pot recipes
Black-eyed peas and greens stew
Pasta Toscana (creamy pasta with roasted cauliflower, vegan Italian sausage, and spinach)
Coconut dal (Indian lentils)
Channa masala (Indian chickpea curry)
Macaroni and cheese with secret cauliflower
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