Healthy Meals The Fast Way!
Instant Pot Black-Eyed Peas was one of the first things I successfully made in my Instant Pot and got me hooked on this appliance! These peas are so easy to make and chockful of flavor!
We make these peas for New Year’s Day (as is tradition), but we also often make them for other meals throughout the year. One thing we do with Instant Pot Black-Eyed Peas over and over again is use them for Hoppin’ John.
I hope to share that recipe soon, but for now – I’m just gonna share the black-eyed peas!
My Instant Pot Pinto Beans are the base of so many recipes. I seriously love this recipe and don’t know how I made it without having these on hand all the time. Pinto beans are a great way to add protein to many meals. From use in soups to the easy refried beans for Taco night, this is a great fast and easy base.
Pinto beans are one of those items that you may have in your pantry but rarely use the dry version. Why? Because it takes so long to cook them. The thing I love is the fact that they are so affordable. I can buy a 1 pound bag of dry pinto beans and make equivalent to 6-8 cans of beans for less than the cost of a single can. However, the time is a frustration for busy moms. That’s where this Instant Pot Pinto Beans recipe comes in handy. You are going to love being able to make beans in under an hour from dry beans!
1 pound dry pinto beans
5 cups beef broth
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Rinse and drain pinto beans removing any dirt
Pour into Instant Pot liner and cover with beef broth
Add in seasonings
Place lid on your Instant Pot and set to seal.
Choose Manual for 55 minutes
Once completed cooking, manually release pressure.
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Prep Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 55 mins Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 12Shop my Favorite Instant Pot Tools & Accessories…
This basic recipe for Instant Pot Pinto Beans is ideal for a simple side dish. Since you use basic ingredients for this recipe, that makes it super easy to adapt to any meal. This version works great in soups and chili, or easily can be added as a side dish. I also love mashing with a bit of extra garlic and a touch of salsa to make refried bean dip. Add some taco seasoning, and you can easily use this as a protein in your next taco salad. The possibilities are endless!
This Instant Pot Brown Rice recipe is one of those items that makes meal time and prepping meals in advance a thousand times easier to manage. I love having rice on hand to go with steamed vegetables for a simple vegetarian meal. If you are a meat eater, then it pairs beautifully with almost any entree. I love the predictability of making it in my Instant Pot without having to stand over the stove. I am sure you’ll love this as well.
For this Instant Pot Brown Rice recipe, I used brown basmati rice. You can choose any brown rice, but this is my personal favorite. It cooks well and light, and provides individual grains instead of sticking together. That’s a big plus in my book. You can so easily turn this into a base for a stir-fry, for shredded beef or chicken, or as a great side when you mix in some veggies and eggs to make a “fried” rice dish.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup brown rice
1 1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon soy sauce (optional for flavoring)
Rinse the brown rice and drain. Add olive oil to the Instant Pot, making sure it covers and coats the bottom of the liner. This will ensure the rice does not stick. Add your rice, soy sauce (if desired) and water.
Place the lid onto the Instant Pot and set to seal. Choose the “Manual” button and set to 22 minutes. Once completed cooking, allow to naturally release pressure for 10 minutes.
Instant Pot Brown Rice is going to become one of your go-to recipes. Make a batch of this a few times a week to add healthy options to your meal plan all week. The key to great Instant Pot Brown Rice is to make it at a 1:1.25 ratio of rice to water. So, if you want to make larger batches, it is easy to just increase at that ratio. Always make sure to add a bit of olive oil to the liner to make sure your rice doesn’t stick to the bottom. You will also want to add either rice or soy sauce to season it just a bit so it has flavor.
Happy Cooking!
Josie
Print Prep Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 22 mins Total Time: 27 mins Yield: 4
Instant Pot Teriyaki Pork Loin
I know you’ve seen that I am already a huge fan of cauliflower. I mean who says they LOVE Cauliflower Mash 4 times in a single post? 😉 This Pressure Cooker Curry Cauliflower Mash is very similar to the regular recipe.
Please, don’t knock cauliflower if you haven’t tried it like this! It’s SO good! This is a great alternative to potatoes (WHAT? who wouldn’t want to eat potatoes? 😉 )
Your kiddos probably won’t even notice the switch!
Happy Cooking!
Josie
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Here is how I did it:
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Prep Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 15 mins Total Time: 20 mins Yield: 6
Category: Side DishAlso try Instant Pot Cauliflower Mash
Oh my word! Have you ever had Instant Pot Cauliflower Mash? Putting cauliflower in the Instant Pot makes it so easy to make that I could eat it everyday. Not to mention, my kids are totally fooled and think it’s mashed potatoes! 😉
Cut the entire cauliflower down and throw into the pressure cooker for 3 minutes on high pressure. Be sure to add the rack that came with your Instant Pot first. Fill with two cups of water.
Take the cauliflower from the Instant Pot to a food processor with 2 ounces of butter and a splash of buttermilk and process the heck out of it! 🙂 Not kidding, the more you process it… the better!
You know it’s ready when you have this very creamy consistency. Add salt and pepper to your liking.
We ate this with our yummy whole chicken in the pressure cooker. You can eat it with whatever protein you would like – it goes well with anything!
Happy Cooking!
Josie
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I love this Easy Pressure Cooker Spaghetti Squash recipe for nights that we need some healthy “noodles” in our life!
I never really liked squash. Then, my chef husband introduced me to spaghetti squash noodles…he threw on his amazing meatballs and I was hooked! We were even able to trick our picky 5-year-old that they were noodles and he asked for seconds.
The only thing I don’t like about these is that they take so long in the oven. So as you can guess, this isn’t a oven recipe for spaghetti squash. 🙂
You will want to grab the rack that was sent to you with the Instant Pot. Add two cups of water to the bottom of the pot and poke at least 6 holes with a fork in your squash.
Set your pressure cooker to 16 minutes on high pressure and quick release.
(First time?! Hit the “manual” setting and it will default to 30 minutes. Use the minus button to go to 16.)
Cut open the squash and take out the seeds, then use a fork to scrape out the inside of the squash. Scrape everything out until you reach the skin. It should be very easy to scrape everything out, if not, pop it back into the pressure cooker and add a couple minutes. Enjoy with meatballs, Easy Bolognese Sauce or just by itself!
Happy Cooking!
Josie
Easy Bolognese Sauce in the Pressure Cooker
I didn’t know how easy it was to make homemade Pressure Cooker Applesauce until I decided to try it in my Instant Pot. I’m telling you, once you make your own One Minute Pressure Cooker Applesauce, you will never want to buy it at the grocery store ever again!
I have also been using this to trick my brain into getting rid of sugar altogether. We use Braeburn apples and they taste so sweet! We don’t add any sweetener to this recipe, but if you’d like it a little sweeter, try honey or Stevia.
You can use as many apples as you want. I usually do 6-7 at a time, and that gives me about a quart of applesauce once it is cooked. Peel, core, and cut the apples into fours.
Put everything into the pot and top with ground cinnamon (to taste). If you want to add a sweetener, use honey (1 tablespoon) or Stevia.
Cook the apples on high pressure for 1 minute. If you are new to the Instant Pot, press the “manual” button then take the time down to 1 minute by using the “-” button. The Instant Pot will begin building pressure once you stop pressing any buttons.
The apples should be nice and soft. This makes an immersion blender go through them easily. Blend until you reach your desired texture.
Happy Cooking!
Josie
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Prep Time: 15 Cook Time: 10 Total Time: 25 minutes Category: Fruit
Method: Pressure Cooker
Cuisine: AmericanThis One Minute Pressure Cooker Applesauce is the easiest thing you’ll ever make and you’ll never want to buy applesauce again!
6-7 large apples, pealed, cored and cut into quarters
1 cup water
1 tsp cinnamon (or to taste)
1 Tbsp honey (optional)
Place all ingredients in your Instant Pot.
Close Instant Pot lid and set to manual high pressure for 1 minute.
Be sure the steam vent is sealed.
Use Quick Release then use an Immersion blender (or pour into your food processor) to process the apples to a smooth consistency.
Yields about 1 quart of applesauce.
Keywords: apples, applesauce, apple sauce, sauce, homemade, Instant Pot, pressure cooker, pressure, cooker, fast
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