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March 17, 2020

5 Dollar Instant Pot and Slow Cooker Dinners

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5 Dollar Instant Pot and Slow Cooker Dinners–on a budget? I have some cheap dinner ideas for you! You can make these in your instant pot or slow cooker. These recipes will all be close to $5.00 depending on how and where you shop.

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5 Dollar Instant Pot and Slow Cooker Dinners

Dakota Smashed Pea and Barley Soup—A hearty split pea soup with barley, carrots, onions, savory herbs and green onions. This is a copycat recipe of the popular vegan soup sold at California Pizza Kitchen.

Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

Make it a meal! Serve this soup with homemade bread, rolls or bread sticks.

Instant Pot Dakota Smashed Pea and Barley Soup--A hearty split pea soup with barley, carrots, onions, savory herbs and green onions. This is a copycat recipe of the popular vegan soup sold at California Pizza Kitchen.

Cafe Rio Black Beans–from dried beans to cooked and seasoned in less than 45 minutes (no soaking required!). These black beans will be a hit at your next Mexican dinner. Serve these beans with any kind of rice for a complete meal.

Instant Pot Cafe Rio Black Beans
Slow Cooker Cafe Rio Black Beans

Make it a meal! Serve these beans with any kind of rice for a complete meal. Optional and delicious toppings: sour cream, picante sauce, grated cheese, cilantro, guacamole or avocado. I like to make my brown rice in the Instant Pot. 

Chicken “Spareribs“–inexpensive chicken thighs coated in a zippy sparerib-style sauce made easy with your electric pressure cooker.

Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Chicken Spareribs

Make it a meal! Serve this chicken and sauce over any type of rice. I like to make brown rice in my Instant Pot.

chicken thighs on a plate with a bbq sauce

Instant Pot Mac and Cheese–basic mac and cheese that is creamy and comforting! There are many variations to this basic version if you’d like to make it a little more exciting.

Basic Macaroni and Cheese

Make it a meal! Add in sliced smoked sausage, hot dogs or kielbasa. Serve with canned, frozen or fresh vegetables. I love steaming my vegetables in the Instant Pot. 

Pressure Cooker Macaroni and Cheese (5 Ways)

Homemade Rice-A-Roni—Do you love “the San Francisco treat” but want to make it from scratch? Make this super easy version of Rice-A-Roni in your Instant Pot! It’s the perfect side dish for so many meals.

Instant Pot Rice-A-Roni
Slow Cooker Rice-A-Roni

Make it a meal! Serve with a cooked chicken breast or add a can of drained chicken into the Instant Pot.

DIY Rice-A-Roni...in the crockpot and it's whole grain!

Salsa Lime Chicken–perfectly shreddable and flavorful chicken that you can serve in burritos, enchiladas, tacos, salads or quesadillas. Dinner can’t get easier than this!

Instant Pot Salsa Lime Chicken
Slow Cooker Salsa Lime Chicken

Make it a meal! Roll up the chicken in a flour or corn tortilla. Optional topping ideas are shredded lettuce, beans, cheese, salsa, cilantro.

Homemade Slow Cooker Pork and Beans–Your childhood favorite pork n’ beans made at home in your slow cooker with dried beans and lots of crispy bacon and just a couple other pantry staples.

Instant Pot Pork and Beans
Slow Cooker Pork and Beans

Make it a meal! Serve pork and beans with cornbread. This is my favorite recipe. 

Chicken Noodle Soup–We love making this recipe on a cold day or when we have a sick one in the house.

Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup

Make it a meal! Serve chicken noodle soup with cornbread. This is my favorite recipe. Or with a fruit or green salad. 

Garlic Herb Lentils–easy lentil stew with onions, garlic, carrots and celery. It’s almost got a creamy consistency and is super comforting. Make it fast in your pressure cooker or simmer it all day in your slow cooker.

Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Garlic Herb Lentils

Make it a meal! Add a chicken breast to the Instant Pot or slow cooker to give this meal a little more protein. Or serve a meatless meal with a dollop of sour cream on top of the lentil stew. 

Creamy Cauliflower Soup—With a velvety smooth texture, this cauliflower soup is ultra comforting and feels indulgent but it’s surprisingly healthy.

Instant Pot Cauliflower Soup
Slow Cooker Cauliflower Soup

Make it a meal! Top each bowl with green onions, cheddar and bacon or cubes of ham.

Creamy Sloppy Joes–get your ground beef on sale or use ground turkey to make this an actual 5 dollar meal. These are my favorite sloppy joes ever.

Instant Pot Sloppy Joes
Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes

Make it a meal! Serve the sloppy joe meat on buns and add some veggies on the side–steamed veggies, salad or corn on the cob. 

3-Ingredient Lime Chicken Tacos–This is the easiest and tastiest shredded chicken that you can serve in tacos (or other ways). The best part is that you can use frozen chicken and it takes about 2 minutes of prep time.

Lime Chicken Tacos

Make it a meal! Roll up the chicken in a flour or corn tortilla or serve it over rice. Optional topping ideas are shredded lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream.

Baked Potatoes–use your Instant Pot to quickly make baked potatoes. Create a baked potato bar for dinner!

Instant Pot Baked Potatoes
Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes

Make it a meal! Top with canned chili, bacon bits, ham cubes, steamed broccoli and cheese or sour cream. 

baked potato with cheese, sour cream and bacon on a white plate

Tuna Casserole-–a twist on good old fashioned tuna casserole. Flavors from Mom’s tuna casserole but made easier, faster and without cream of soups.

Instant Pot Tuna Casserole

Make it a meal! To make this tuna casserole less expensive leave out the cornflakes and the mushrooms. Serve the tuna casserole with a can of fruit or veggies.

a white bowl with pasta shells, peas, cheese, tuna and crushed cornflakes on top

Risotto–Creamy, no fuss and no stir risotto made in just a few minutes in your electric pressure cooker.

Instant Pot Parmesan Risotto
Slow Cooker Mushroom Risotto

Make it a meal! Add a few chicken tenders or chicken breasts into the Instant Pot on top of the rice. Serve with a package of frozen broccoli or steam some fresh broccoli.

Dave Ramsey Beans and Rice–if you’re trying to cut down on your grocery bill I have a nourishing and inexpensive slow cooker beans recipe. We start with dried pinto beans (cheap!) and cook them all day while you’re at work. Add in some salt, cumin, garlic powder and tomato sauce and you have dinner (or lunch)!

Slow Cooker Beans and Rice

Make it a meal! Serve the beans with hot cooked rice and any fresh, frozen or canned veggies or fruits.

Dave Ramsey Beans and Rice Recipe

More cheap meals…

Instant Pot Tomato Basil Parmesan Rice

Instant Pot Red Beans And Rice

Instant Pot Salsa Rice

Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Lentils

Instant Pot Brown Rice Pilaf With Chicken Sausage

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*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

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9 Comments Filed Under: All Recipes, Collections, Instant Pot, Slow Cooker

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Comments

  1. Dee says

    March 5, 2022 at 7:50 am

    This is to Andrea P Harper. I also live in the South and cook peas all the time in my Cusinart Instant
    Pot. These peas have been blanched and frozen. They take only 3 minutes. I of course don’t know
    which IP you have. I would try the three minutes first, check them and add one minute at a time
    until they are the way you like them. Might take a few minutes the first time.

    Reply
  2. Kmaree says

    December 5, 2020 at 2:47 pm

    Sorry, this should have gone under the Instant Pot Zippy Chicken Soup.

    Reply
  3. Kmaree says

    December 5, 2020 at 2:45 pm

    I made this in the IP and it was delicious. Thank you!

    Reply
  4. Jocelyne Comeau says

    July 28, 2020 at 8:46 am

    Thank you for these wonderful recipes

    Reply
    • Karen says

      July 28, 2020 at 1:11 pm

      You’re welcome! 😊

      Reply
  5. Andrea P. Harper says

    March 18, 2020 at 7:15 am

    Hello Karen,

    I live in the South and peas are one of the cherished food items in this area. I have looked all over for an instant pot way to cook peas such as cream 40’s, zipper peas, field peas and have had little to no success. I found one recipe but when I went back to try it the site was no longer up. Please do instructions on how to cook fresh peas…….., please!!

    Thank you, Andrea

    Reply
    • Karen says

      March 18, 2020 at 2:20 pm

      Hi Andrea, I will add it to my list of things to try!!

      Reply
  6. Jean Lofaso says

    July 20, 2018 at 8:45 am

    I use Barilla or Schar GF pasta. Would I use the same cooking time?
    Love all your recipes!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      July 24, 2018 at 8:34 pm

      Hi Jean, I am unfamiliar with GF pasta so I can say for sure. I think you may need to add a minute.

      Reply

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Welcome!

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Hi, I’m Karen. I know that dinner time can be less than relaxing. Busy schedules and cranky kids and a hundred other things can lead to weariness when it comes to putting dinner on the table. I can help! I make homemade, family-friendly slow cooker and Instant Pot dinners and share the recipes with you.

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