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The Instant Pot is an incredible tool.  This is a guide to Fun Diego Family’s top 10 Instant Pot Recipes.

Overview

For basic information on an check out our guide to top 10 Instant Pot tips.

Top 10 Instant Pot Tips - Fun Diego Family

One of our favorite kitchen gadgets is the Instant Pot. This is basically a pressure cooker on steroids. These are our Top 10 Instant Pot Tips.

We primarily use the Instant Pot as a pressure cooker.  It also works as a sauté pot.  Most of our recipes can be done as one pot meals using just the Instant Pot.

Top 10 Instant Pot Recipes

1. Instant Pot Chili Colorado

Normally a stew like this would need to simmer for 3 to 4 hours.  In the Instant Pot that time is reduced to 35 minutes.

Cole Cooks: Instant Pot Chili Colorado Recipe

Chili Colorado is one of my favorite Mexican dishes.  Unfortunately, like many such dishes quality varies greatly when ordering it at restaurants.  So I have learned to develop my own recipe.  This is my version of Instant Pot Chili Colorado. Go To Recipe Chili Colorado has nothing to do with the U.S. state of Colorado.  […]

2. Instant Pot Refried Beans

Dried beans work great in the Instant Pot.  Normally beans need to soak for hours Cooking times will vary based on the type of bean, but rarely do beans need to cook more than 35 minutes.  You can find a general guide here.  Note that our refried bean recipe calls for finishing on the stove.  However, it could be done entirely in the Instant Pot using the sauté function.

Cole Cooks: Instant Pot Refried Beans Recipe

I love Mexican food but do not eat it that often.  I know it can be made healthy but the stuff I love the most tends to be pretty decadent.  A great example of this is refried beans.  These beans are commonly served as a side dish at Mexican restaurants and often they are nothing […]

3. Instant Pot Italian White Bean Soup

This is a two-step process where you cook the dried beans.  You then add the beans, sausage, kale and other vegetables to make a great soup/stew.  The whole process takes about an hour.

Cole Cooks: Instant Pot Italian White Bean Soup

The Instant Pot is a great tool for quickly cooking dried beans and making soup at the last minute. This is our Instant Pot Italian White Bean Soup recipe. This is an Instant Pot Italian Bean Soup that features sausage and kale. This is a low-cost nutritional soup that provides a full meal. Even with […]

4. Instant Pot Tamales

Cooking tamales in the Instant Pot uses the steam function.  However, this is basically cooking at high pressure for a short period of time.

Cole Cooks: Guide to Instant Pot Tamales - Fun Diego Family

Tamales can be labor intensive. However, with planning, you can make your own tamales without too much trouble. This is a guide to Instant Pot Tamales.

5. Instant Pot Mexican Meat Fillings: Chicken Tinga aka Shredded Chicken and Mexican Shredded Beef

Our Instant Pot has really helped us up our game on Mexican cooking.    Shredded chicken and shredded beef works great in all kinds of Mexican dishes, including our Instant Pot Tamales. These are more dishes that previously would have taken hours.

Cole Cooks: Instant Pot Chicken Tinga - Fun Diego Family

Chicken Tinga is a savory shredded chicken cooked in a smoky chipotle sauce. This is an Instant Pot Chicken Tinga that can be prepared in an hour.

Cole Cooks: Instant Pot Mexican Shredded Beef - Fun Diego Family

Mexican Shredded Beef is a staple filling for tacos and burritos. This is our recipe for Instant Pot Mexican Shredded Beef.

6. Instant Pot Carne Adovada

This stew was inspired by our trip through New Mexico.  Carne Adovada is a classic red chili sauce pork stew that works great in the Instant Pot.

Cole Cooks: Instant Pot Carne Adovada - Fun Diego Family

Carne Adovada is a pork stew that is a classic of New Mexican cuisine. Using the Instant Pot, this Carne Adovada recipe is easy to make.

7. Instant Pot Italian Pot Roast

The first time I made this recipe was when the family was in the mood for pot roast 2 hours before dinner.  Normally we would be out of luck but with the Instant Pot pressure cooker we are able to get a full roast from freezer to table in under 2 hours.

Cole Cooks: Instant Pot Italian Roast Recipe - Fun Diego Family

The Instant Pot can take a roast from the fridge to the dinner table in 2 hours. This is my recipe for Instant Pot Italian Roast.

8. Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon

A classic French recipe inspired by Julia Child comes out great in the Instant Pot.

Cole Cooks: Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon Recipe - Fun Diego Family

Beef Bourguignon is a classic French stew with beef in a red wine sauce. I have developed this recipe for Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon.

9. Instant Pot Pork Vindaloo

Continuing our theme of international cuisine is our take on Indian vindaloo.  As we discuss, this dish was brought to the Goa state of India by Portuguese traders.  We have a hard time finding the pork version on U.S. menus (most use chicken).

Cole Cooks: Instant Pot Pork Vindaloo Recipe - Fun Diego Family

An interesting dish at many Indian restaurants is vindaloo. I was surprised to find that vindaloo is originally a pork dish. I have developed my own Instant Pot Pork Vindaloo recipe.

10. Instant Pot Savory Sloppy Joes

Sloppy joes are really easy to make without an Instant Pot.  However, this is great example of where pressure cooking helps blend the spices and up the overall flavor of a basic dish.  In this case you will not save much time but the end result will be an improvement.

Cole Cooks: Savory Sloppy Joes - Fun Diego Family

Sloppy Joes are an American classic. While I love the original, Fun Diego Family tends to crave savory food. This is my recipe for Savory Sloppy Joes.

Which Instant Pot to Buy

There are quite a few variations on the Instant Pot.  Our recommendation is to keep it simple and buy the basic 6-quart version.  This is what we own and we do not use all the features.  More expensive versions have additional functions, but we like to keep it basic.  Our version was $100 but we can usually find it for about $70.

 

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