A Mom's Impression | Recipes, Crafts, Entertainment and Family Travel

Profesional Indianapolis Mom Blogger talking about parening, food, entertainment, and activities to do with your kids.

  • Home
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • Breakfast
    • Main Dishes
    • Soup
    • Side Dishes
    • Desserts
    • Instant Pot Recipes
    • Kid Friendly
    • Meal Prep
  • Activities
    • Crafts
    • Home Decor and Home Improvement
  • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Disney
  • Parenting
    • Kids
    • Baby
    • Education
  • About Me
    • Meet The Mom
    • Contact Me
    • Private Policy and Disclosures
    • Brands I Have Worked With
    • My Bucket List
  • Join

Home » How to Convert Recipes to Your Instant Pot


How to Convert Recipes to Your Instant Pot

By Mom Note: This Post May Contain Affiliate Links Which Means We Earn a Small Commision.

You can take your favorite recipes and convert them into Instant Pot-friendly recipes. Now that the Instant Pot has completely taken the world by storm, we all have that burning question. How do you convert recipes to Instant Pot? Well, I am here to make your world a little brighter, and share how you can do so, very easily!

How to Convert Recipes to Your Instant Pot

Grab your grandma’s favorite recipe and convert it, and enjoy each and every bite of her famous dish.

Instant Pot banana bread

I will go over recipes that may not be a good fit, how to find the conversions for cook times, what to do when you have ingredients with different cook times and more. Some recipes you might have a little trial and error and other times you might find success with the first try. Once you find what works I recommend writing it out on a recipe card and saving it for future use.

If you are new to pressure cooking, I recommend reading our Pressure cooking guide. This handy guide gives you some great insight on how to use your Instant Pot and some easy tricks and tips.

instant pot mashed potatoesLearning to Convert Recipes to Instant Pot 

 

Is It A Good Recipe to Convert 

Some recipes won’t be the best fit for converting. You have to ask yourself is it a good fit for your pressure cooker. You have to have liquid to allow your IP to reach the pressure it needs to cook the meal. Recipes that have a fried coating can be tough, they might now brown and have that crisp texture like you are wanting. If you use a recipe that has milk, cream, etc, those have to be put in at the end, or they can curdle or separate when being cooked. Meats, soups, pasta, rooty vegetables, and more are all great options.

Instant Pot Irish Colcannon Soup

Foods That Aren’t Good for Your Instant Pot 

Thickeners| Cornstarch, flour, etc to help thicken your food is not good. Add the slurry after you are done cooking your food. It will not thicken your food properly otherwise.

Dairy| Rule of thumb is to add your dairy after pressure cooking. This includes milk, cheese, etc. Check out our most popular Crack Chicken recipe for an example of how to do this.

Flouring Meats| Say you want to bread something with flour, it will create a layer on the bottom of pressure cooker and it won’t allow the cooker to reach the correct pressure it needs.

Cook Time Conversion 

Hip Pressure Cooking has a tremendous article of in-depth food items and the cook time on pressure cooker compared to other forms of cooking. One Good Thing By Jillie has a really nice printable you can print off and hang in your kitchen for easy reference. Here is a high altitude adjustment chart. I have found this to be the easiest way to really convert my recipes. Meat and poultry, vegetables, random side dishes, and more. It is a wonderful list. I printed these off and put in a little three-ring binder to have on hand to look at. You could also print and tape inside one of your kitchen cupboards.

Instant Pot Butter Chicken

What If Ingredients Have Different Cook Times

My rule of thumb for this is if you are cooking meat that takes 30 minutes and vegetables that take 5 minutes, cook the meat until almost done, toss in veggies and add 5 more minutes to cook time. That way your lesser cook item doesn’t over-cook. Just release and toss in the other ingredients when the other item has about that amount of cook time left.

Instant Pot Breakfast Casserole with Bacon, Asparagus and Caramelized Onions

Instant Pot Breakfast Casserole with Bacon, Asparagus and Caramelized Onions

Liquid Needed For Recipes 

Here is the thing, the Instant Pot has to have liquid to work properly. Liquid allows it to pressure up and cooks your food properly. You need at least 1 cup of liquid when you cook. Some foods like fruits, vegetables, that have a higher water value, you can use a bit less. You can use a trivet to put your food on if you don’t want it submerged in the liquid.making mac and cheese in the instant pot

Now when you cook soup that uses a lot of liquid, you sometimes have to reduce the liquid so you don’t get a water downed flavor. Since really no liquid is lost when cooking you have to reduce if it requires a lot.

When converting recipes I find this How many Cups in a Quart printable to be a useful reference. I have it hanging on the back of one of my kitchen cabinets.

Max Mark 

Be aware of the max line in your IP. When you are making a new recipe, look to ensure the liquid or ingredients don’t go over the max mark line on the Instant Pot. Make sure the lid fits on properly and seals so it can come to pressure. Generally, you shouldn’t have any issues without going over the line.

Instant Pot Turkey Breast

Pressure Release 

For me if I am cooking meat I do a natural release, that added release time really allows your meat to tenderize and lock in moisture. For foods like pasta, rice, vegetables, quick release works best so it doesn’t overcook.

The key to converting recipes to the Instant Pot is to keep trying and learn from mistakes.

 

 

Filed Under: Food/Snacks Tagged With: Food/Snacks, Instant Pot, Instant Pot Resources, Recipe

Previous article:
« How to Tie Dye Easter Eggs the Easy Way
Next article:
British Soccer Camps – Sign Up Now and get a Free Jersey »

About Mom

Kat Hodson is the founder of A Mom's Impression, a wife to a handsome man, a mom to a beautiful girl, a sweet boy, and a first grade teacher. She loves to shop, cook, read, take photos, and hang out with her family. Her life may be hectic, but it is an exciting ride!

I am a Midwestern Mommy born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. I am married to my soul mate, and together we have begun the ride of our lives… Parenthood. Together we are figuring out how to make it work with two full-time jobs, a 6 year old and his four year old sister. READ MORE ABOUT KATHY
Get All the latest straight to your inbox!

Archives

Click Here for Privacy Policy

Categories

A Mom's Impression is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

search

Copyright ©2021, A Mom's Impression | Recipes, Crafts, Entertainment and Family Travel. All Rights Reserved. Design by Pixel Me Designs
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkRead more