I have not succumbed to fads in a very long time. Since high school, at least.
Though the Instant Pot has been a popular topic on Facebook in a couple of groups I’m in, I held strong and ignored the temptation to buy. Over Thanksgiving weekend last year, my sister cornered me and spoke glowingly about this kitchen appliance.
“I can make hard boiled eggs in 2 minutes.”
“You can cook an entire chicken in less than 30 minutes.”
She went on and on until, I gave in and ordered one from Amazon. For $68, the price was right. With 2 young athletes in the house, I really do need to cook good, healthy food fast.
You, too, have probably heard about the Instant Pot and may already have one. Once mine arrived, I have used it nearly every day. My world is a better place, or at least my kitchen. What did I do before I had this?
What is the Instant Pot?
My mom has used a pressure cooker for as long as I’ve known her (her “pot of beans” is near legendary), so I was very familiar with this type of cooking. In my own kitchen there are a couple of pressure cookers that I pull out from time to time. The Instant Pot, however, is more than just a pressure cooker. It can also act as a:
- Slow cooker
- Yogurt maker
- Rice cooker
- Steamer
- Saute pan
- Food warmer
What a combination! With one Instant Pot, you can clear your kitchen of at least a couple of appliances, so it’s already a winner in my book. The magic of the Instant Pot, though, lies in it’s program- ability. Click a button or two, and it’s ready to cook a pasta meal with meatballs, hard boil some eggs, or bake a cheesecake. No exaggeration: I was able to pour a jar of marinara sauce, a 12 ounce package of spaghetti, a couple dozen frozen meatballs and about 2 cups of water in the Instant Pot, set the timer for 13 minutes, and bingo — a fully cooked spaghetti and meatballs meal.
The Instant Pot is very convenient, user friendly and cooks food extremely fast! It only requires 1000 watts to run. Considering I can use it for making so many things, it has replaced some of the appliances that I usually keep on my counter. As a result, Instant Pot has given me some valuable counter top real estate back.
The Inner Pot
Inside the Instant Pot is an inner pot that is made of durable stainless steel. Foods of all types of acidity can be cooked in it. Searing meat or sauteing food is simple, just keep the inner pot inside the unit and use it as you would a pan on the stove. Cheaper cuts of meat can be seared and made tender for a scrumptious dinner. Clean up is just as easy as making the meal. Just wash the pot and start your next culinary creation.
Food You Can Make-
The world is a better place when we can indulge in all of the yummy foods around us. Hundreds of meals and foods can be made with the Instant Pot. This is a list of a few-
Stews
Bake bread
Applesauce
Baked potatoes
Chicken
Pulled pork (in one hour!)
Macaroni and cheese
One-pot spaghetti with sauce
Corn on the cob- so sweet and juicy
Yogurt maker — 1 gallon skim milk
Hard-boiled eggs- the shells just slide right off
Wheat berries, steel-cut oats, and other grains
Nutritional Benefits
Pressure cooking, like the Instant Pot does, keeps food moist and retains more of the nutritional value. Busy people can us the Instant Pot to make fast and healthy lunches for the upcoming week. Home-cooked meals are healthier than fast food and taste better too. One easy way to increase the number of vegetables you eat is to put them in soup. Squash, onions. carrots, tomatoes, green chilies and bell peppers taste delicious in a taco soup. Green beans, onions, peas, carrots and diced potatoes make a great addition to shepherds pie soup. Healthy grains were made for the Instant Pot. Winter weather almost requires warm and tasty cinnamon steel-cut oatmeal for breakfast.
Minimal fuss
Cook great foods fast, every night, with minimal fuss. Often time, when using traditional slow cookers, a recipe may require you to saute food in a pan. Which then gets added to the crock with the other ingredients and leaves you with an additional pan to wash. With the Instant Pot, you can saute items in the pot. No need to dirty as many pots and pans when preparing a meal.
Dinner for 1?
Don’t worry if you are cooking a meal for one or two. Just make sure you add the appropriate amount of liquid if making beans and rice. Dinner turns out just as perfect if you are cooking 2 chicken breasts, or 8. You can make lots of baked potatoes for a cook out, or just one for you.
Really!
Fill the Instant Pot up with your ingredients, push the settings buttons, and walk away. The Instant Pot comes in a 5 quart, 6 quart or 8 quart option For me and my family, this was worth the money because of the time saved. My beautiful Instant Pot means that I can get my kids where they need to be after school, and still cook a healthy and fast dinner for us all. Say good bye to stress and fast food. Make your world a better place…. go try the Instant Pot.
I got an Instant Pot for Christmas. It is still sitting in its box on the floor of the kitchen. When I first got the pot I took the instruction book out and started to read it but after a few pages I put it down. It just seems too complicated as apposed to my regular pressure cooker.
Don’t give up. They are quite easy! Look up some You tube videos on how to use it. It saves so much time and the food quality is superb!
They really are super easy; just try it; you can hit the ‘off’ button at any time, and it goes off; then restart. I use mine every day. (make sure you get one with a stainless steel or ceramic inner pot).
Yep. Sometimes I’ll cook stew meat, which is usually made from tougher cuts of meat, in the IP and then transfer the meat to a pot of chili, soup, or whatever.
I made chili in my Fred (you must name your pot) tonight for work lunches. Yum.
I have heard a lot of happy claims from other Instant Pot users, but didn’t neccessarily believe them. I guess that I have been wrong! Being able to multi task in one pot makes me happy, as my kitchen is small. I am forever searching for space to store and use appliances. Rice cooker, crock pot, baking pans for meat-which are large and larger!, then baking dishes, electric skillets, on and on. That doesn’t count my regular pots and pans. To be able to consolidate will be a blessing! What size do you suggest? My crock pot is great, but I must’ve been planning on cooking for the USArmy, as it is huge.
I loved being able to put EVERYTHING in the pot for a spaghetti and meatball dinner! Meatballs, uncooked spaghetti, sauce, a little water, and in maybe 10-12 minutes, the whole thing was done. Very, very handy.
Is this post sponsored? Either way, you should disclose.
This post was not sponsored by Instant Pot. It was a kitchen cooking appliance that The Survival Mom had heard about and decided to try at home. She loved the benefits and was impressed with the quality of the product that she decided to share it with her readers. We all love to hear about products that can make life a bit easier! At the Survival Mom, we had hoped that the article made it clear that this was a personal experience with the Instant Pot. In the future, we will do our best to make sure that the reader understands this. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
Occasionally when I do write a sponsored post, the disclosure is stated very clearly. If you do not see such a disclosure, you can assume the post isn’t sponsored by anyone.