Buttery Instant Pot Corn on the Cob

The electric pressure cooker is my new favorite tool for quick summer dinners. It can cook tender ribs in less than an hour, make shredded beef for quick tacos, and, most surprisingly, cook up corn on the cob to tender, juicy perfection.

If you’ve ever shied away from steaming or boiling a big batch of corn because you were short on time or didn’t have the right equipment, this Instant Pot corn is for you.

One of the Instant Pot’s best features is its ability to pressure-steam. We’ve used this power to cook eggs and chicken to perfection. You’ve probably heard of mythic Midwesterners who put their corn water on to boil before they even pick the corn — in part because of the time it takes to boil a whole big kettle of water but also to lock in the corn’s sweetness. The Instant Pot pressure-steaming gives us the same, soft sweet corn we adore from boiling but in a fraction of the time.

Electric pressure cookers are considered one-pot wonders for their ability to quickly prepare big pieces of food, but their residual heat is often overlooked. Here, we are cooking the corn first, but then using the residual heat present in the insert to melt butter for the corn. It’s the simplest, tastiest tip for corn from the Instant Pot that you’re not using yet.

• Husk and halve the corn. Because of the shape and size of most electric pressure cookers, you can’t just stick the corn in it and put the lid on — it just won’t fit! Instead, husk and halve the ears before cooking.
• Steam the corn on a trivet. You could technically boil your corn in the Instant Pot, but it will take a lot longer to come to pressure and cook. Do this instead: Put a cup of water in the Instant Pot, put a trivet (the one that came with your IP is ideal) in the pot, and then stand the corn halves on top of the trivet. This ensures that each ear cooks evenly.
• Melt the butter after steaming. Move your steamed corn to a serving platter and then carefully discard the steaming water. Drop a stick of butter into the pot’s insert and watch the residual heat of the pot melt the butter without burning it.

Pour the melted butter directly over the steamed corn and watch the corn disappear alongside grilled burgers. Or, return the buttered corn to the insert and use the warm setting to keep the corn hot while you finish preparing dinner or wait for guests to arrive. For a more flavorful corn, you can make Instant Pot milk & honey corn on the cob.

There are other methods of cooking corn on the cob, but the Instant Pot is the fastest, easiest way you can cook corn for a crowd this summer and you’re going to love having this new technique up your sleeve!