(Inside: There’s nothing I love better than hacking an insanely fantastic device. So, I pulled together these 7 Insane Instant Pot Hacks–because who doesn’t want to make the Instant Pot cooler than EVER?!)
Fancy ass appliance that makes fancy foods fast needs insanely-cool hacks to make it even more fun, right?
Uh, yeah, right.
Except, these 7 insane Instant Pot hacks are kind of cool.
Even if you’ve had an instant pot for a while you might be surprised by some of these hacks.
I was–thanks mom for blowing my mind with a couple of these Instant Pot Hacks.
Don’t worry, I won’t leave you behind (like mom did–I swear she withheld the magic of the Instant Pot until my mid-life on purpose).
I’ve seriously got you covered.
With the tips below, you can cook your instant pot recipes and feel like you’re making even bigger steps in the revolution.
Just think about it…exploding the benefits of the Instant Pot by really using it as it was intended as a multifunctional cooker, including a slow cooker, pressure cooker, rice cooker, warmer, steamer and yogurt maker.
You can, therefore, cook almost anything with an instant pot.
Party. On. Dudes.
7 Insane Instant Pot Hacks
During a single cooking session, use multiple buttons.
Guess what…you can do all the cooking for a meal in one pot.
You can pre-cook onions and garlic in a little butter using the sauté button.
Then add the ingredients for the rest of your dish and cook on poultry (for chicken) or beef or whatever it is that you’re cooking.
And then you get to use the keep warm button after you’re done cooking but you just want to add your cheese or thickening sauce.
Seriously–using more buttons makes life easier.
And cleaner.
Adjusting the temperature.
The instant pot has three adjustable temperatures for the slow cooker and sautee functions.
You can use the adjust button to regulate the temperature to make it hotter for your first throw-off of butter and onions, but when you’re done–but still want it to stay warm while you deglaze, you put that baby on Low.
If you are time conscious, you can change the cooking time and pressure setting using the buttons.
Sadly, I am time-conciousness-challenged…so this is not for me.
But you get the idea, right?
Cook side dishes in silicon loaf pans on top of your main dish.
OMG. MIND-BLOWN.
Did you even imagine that this might be in these Instant Pot hacks?!
Right.
So, doing this just allows you to make your sides (or even other main dishes, if you’re making a couple of meals for just two people) at the same time.
When I realized this as a possibility…well, my excitement for the Instant Pot ramped up.
The magic of a sautee button is mind-blowing.
Just like a pan or skillet, you can cook food, like vegetables, in an instant pot using the sautee button.
You don’t have to put one cup of water in the inner pot.
Just add cooking oil to the inner pot and the food that you want to cook just like the way you do on a pan.
Then, use the Instant Pot like an Instant Pot by adding your liquids, deglazing the pot, then your other foods and cook as planned with pressure.
So. Freaking. Cool.
Hold off dairy ingredients
It is quite different to cook dairy ingredients in an instant pot compared to a slow cooker or a stove.
Due to the high pressure, milk and other dairy ingredients can scorch and ruin your dinner or they can thicken and actually make your Instant Pot think there’s no liquid and shut off–which sucks.
But you CAN add dairy ingredients to food.
Just hold off and, after cooking the food, you can depressurize your instant pot, then add your dairy-goods.
Learn how to use the natural pressure (NPR) release and the quick release (QR).
The instant pot beeps when it is done with manual pressure mode (that’s why it beeps, in case you were wondering–so the food is cooked for the amount of time you told it to cook).
After that beep, you can either do the natural pressure release (let it sit there until the pressure naturally leaks out) or the quick release (when you play with the spout thingy and let all the steam out in a rush) depending on your recipe.
Or, if you want a more lofty explanation:
- If you use the NPR, you don’t need to touch the instant pot. It will release the pressure in the unit naturally after 10-20 minutes. After it is done, you can release the steam vent (although not necessary because there won’t be any steam) and open your Instant Pot.
- For the QR, release the steam vent after the instant pot beeps. Be careful not to let the hot steam get you–it could burn, the liquid is hot. Then you open your Instant Pot.
Check out this guide with a free printable cheatsheet that tells you all about when to use either of these, if you’re more curious…but the basics are:
- If you’re cooking meat or chicken, you might need the NPR to keep the meat tender.
- As for foods that require less time like steamed vegetables, you might want to QR.
- If you are cooking meals with large liquid volume, e.g., soup or porridge, DO NOT use the QR as the food can come out with force from the pressure release valve.
Get an extra sealing ring.
An instant pot is not only fast in cooking, but also produces a nutritious and flavorful food.
However, you might not like its sealing ring because it can start to smell after using it consistently.
Plus, if you’re like me, you’re terrified to put that into the dishwasher for fear of a Jack moment.
Not that those happen with the newer ones, but still, I’m a skittish bunny here.
Do you see now why I feel like these 7 Insane Instant Pot Hacks are the best evah?!
I knew you would.
So, do me a solid and pin this–that way you can find it later, when you’re like “what was that thing–you know, she said to do…it was going to make everything I cook work in the Instant Pot…???”
Yeah. Just pin it.
Party on, dude!
Catch you the flip side.
