Clean Instant Pot Meal Ideas

Published August 11, 2020 11:09PM

Figuring out what’s for dinner night after night can be a challenge. That’s why you need a handful of quick, easy dinner recipes. One of the best ways to do that is to use the Instant Pot. Because it can sear food as well as slow cook and pressure cook, most Instant Pot recipes are also one-pot recipes, which cuts down on cleanup. And because the high pressure cooks things much faster, you get dinners that taste like you’ve spent hours in the kitchen.

Meatballs in Vodka Sauce

Bright tomato sauce with a splash of vodka gets simmered with juicy meatballs — and it can all be made in advance and ready to cook in the Instant Pot. We like to serve them with steamed green beans or broccoli, but you can also enjoy with crusty bread to soak up the sauce.

Smoked Cheddar Mac & Cheese

Three cheeses — smoked cheddar, sharp cheddar and Parmesan cheese — commingle in this make-ahead mac and cheese. Sprinkle with green onions if you have some on hand.

Spicy Beef Chili with Buttermilk Jalapeño Corn Bread

An electric pressure cooker makes great chili in a snap, and it can also bake up delicious corn bread at the same time. When cooked, the top of the corn bread will appear pale, but the bottom will be golden brown — just invert it onto a serving plate for the best presentation.

Barbecue Meatloaf with Smashed Potatoes & Carrots

By stacking meatloaf and carrot coins over potatoes in the Instant Pot, this comforting meal is fully cooked in one go. Garnish with additional thyme.

Pulled Barbecue Chicken with Sweet Potatoes & Broccoli

Want to do some easy batch cooking with your Instant Pot? Omit the sweet potatoes and broccoli and double the zesty chicken and barbecue sauce ingredients – the leftovers freeze beautifully.

Moroccan Chicken Tagine

Serve this zesty North African stew made in the Instant Pot with kamut, a deliciously plump and chewy ancient wheat. It’s an inexpensive staple you’ll find in bulk and natural food stores.

Cajun Shrimp, Red Beans & Sorghum

Sorghum is a gluten-free seed with a mild flavor and slightly chewy texture. When paired with red beans and shrimp for the Instant Pot, it puts a healthy spin on old-fashioned red beans and rice.

Instant Pot Turkey Dinner with Vegetable Stuffing & Gravy

This recipe makes beautifully moist turkey with savory stuffing at the same time, and all those tasty turkey juices make up a quick herb gravy at the end. Broiling the stuffing briefly after it comes out of the pressure cooker makes it deliciously crisp on top, but this is entirely optional.

Chickpea & Kale Curry with Brown Basmati Rice

In this easy meal, a fragrant curry simmers while the rice steam-cooks over top. Garnish with cilantro.

Vegetable– and Brown Rice–Stuffed Peppers

This dish is chock-full of veggies, herbs and hearty rice and chickpeas. You can fit four peppers at a time in the Instant Pot, so make two batches or save half for a future meal.

Pork al Pastor Tacos

Have your filling prepped and ready in your freezer to pull out on taco night. When you’re ready to eat, simply pop it into your Instant Pot while you prepare your toppings.

Mushroom Barley Risotto with Roasted Portobello Steaks

When you cook hulled barley – also called whole-grain barley – in a pressure cooker, you don’t have to soak it beforehand, which cuts down on prep time. It also makes the barley tender and creamy without all the stirring you usually have to do to make risotto on the stove top.