Do you need an Instant Pot in your life?
If you have been reading my blog lately you know that my family is in a kind of unique situation. We are living with my Mother and Father-in-law out in the Arizona desert. With water in short supply and the cost of trucking in water high, we are trying to do what we can to cut back on water consumption. Did I mention that my sister-in-law and her family of four also are living here? Well they are so that brings our “body count” to 10 humans plus four dogs, five chickens, one rooster and twice weekly another child. That is a shit ton of people residing in one place consuming water.
Well in an effort to save water and dirty less dishes all while preparing meals for a large group, I took the plunge and finally bought this Instant Pot that everyone has been raving about. It seemed like anytime that I looked to Pinterest for recipes a majority of them were for the Instant Pot.
What is the Instant Pot?
Good question! The Instant Pot is a multi-functional appliance that can serve as a slow-cooker, electric pressure cooker, rice/porridge, yogurt maker, steamer and more. With this appliance you can sauté/brown meat and veggies and also keep meals warm. There are Instant Pots available that offer even more uses.
*Please note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which means that if you make a purchase using one of these links, at no additional cost to you, I may receive a commission from those purchases. You can read my full disclosure here.
Different Instant Pots for Different Needs
There are larger models available as well.
…and smaller models too!
My Experience with the Instant pot
I purchased the Instant Pot DUO 6 quart 7-in-1 for $99.95 at Target. When I got home I immediately opened the box and started reading the user manual and recipe book that came with it. Pressure cookers have always made me nervous so I wanted to make sure that I fully understood how to operate this appliance safely. I jumped right in and started making dinner, I used the sauté function first to cook some bacon. After the bacon was cooked I cautiously filled my pot with my remaining ingredients. Following the user manual and provided recipe book I modified my own recipe to make my favorite chili.
Twenty minutes later… VOILA… dinner was ready. This was awesome, a recipe that typically took over an hour to make was done in practically no time at all. The best part of this was that I only had one dish to clean. Issue solved! I can make dinner for 10 and not use an excessive amount of water washing pots and pans.
How often do I use the Instant Pot?
Well, In the first week I used it almost daily. This appliance is so versatile that I can find a use for it almost every single day. I have made Sweet Potato and Lentil Chili, Pulled BBQ Chicken, Rice, Steamed Sweet Potatoes and Thai Red Curry with Chicken. In fact the Thai Red Curry Chicken was a quick and unplanned ahead meal. The speed of the Instant Pot actually saved us from ordering a pizza. Where we live, even going to pick-up pizza can take awhile and they definitely don’t deliver. We were able to think quick, pull out some FROZEN chicken and have a delicious and healthier meal.
Would I recommend it for others to buy?
YES! Absolutely, yes. It can replace a few appliances in your kitchen, which saves space. Since you can sauté in the pot, there are less dirty dishes made. If you need to prepare a meal with very little time, this pot can do it. We actually plan on buying the newest model, predicted to come out at the end of June 2018; which will feature and canning setting. Even my in-laws whom we live with are planning on buying one after seeing it in action.
Other Instant Pot Items Available on Amazon
In my Instant Pot excitement I hopped on Amazon and ordered a few cookbooks. Below are the cookbooks that I ordered.
In Conclusion
If you are looking to simplify your cooking and make meals up to 70% faster the Instant Pot is definitely for you. So far I love mine! There are so many great recipes available online and Pinterest makes finding them fun.
I would love to hear from you and what your favorite Instant Pot recipe is, if you already have one! Please leave me your input or questions in the comment section below.
Thank for reading!
April aka ZonaMom
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