My Favorite Instant Pot Recipes

Instant pot! What a God send! I have recently seen so much hype about the instant pot and I had to share my story with you.

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About three years ago, I was watching TV one day and I came across an infomercial for a pressure cooker. The infomercial was so good I ended up buying one. Anything that promises me to have a delicious dinner done in half (or more) of the time is perfect in my book!

I received it and immediately started cooking up a storm. Since then, I’ve used it at least once a week. It makes life so much more easy!

After a long day at work I can come home and cook a lasagna with little effort and we can have leftovers for days. I have my go to recipes but I’ve also been trying some new ones recently since I’ve been on Weight Watchers.

The Weight Watchers program is so flexible (that’s why it’s called Freestyle) so I can indulge every now and then, and my instant pot is perfect for that.

I’ve spent some time and narrowed the recipes down to my top ten favorite ones for your enjoyment! I’ve made and taste tested (devoured) all of them and I can promise you that you won’t be disappointed!

My Top 10 Instant Pot Recipes

1. My number one favorite is this mac and cheese recipe from Dad Cooks Dinner. It ends up so creamy and delicious; it’s similar to Noodles & Company’s Wisconsin Mac and Cheese. I like to add a little bit more hot sauce and instead of four cups of water I use two cups of water and two cups of no salt added chicken broth. Sometimes I switch up the cheese for a little different flavor. I like to use smoked Gouda and Monterey Jack cheese as well. This is my family’s absolute favorite! It makes enough to have left overs or a good size batch to take to a pot luck or family/friends get together. It is a crowd pleaser!

2. As I mentioned above, another go-to in my household is this lasagna recipe from the Simply Happy Foodie website. I use lean ground beef, so sausage, and it is so simple and easy to make. Again, it makes so much we have leftovers for a while. Sometimes I’ll make it and freeze a batch for an even quicker meal on a busy night. Lasagna is one of my family’s favorite meals and it’s sure to make everyone happy here. I serve it with some salad and garlic bread.

3. You all know that I LOVE soup. I just hate spending the time making it the old fashioned way. Enter the Instant Pot! It’s so quick and easy to make many soups with the Instant Pot, but my favorite is this Tomato & Basil Parmesan Soup from Pressure Cooking Today. This is done in about a half hour and is so much better than the canned soup you buy. Homemade soup always is a winner when compared to canned soup so that’s why I especially love this recipe. I have also swapped out the basil with dill and it’s also delicious. I whip up some grilled cheese sandwiches to go with this and it’s a big hit.

4. One time saving tip I’ve taken from others is to make whole chickens in the instant pot. It cooks up so quickly and is fall off the bone loveliness. We use the chicken for many things, like Chinese Chicken Salad, Buffalo Chicken sandwiches or we just eat it plain! I’ve always followed this recipe from Healing Gourmet. My instant pot came with a small recipe book with directions for how to cook a whole chicken in the pot, but I prefer this recipe. I love the coconut oil; it’s delicious and good for you!

5. It’s cold in Wisconsin for what seems like an eternity sometimes. One go to meal that we usually have at least once a month is homemade beef stew in the instant pot. I use the recipe from Key Ingredient because it’s easy to follow and always turns out perfect. It’s wonderful for days like today, when we have 7 inches of snow and I don’t feel like doing much. I throw it in and wait to fill my belly!

6. Sometimes we get a craving for Thai food. I did a quick search when I got my instant pot for Thai recipes and found this Thai Peanut Noodle recipe on Paint the Kitchen Red’s website. I use some leftover chicken that we have in the fridge and this definitely cures our craving. It’s light but delicious as well. This recipe is not spicy and will have your taste buds wide awake!

7. My husband loves chili and I can’t say that I don’t love it too! I love to make chili in the instant pot because it’s so quick and doesn’t have to simmer all day long. I can’t find my original recipe, but I found one from Meatloaf and Melodrama that is very similar. This quick recipe will leave your family satisfied with extra time to do what you want to do instead of checking the chili all day long! We serve it with shredded cheddar cheese (this is Wisconsin after all) and some sour cream and crackers. If you know me, you already know that I also add about 3 TSP of Franks Red Hot to give it a little kick, but it’s still delicious without the heat!

8. My husband also loves when I make sausage biscuits and gravy for breakfast (which isn’t that often). Once I found out how to make it with the instant pot, we started having it one weekend a month. The recipe I follow when making it on the stove includes a lot of time and stirring, which isn’t fun. I found a recipe on the Amy + Jacky website that is simple and quick. I use the pre-made biscuits and serve it over them hot, or if I’m feeling spunky I make my own biscuits from scratch.

9. I try to serve a vegetable with every dinner. We get sick of the steamed broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and carrots. I recently searched for some yummy vegetable recipes for the instant pot and came across this Instant Pot Cauliflower recipe from Craft Create Cook. I’ve tried mashed cauliflower before but it took a lot of work and it wasn’t my favorite consistency. This recipe is a game changer though. It’s so easy and quick and there’s no food processor involved. I add butter and some chives for flavor and we love it! I highly recommend trying this recipe.

10. Another recipe that we tried recently and really liked is this Chicken Tikka Masala from Well Plated. If you’ve read this post of mine, you know that I’m a firm believer in Turmeric so I’m always trying to sneak it into our food when I can. This recipe is so flavorful and is something different from the same ole’ dinners we always have. Again, if I have chicken left over in the fridge I can use it for this recipe which makes it even quicker! This recipe is on the healthier side, which makes me happy. It sure is yummy and satisfying!