Honest Instant Pot Review: 9 Tips for Perfect Results

It’s not often that I rave about a product outside of slow cooking. But in this Instant Pot Review, you’ll see why I’m raving about my Instant Pot.

Over the past couple of years, several readers have told me, “You gotta try the Instant Pot!” or “We need Instant Pot recipes!” I just didn’t get what all the fuss was about. But now I do.

Seriously, I don’t do this often, but if you’ve got the money in your budget this month, you should go pick one up now.

Here are 10 reasons why I love the Instant Pot – and why it has mostly replaced the venerable slow cooker in my house.

Key Takeaways

Here are my main points after reviewing and testing several instant pots:

1. Cooking Meat: For best results, you may need to add more cooking time- think about the thickness of the meat!
2. Cooking Pasta: Utilize the sauté feature to quickly boil pasta after the cook cycle.
3. Thickening Sauces: Use cornstarch mixed with cold water or make a roux with the sauté feature.
4. Rice Cooking: The Instant Pot cooks rice significantly faster compared to traditional methods.
5. Depressurizing: Allow the Instant Pot to naturally depressurize to avoid tough meat.
6. Need for Liquid: Always add at least 1/2 cup of water to generate the necessary steam.
7. Cooking with Steam: The high-pressure steam in the Instant Pot is unlike traditional steaming; it effectively breaks down meat fibers.
8. Layering Ingredients: Place pasta on top and meat on the bottom to prevent burning and ensure even cooking.
9. Dairy Products: Milk may curdle under high heat and pressure; consider alternatives or add dairy at the end of the cooking process.

Now, many of my recipes are originally slow cooker recipes– but I made a whole article about converting slow cooker recipes into Instant Pot recipes, so feel free to check it out!

Instant Pot Review: 9 Things you Must know about the Instant Pot

What is old is new again. That’s my take on the resurgence of pressure cookers.

My parents always had one growing up. But it was on the stovetop – it was loud, and it only did one thing – pressure cook food. It also wasn’t the safest of kitchen appliances.

The Instant Pot is a new electric pressure cooker, and it’s fantastic. While conducting my review, I tried a variety of recipes and cooking methods with instant pot models.

I love to slow cook, and some recipes are similar. I can set it and forget it, and others mix in cooking/sitting in the pot and pressure cooking to speed up the cooking process. 

I really liked it and picked up some tips and tricks to make flavorful meals!

If you’re considering buying one, or if you’ve bought one already, here’s what you must know:

1. Cook meat longer than it tells you to

I learned this the hard way. The first thing I tried to make with my Instant Pot was beef short ribs.

I seasoned them, browned each side, added my other ingredients (including about a cup of red wine), and hit the beef button.

What I ended up with were the toughest beef short ribs I’d ever had. It was as if I had boiled them for 15 minutes.

Not good. The “beef” button cooked them for only 35 minutes, but they really needed to be cooked for at least twice as long.

2. Use the Saute feature A LOT

The Saute feature of the Instant Pot might just be my second favorite feature (the pressure cooking being the obvious favorite).

I don’t just use the cooking pot to saute vegetables and brown meat for recipes- it can do lots more!

Here are the 4 things I use the saute feature for:

Saute vegetables prior to cooking the dish to soften them up and get a more complex flavor.

Brown or sear meat prior to cooking (not completely necessary, but I do it sometimes). However – if you really want to sear meat well before putting it in the instant pot, nothing beats a good cast iron pan.

Cooking pasta – If you’re making a soup that needs pasta, the saute feature is amazing. After the cook cycle is complete and depressurized, open the Instant Pot and turn it to saute. It will boil within just a couple of minutes.

Add your pasta and cook until it’s done. This works great with chicken noodle soup 🙂

To thick sauces – after the cook cycle is complete and you need to thicken your sauce, mix your cornstarch with a bit of cold water.

Then add it to the sauce in the pot and turn it to saute. This will thicken it up in minutes.

To make a roux – the best way to thicken sauces for those savory meals is with a roux. Using the slow cooker, this step needs to be done at the end.

But using the saute feature of the instant pot, you can do it at the beginning! 

3. It’s a fantastic rice cooker!

Not only does it cook rice, but it also does it WAY faster. The Instant pot’s stainless steel inner pot gets it to temp quickly, keeps it warm, and cleans so easily without any burned rice at the bottom.

I even tried some organic basmati brown rice which usually takes about 40 minutes if I was cooking it on the stove or in a normal rice cooker.

In the Instant Pot, it took about 6 minutes – and it was PERFECT.

4. Let it depressurize by itself

When I made those beef short ribs that turned out like leather, one of the other mistakes I made was that I manually vented it immediately.

Maybe I was hungry, but I was in a hurry to see how the ribs turned out – so I made the rookie mistake of turning the vent to the left (quick release or “QR”) as soon as the cook cycle was done.

A whole bunch of steam roared out for a couple of minutes.

I don’t exactly know the science behind it, but the rapid change in temperature and pressure makes the meat VERY tough. It’s fine for veggies but not for meat.

What I should have done – was leave it alone for 10 minutes. This cools it down just a bit and allows some of the steam to naturally turn back into liquid slowly.

Then vent it by pressing down on the knob (not turning it). This is called the Natural Pressure Release (NPR).

5. You need liquid

Even if you’re just using electric pressure cookers to tenderize meat, a pressure cooker needs steam. And to get this steam, you need water – at least 1/2 cup.

6. This is not the same as steaming your food

Yes, the Instant Pot uses steam to cook your food. But this isn’t like steaming vegetables… it’s much different. Have you ever steamed a piece of beef?

If you have, you’d know it’s absolutely horrible for cooking meat. It’s dry, tough, stringy—the worst.

But with the Instant Pot (or any pressure cooker), the steam is under extreme pressure, forcing its way into the meat’s fibers and breaking them down very quickly.

It’s the same process that happens in a slow cooker, but it happens much faster in a pressure cooker.

7. Put the pasta on top

It’s crazy that you can cook entire dishes – pasta, meat, sauce, everything in one pot. But it’s true! For example, lemme tell you what I did with these Swedish Meatballs.

After preparing the meatballs in a mixing bowl, I made a roux in the Instant Pot using the Saute setting, whisked in the water to let it thicken, added the meatballs, and then the pasta on top.

You do not need to submerge the pasta in the liquid. The high-pressure steam will force its way into the pasta and cook it.

However, by placing it on top, you ensure that the pasta does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

After it cooks, just mix in the milk and sour cream. I guess you could add the dairy at the beginning… but see number 9.

8. Put meat on the bottom

It’s not just pasta that should be on top – order matters with the instant pot. In general, it works out best if you put meat on the bottom.

Here’s why – anything that has sugars in it can burn if cooked too long. For example, if you are cooking a chuck roast that will require an hour of cooking, any ingredients with sugar might caramelize on the bottom.

And tomato-based sauces can definitely burn on the bottom too.

If you’re cooking chicken and only need it to cook for 30 minutes, then you probably won’t run into that problem.

9. Milk isn’t so great in the Instant Pot

Just as dairy isn’t great in the slow cooker, it’s not great in the Instant Pot, either.

The high heat (higher than boiling) and pressure separate the milk proteins (curdling) to an extreme degree. While it certainly is perfectly safe to eat (just because milk curdles doesn’t mean it spoiled), it might be unappetizing.

Personally, I’ll eat most things. But curdled milk, I’ll pass. No need to ruin my one-pot meals with that!

However, I did just make Spinach and Artichoke Chicken in the Instant Pot (which has cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, and butter) and was pleasantly surprised.

There was no curdling at all. Maybe it’s not necessarily milk that’s the issue, but milk specifically.

3 AWESOME Instant Pot Recipes

Here are 5 recipes that I created using slow cooker instructions, but added Instant Pot instructions, too 🙂

• Instant Pot Bolognese Sauce
• Flavorful Asian Pot Roast In The Instant Pot
• Easy Slow Cooker Philly Cheesesteak Recipe (+ Instant Pot!)

Most recipes that work in the slow cooker will work in the Instant Pot, too, and I linked it above, but I’ll link it here- here’s how to convert slow cooker recipes into Instant Pot recipes.

Final Thoughts

One thing is clear: the Instant Pot could change how people get dinner on the table, and this is coming from someone who loves her slow cooker.

Its versatility and efficiency make it an invaluable tool in any kitchen, whether you’re preparing a quick weeknight dinner or trying out a gourmet recipe.

The tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way—like searing meat in a cast iron pan before pressure cooking or layering pasta on top to prevent sticking—have increased my appreciation for the Instant Pot.

By taking advantage of features such as the sauté function and natural pressure release, I’ve been able to elevate my dishes and save time.

If you’re still on the fence about getting an Instant Pot, I highly recommend giving it a try—you might find it becomes your go-to kitchen appliance, just as it has for me and many of my readers.