10 Easy Instant Pot Recipes for Beginners
Are you an Instant Pot newbie?? Wondering where to start with your electric pressure cooker (and the recipe book that came with your IP is NO help!)? This is where you start! Here are the top 10 easiest and best Instant Pot recipes for beginners!
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Are you an Instant Pot Newbie?
Welcome to the club!
It really is like a club, too. Once you know, you know. 😉
I’ve been a satisfied Instant Pot user and recipe developer since 2015. This gadget truly has changed my life!
In fact, I haven’t used a slow cooker since getting my first Instant Pot — and now, I have 2 Instant Pots! (Here’s why.)
Still, the Instant Pot intimidation is real.
I understand if you’re a little afraid to get your new Instant Pot out of the box and start using it because mine sat in the box for over a month before I finally pulled it out!
You just gotta rip off the Band-Aid. Or, rather, the tape on the box. 😛
Here’s a free unboxing video to get you started!
10 Easy Instant Pot Recipes for Beginners
You’d think the Instant Pot recipe booklet would come with easy Instant Pot recipes for beginners, wouldn’t you? (It actually doesn’t.)
You should look it and the user manual over to see the basic functions of your IP, how to change the settings, what all the parts are, but then?
Find you some tried-and-tested Instant Pot recipes and throw those booklets in the garbage!
So, since the Instant Pot recipe booklet let us down…
I’ve compiled the 10 best EASY Instant Pot recipes for beginners here!
These beginner Instant Pot recipes will give you the confidence you need to start and keep using your new toy.
Why have I chosen these 10 Instant Pot recipes for newbies?
After over 4 years of almost-daily Instant Pot use, I consider myself a bit of an electric pressure cooking expert.
So, I thought back to my days as a new Instant Pot user. What do I know now that I didn’t know back then?
Here’s why I’ve carefully selected these 10 beginner Instant Pot recipes for newcomers to the pressure cooking world:
#1 — They aren’t time-consuming.
When you’re testing out a new gadget, the last thing you want is to wait for-e-ver to see if it actually works, right?
While the Instant Pot cooks amazing roasts and meatloaf and baked potatoes, quite a long time for the cooker to come to pressure and cook the food.
I chose these beginner Instant Pot recipes because they don’t take a lot of time. 8 of these 10 recipes take less than half an hour from start to finish!
When you do come across time-consuming IP recipes, try out my 8 tips for getting your Instant Pot to pressurize faster.
#2 — They don’t require fancy ingredients.
Most of us are very familiar with foods like rice, beans, eggs, quinoa, and chicken. These are accessible and affordable ingredients that are easily stocked in the pantry and fridge.
These Instant Pot recipes for beginners are basic and simple — exactly what any noob needs.
#3 — It’s not the end of the world if something goes wrong.
I sincerely doubt you’ll have any trouble with these recipes. I’ve tested them over and over, and a quick glance at the comments on most of them will show that others have tried and succeeded with them, too.
Still, there are no guarantees in the kitchen and mistakes happen. If something does go wrong, let it be with inexpensive and readily available ingredients… not your expensive grass-fed roast, right?!
Let’s dive in to the best Instant Pot recipes for beginners!
#1 — No-Fail Instant Pot Hard-Boiled or Soft-Boiled Eggs
Hard- or soft-boiled eggs are ALWAYS the first thing I recommend for Instant Pot beginners.
Thankfully, eggs are fairly inexpensive and readily available, so if you mess up somehow, it’s not the end of the world.
However, with my no-fail techniques, this is smooth sailing.
My no-fail techniques also work best with farm-fresh eggs — the kind you don’t refrigerate because they come from happy chickens in your (or your friend’s) backyard.
Here’s how to make my No-Fail Hard-Boiled Eggs and my No-Fail Soft-Boiled Eggs!
#2 — Instant Pot No-Peel Applesauce
Applesauce in 4 minutes and you don’t even have to peel the apples??
Yep!
Plus, the peels give the finished applesauce the most glorious pink color. 🙂
My Instant Pot No-Peel Applesauce is a great way to introduce yourself to your Instant Pot. It’s fast, easy, and again, if you mess up, it’s probably not a big loss.
#3 — Whole Chicken in the Instant Pot
One of the first basic skills I learned in the kitchen was to cook and de-bone a whole chicken. My mother taught me that any meal or soup was just one whole chicken away, and I’m so thankful for that truth.
Cooking my first whole chicken in the Instant Pot literally changed my life. I could stick the chicken in and walk away, knowing that it would be perfectly cooked and falling off the bone.
If you intend to use your Instant Pot for meal prepping, get familiar with cooking a whole chicken!
Here’s how to cook a whole chicken in your Instant Pot.
#4 — Formula for Instant Pot Blended Soup
Need a way to use up some veggies? How about a way to incorporate more veggies into your lifestyle?
Blended soup is where it’s at!
I have a straightforward formula to teach any Instant Pot beginner how to use whatever vegetables you happen to have on hand to make a nourishing and tasty, texture-friendly blended soup!
Blended soups freeze well, pack great in a Thermos for a lunchbox, and are a staple in our house.
Here’s how to make ANY blended soup in your Instant Pot.
#5 — Soaked Fluffy Quinoa
Speaking of meal prep, have you tried including quinoa in yours? It’s kinda the new rice — but with fewer carbs and more protein!
Quinoa is a pseudo-grain that’s high in a compound called phytic acid, which can be reduced with a simple soaking step. But guess what? None of the Instant Pot manuals explain how to cook soaked quinoa.
So, I figured it out (it’s seriously easy) and cook the fluffiest quinoa in just 3 minutes!
Here’s how to make fluffy, soaked quinoa in your Instant Pot.
#6 — Instant Pot Rice/Beans
Budget-friendly and filling, rice and beans are the BEST when pressure cooked.
Again, these are ingredients that are inexpensive, so if you happen to mess up, it’s really ok. But, you probably won’t! These tried-and-tested Instant Pot recipes are perfect for beginners.
Of course, my recipes are made with soaked beans and sprouted rice so they’re extra nourishing and digestible!
Here’s how to make Instant Pot Pinto Beans and how to cook Sprouted Brown Rice in the Instant Pot.
#7 — Instant Pot Drinks
Did you know you can make yummy, fun drinks in your electric pressure cooker??
And seriously? You CANNOT screw these up! Drinks are the perfect thing for Instant Pot newbies to try.
Try my Instant Pot Chai Hot Chocolate or my Copycat Starbucks Caramel Apple Spice or my Rhubarb Juice!
#8 — Super Simple Salsa Verde Chicken
Alright, you’ve got beans, rice, a whole chicken, eggs, and drinks… It’s time for a super easy chicken dinner!
I make this Super Simple Salsa Verde Chicken all the time. It’s a family favorite and awesome for meal prep or the freezer.
With just a handful of ingredients, this is hands-down the simplest recipe on my site! If you’re an Instant Pot beginner, this is the best first main dish recipe to make!
#9 — Instant Pot Bone Broth
Many people are intimidated by making their own bone broth as it is. But, the Instant Pot really takes all the fuss out of making bone broth.
So, while a stove-top or slow cooker bone broth might not be a great idea for kitchen novices, Instant Pot bone broth absolutely is!
Here’s how to make Instant Pot Pork Bone Broth. (<– Cook time and method is exactly the same if you’re using beef bones.)
Here’s how to make Instant Pot Chicken Foot Broth. (<– Cook time and method is exactly the same if using a chicken carcass or bones.)
#10 — Instant Pot Quinoa Breakfast Porridge
Betcha didn’t know that your new pressure cooker could take care of breakfast, too, did you?
This Instant Pot Quinoa Breakfast Porridge is a reader favorite. It’s so easy, even kids can make it!
Pin it!
Ready to take your Instant Pot cooking to the next level?
Did you cook your way through these beginner Instant Pot recipes?
Congratulations! You’ve leveled up!
Now you’re ready to tackle any recipe in your electric pressure cooker. Get ready for fall-off-the-bone ribs, crazy-good Buffalo wings, and the easiest pulled pork you’ve ever made.
Lots of folks even use their Instant Pots for cheesecake, bread pudding, and other desserts!
Here are some of our favorite next-level Instant Pot recipes…
- FREE 7-Day Instant Pot Meal Plan w/ printable shopping list
- Whole30 Instant Pot Fish Chowder
- 35+ Dairy-Free Keto Instant Pot Soup Recipes
- Paleo Instant Pot Apple-Pecan Crumble
- Instant Pot Copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana
- Instant Pot Veggie-Stuffed Meatloaf
- Keto Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff
- Keto Instant Pot Sesame Orange Chicken
- 50+ Healthy & Gluten-Free Instant Pot Mexican Recipes
- Keto Instant Pot Clam Chowder
- Paleo Instant Pot Strawberry Rhubarb Custard