I bought an Instant Pot just before Christmas, and I still barely know how to use it. I’ve made a few chicken and rice dinners for my boyfriend in it, and several pots of black beans, but that’s about it. I’m looking forward to checking out this new cookbook by Nili Barrett, Healthy Instant Pot Mini Cookbook: 100 Recipes for One or Two with your 3-Quart Instant Pot. It comes out in early August 2020.
I bought the smaller 3-quart Instant Pot because I’m usually cooking for just two of us – or just for my boyfriend if I make him some meat (I’m vegetarian so I use my crockpot for my own food and the Instant Pot for his).
Disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you.
Let’s dive into this cookbook and see what’s going on!
Since I stupidly refused to read the annoying small print booklet that came with my Instant Pot, I very much appreciate that this cookbook starts off with an explanation of the Instant Pot’s mysterious programs and confusingly-labeled buttons. (Why one earth don’t they have a Start button? I want to push a Start and Stop button, sigh). There’s a section on accessories that you might want to add to your Instant Pot later, like a steamer basket and an egg steamer trivet. I also appreciate that there’s a side note on doubling the recipes in this cookbook for your 6 quart Instant Pot if you have one.
Chapters include:
- Breakfast
- Entrees, Soups and Stews
- Sides and Veggies
- Snacks and Appetizers
- Desserts
The very first recipe is for Sticky Plaintain and Bacon Steel-Cut Oatmeal – not something I would make, as I don’t eat bacon and my boyfriend doesn’t care for plantains.
Immediately I’m noticing that each recipe contains info on what kind of release to use with your Instant Pot, which program to use or buttons to push, plus if the recipe can be customized to be vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, etc.
The next recipes are for Honeyed Apple Oatmeal (yum), and then Maple Buckwheat Hot Cereal with Hemp Hearts. What? I don’t have hemp hearts laying around and am not sure what that is, why I’d want to eat it or where I’d obtain that even in Seattle. Skipping that recipe and moving on to something I’d be very excited to make: Down-Home Cheesy Grits with a Kick. Now that’s more like it!
The Breakfast chapter continues with Coconut Currant Breakfast Quinoa and From-Scratch Vanilla Bean Yogurt. I’ve never made yogurt before and my Instant Pot might be the perfect way to try it out as a beginner. I’d also be curious to try the Orange Marmalade recipe as I’ve never made that before either.
There’s a few complicated seeming recipe for Mason Jar Muffins and coffee cakes that makes me wonder why I wouldn’t just bake muffins in my existing muffin tin, rather than going to all the work of procuring mason jars and setting them into my Instant Pot. There’s also a recipe that asks you to put a mini Bundt pan into your Instant Pot to bake in there. That seems a little hokey to me, since the baking time on these isn’t much longer than in the Instant Pot. I think I’ll move onto the next chapter!
The Entrees, Soups and Stews chapter seems the most helpful of the entire book.
There are recipes for Chicken Bone Broth, a Chicken Enchilada Casserole, a Rotisserie Style Chicken and Lemony Rice dish my boyfriend would be delighted to eat, poached salmon and eggs with yogurt sauce, Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps, and Cranberry Chicken. (The food photography on the Cranberry Chicken is stunning by the way!) I know I’m going to use and enjoy the one-pot recipes for pasta, Red Beans and Rice, One Pot Pad Thai and One Pot Teriyaki Chicken and Rice. I’ll definitely try out the Vegetarian Curried Lentil Stew for myself. My boyfriend loves chowders, and this cookbook includes instructions for both corn chowder and a No-Dairy New England Clam Chowder (Useful for people who get reflux if they eat dairy too late at night! I’m not naming any names!)
The chapter concludes with some really useful stew, soup and chili recipes – for those of us living in colder climates, like those of us here in Seattle, who can cook soup almost year round.
The Sides and Veggies chapter starts off with an extremely useful recipe for Pot-In-Pot White Rice, so you can make your rice side dish at the same time as the entree you’re cooking below it. I haven’t learned how to do this yet and I’m grateful for this.
I’m very eager to try the Curried Cauliflower with Raisins and Almonds recipe, and I’ll come back time and time again for quick brown rice, quinoa and and Tuscan Polenta staples. I’m not normally a fan of tabbouleh but this Lemony Cauliflower Tabbouleh might convert me. I’ll definitely try out the Lemon Dill Creamer Potatoes recipe on a weeknight when we need some comfort food carbs.
This quite substantial chapter also offers Sweet Chicken Chili Meatballs, Brown Rice Dolmas, Pickled Jalapeno Deviled Eggs, pork dumplings and vegetable dumplings, stuffed mushroom caps,
And now finally, let’s peek at the Desserts chapter. It starts off strong with a recipe for Drunken Apples with Whiskey and Raisins; then includes an enticing recipe for chocolate fondue dip; and sticky coconut rice with mango. I’m not certain why I would bake a lemon olive oil polenta cake (with a 35 minute pressure release) in an Instant Pot instead of a 35 minute bake in my oven, but ok. The recipes continue on with brownies, cheesecake cups, a lava cake and more Mason jar baked goods.
Hey, I just realized one reason someone might bake in an Instant Pot. How about a dorm room, where you aren’t allowed to have an oven? This all makes sense now!
I’m definitely going to pick up a copy of this Instant Pot cookbook – I can make the sides and veggies for myself, and some of the meat dishes for my boyfriend. We definitely need to eat healthier lately, so I appreciate the recipes in this cookbook.
-Carrie
