Cooking

My favorite recipes!

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Instant Pot Baked Potatoes – Just in time to free up the oven for Thanksgiving

This is such an easy way to make baked potatoes. I hardly ever heat up my oven to cook baked potatoes anymore. It’s especially nice in the summer when you don’t want to heat up the kitchen. And around the holidays when 5 other dishes need to be in the oven at the same time, it’s a lifesaver. Pull out your IP and free up your oven this week for that Thanksgiving Turkey. 🦃 But, it’s truly a time and energy saver as it cooks 3 times faster than the oven.

Instant Pot Baked Potato Recipe:

I feel like I can hardly even call this a recipe. Just wash your potatoes, set them on top of a metal trivet in the liner of your Instant Pot Add 2 cups of water to the liner (this is the minimum water needed for an 8 quart Instant Pot). Seal the vent and cook on High Pressure using the following times based on the size of your potatoes:

Potato Cook Times based on Size:

X-Large Potatoes: 15 minutes

Large Potatoes: 12 minutes

Medium Potatoes: 10 minutes

Small Potatoes: 8 minutes

Tiny Potatoes: 6 minutes

It takes about 10 minutes for the water to heat up so that the pot will come to pressure.

10 minutes + cook time = much faster than the oven!

When the cooking time is complete, depressurize immediately or let the pressure reduce naturally. It doesn’t really matter either way for this recipe.

Holiday and Sunday afternoon time saver:

This is really a great way to cook baked potatoes for a holiday meals when your oven may be otherwise occupied with other dishes. Or set this up in advance as early as the night before using the Delay Start feature on the IP and you’ll have hot baked potatoes ready for lunch when you come home from church on Sunday morning! 😊

Pro Tip: Try to use potatoes that are the same size to promote even cooking. If you use a mix of tiny potatoes and really big ones, the little ones may turn to mush, or the big ones will not be cooked all the way through.

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Instant Pot Breakfast Millet Porridge

The WSJ had an article on millet in this weekend’s paper bemoaning how this ancient grain has no taste. I must beg to differ with them. I’ve been eating a lot of millet lately as my breakfast options are limited, and on its own it has a pleasant nutty flavor and dressed up with some butter, honey, and fruit it’s quite a tasty, hearty grain that fills me up and doesn’t spike my blood sugar. So pull out your Instant Pot for this hot, quick, and easy breakfast.

Instant Pot Breakfast Porridge Recipe:

1 cup whole grain millet

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups water

Seal your lid and set your Instant Pot to high pressure for 15 minutes. Quick pressure release when done and you now have a hearty, hot breakfast.

Spoon your hot millet porridge into a bowl, add a pat of butter, drizzle some honey or molasses, and top with fruit or nuts of your choice. I like to add a little bit of heavy cream and blueberries to mine. My kids like theirs with peanut butter and chocolate chips. 😂 Add what tastes good to you.

Make ahead…

This recipe can be set up in advance or even the night before in the IP using the delay start feature. I like to set mine when I first get up and then breakfast is ready by the time I’m dressed.

If you liked this recipe, check out some of my other Instant Pot recipes:

• Pumpkin Quinoa Porridge

• Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Quinoa

• Chocolate Raspberry Breakfast Quinoa

• Instant Pot Rice Pudding

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5 Ingredient, Creamy Instant Pot Rice Pudding – Sugar Free!

Use your Instant Pot to make a delicious, creamy, rice pudding. It only calls for 5 main ingredients – rice, vanilla, honey, heavy cream, and a pat of butter. (And salt and water, but those are so basic I’m not really counting them in the ingredient list. 😉)

This recipe couldn’t be easier and, better yet, this recipe doesn’t call for sugar, but uses honey instead. This recipe works in any size Instant Pot. It can be doubled if desired for use in 6 or 8 quart pots.

Instant Pot Creamy Rice Pudding Recipe:

2 tbsp butter

1.5 cups white rice (any type)

3 cups of water

Select the sauté button and let your IP liner get hot. Add the butter. When melted sauté the rice for 2 minutes or so until the kernels are coated with the butter. Add the water. Close the lid and seal the vent. Cook on High Pressure for 3 minutes. Depressurize immediate but let it sit for 10 minutes before removing the lid.

Open the lid and add…

1/2 cup honey

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup heavy cream

Stir until it is all combined, thick and creamy. Add more honey if you desire a sweeter pudding. Sprinkle with cinnamon when you serve. Serve warm, or once cooled store in the fridge for a quick, delicious snack or dessert.

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Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes or Potato Soup

I use my Instant Pot all the time to make mashed potatoes. It’s so much easier and faster than waiting for a full pot of water to boil. This recipe works for mashed potatoes or potato soup. Simply adjust the amount of milk you add.

Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes or Potato Soup Recipe:

I have an 8 quart Instant Pot, but you can make either of these recipes using a smaller size Instant Pot. Simply reduce the amount of potatoes that you use so that they don’t go above the max fill line on your IP liner.

8 Quart Instant Pot Recipe:

5-8 pounds of peeled potatoes

2 cups of water.

Place a wire trivet or mesh steamer basket inside your Instant Pot. Put all your peeled potatoes on top of the trivet or inside the basket. Add 2 cups of water. Seal the vent, set to High Pressure for 12 minutes for large potatoes, 10 minutes for medium potatoes, and 8 minutes for small potatoes. The warm setting should be off. The potatoes should be fork tender when done.

Drain the water from the Instant pot and remove the trivet or wire basket. Add your desired amounts of salt, pepper, butter, and milk and mash directly in the liner.

You just made mashed potatoes!

Instant Pot Potato Soup Recipe:

Follow the steps above but simply leave the water in the IP and add more milk or cream when you mash until your desired soupy texture is reached.

Allergy-friendly tip for those who need to add cooked milk:

If you have a milk sensitivity or allergy like my son, and you need to add cooked milk to your mashed potatoes so that they can eat it, then let me tell you about an Instant Pot tip that will make your lives so much easier. For years I’ve scaled milk on the stove to add to mashed potatoes. It’s such an inconvenient step, it takes so long, and I usually end up scrubbing burned milk off the bottom of my pan. Well, let the Instant Pot change your life on this one. Use the recipe above until the potatoes are cooked and you drain the 2 cups of water from the liner. At this point you can leave the potatoes on the trivet, and simply pour 2-4 cups of milk (I use about 4 for 8 pounds of potatoes) into your liner, put on the lid, and select the Yogurt setting. It will heat your milk to the pasteurization temperature of 160 degrees. Once your IP reads “Yogurt” your milk is heated, you can remove the trivet, and mash as normal. 😊

Mashed Potato or Potato Soup Fixings:

Dress up your mashed potatoes or potato soup with bacon, cheese, chives, or cilantro.

Or use the Pesto recipe I shared last week to make a delicious Pesto potato soup. 😋

Add some delicious homemade cheese to your soup!

Join Carolyn Thomas with Homesteading Family for a free Dairy Webinar. No cow needed. All recipes can be made with store bought milk.

Note: This post contains affiliate links.

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Rosemary Lemon Chicken – Make Ahead Freezer Meals

We moved to a new to us house this summer and I’ve been thankful for some ready made crock-pot freezer meals that I’ve had prepared. We ran through most of them a few weeks ago when COVID made its way through our house. So it’s time to restock.

I came up with this recipe for Sunday dinner and the family loved it. The nice thing is that it’s flexible. It can be thawed and grilled, or you can simply throw the whole batch into the crock pot and cook it in low all day. It’s delicious served with brown rice or mashed potatoes.

Rosemary Lemon Chicken Recipe:

5-8 Chicken Thighs (boneless or bone-in) depending size of thighs and size of your family

Small sprig of fresh Rosemary or 1/4 tsp dried rosemary

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp onion flakes or 2 rounds sliced onion

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 tbsp blackstrap molasses

Combine all the ingredients in a gallon freezer bag. Freeze for up to 6 months.

On cooking day, either put the contents of the bag in 4 quart crock pot and cook 6-8 hours on low.

Of if you prefer to grill, thaw the bag in the fridge overnight before grilling.

This recipe is most cost effective if you buy family packs of chicken thighs and make up 3-4 bags at a time. Then you’ve got several dinners ready to go when you need them.

Enjoy!

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Make ahead Pumpkin Spice Quinoa Porridge – an easy and allergy friendly breakfast!

I have made this in a couple of years, but it’s been one of those weeks and I need something easy for breakfast in the morning. Try this easy make ahead breakfast. You can set it up the night before and it’s ready and hot when you wake up. Get the recipe here!

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Vegetarian (or not) Instant Pot Black Eyed Pea Soup

This is a hearty, savory soup good for an easy weeknight dinner.

Start by sorting 1 pound of black eyed peas. Add to the Instant Pot liner.

Chop the following and add to the IP:

4 carrots

1 cup onion

1/2 cup celery

4 cloves garlic

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Add 8 cups of water. Lock the lid on the pot, seal the pressure valve, set to high pressure, 38 minutes, warm setting off. Quick release when finished.

When finished cooking, add 4 cups chopped kale, chard, or spinach.

If you would like to add meat, add cooked chicken, sausage, Turkey.

Serve with my Sourdough Cornbread, and garnish with fresh cilantro and dehydrated Jalepenos.

Enjoy!

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Vegetarian (or not) Instant Pot Ramen

Similar to my IP Lo Mein of recipe, this is a vegetarian recipe but can easily be served with leftover meat if desired.

This can also easily be a one pot meal if you sauté the veggies in the IP liner before and remove them before cooking the noodles. If you are short on time though, set the noodles to cook in the broth and sauté the veggies on the stovetop to mix in once the noodles are done.

Vegetarian Instant Pot Ramen:

If you want a one pot meal, start by sautéing the vegetables of your choice. Today I used the ones listed below. This is a great recipe to use up little bits of a variety of vegetables that need to be eaten.

1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped

1/2 cup chard or celery stems, chopped

1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped

1 cup diced mushrooms

3 cloves of garlic, diced

4 cups chopped kale or chard

Sauté veggies in the liner of the IP and remove before adding noodles. Or sauté in a separate pan on the stovetop.

After the veggies have been removed if you sautés them in the IP liner, add….

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 cup soy sauce or Bragg’s Aminos

8 cups of chicken or beef broth, or 8 homemade bullion cubes and 8 cups of water (the liquid should come a little less than halfway up the sides of the pot)

1 – 1 1/2 pounds thin spaghetti (I used regular spaghetti noodles the day I made this and took the pictures as I didn’t have think spaghetti on hand.)

Break the noodles in half alternating directions. The noodles don’t have to all be completely covered by the liquid but they should all be moistened. Do not stir or compress the uncooked noodles.

Lock the lid on the pot and seal the pressure valve. Cook on High Pressure, Warm setting OFF, for 3 minutes. Quick Release.

Immediately stir the noodles and add in the cooked veggies. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes to allow the past to absorb some more of the liquid.

Add meat if desired. We like to serve this with chicken strips on the side.

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Homemade Dehydrated Refried Beans

May seem counterintuitive to go to the trouble to go to the trouble of making refried beans only to dehydrate them, but this makes a great, shelf-stable convenience food, or is excellent lightweight, easy to carry, protein packed food for a backpacking or camping trip.

I used to buy the Santa Fe dehydrated refried beans for many years. I would use them when I needed a quick lunch. But prices went up and we couldn’t afford them any more. So, I had to figure out how to make my own.

If you’re going to make these, you might as well make a lot. You can presoak and cook the beans on the stovetop, but cooking dried beans in my Instant Pot is one of my favorite uses for that appliance.

Cooking Dried Beans in the Instant Pot:

Sort 2 pounds of dried pinto beans.

Add the beans to the IP along with 2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, and 8 cups of water.

Lock the lid and set the valve to the sealed position.

Set the Instant Pot for Pressure Cook, High Pressure, 48 minutes, Warm setting OFF.

Quick release the pressure and stir the beans.

Mash the beans using your potato masher until they are the desired texture.

Drying in the Dehydrator:

Spread them evenly on dehydrator trays as thin as possible, about 1/4” thick.

Dehydrate at 145 degrees for 12-24 hours until they are completely dry and will crumble to a powder.

Drying in the Oven:

Alternatively you could spread these on parchment paper and dry on cookie sheets in your oven on the lowest heat setting. Aim for no warmer than 150-170 degrees. You want them completely dry with no moisture left. They should crumble to a powder

Storage:

You can store in portion sizes appropriate to your family size in plastic zip-lock bags or in glass jars. 1 cup = about 2 servings.

To rehydrate:

To rehydrate the beans for a meal, add 1 cup of dehydrated beans to 2 cups of boiling water. Simmer about 5 minutes until all the water is absorbed. Estimate about a 1/2 cup dried beans per serving per person.

Do not use a bag or jar of beans if you open them and they have a strong musty smell. If this happens it is likely that all the moisture was not dehydrated out of them and that they have spoiled.

Want to make more shelf stable pantry staples?

Consider Homesteading Family’s Homestead Kitchen Membership. In addition to pantry staples like homemade condiments, soup, and baking mixes, you’ll learn what you can dehydrate and freeze dry! Check it out!

Note: This page contains affiliate links.

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Instant Pot Tortilla Soup

This can be a one pot meal if you want it to be. If you’re short on time, get this beans cooking and brown the ground beef in a skillet.

Tortilla Soup

In the Instant Pot (or skillet), cook 1 lb of hamburger until browned.

To the meat add…

1 tsp salt

5 shakes of black pepper

1 tbls chili powder

1 tbls + 1 tsp granulated garlic

1 tbls cumin

1 tsp onion powder

Stir to combine the spices a little water to help them dissolve if needed.

If cooked in the IP, remove the meat and set aside.

Add 1 lb of sorter, dried pinto beans to the Instant Pot.

Cook in IP with ½ tsp salt, 10 bullion cubes, 10 cups of water, high pressure, 48 minutes. Quick release. (If you don’t have homemade bullion cubes, just use 10 cups of chicken broth, either store bought or homemade.

Add the following…

1 cup frozen corn

Chopped celery or chard stems

Chopped kale

Reserved hamburger meat

Turn Saute setting on for 10 minutes to heat the final ingredients. 

Serve with tortilla chips. Or add cut up flour tortillas with when you add the chopped and frozen vegetables. The flour tortillas balloon up almost like dumplings.

Variations:

Use pre-cooked chicken instead of the hamburger. Use black beans (cook on HP, 35 minutes, QR) instead of pinto.

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Instant Pot Spaghetti

This is one of our go-to weeknight dinners. It’s a super easy, one-pot meal. Pay attention to the tips for keeping the burn setting from kicking in.

This recipe is written for an 8 quart Instant Pot. It makes enough for a dinner for a family of six with leftovers. If you have a smaller Instant Pot, or just don’t want that much food, cut the recipe in half.

Saute 2 pounds of ground beef on the Saute setting until browned.

Add 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper.

Add chopped onions and garlic if desired.

Once the beef is browned, gather 3 – 24 oz. jars of your favorite pasta sauce. Add one jar and stir to mix with the ground beef. Add the 2 remaining jars but do NOT stir.

Next add 2 pounds of spaghetti to the Instant Pot. Take the spaghetti from the box in small handfuls, breaking the pasta in half lengthwise and alternating directions as you lay them in. For example, lay one handful in one direction, and lay the next handful in the other direction so that they are crossing alternating perpendicular to each other. DO NOT STIR the spaghetti into the pasta sauce. You want the spaghetti to be on top, and the sauce on the bottom so that the pasta does not stick and activate the Burn setting.

At this point you could also add in chopped vegetables, like carrots or bell peppers, on top of the noodles if you wanted more of a Ragu sauce.

Next fill your 3 spaghetti sauce jars with water, and shake to loosen all the extra sauce on the sides, and pour the 3 jars of water over the pasta. The pasta does not have to be submerged in the liquid, but it is a good idea to try to moisten all of it as you pour the water over it. Once again DO NOT STIR.

Lock the lid on the pot, seal the valve, and set for High Pressure for 2 minutes. Quick release, and stir to mix.

Enjoy your one pot meal!

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Instant Pot Black-Eyed Pea Gumbo

Easy and protein packed dinner. Hearty comfort food.

Black-Eyed Pea Gumbo:

To start sort 1 lb of dried black-eyed peas.

Add the black-eyed peas to the Instant Pot along with….

1 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp pepper

10 cups of water

8 homemade chicken bullion cubes. (If you don’t have the homemade bullion cubes, add 8-10 cups of chicken broth.)

Cook on high pressure for 25 minutes.

While the peas cook chop the following…

1 cup onion

3/4 cup celery

1 cup green bell pepper

5 carrots

4-5 red chard stems (optional)

Quick release the black-eyed peas, and add in all the chopped veggies. The liquid should be at the same level as the vegetables. Add 1-2 cups more water if needed.

Cook on high pressure for 2 minutes. Quick release.

Stir in chopped chicken, or some other leftover meat. I used leftover turkey here. Or leave the meat out if you want a vegetarian meal.

Enjoy!