Instant Pot Meatloaf & Taters – who doesn’t love a good meatloaf and hearty side of taters?!
Especially when it’s as SIMPLE as it is with our tried and true Instant Pot pressure cooker recipe. If you’ve had a case of the Mondays like myself, then simple is just what you need!
Whip up this amazing meatloaf and taters recipe in just over 30-minutes and you will satisfy even your pickiest eaters.
So…what are you waiting for?! Come on….JUST COOK IT!!
Instant Pot Mongolian Drumsticks are the perfect budget-friendly dinner, that is also very easy to make and delicious. I love to prep ahead this meal and freeze it.
I make the sauce and add everything to a freezer friendly ziplock bag and when I know I want to make it for dinner, I transfer the bag from the freezer to the fridge in the morning to thaw. By the time I get home from work, all I have to do is add the marinated Instant Pot Mongolian Drumsticks to the pot and cook.
For a delicious crispy outside, I cook the drumsticks under the broiler for a few minutes. Served with the sweet and sticky Mongolian sauce, this dinner is bound to be a success.
Looking for more Asian Instant Pot Recipes? Check out more at Sweet & Savory Meals!
This Instant Pot Salsa Rice [by Domestic Superhero] is the perfect meal or side dish to your favorite Mexican inspired dinner! Filled with fresh vegetables and only 4 minutes in the Instant Pot and this rice is ready to eat!
It makes the perfect side dish for fajitas, burritos, or whatever you want… salsa rice perfection!
You have probably seen baked beans labeled as Vegetarian Baked Beans, Maple Baked Beans, Brown Sugar Baked Beans and can also be called Boston Baked Beans. Regardless of what you call them, Boston baked beans are simple beans cooked until tender and then baked in a sweetened tomato sauce. And it is extremely easy to make “baked” beans right in the pressure cooker.
The one thing that sold me on electric pressure cookers, was making dried beans without soaking. And you can make Baked beans just as easy as plain beans, just dump and mix.
HOW TO MAKE MAPLE BAKED BEANS IN THE PRESSURE COOKER
It is really as simple as dumping all the ingredients into your Instant Pot and mixing. And let the magic of the pressure cooker do it’s work.
I am a big fan of Chicken Tenderloins, but it can be pretty easy to overcook them. You don’t want to do that – Chicken Tenderloins ain’t cheap, and overcooked means rubbery chicken (no, thanks!). I was a little hesitant to try for Instant Pot Chicken Tenderloins.
With the high pressure of the Instant Pot, I thought it might just be too much. I decided to just go for it.
Low and behold! Instant Pot WIN – again – in 10 minutes!
Ingredients
1-2 lbs chicken tenderloins
1 cup water
Seasonings of choice – enough to season liberally
Directions
Place the rack that came with the Instant Pot, or a rack of your choice, over the liquid. Place chicken on rack, then season liberally.
I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika and sprigs of fresh thyme. Thyme is perfect for chicken!
Close the lid of your Instant Pot, and turn vent knob to “Sealing”. Press “manual” button, then set time using “+/- buttons to 6 minutes.
When cook time is complete, quickly release pressure (QPR) by turning vent knob from “Sealing” to “Venting”.
Open the lid of your IP, and behold the easiest chicken tenderloins EVER!
I love pot roast – it is one of my all-time favorite comfort foods.
This Instant Pot Savory Pot Roast & Gravy is OUT OF BOUNDS (in my best Guy Fieri voice). The effort does NOT disappoint.
This meal is fit for a holiday, a special event, a dinner party or just a lovely family meal. Just you? MEAL PREP the ‘ish out of this recipe – eat some, save the rest for lunches for the week.
Seriously, it is impressive. Rich and savory and just beyond your average pot roast. Unlike most recipes, this one ensures the veggies don’t turn into complete mush! And, we have a secret ingredient for our gravy that brings it to an entirely different high level!
Normally, I make pot roast in my dutch oven – seasoning and searing the chuck roast on my stove top first, then adding the rest of the ingredients and slow braising in the oven at about 275 degrees for 3+ hours, then making a gravy from cooking liquid. All in all, between prepping, searing and braise and gravy time, it takes me about 4 hours or so to produce it this way. It’s always worth it! But, it does take time.
With my Instant Pot, I cut the cook time in 1/3! *High five!*
Pot Roast in the Instant Pot? A LUCIOUS, SAVORY SUCCESS.
My recipe ensures your veggies are NOT mushy & your gravy is OUT OF THIS WORLD thanks to a secret ingredient!
8mediumbaby red potatoes halvedcan sub cut russet potatoes
2med to largeonionpeeled, quartered
18-20baby carrots
1lgsweet potatocut in 2 inch cubes, optional
1/2cupmushroomsquartered or sliced, optional
Gravy Thickener
2Tcorn starch
2Tmelted butter
1-2Tbraising liquid after cooking
Instructions
Cooking the Roast
Set Instant Pot (IP) on sauté, leave lid off and allow to heat.
While IP is heating, cut roast in 2 even pieces and season with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and paprika. Once IP display says “HOT”, add 2 T. olive oil and roast. Sear for 2-3 minutes each side.
Add wine, and scrap bottom of pan to deglaze (loosen all browned bits) for about a minute, moving the roast around to get all the bits.
Deglazing is a MUST! All those bits are FLAVOR – and you don’t want to leave them stuck to the IP insert or they WILL burn & your pot will not come to pressure.
Add beef broth, Worcestershire, packet onion soup mix as well as vegetable & aromatics for braising – onion, celery, carrots, garlic, thyme & bay leaves. Close lid, and turn vent knob to "Sealing".
Choose High Pressure cooking option (on Instant Pot, either "Manual" or "Pressure Cook"), and set cook time to 45 minutes.
NOTE: it will take about 10 minutes for pressure cooker to pressurize – don’t let this make you think you’ve done something wrong! Once pressurization is complete, the timer will begin the cook time countdown.
Once cook time is complete, allow the pot to naturally release pressure for 10 minutes, then carefully turn vent to “Venting” to release remaining pressure.
Once pressure is released and steam no longer comes from the vent, open the lid. Remove the aromatic veggies as you can & set aside – these will likely be rather mushy by now, but have served a very noble purpose and will be used again when making the gravy.
Cooking the Veggies
Add additional fresh vegetables: baby red potatoes, cut russet potatoes, onion, mushrooms, cut sweet potato, carrots...or whatever combination you like with your roast. Replace lid on pressure cooker, making sure vent is turned to “Sealing”. Choose high pressure option, and set cook time to 6 minutes.
When cook time is complete, allow the pot to naturally depressurize for at least 10 minutes, then manually release any remaining pressure.
Thickening process - Gravy
Transfer roast and vegetables to serving platter, but leave all juices – Cover with foil to keep warm.
Press “Saute” or Browning option on pressure cook.
In separate small bowl, whisk corn starch, melted butter and 1-2 T cooking liquid to create what’s known as a thickening “slurry” – make sure to remove all lumps.
Whisk “slurry” into remaining cooking liquid in IP, whisking every 15-30 seconds for about 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened
OPTIONAL: add previously removed aromatic, now mushy vegetables to gravy and use an immersion blender to blend into sauce -- this is totally optional, but MAN, does it bring that gravy to a-whole-nother level.
SERVE & ENJOY!
Serve pot roast sliced or shredded over veggies, smothered in savory gravy!
I love hard boiled eggs. I also love deviled eggs made with HB eggs, potato salad with HB eggs and egg salad made with HB eggs. What I don’t love is making the hard boiled egg. That is, until the Instant Pot Hard Boiled Egg!
Anyone else see peeling HB eggs as their nemesis? They defeat me on a regular basis.
I have read tons of “perfect” methods for the “perfect” and/or “easy to peel” HB eggs, but no matter what I do, those damn shells…
Plus, who else is guilty of putting their eggs on the stove, walking away and forgetting them for too long, or losing track of how long they’ve been cooking, or getting their water boiling too heavily and you crack an egg or 2 – then you get that gross bubble like protrusion of egg white that seeps out.
Ugh – I hate cooking hard boiled eggs on the stove top. Have I mentioned that yet?
I heard cooking eggs in the Pressure Cooker was a good method, so I tried it – actually it was the 2nd thing I ever made in my Instant Pot!
Well let me tell you what. I was LITERALLY GIGGLING with JOY when I finished this method and started peeling… I have never in my life experienced this kind of bliss peeling eggs.
Press “Manual” or Pressure cook button, and adjust cook time to 6 minutes using “+/-“ buttons.
After a few seconds, the display will change from your cook time of 6 to “ON” – the Instant Pot is starting to pressurize. This will take about 5-10 minutes.
When machine pressurizes, your cook time countdown will begin. Once 6 minutes is complete, the Instant Pot will beep a few times. It automatically changes to “Keep Warm” setting, and begins to depressurize. The display will show as below.
6-6-6 method, Step 2:
Let the eggs to sit in the pot while it naturally releases it’s pressure for 6 minutes — but, how do I let the pot naturally release pressure? Answer: you do nothing at all.
The display will now count up as it sits on keep warm, naturally releasing pressure. Wait for the time count to reach 6 minutes.
Then, turn the Instant Pot Off by pressing “Keep Warm/Off” button.
Manually release the remaining pressure (QPR) by turning the vent knob on the lid to “Venting”.
NOTE: steam releases – I always place a towel over the knob BEFORE turning to “Venting”. YES GUYS!! Steam is HOT!! Do NOT leave your hand on the towel after turning the knob.
6-6-6 method, Step 3:
Open the lid, and behold – your eggs! Carefully remove (I use tongs – yessss they will be HOT). Place in an ice bath for 6 minutes.
I absolutely love making one-pot Instant Pot pasta dishes in my pressure cooker!
Can you make this pasta dish using a couple pots on the stove in perhaps about the same amount of time considering the time the Instant Pot pressure cooker takes to come to pressure? Probably. But, will you have a clean stove top, no splattering, less dishes and you only have to do about 5 minutes of work versus standing on the stove for 25 straight.
I have a newborn. No… no I don’t. My son is almost 11 months now — where did my teeny newborn baby go?! Time is of the essence, as it is for us all. Anything that can help me have more time with my son, or some time to do household chores I don’t always have time for otherwise, or something that can help me have less clean up and less hands on effort… YES, please.
Pasta in the Instant Pot is not something everyone would think you could or should do, but I clearly do.
Instant Pot Sausage & Tomato Pasta
Ingredients 2 T olive oil 1- 1 1/2 pounds sausage cut in rounds or ground (I used Aidell’s chicken apple sausage simply because that’s what I had! Any sausage, chicken or otherwise, will work!) 1 medium onion, diced roughly 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, plain or any flavor you prefer 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (optional, but delicious) 1 t salt 1/2 t pepper 1 t Italian seasoning 1/2 t garlic powder 1/2 t onion powder 1/4 t red pepper flakes (optional) 3 1/4 cups chicken stock (can sub water, but perhaps add an additional 1/2 t salt) I box tri color rotini (1 pound, can definitely sub cavatappi or any larger similar noodle)
Instructions Sauté sausage, onion, garlic til lightly browned in olive oil, about 3-4 minutes. Drain grease, as needed.
Add can tomatoes with juice and scrape bottom of pan (deglaze). Add sun-dried tomatoes, stock (or water), seasonings. Stir. Add pasta, stir lightly.
Close lid and seal. Cook on high pressure 4 minutes. Carefully quickly release pressure as soon as done.
Stir. Let stand 2-3 minutes. You’ll notice a lot of the residual water will have absorbed.
Serve with Parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper (and wine!), if desired.
Oh… and throw that Instant Pot inner pot & it’s sealing right in your dishwasher. Rinse out your lid, give a quick wipe to the rim on the Instant Pot, and that’ll do ya.
