16 Healthy Instant Pot Recipes You’ll Want to Cook on Repeat
Use the once-trendy, now-standard kitchen tool to make nourishing, crowd-pleasing meals with very little effort
Instant Pot Beef Stew; photograph by Olga Ivanova
I wasn’t exactly an early adopter of the Instant Pot. When I bought mine in 2016, I was more of a bandwagon-jumper. The electric pressure cooker was well on its way to becoming ubiquitous. It didn’t take long for the machine to become indispensable to me, as relied-upon as my refrigerator. In the seven-plus years I’ve owned my IP, I don’t think I’ve gone longer than a week without using it, not counting vacations. (I’ve been sorely tempted to lug it with me to Airbnbs.) And while its renowned speed factors into my affection, I love it most of all because it makes healthy cooking so effortless.
Whether you’re an old hand with the IP or a total newbie, these recipes will give you a delicious introduction to healthy pressure cooking.
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How healthy is Instant Pot cooking? >>
How to eat healthy using an Instant Pot >>
Healthy Instant Pot soup recipes >>
Healthy vegetarian Instant Pot recipes >>
Healthy chicken Instant Pot recipes >>
Healthy beef Instant Pot recipes >>
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How healthy is Instant Pot cooking?
The gadget really shines when it comes to healthy meals.
An Instant Pot cooks nutrient-rich whole grains and dried beans in a fraction of the time it takes on the stovetop. Prepare a big batch of brown rice, farro, Instant Pot steel-cut oats, or any other grain and refrigerate or freeze meal-sized portions. They’ll be ready whenever you need them.
Because the IP cooks foods quickly, with relatively little liquid, it may preserve more of the nutrients than, say, using a crockpot or slow cooker. More research is needed, but what’s been done is promising.
The way it cooks food helps keep calorie counts down, since you rarely need to add more than a splash of oil.
How to eat healthy using an Instant Pot
In addition to the countless easy Instant Pot dinner recipes out there (more on that below), I love to use my IP for healthy meal prep. On a weekend day, I’ll keep the IP humming with a dozen hard-boiled eggs followed by a whole grain or two, then some raw beets, and finish up with either a big batch of shredded chicken or a pound of dried beans. After an hour or two of mostly hands-off cooking, I’ve got a week’s worth of building blocks for grain bowls, snacks, fast weeknight meals, and more.
Healthy Instant Pot soup recipes
For me, healthy dinners often start with a bowl of soup — and sometimes, the soup is so hearty it becomes a one-pot meal.
Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
Loaded with beans, pasta, and nutrient-rich veggies, this classic Italian soup will warm up the chilliest day. The recipe makes good use of the IP’s sauté function — at the beginning, it softens onion and garlic in olive oil. At the end, it helps to cook the final-stage addition of zucchini, spinach, kidney beans, and white beans. A sprinkle of grated Parmesan in each bowl really boosts the umami.
Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
Whether someone’s sick and needs a little Jewish penicillin or your family just adores chicken noodle soup, you’re going to love making it in an electric pressure cooker. The IP’s sauté function softens onion, celery, and carrot, and then you add chopped chicken breast, seasoning, chicken broth, and egg noodles. Fifteen minutes later, your comfort food is ready.
Instant Pot Moroccan Lentil Soup
Lentil soups just beg to be made in an Instant Pot. This filling meal-in-a-bowl combines green lentils with loads of veggies, a bit of red wine, and warm Moroccan spices including coriander, cinnamon, cumin, and paprika. All you need is some crusty bread, and dinner’s ready.
Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
This creamy, soul-soothing soup is both gluten-free and vegan, and it couldn’t be simpler. Just put butternut squash, a carrot, a tart apple, and some seasoning into the IP with vegetable broth and let it cook for eight minutes. At the end, stir in coconut milk and puree with an immersion blender. Pro tip: Buy pre-peeled and chopped squash for an even easier evening.
Healthy vegetarian Instant Pot recipes
One quick way to improve your diet: Incorporate more vegetarian meals. The Instant Pot makes it easy, since it cooks whole grains and dried beans so much faster than the stovetop.
Instant Pot Quinoa with Sweet Corn and Tomatoes
Quinoa only takes one minute to cook in the IP, plus the same 10-minute resting time you’d use elsewhere. With this recipe, you’ll use that quarter-hour to prepare a chili-lime salad dressing and put grape tomatoes and frozen corn into a serving bowl. When the quinoa’s ready, you transfer it to that bowl (the heat helps thaw the corn) and toss with the dressing. The result is pretty spectacular, warm or cold.
Instant Pot Black Beans
Dried beans don’t require soaking when you cook them in the IP. No need to plan ahead! Here, black beans get a Mexican accent thanks to a canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, onion, and garlic. They’re a complete meal served on brown rice with chopped cilantro and a dab of plain Greek yogurt, or use them for bean dips, burritos, grain bowls, and the like.
Instant Pot Tikka Masala With Chickpeas & Sweet Potato (Vegan)
This is a healthier version of the dish you’ll find in many Indian restaurants, chicken tikka masala. Not only is it vegan, with chickpeas, sweet potatoes, and zucchini standing in for the chicken, cashew cream takes the place of the traditional heavy cream, tinting the tomatoey curry sauce the familiar rosy hue. Serve it atop brown rice with a sprinkle of chopped cilantro.
Instant Pot Mushroom Risotto
Risotto is one of my favorite things to make in the IP. It calls for almost no stirring! You’ll start with the sauté function, softening the veggies and toasting the rice, then add a little dry white wine. Once that’s cooked down, add vegetable broth and switch to the pressure cook function. After just six minutes, open the machine, add frozen peas and grated Parmesan, and serve.
Healthy chicken Instant Pot recipes
There are more than 12,000 chicken recipes for the Instant Pot on Yummly! But just because it’s got chicken in it, that doesn’t make a recipe healthy. Each of these options offers plenty of lean protein and tons of flavor.
Instant Pot Chicken Tacos
Forgot to thaw your chicken? No problem, when you’re using an Instant Pot. You can use meat straight from the freezer — it only adds a few minutes to the cook time. This recipe has just four ingredients: boneless, skinless chicken breasts, taco seasoning, chicken broth, and prepared salsa. When the chicken is cooked, shred with two forks and serve with the usual taco fixings, like tortillas, shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, and more salsa.
Instant Pot Chicken Adobo
Chicken adobo is Filipino comfort food, in which you braise chicken pieces in a combination of soy sauce, white vinegar, and a handful of other ingredients. With the Instant Pot’s tight seal, all that flavor gets concentrated, deep into boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Serve with rice to catch every drop of the salty-tangy-savory sauce.
Thai Red Curry Chicken - Instant Pot
Prepared red curry paste makes quick work of this spicy, veggie-heavy meal. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts mix with the paste and low-fat coconut milk and spend a few minutes under pressure. When that’s done, you add fish sauce, brown sugar, and a bunch of raw vegetables, then use the sauté function to cook until the veggies are tender-crisp.
Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma
Middle Eastern food is often quite nutritious — you get a lot of flavor from heart-healthy olive oil, lemon juice, and spices, and dishes generally feature lots of veggies. Here, the IP helps spices like cumin, turmeric, and paprika permeate boneless, skinless chicken thighs in just a few minutes. Served with pita bread, cucumber, tomato, and tahini, it’s ideal for lunch or dinner.
Healthy beef Instant Pot recipes
You don’t have to give up beef when you’re trying to improve your diet. Just choose lean cuts like flank steak or lean ground beef.
Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers
Stuffed peppers are one of my favorite things to cook in the IP. It’s just so easy! No need to brown meat or sauté onions. Once you’ve filled your cleaned-out peppers with ground beef (or turkey), cooked rice, chopped onion and tomato, and pantry-staple seasonings, put them on the trivet that comes with the machine — this keeps them from slumping into the cooking liquid. Five minutes under pressure, five minutes of rest, and you can either serve immediately or top with a little marinara and mozzarella and broil.
Instant Pot Italian Wedding Soup
With tender meatballs, plenty of vegetables, and spoon-sized pasta, this soup is practically a stew. It’s definitely a one-pot meal. The last-minute addition of white wine (just a bit), grated Parmesan cheese, and chopped spinach makes it even more satisfying.
Instant Pot Beef Stew
Beef stew is a hearty dish, for sure, but it doesn’t have to blow your day’s calorie count. This rich, savory version has just over 400 per serving — it makes a perfectly respectable dinner. Sweet carrots and parsnips and umami-rich sundried tomatoes and red wine make this a sophisticated but still homey meal.
Instant Pot Pepper Steak
This may not be an exact replica of what you’ll get in a Chinese takeout container, but it’s a heckuva lot quicker and it’s never greasy — the recipe uses just one tablespoon of oil for four servings. Pull some ready-made Instant Pot brown rice from the fridge or freezer to soak up the scrumptious sauce.
More Instant Pot wonders
You'll find plenty more ideas for Instant Pot meals in these next articles.