5 Reasons Why I Love My Instant Pot–I’ve been using my Instant Pot* constantly for the past 2 1/2 years and I still love it. You will too. Here’s why…
5 Reasons Why I Love My Instant Pot
1. It’s good for a procrastinator like me. You may think that because I cooked in my slow cooker every day for a year I was good about planning meals ahead of time. You’re wrong. I’m so bad at it. I’ve never gotten into a good pattern of meal planning or grocery shopping. I am the kind of person who flies by the seat of her pants most days. This does not bode well for dinner time. Oh crap it’s 5:30 pm, what should we have for dinner?! Because I have so many slow cooker recipes in my back pocket that I love I am able to transform them into Instant Pot recipes. Instead of waiting for 4-8 hours for them to be done I can be eating dinner in less than an hour. That’s good for a person like me who doesn’t think ahead. If you’re like me and don’t love meal planning check out my Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Meal Plan for a Month.
2. The saute function. When I first started using my slow cooker I was totally annoyed when I read a recipe that called for browning or sauteing. Oh, the extra step and the extra pan would just put me over the edge. Consequently I would usually skip the step and add the raw onion straight to the crock instead of sauteing it first. This sometimes worked out okay but more often than not the meal would be mediocre and not have the depth of flavor that it could have had. Now with the Instant Pot I can easily turn on the saute function and melt a little butter and saute some chopped onion without getting an extra pan dirty. It’s so convenient for so many recipes! For example I used the saute function to brown the ground turkey in this Instant Pot Creamy Turkey Penne recipe.
3. It’s a set-it-and-forget-it method of cooking. The reason I love my slow cooker so much is that it is an easy, hands off method of cooking. I am not fond of standing around the stove babysitting a pan or a pot. I am fond of throwing stuff in a pot and walking away. So the Instant Pot can provide that for me. I love putting everything in the pot and then cleaning up dishes, setting the table, throwing some laundry in the washing machine and then coming back to a cooked dinner. It’s a blessing! If you’re like me you’ll probably like these 20 Dump and Go Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Recipes.
4. You can use it for more than just dinner. I use my Instant Pot* almost weekly to make yogurt. I am in love with making greek yogurt at home. I can make a huge amount of yogurt for only $2.00. It’s so worth it for me since a large carton of Greek yogurt is $6 these days! I have also used it to make grains for breakfast. Like steel cut oatmeal or even regular oatmeal and 1 minute quinoa is made weekly at our house. I’ve even had luck making a breakfast casserole in it. Oh and don’t forget the most popular hard boiled eggs!
5. You can cook from frozen. If you read #1 above you know that I’m a procrastinator/not a planner. Therefore I usually have not thawed my meat. Don’t worry there are many ways you can use meat straight out of your freezer in the Instant Pot. For example, I cooked this frozen whole chicken in my Instant Pot. If you’re like me you might also like these 3 ingredient lime chicken tacos from frozen chicken breasts or this forgot-to-defrost Doritos taco salad or this 5-Ingredient Pot Roast from frozen.
What other reasons do you love your Instant Pot? I’d love to know how you use it. Don’t have an Instant Pot? You can buy one easily on Amazon* and have it shipped straight to your home. Before you start using it you may want to print off this step by step guide to getting started and 10 Instant Pot Recipes for Beginners. Good luck!!!
You might also like…
5 Ways to Use Your Instant Pot Today to Save Time All Week
5 Things Not To Do With Your Instant Pot
What Pressure Cooker Do You Use?
I use a 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.
Want tried and true Instant Pot recipes?
The 365 Days of Slow and Pressure Cooking website has 3-4 new Instant Pot recipes a week! If you sign up for my emails (fill out the form below) you’ll receive an email each time something new is on the site. You can also join the 365 Days of Instant Pot Recipes Facebook group which is run by my husband Greg and myself. If you’re a visual learner consider subscribing to my YouTube channel where I share Instant Pot stuff with you weekly.
*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.
You only have to tap into You Tube to get a plethora of recipes, everything from Cakes, Savory Food with Beef, Chicken, Pork, Liver etc. Foreign Recipes for Instant Pot from Chinese,Japanese,Turkey, Afghanistan,Curries from India,Paella from Spain, not forgetting Portugal & Italy. The World is your Oyster.
There are numerous posts from people, showing you how to deal with your new pot, also recommending various items you make like to use with your pot helping you step by step, to make it even more versatile.Just take a look at Amazon or eBay. Just sit back & relax you don’t have to Babysit your pots & pans, take it easy, no more burnt rice or over boiled pasta. Meat cooked from frozen. Only one pot to wash out. Take the stress out of cooking, every Lady deserves this. I am sending this message from the South of England, best of Wishes to you All. Have Fun. Colleen.(Housewife with 3 Children)
Best wishes to you Colleen! Thanks for your comment!
I have a Instant cooker and have not used it yet. Have used air fryer. Leery about pressure and doing something wrong. My manual has not give concise info.
Can you drive a car? An IP is easier to use. Try it you might like it.
You can do it! I promise. Watch this video to get started: https://youtu.be/RdEy30K8Nzw
What do I NOT love about my IP?!
As you and others have said, Karen, it’s a lovely multi-tasker. Our home is a 1050 sq ft town house. No room for one trick ponies here. A big selling points for me was that I could use it to both saute and pressure cook in one pot…slow cook too
The IP is easy to clean. I’d considered a different brand before choosing IP, but really didn’t like the fact that the cooking pot was permanently attached to the electrical body of the cooker. No way! I can take the metal pot out of the IP, wash it thoroughly, and easily clean the housing and other parts (lid, sealing ring).
I’m also a “professional procrastinator”! Can’t say how many times the ability to cook from frozen has saved my heinie. 😉
There are lots of options for different types of recipes (sweet, savoury) and IP accessories to cook them with.
Since the IP is so well known & loved, there’s a big community of help and support for IP owners. Karen, you are a shining light in this regard. 🙂
YESSS!
And the professional procrastinator is so me.
I mostly use the IP Slow Cooker function because my regular Slow Cookers do not have timers, but I also think, well I know that the Pressure cooker function works much better than my other make Pressure Cooker which I now hardly use. I would like an oval shaped IP, like my regular Slow Cookers. I think that shape is better.
Thanks for the channel.
Me too! I would love an oval one 🙂
My husband fights rush hour plus has to leave a little later than he used to to drive on an interstate reserved for carpoolers – or pay a huge toll – up to $25-40! – until after 7:00 p.m. It’s wonderful to cook as early as I want, clean up the prep dishes/utensils and leave the food on The Keep Warm setting. Plus I can eat earlier if I want and it’s ready when he gets home.
Also, while I have a slow cooker, being able to sauté in a pressure cooker adds so much to flavor without dirtying a pan (and likely splattering the stove), so I think the nice but unused slow cooker may be heading to the non-profit thrift store as a donation.
I agree! We use the keep warm button a lot around here.
I call Bull Who-weeee, most all the other pressure cookers out here do the same thing, this thing has NO one thing that sets it apart from the others………no offence but you must get a commission on it’s sale , no dought it is a good one and the price is right but it does not belong on the top of the Heap……… just saying God bless and keep on cooking……………….
Correction: Its sale without an apostrophe, not it’s sale. It’s means it is. Its is possessive. I mean if you’re going to criticize, everything is fair game, right?
BTW, Karen provides free recipes, free advice, and answers questions. Shouldn’t she have affiliated links, like every other blogger who is even moderately successful or strives for success?
#2 BTW – I looked at features on my different pressure cookers and found there were differences I like on the Instant Pot. But use whatever rings your chimes.
As a single person who lives in a tiny home, I love, love my insta pot. Dont have room for alot of gadgets. Love the 8 minute spaghetti. Omgosh!
That’s true, it’s an all in one gadget and that’s great for small homes.
I cook for my 15 lb Boston Terrier and 6 lb Chihuahua. My 8 qt Ultra is a superb piece of equipment. I also cook for two of us and when the family of 13 descends on us I am prepared!! Hard boiled eggs are cooked every 2 or 3 days. How I love doing perfect eggs every time!By the way the dogs are vegan!!!😀
Awesome Marge!
I waited for the right price so now I’m waiting for my prize. Now what do I do with 3 different pressure cookers?
You party!