The First 12 Recipes to Make in Your Instant Pot

So you just got an Instant Pot. Congrats! It’s going to be a game changer for weeknight dinners and your meal prep routine — not to mention dessert!

I’ve had my Instant Pot for nearly five years, but I lean on it so regularly that it feels like I’ve been using it forever. I remember, however, how confusing it can seem at first. Whether you’re just getting started or you’ve been using it for a couple months, bookmark this handy FAQ. It will help answer practically any question you have, from “what’s this button do?” to “who invented this thing?” and more.

When it comes to breaking your Instant Pot in, it’s a good idea to start with some basic foods and simple meals you’re already familiar with, then slowly expand your Instant Pot repertoire from there. Try making staples like eggs, sweet potatoes, rice, or lentils using just the pressure cooker function. Then move on to a recipe that uses both the sauté and pressure cooker functions, like Kalua pork, or spaghetti with meat sauce (hands down my favorite Instant Pot recipe). Once you’re familiar with how it works, then you can start really branching out and see what that thing can do.

Ready to get cooking? Here are the 12 recipes to make when you’re just getting started with an Instant Pot.

Unless you’re cooking up a big batch of hard- or soft-cooked eggs, this method isn’t necessarily any faster than the stovetop, but it makes for the most irresistibly creamy eggs you’ve ever tasted. Our go-to technique, called the 5-5-5 method, is easy to memorize and yields foolproof eggs every time.

Get the recipe: How To Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs In the Instant Pot

While there are a number of methods to cook up a great pot of rice, few offer rice that’s ready almost as soon as we want it. An Instant Pot cooker is the key to perfect rice in a rush.

Get the recipe: How To Cook Rice in the Instant Pot

Sweet potatoes cook up in the Instant Pot with irresistibly tender, creamy centers, and pressure cooking them takes half as much time as baking them in the oven.

Get the recipe: How to Make the Best Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes

Once you cook dried beans using the pressure cooker function on your Instant Pot, you’ll never make them on the stovetop again. A “rapid soak” of just one minute at high pressure eliminates the overnight soak, and an average cook time of 10 minutes means that you can have a fresh pot of most kinds of beans in less than an hour.

Get the recipe: How To Cook Beans in an Electric Pressure Cooker

Cooking up a batch of lentils in my Instant Pot has become a regular part of my Sunday meal prep. They’re ready in a flash, and I can use them throughout the week for salads, tacos, and grain bowls.

Get the recipe: How To Cook Lentils in the Electric Pressure Cooker

When the Instant Pot is involved, a bowl of creamy steel-cut oats instantly becomes a weekday breakfast possibility. Get it started before going about your morning routine, and within 15 minutes breakfast is ready. Take a minute to lightly grease the pot before cooking — it will prevent excess foam and make for easier cleanup.

Get the recipe: How To Make Steel-Cut Oatmeal in the Pressure Cooker

I’m here to tell you that spaghetti with meat sauce in the Instant Pot is nothing short of life-changing. Yes, stovetop spaghetti is easy. But Instant Pot spaghetti is so silken, and the sauce is so baked into the noodles, that it’s hands-down the tastiest version you will ever have.

Get the recipe: How To Make Instant Pot Spaghetti

If you have an Instant Pot, using it to make chicken stock is a no-brainer. The high pressure helps get all the delicious collagen out of the bones, and after only two hours, you’re rewarded with a rich, flavorful broth that tastes like it simmered all day.

Get the recipe: How To Make Chicken Stock in an Electric Pressure Cooker

Remember the recipe for these tender, creamy potatoes the next time you realize you forgot the side dish, and you’ve only got about fifteen minutes. These satisfying spuds come together fast with very little effort.

Get the recipe: How To Cook Potatoes in the Electric Pressure Cooker

I first made this ultra-tender pork shoulder recipe when I did a round of Whole30, and I’ve been making it regularly ever since. You can eat the shredded meat as is, turn it into fried rice, or add it to other recipes. I like to make everything from tacos, salads, and grain bowls, to soups, sauces, and more.

Get the recipe: Pressure-Cooker Hawaiian Kalua Pig

This is a recipe to keep in your back pocket for busy nights, when you don’t really feel like cooking or forgot to plan. It turns out a totally comforting and wholesome dinner, filled with chicken, rice, beans, corn, and salsa.

Get the recipe: Instant Pot Weeknight Chicken and Rice Burrito Bowls

This Instant Pot version makes hummus that’s just the right balance of creamy, garlicky, and smoky, and requires very little hands-on work (no peeling off the chickpea skins!) and yet it still turns out ethereally smooth.

Get the recipe: How To Make the Best Instant Pot Hummus