My friends have all been abuzz about the Instant Pot. The love how quickly it claims to cook food, and it drew my interest as well.
Our weeknights can be very busy between all of the kid’s activities and other meetings that pop up, so being able to cook a big dinner in 15 minutes or less sounded very appealing, but also a little too good to be true.
Let’s take a closer look at how fast the Instant Pot actually cooks your food.
- Effective way to plan your meals and shopping >>
- 6 saving tips for your kitchen >>
- How to save money when food shopping >>
How fast can instant pot actually cook?
Let me start by pointing out that it does indeed cook pretty fast. It really shines on dishes like stews or roasts that would otherwise take a long time on the stove or in the oven, and even longer in the slow cooker. I’ve heard of great success with soups, too.
When it comes to full disclosure though, the claims that it can cook chicken breast in 5 minutes, or a roast in 20 minutes, are a little misleading. While that is the time the food needs to cook under pressure, the actual time before you can eat is longer because it has to come up to pressure first.
This process can take anywhere from ten minutes to half an hour. The fuller the pot, the colder (or even frozen) the ingredients, and the bigger the cut of meat, the longer it will take to come up to pressure. Once it does, the countdown timer will start. When browsing or pinning recipes to try, be sure to factor in all of the time needed to prepare each recipe.
- Food traps to avoid when you want to eat healthily >>
- Breakfast supperfoods ideas >>
- Easy Halloween party food ideas >>
Leave the food to rest once cooked
After the food has cooked for the allotted time, it takes a little while before you can safely open the pot and serve your meal. There are two options and which one you choose depends on the meal you’re preparing. The first is to release the pressure through the vent in the lid.
This causes hot steam to escape and the pressure to go down within a matter of minutes. Once that’s done, you’ll be able to open the lid and serve the food.
Safety is paramount, so you’ll want to be sure to follow directions carefully!
Release the pressure slowly once food is cooked
The second option is a process called Natural Pressure Release (NPR). Whenever a recipe calls for this, you shouldn’t turn the valve to release the pressure. Instead, you let the pot sit until the pressure releases on its own.
This process takes about 25 to 45 minutes and allows the food to continue cooking until the pressure valve drops down and you are able to open the pot.
It’s imperative to allow for this additional time when preparing a meal in the Instant Pot, as I mentioned earlier, safety is important.
It takes a bit of time to learn how to cook with Instant pot
All in all, you won’t be able to cook most meals in a matter of minutes. You have to figure in the time it will take for the pot to come up to pressure, and for some recipes, additional time to allow the pressure to slowly drop back down.
Does this mean the Instant Pot isn’t fast?
Of course not. It’s still a much quicker method of cooking roasts, beans, and the likes than any other cooking style. In short, but it’s not super-fast for everything, yet great for things that take a long time otherwise.
As an added bonus, once you add everything to the pot, it is hands-free cooking. You don’t have to stir pots or babysit the food. Instead, you can work on something else, or relax for a bit while dinner cooks itself.
- How to start successful catering business >>
- Frugal meal suggestions for your heart >>
- Easy weeknight meals planning >>
Stay in touch
Hope this post inspires you and of course, I’d love to know what you think! Let me know in the comments below or find me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter and add the hashtag #practicalfrugality so that I can see your post.
Or why not subscribe to my weekly newsletter with frugal living tips and recipes straight to your mailbox.
Magdalena
Barbara Riffe says
No time to cook, cook book is a good one for me.
Karley Moore says
I would like to try the Don’t Mess With Texas BarBQue Sauce. Thanks for the giveaway!