Two Christmases ago, I gave my mom and sister each an Instant Pot, and only recently have they started warming to the idea. I truly don’t know what took so long, but I’m blaming the intimidation factor of a new gadget and resistance to abandoning that ancient unitasker called a Crock-Pot.
The important thing is that they’re both ready to embrace the Instant Pot life, meaning I finally get my chance to wow them with the most versatile, efficient, and beloved piece of cooking equipment I’ve got. To nudge them along, I promised to compile my most-used IP recipes, which I’ve done below. I start with some basic provisions I make all the time and move on to some more involved meals that are now in our dinner rotation.
Bon appétit!
The Basics
Steel Cut Oats (Well Plated) // my biggest morning time-saver of all
Rice and Grains (Instant Pot) // worth having an IP for 1-minute quinoa
Sweet Potatoes (the Kitchn) // just try to use evenly sized potatoes
Hard Boiled Eggs (a MindFull Mom) // all about the 5/5/5 method
Chicken or Vegetable Stock (Bon Appétit) // any scraps will do!
Beans, Legumes, and Lentils (Instant Pot) // great for hummus, lentil dal, bean soup, and more
Some Repeat Recipes
Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai 
French Onion Soup
Butter Chicken (Half Baked Harvest) // This is similar but not identical to the cookbook version that I use. You can use the Slow Cooker setting on your IP per the instructions, or hit the Poultry button and accelerate the cooking time from 4 hours to about a half hour.
Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai (Defined Dish) // Quick caveat: the spaghetti squash is only thing you’ll use the IP for, but it’s worth including for the 7 minutes it takes–and since this is one of my current favorite recipes. (Shout-out to my book club girls who made it with me!) This is how to cook the squash.
Silky Ginger Sweet Potato Soup (How Sweet Eats) // I throw all of the ingredients besides the green onions and hemp hearts into the IP and cook on the Soup setting. If you have a little extra time, it’s worth sautéing the onion, garlic, and ginger first.
French Onion Soup (Half Baked Harvest) // Do it for the broiled Gruyere toast! I use twice as many onions as called for and add a little broth in the first step.
Chicken Tikka Masala (Defined Dish) // Don’t be intimidated by the number of ingredients, most of which are spices. IP instructions are at the bottom. (Props to Rach for trying this one before I did!)
Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup (Half Baked Harvest) // The original recipe appears only in the HBH Super Simple Cookbook, but the link has a slightly adapted version. I find the plump little gnocchi pillows to be an improvement on egg noodles in this otherwise pretty classic chicken soup.
