If you look for recipes online, you will probably have come across many people extolling the virtues of their Instant Pot, and why every cook, from amateur to professional should have one in their kitchen.

There are some pieces of equipment that are vital for the home kitchen, including food processors, blenders and food mixer, and an Instant Pot is the newest must have equipment.

What exactly is it? And why should you have one? Read on to find out.

What Is An Instant Pot?

There are many benefits to cooking with an Instant Pot. You can dramatically reduce the amount of space needed in your kitchen, and free up space by removing equipment that is superseded by an Instant Pot.

An instant pot runs from the electric, and is a slow cooker and pressure cooker in one. Meaning that you get the same great results you get from a slow cooker, but in a much quicker amount of time.

An instant pot also doubles up as a rice cooker, and cooks rice to perfection every time, so you don’t need an extra piece of kitchen equipment to cook rice.

An Instant Pot is excellent for all types of food, from a full roast dinner to cheesecake, in no time at all.

Other Benefits Of An Instant Pot

Instant Pots really have so many benefits, aside from taking up less space in your kitchen.

Instant Pots are excellent for one pot cooking, so you can pretty much put all your ingredients in one pot, and just let it cook, this not only saves time, but it also saves on using lots of different pots and pans, and saves on washing up.

Instant Pots are very energy efficient and use little electricity to run, similar to a slow cooker. However, the main difference to a slow cooker is that an Instant Pot is also a pressure cooker, and so it cooks food much quicker than a slow cooker. This therefore means an Instant Pot uses even less energy.

It certainly uses less energy than a traditional oven, microwave or stovetop, so you will save money on your utility bills over time.

Cooking in an Instant Pot is often healthier, as the nutrients are retained in the food, and not lost to the water like when you boil vegetables. In fact, using an Instant Pot trivet when cooking vegetables will allow them to be steamed, and retain even more of their important vitamins and minerals they contain.

An Instant Pot also cooks most food faster than other methods, often with a 70% reduction in cooking time, and it’s easier because everything can just be put in one pot and left to cook.

You can also cook many things straight from frozen in an Instant Pot, which is another great time saver.

But what else can you cook?

Soup

This is one of the most obvious things to be cooked in a slow cooker, and therefore an Instant Pot, but there’s a reason for that!


Soups are incredibly versatile, they are also nutritious and very warming after a cold day.

An instant pot cooks them in much less time than a slow cooker, you just choose your vegetables and flavourings, put them in the pot with plenty of water, select the cooking time and heat and leave it to do it’s thing.

Most instant pots have a stirring device built in, so you don’t have to worry about your food burning on the bottom.

Potatoes

You can cook a whole variety of potatoes in your instant pot, in a much quicker time than conventional cooking.

Mashed potatoes are a popular choice in an instant, and jacket potatoes can also be cooked in less than fifteen minutes.

Who doesn’t love potatoes, in all their various forms, and an Instant Pot can help you cook all of them, but quicker!

Yoghurt

Something not many people know can be made in an Instant Pot is yoghurt. The reason an instant pot works so well is that it is able to hold the yoghurt at a stable temperature for several hours.

This constant warm temperature, allows the beneficial bacteria that make yoghurt to breed and do their thing in turning milk into yoghurt.

To do this, you will need a yoghurt starter kit, milk, and a thermometer. 

Sweet Foods

Instant Pots can also help you cook desserts. Cheesecakes are pretty popular to cook in an Instant Pot. This is because it allows the cheesecake to be cooked at the below temperature for an extended period of time as it needs. You can also easily pour water around the cheesecake to create a bain marie, which can sometimes be very tricky with a conventional oven.

Cakes, especially chocolate cake, can be made in an Instant Pot also. Chocolate cakes have a reputation for being quite dry – not so in an instant pot, you can keep all the moisture in, and have a delicious, moist cake at the end.

Brownies work well in an Instant Pot, also cobblers and crumbles, creme brulees and banana bread, there are plenty of recipes for a sweet tooth that can be made in this brilliant piece of kitchen equipment.

Breakfast Foods

The most common breakfast food to cook in an instant pot is porridge or oatmeal. You simply put in your oats of choice, and add whichever liquid you desire, whether that be water, dairy milk or plant milk, and let it cook. You will get all the benefits of overnight oats in just a few minutes.

You can also cook eggs easily in an Instant Pot. You can have hard or soft boiled eggs in a short few minutes, allowing you to do some other morning tasks whilst your eggs cook.

You can also make breakfast burritos, breakfast casseroles, pancakes, frittatas, french toast, and poached eggs to name just a few.

So, as you can see, there are many reasons why an instant pot would be a good addition to your kitchen, experiment with it, and you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.  Also, don’t forget to check the latest article on best pots and pans for gas stove.

Image Source: BigStockPhoto.com (Licensed)

 

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