The Instant Pot changed my life. Cooking has never been faster or more fun.
Sure, it's cheesy to say that a kitchen appliance changed my life. But in this case, it is 100 percent true.
The Instant Pot is a free-standing, programmable pressure cooker that makes everything from rice to soup, from steel-cut oats to cheesecakes, and pretty much everything in between. You can even make yogurt in some of the higher-end models.
What's great about the Instant Pot is that not only does it cut down the time it takes to cook, but it also cuts cleaning time in half. Rice is cooked in minutes. Steel-cut oats, which usually take the better part of a half hour on the stove with constant stirring, are done in less than 10 minutes. The Instant Pot can also replace your steamer, stovetop, and slow-cooker.
Last year, the Instant Pot was the most gifted kitchen item on Amazon for the holiday season. Millions of Instant Pots have been sold, but the company still estimates that only 11 percent of American households have a multi-cooker.
Base Model: Instant Pot Lux V3 6-in-1 Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot comes in a few different models. The base 6-quart six-in-one model is only $79 and comes with eight different presets for cooking soup, meat/stew, cake, eggs, sauté, rice, multigrain, porridge, steam, and slow-cook settings. If you live at altitude or like to follow more complex recipes, you'll spend most of your time using the manual time setting, especially for pressure cooking.
Yes, you read that right. You can bake a cake in the Instant Pot. It won't be a large cake -- a 7 inch springform pan is the way to go -- but they'll be delicious and only take a fraction of the time to cook!
Upgrade: Instant Pot DUO Plus 60 9-in-1 Pressure Cooker
I've had the base model for a few weeks, and I am already itching to upgrade to the DUO Plus. In addition to having a much more interactive LCD display, the DUO Plus model also has the coveted yogurt preset. The DUO also has preset buttons for sterilization and slow cooking as well. On top of that, the maximum cook time is increased from 4 hours to 6 hours so you can really kick your crockpot to the curb.
Upgrade: Instant Pot Ultra 10-in-1 Pressure Cooker
The Instant Pot Ultra is currently the same price as the DUO Plus. In addition to having an extra safety feature (a pressure release button), the Ultra model also has three times as many preset temperatures as the Lux V3 (21 versus 7) and has a dial to help move through the devices many menu options. The Ultra has all of the same functionalities as the DUO Plus, so if you're looking to start with the top-of-the-line model, it is a good option to go with.
Instant Pot Accessories
Each Instant Pot comes with two plastic utensils, a sealing ring (more on that later), a stainless steel cooking pot, and a steam rack. This will help you get going right out of the gate, but there are a few accessories you will need to really maximize your Instant Pot cooking.
The Instant Pot's silicone sealing ring is responsible for sealing the pot and allowing the pressure to build. The rings are incredibly well-made and will last for years. But since these rings are made of food-grade silicone, they absorb the smells of whatever you cook.
For unflavored rice, that's not a big deal. But as you venture into cooking other things, you'll want more than one sealing ring. The last thing you want is for your cheesecake to smell like stew or your steel-cut oats to have a slight taste of Indian food ...
Right off the bat, I bought two extra Instant Pot sealing rings. It is important to get the name-brand accessory here. The third-party brands may save you a few bucks, but they aren't quite as good at keeping a seal. And when you're dealing with a pressure cooker, that's kind of the most important thing.
I went with the two-pack. The best part about this is that the Genuine Instant Pot Sealing Ring 2-Pack comes with a red and blue sealing ring. Just to make things easy, I use the white sealing ring that comes with the Instant Pot exclusively for rice. My red ring is used for spicy/savory foods like Mexican rice and beans or Indian Tikka Masala. Then, the blue ring is saved for sweeter meals like oatmeal, cheesecakes, and yogurt.
The rings are made of food-grade silicone, so you can wash them and they are dishwasher safe. But don't expect to ever get the smells out, especially if you cook spicy foods.
2. An Extra Stainless Steel Pot (Or Two)
Spend a week with an Instant Pot in your kitchen and you'll spend hours trying to figure out new dishes to cook. Oatmeal for breakfast, rice and beans for lunch, stew for dinner.
But once you jump headfirst into using the Instant Pot for multiple meals or even complex meals, you'll realize something: it is a real pain to have to constantly clean the stainless steel pot.
When I first got the Instant Pot, I dove right in and decided to whip together a chicken Tikka Masala recipe. Basically, it is an Indian chicken stew that is served over rice. The Instant Pot worked like a charm for simmering the sauce, but I quickly realized that with only one stainless steel liner pot, I would have to dump the sauce into another pot and clean it before I could make the rice. That is a real pain.
Right then and there, I ordered a spare stainless steel pot. The Instant Pot brand sells for $29.99. That's what I ended up purchasing, but there is also an off-brand option that sells for $6 less ($23.95). Either will work, though the Instant Pot brand is a noticeably better product.
3. Ceramic-Lined Non-Stick Inner Aluminum Pot
If you're looking for a non-stick option, then definitely pick up one of these ceramic-lined pots. They aren't completely made of ceramic. If it were, it would likely crack when put under pressure. But the Genuine Instant Pot Ceramic Non-Stick Interior Coated Inner Cooking Pot is a good affordable option, especially if you are looking to use an Instant Pot for slow-cooking.
4. 7-Inch Springform Baking Pan
If you want to bake cakes in the Instant Pot, you need a pan that will fit inside of the stainless steel pot. If you are a baker, you might have a 6- or 7-inch cake pan that will work. If not, you can cover most of your bases with a 7-inch springform pan. Springform is definitely the way to go because it leaves the door open for you to make cheesecakes (which come out extremely well) while also making it easy to remove cakes from the pan.
If you are going to use the Instant Pot as a slow cooker or for sautéing, then any 9-inch class pot lid will fit. The Instant Pot-branded glass lids tend to be a little pricey, but you can pick up an off-brand lid that fits for just $13.99.
If you're going to purchase multiple pots, or just really like leftovers, then it's definitely a good idea to pick up a couple silicone lids. You might be able to find off-brand lids that work, but the Instant Pot models really work well and are see-through. Each of those run for around $9.95.
You can use your Instant Pot as a steamer as soon as you take it out of the box. But it isn't perfect.
If you like steaming your foods, then definitely look at some of the steaming baskets that fit within the Instant Pot. You can purchase a steaming basket that fits for less than $20.
You can also pick up an Instant Pot Genuine Silicone Steamer Basket for $9.95, but again, the silicone will absorb all of the scents and aromas from your cooking.
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While this definitely just scratches the surface and there are plenty of other accessories on the market, these are good first steps for getting started with cooking on the Instant Pot.
Do you have an Instant Pot? What's your favorite Instant Pot dish? Tell us in the comment section below!
