So my friend Amberlina got an Instant Pot. I guess they are all the rage these days. Well she’s been cooking up a storm and sharing all of her recipes with me, so I’m going to pass them onto you. She says that the Instant Pot is a life-changer. If she keeps up her praise for it, I might just cave and get buy another kitchen gadget.
She swears her meat has never been more tender and that it cuts her time in the kitchen in half. And she says that it puts the crock pot to shame. I’m just going to have to take her word for it for now, but if you have one and love it, pipe up in the comments and let me know.
She made a traditional potato salad, but get this, she cooked the potatoes and the eggs together. For the same amount of time. Here’s what she had to say about the recipe:
“Mavis is right. I’m totally obsessed with my Instant Pot. Like use-it-6-days-a-week obsessed. I mean, it cooks everything super fast, but the recipes come out so delicious. Forgot to thaw your meat? No problem. Want to cook everything in one pot? You can. Want the most tender, flavorful meat? Done. Like for this potato salad. I threw the potatoes and eggs together and the recipe came out beautifully.”
Note: There is an Instant Pot steamer basket that she did not have, so she improvised and made one out of aluminum foil. That does not work as well. She also had various size potato cubes because she cut them quickly. They need to all be relatively the same size so they cook uniformly.
Instant Pot Creamy Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 6–8 potatoes (, cut in uniform cubes {russet})
- 5 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 3/4 cup yellow onion (, very finely diced)
- 1 cup dill pickle (, very finely diced)
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup Miracle Whip
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Sprinkle of season salt
- Sprinkle of paprika to make it pretty
Instructions
- Place the steamer basket in your Instant Pot. Pour water into the pot and then dump in potatoes. Nestle the eggs on top of the potatoes. Lock the lid and set manual high pressure for 4 minutes.
- While the potatoes/eggs are cooking, combine the remaining ingredients. Once the machine beeps to tell you it’s done, turn it off and allow it to naturally release the pressure for 4 minutes. Manually release the remaining pressure until pin drops, take off lid and remove the potatoes and eggs.
- Peel and chop eggs. Mix potatoes and eggs with other ingredients. Season to taste. Chill and serve!
Helen in Meridian says
I have had electric pressure cookers for 10 years at least. You must get one. My latest one is a Cook’s Companion model from evine.com, the shopping network. Oh, I got a 10 or 12 quart for xmas, that I plan to use for canning, but haven’t opened that one yet. I hard boiled 36 eggs in 5 minutes for a gathering that needed lots of deviled eggs. You must get one. I love love my pulled pork and my roast beef and veggies, and corned beef in mine.
Marsha says
I got rid of my crockpot and replaced it with an Instant Pot! GoWiseUSA is another good brand I got for my mom. Just for cooking winter squash it is worth it. So fast I can make steel cut oats in less than 20 minutes and boiled eggs are actually easy to peel. Even farm fresh eggs can be peeled easily. The mac and cheese is amazing and I can use chicken broth to make it more nutritious and flavorful. Chicken broth is so easy to make in it too. What really impressed me though, was the keep warm setting which works so well.
Teri says
I wonder how they compare to an old fashioned stove top PRESTO pressure cooker? Does it take 5 minutes to hard boil the eggs from start to finish or is that after the pressure gets up? I’ll keep reading the comments as they are posted. And if you get one Mavis, please be sure to let us know what brand, price, etc. Thanks!
Gwenn says
Teri – it takes 5 min once it gets up to pressure. I just cooked a dozen eggs in my on Saturday. I put in 1 cup of water and then the dozen eggs on the rack (that comes with it). I used the 5/5/5 method 5 min of pressure; 5 min of release time (then I manually vented the rest of the pressure) and 5 min in an ice bath. EASIEST peeling eggs I’ve ever encountered.
I have a 8 quart Instant Pot brand and I LOVE it.
We eat a lot of beans and rice and making beans from dry to refried texture in less than 30 min is amazing! Brown rice cooks in 8 min (plus time getting the pressure up).
There are tons of cookbooks, Pintrest posts, FB pages and websites dedicated to electric pressure cookers.
It’s just the HH and I at home and it makes cooking smaller meals much easier and faster.
Helen in Meridian says
Teri, since you are only using 1 c water, the time to reach pressure is really quick.
Martha says
I love mine. I have successfully done frozen, whole chickens that are fall-off-the-bone tender, a super, yummy beef and broccoli Chinese take-out dish, beef stews, potato soups, stroganoff, amazing one pot spaghettis, chili, dried beans, chana dahl soups, boiled eggs, and our latest favorite – baked potatoes in about 20 minutes. They aren’t the crispy type, but my family was used to microwave style, so this is amazing! And my teenage boys can make their own snacks of baked potatoes! 🙂 I still have my crockpots, but they sit in a lonely cupboard in the dark.
Carol B. says
Martha, our crockpots (I think we have 3) have not been touched since the Instant Pot came into our house. We’ve actually not even used the slow cook method on the IP… why, when you can pressure it and it’s done fast and delicious??
Athena says
I definitely love my instant pot. Tell Amberlina she can get regular metal steamer baskets for less than $5 from most stores and they work just fine in the IP, no need to get special ones (the metal kind that close up on themselves). My favorite thing in it is post roast with potatoes and carrots. Always turns out great and it cooks about 75 minutes at pressure (takes about 1.5-1.75 hours with the time to come to pressure). It’s the only way I make “hard boiled” eggs now since they literally take 2 minutes at high pressure with a 10-15 minute natural pressure release. It also makes great rice. I’ve been wanting to do potato salad in it and I just might try it after seeing it really works!
Sandy says
There is a learning curve involved but it is worth it to figure out. Hard boiled eggs (did 36 all at once for Easter), easiest one pot mac n cheese ever, one pot pasta meals and making yogurt are my favorite things. The saute function allows for browning meat before closing it up to cook super fast.
If I was to downsize and move into one of those tiny homes, I would take my Instant Pot over a stove anyday. Just need a toaster oven to finish off to make crispy or brown (like super melted cheese!).
I got mine during an Amazon special dirt cheap but I’ve also seen people picking them up at thrift stores. It’s not for everyone so you may be able to score one off of a local sales site!
Earlene says
I forgot to use mine though its on the counter. I really could use some help as I get stumped on what I can use it for. I know its dumb, but I am really stumped!! I make hard boiled eggs and beans, but I will try this potato salad recipe! If you have any great I mean great recipes please share them !
Carol B. says
Farlene, it can be a little intimidating at first… all those buttons! But search Youtube and watch videos. I love Pressure Luck – Jeffrey’s videos are fun and informing. Also, if you’re on Facebook, there are numerous Instant Pot groups that share tips and wonderful recipes. It’s made learning how to use the IP a lot of fun. My husband loves making Greek yogurt.. in fact, he’s got a batch going in the IP right now! 🙂
Gwenn says
I love Jeffrey from Pressure Luck, his video’s are a hoot and very informative. The video he made with his mom showing how to make stuffed cabbage rolls for Passover was great fun to watch. Our IP is a few years old and now I really one one of the new ones with the “yogurt” button. We love Greek yogurt and it would be great to be able to easily make our own.
Earlene says
Thanks for the info, I just watched 2 of his videos and will try the French onion soup on Friday!
Carol B. says
Farlene, yum I’ll have to look for that recipe! Tonight I made Coconut Chicken Curry – it was delicious and so easy! I got the recipe from Google and adapted it to my liking. So good! Good luck with your soup! 🙂
Sabrina says
I love my instant pot! Hard boiled eggs that peel perfectly every time ❤
Jennifer Meyer says
I love my instant pot too. I could never make rice that wasn’t crunchy or mushy, but this thing makes perfect rice! Super easy to have shredded pork or chicken in no time with very little work. I may have ended up with shredded meat a time or 2 on accident because this thing is so good at tendering meat really fast.
Jennifer Meyer says
Oh and it makes perect steamed veggies or shrimp 🙂
Dana says
I have a Power Pressure Cooker XL. It is the best gift I have ever received! I can in it, make hard boiled eggs, whole chickens, spaghetti…you name it. I cook meals for my parents on Sunday afternoons. I can usually make a week’s worth of hot meals in the Power Cooker in 3 hours. Their oven has been out for weeks and we are in no hurry to get it fixed!
Tammy says
How is an Instant Pot different than a stove top pressure cooker? Besides the obvious fact that it isn’t electric? 😉 I have a stove top pressure cooker that I use, but not to the extent as Instant Pot lovers. 😀
Carol B. says
Tammy, you just put everything in, put the lid on, click a few buttons and walk away. It automatically goes to Keep Warm when it’s done. We have a nice stove top pressure cooker …haven’t touched it (or our slow cookers) since the Instant Pot came into our home. My husband made Greek yogurt today and I made Coconut Curry Chicken for dinner tonight. 🙂
Tammy says
But it functions in the same way as a regular pressure cooker? Brings food up to pressure and cooks for the time you’ve set?
Carol B. says
Tammy, yes it does!! No messing with waiting for it to come to high pressure and monitoring the pot. Set it and walk away! It automatically goes to Keep Warm when it’s done cooking.
Pamela says
Not interested in it in the least. I think it would sit like my bread maker and my Kitchenaide stand mixer and my food processor and NEVER get used!
Mavis says
Amberlina thought the same thing, but then she said she joined an IP group on Facebook before she bought the pot to see what the recipes were like and now she uses it all the time. She said it never sits!
Allison says
I have been waiting for you to post instant pot recipes!! I love mine. 6 minute hard boiled eggs!!! She can get the metal steamer basket at Target $3.99. 🙂 Also target has the instant pots now too. Hubby picked it up for $99 less 5%.
Helen in Meridian says
I forgot to mention that when i get a rotisserie chicken from Costco, I toss the carcass, the wings, skin, and some onion, celery into the electric pressure cooker and fill up to the line with water, and voila an hour later I have this great golden broth. I freeze flat in 2 c bags like you store your broth, and leave enough to make chicken noodle soup. My $5 Costco chicken makes 3 or 4 meals thanks to the free golden broth in my pressure cooker.