Why buy an Instant Pot? There are lots of reasons to consider getting one, but the biggest draws for me were that it promised to save me time while making meal preparation easier. That it saves space by taking the place of multiple appliances and makes cleanup a snap (since many meals only involve the Instant Pot’s stainless steel inner pot) were some major bonuses. In short, the Instant Pot is one of the very few things I’ve ever owned that really helps make life easier.
I think it also can save you money, because you’re getting the functions of multiple appliances in one, and cooking food from basic ingredients is so much cheaper than buying prepared or packaged food. And you may find yourself going out to eat less often, because what you can cook at home in your Instant Pot is so yummy!
Disclaimer: You do NOT have to be a “good cook” to make fantastic meals with the Instant Pot! Many awesome recipes have half a dozen basic ingredients and don’t involve much more than tossing them into the pot and hitting a button.
What Can the Instant Pot Do?
But let’s get down to the nitty gritty of why you should buy an Instant Pot. What’s it really going to do for you?
The better question is probably what can’t it do? On the previous page I listed the appliances that the Instant Pot could potentially replace in your kitchen, but what it can do amounts to so much more. Taking a look at the Instant Pot’s program presets, you can get an idea of just how many different things you can prepare with it:
- Bean/Chili
- Soup/Broth
- Meat/Stew
- Cake
- Egg
- Sauté
- Rice
- Multigrain
- Porridge
- Steam
- Sterilize
- Slow Cook, and
- Yogurt
It’s a veritable Swiss Army knife of cookery! The Instant Pot Ultra and Instant Pot Smart even have temperature controls that allow you to cook sous vide. Good heavens!
“Yeah, yeah,” you say, “so it’s a glorified crock pot with a bunch of different buttons on it. What’s the big deal?”
It Really Works!
The big deal is that this crazy thing really works, and for some recipes the different settings actually complement one another. For example, you can brown a roast with the Sauté function, then dump in some onions and other veggies, spices, and a bit of broth before locking on the lid and setting your Instant Pot to the Meat (or Manual) pressure cooking mode. Guess what? In half an hour or so, depending on the cut of meat, you’ve got an amazing pot roast!
Or you could brown some ground beef, then toss in beans – uncooked – broth and half a dozen ingredients, set the Instant Pot on the Bean/Chili setting, and have some delicious chili in about half an hour. No more soaking those beans! You can even cook entire one-pot meals by stacking the ingredients inside your Instant Pot before starting the cooking cycle, like rice with Honey Garlic Chicken. And ribs. Ribs? Yes, ribs. Transform several pounds of pork shoulder into juicy, falling apart pulled pork in about an hour. Or how about Instant Pot Greek yogurt? Poached or hard-boiled eggs? The list goes on…
Finally, I’ll just mention cheesecake. You heard me right. Cheese. Cake. It’s every bit as good as what you’d buy in a shop for an arm and a leg, and it’s ridiculously easy to make!
Those are just a few of the oodles of examples of how flexible the Instant Pot is and how easy it can be to cook great meals. On top of that, cleanup tends to be a lot easier, too: with many recipes, you only have to clean the Instant Pot’s liner, and that’s it.
Which One?
“Okay, okay!” You shout. “I’ve gotta have one, but which one would be best for me?”
Well, let’s continue our Instant Pot adventure and compare Instant Pot models…
Where Would You Like To Go?
What is an Instant Pot?Why Should You Buy an Instant Pot?
Which Instant Pot Should You Get?
Getting Started
The Great Instant Pot Water Test
Some Foolproof Recipes
Instant Pot Accessories
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