Breakfast Foods You Can Make Using Your Instant Pot

If you have been up-to-date on food culture lately, you’ve probably heard about the wonders of the Instant Pot.

What’s not to love? It’s fast, it’s easy, it redefines pressure cooking. If you love making your own food and doing so in a short amount of time, this device is probably one on your holiday checklist—if not already a staple in your home kitchen!  But what are the benefits of using an Instant Pot and some rock star recipes that your appetite will appreciate?

First, let’s take a look at the science behind pressure cooking. Is an Instant Pot the same as a pressure cooker?

The stovetop pressure cooker is the conventional type of device that your grandmother probably used. These were often associated with “not being very safe,” as they were known—at times—to explode or disrupt. Luckily, the technology has changed and more modern adaptations of the appliance have surfaced. The Instant Pot, for example, is a multi-cooker that performs the duties of electric pressure cookers, rice cookers, steamers, yogurt makers, slow cookers, as well as warming pots. You could say it is an all-in-one kitchen appliance that is safe and easy to use.

With pressure cooking and in particular, the Instant Pot, heat is evenly, quickly, and deeply distributed into the food within the device. Water is not necessary, but steam is retained in an Instant Pot, meaning certain vitamins and nutrients are not dissolved in excess liquid. Additionally, pressure cooking can reduce cooking time up to 70% compared to alternative methods such as steaming or boiling. Furthermore, Instant Pots are the second most energy efficient appliance after microwaves. Clearly, the benefits for this new form of pressure cooking are plentiful.

The Instant Pot has 12 single-key operation buttons for most common tasks. They include: rice, multigrain rice, congee/porridge, sauté/browning, soup, poultry, meat and stew, beans and chili, steaming, slow cook, keep warm and yogurt. Each of these buttons are meticulously architected to bring about optimal results for these particular foods.

Many people love Instant Pots because you can perform so many functions without dirtying up as many dishes, making clean up far easier, especially for those who don’t have dish washers! They also use far less electricity than ovens, meaning you spend a lot less money on electricity. Also, people wind up making healthier meals because you only need to add enough water to create steam pressure, meaning a reduced need for excess oil, fat or butter.

With the basics covered and the advantages in plain sight, let’s get onto the best part—Instant Pot recipes! Hopefully, these will inspire you to utilize this lovely device in a variety of ways. Especially with the holidays fast approaching, who wouldn’t appreciate some convenient and healthy recipes that can be made in mere minutes? Let’s take a deep dive into what we can concoct!

Instant Pot Breakfast Recipes 

What’s not to love about a conveniently made breakfast? With all the running around most people do in the early morning hours, most of us don’t have time to patiently cook a four-course breakfast using the oven and stove. Thankfully, an Instant Pot can really come in handy, whether it’s creating a delicious Instant Pot breakfast casserole or fresh yogurt. Let’s take a look at some popular breakfast foods you can make in mere minutes!

Yogurt

Since yogurt is a function in and of itself on the Instant Pot, it’s easy and common to make. Pour milk into your device, boil it using the valve “sealing” and cool your milk into an ice cold container for 20 minutes. Make sure to remove the “skin” off the top of the milk, which is a layer that forms at the top, then whisk into a yogurt starter.

The final step is incubating your yogurt, which involves placing it back into the Instant Pot and pressing “yogurt” again as a function. After this is through, you want to refrigerate in glass jars or a plastic container. Adding vanilla flavoring or even chia seeds to your yogurt in the final step can be real game-changer.

Of course, yogurt seems to involve a bit more prep work and cannot be made instantly; however, doing so on a Sunday so that you have a week’s worth waiting for you in the fridge is a great option. Who knew making yogurt could be so easy?

Breakfast Casserole

Breakfast casseroles can be a pain in the you-know-what. They’re messy, they can take forever in the oven and cleaning a casserole dish can be time-consuming. Thankfully, doing so in an Instant Pot is easier than the traditional way.

Throwing everything in at once, you can use eggs or an egg substitute, breakfast potatoes, bell peppers, green onions, milk, a variety of cheeses, as well as bacon bits if you crave the taste and smell of bacon in the morning. It’s important to remember, especially with casseroles in the Instant Pot, is the more ingredients you add, the longer it will take. Also, depending on whether or not you like your eggs runny or dry, that will also affect the overall preparation time.

There are different types of dishes you can use within the Instant Pot to help you with egg-related meals. Taking time to explore them and purchase a few of your own can be of great benefit, particularly if you cook Instant Pot breakfast casseroles on a regular basis.

Steelcut Oatmeal

You’ve seen steelcut oatmeal sold at your local juice bar franchise. Thankfully, you can make fresh steelcut oatmeal in an Instant Pot in less than 30 minutes. That means it can be cooking while you shower and get ready for your work day—how ideal is that?

 In order to do so, you want to place your trivet in your inner pot of the cooker and pour in about a cup of cold water. In a separate bowl, you can mix in your oats with whatever else you may like—such as chia seeds or flax seeds, which add omega fatty acids and valuable fiber. Along with these oats, you want to use either water or milk—and any type of milk will do, whether cows milk, coconut milk or another alternative.

 Place this mixture into your water and press the “sealed” valve and allow for the Instant Pot to cook on high for four minutes. This can take anywhere from four to ten minutes to come to pressure, and then another 15-20 minutes to release naturally.

 Adding antioxidant-rich berries into your steelcut oatmeal after is a tasty way to get more nutrients. Thankfully, if you make this on a Sunday night, it will keep in the fridge for the week, as all you need to do is heat up in the microwave.

Hard Boiled Eggs

While it’s a simple breakfast food, you would be hard-pressed not to find rave reviews on hard-boiled eggs from Instant Pot users—making it a top choice for those seeking that morning protein.

Fortunately, there is a fun rule to keep in mind when cooking hard-boiled eggs in this device and it’s called the 5-5-5 rule: five minutes to come to pressure, five minutes cook time and then five minutes natural release.

Placing one cup of water in the pressure cooker is the first step to making amazing hard-boiled eggs, followed by placing the eggs in a rack that the device came with. This is followed by sealing the pressure cooker then setting the cook time for five minutes on high. Once the time has elapsed, it’s important to allow the pressure to release naturally, just as is advised with making yogurt. Once five minutes of releasing has completed, you want to carefully remove the hard-boiled eggs with a wooden spoon and place in ice cold water for five minutes.

Once the eggs have had a chance to “bathe,” remove them and peel the outer shell. More than likely, you will be delighted with your results. Remember that one large egg alone offers 23% of the recommended dietary allowance of B-12, 8% of the RDA of Vitamin A and 7% of the RDA of Vitamin D. Additionally, a large egg provides 7% of the RDA of phosphorous and 3% of Zinc.

Keep in mind eggs are naturally high in cholesterol, you want to limit your weekly intake and pair them with low-fat foods. However, hard-boiling them is truly the healthiest way to cook them, as you are bypassing oil and butter you would normally use when frying them over a hot stove.

More than likely, if you’ve made it through this entire article, you’re salivating at some of these breakfast options with the highly acclaimed Instant Pot. Fortunately, this device has enhanced pressure cooking in a way that’s yet to be seen, exciting cooks and non-cooks alike with viable recipes for you and your family. Make breakfast something easy, effortless and healthy by following some of these suggestions—you won’t regret it!  Check more tips from our magazine.