The Instant Pot Recipe Converter

The Instant Pot Recipe Converter 

The infamous reign of the instant pot is not yet over. Even with the overflow of Instant Pot recipes, there are still some recipes special and close to our hearts. Do you want an easier way to cook them than how the recipe specifies? Then here is a post of how to convert any recipe to an Instant Pot recipe – the ultimate Instant Pot recipe converter!

General Rule for the Instant Pot recipe converter

If you bake it, you can cut the time in half.

If you crockpot it, you can cut the time dramatically. 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low generally means 30-40 minutes (30 for beef, and boneless pork and chicken recipes and 40 for bone-in chicken, pork or frozen meat).

The instant pot is truly a homemaker’s best friend in the kitchen! It can be used in so many ways. Pretty much any recipe can be converted into an instant pot recipe because of how versatile it is and all of the functions it has. Check out the different recipes below!

 

Important Notes for Newbies using the Pressure Cooker (Manual) Function on the Instant Pot:

1. Before cooking ANYTHING under pressure in the instant pot, there must be at least 1 cup of water/liquid in the bottom or it will explode (haha not really), but it will not be able to generate enough steam to cook your food.
2. Don’t fill the instant pot more than ¾ full. And if you do have it that full, do natural release instead of quick release or you will have a huge mess on your hands!
3. Make sure to actually set the instant pot to “seal” or it will not come to pressure or cook your food.

Follow those three rules and you will be golden!

Converting Casserole Recipes

To convert a casserole recipe to an Instant Pot Recipe:

1. Determine what will take the longest to cook in the instant pot from the recipe (usually the meat) If you don’t want your grains to be overcooked it is best to cook the meat using the “Saute” function before pressure cooking it with other ingredients. Once your meat is cooked, you just need to determine cook time based on how long the grain will cook. See cooking times below.
2. Make sure you have enough water/liquid to cook the grains (use references below)
3. Adjust cooking time by adding a few minutes if there are a lot of extra ingredients
4. If adding cheese, sprinkle on at the end and let it melt on top. Add dairy after everything is cooked.

Converting Slow Cooker Recipes

The slow cooker is great for making meat super tender, but if you don’t want to wait, the instant pot can give you the same great results in way less time!

Meat	Slow Cooker	Instant Pot (after it comes to pressure)	Temperature when done (degrees fahrenheit)
Thawed Chicken Breasts	3 hours on low	8-10 minutes	165
Frozen Chicken Breasts	6 hours on low	10-12 minutes	165
Whole Chicken	7-8 hours low, 3-4 hours  high	20-25 minutes	165
Thawed Hamburger	4-5 hours low	6 minutes	160
Frozen Hamburger	3-4 hours high	25 minutes	160
Beef Roast	8 hours low, 5 hours high	25-30 minutes	145
Pork Loin Roast	8-10 hours low, 4-5 hours high	55-60 minutes	145

This is a general guide. Always have a meat thermometer to check the temp and make sure meat is cooked. Cutting the meat up in smaller pieces will also help it cook faster. It’s also a good idea to have the meat in the bottom so it gets cooked more.

See Instant Pot’s site for more cooking times

Converting Pasta Recipes

What’s great about  pressure cooking pasta is that you don’t need a lot of water because all of the water is retained inside the instant pot! Depending on the size of the pasta, it takes a longer amount of time to cook it. In general, you don’t want to fill the instant pot more than ½ full with dry pasta and you will add just enough water to cover the pasta. Add a tablespoon of oil to keep the pasta from sticking and foaming. Then, use the “Manual” function, and set the time.  A guide is provided below:

Pasta Type	Time in Instant Pot
Smaller pieces: orzo, alphabet or tubetti	3 minutes
Small to medium: Shells, bow pasta, egg noodles	5 minutes
Medium: Fettuccine, small elbow macaroni, spaghetti	6 minutes
Large: Rigatoni, penne, rotini, large elbow macaroni, ziti	7 minutes

Here is the Source for this information

You can easily make one-pot meals (Yay- Less clean up!) with pasta by adding in the extra ingredients, adding enough water for the pasta to cook, and cooking for the right time (you may need to add a few minutes to the times listed above since there will be other ingredients cooking as well). Check out how to make instant pot spaghetti with meat sauce here

Converting Rice Recipes

Do you have a rice cooker? Well if you do, you now have two! Because the Instant Pot has a rice function on it as well. If you have a heartier rice, such as brown rice, it will take more water and time to cook it. Another guide is below:

Type of Rice	Ratio of Rice to Water	Time in Instant Pot (after it comes to pressure)
White	1:1.5	8 minutes
Brown	1:1.25	22-28 minutes
Jasmine	1:1	4-10 minutes
Basmati	1:1.5	4-8 minutes

Another yummy one pot meal using rice, instant pot chicken burrito bowls here

See Instant Pot’s site for more cooking times

Beans, Beans, the Magical Fruit!

Beans can drastically change the time you cook a dish in the instant pot depending on whether they are canned, soaked, or dry. If they are canned, they just need to be warmed up. The soaked and dry versions will take more time, but it will definitely be faster than cooking on the stove! A guide is below.

Type of Bean/Lentil	Time to Cook – Soaked overnight (minutes)	Time to Cook – Dry (minutes)
Black	10-15	20-25
Great Northern	20-25	25-30
Green Lentils	15-20	N/A
Red Kidney	20-25	25-30
Navy	20-25	25-30
Pinto	20-25	25-30

Here’s a great instant pot chili

See Instant Pot’s site for more cooking times

Instant Pot Veggies

Most fresh veggies cook within 4 minutes in the instant pot. So if you are combining them with other ingredients, like meat, then you can count on them getting cooked within the time that the meat is cooking. Sometimes the veggies turn to mush when they are cooked with the meat. Some people like the veggies to be very soft or they don’t care too much. If you want to make sure they aren’t too mushy, you can cook the meat first and then add the veggies. A good average time to cook most fresh veggies is 2 minutes, 4 minutes for frozen (after pressure is reached). Potatoes take longer- 7-9 minutes for whole potatoes You can also steam veggies by using a steam basket inside the instant pot. You can find one here

See Instant Pot’s site for more cooking times

Converting Soup Recipes

Converting a soup recipe is fairly easy. If you have meat, it’s best to have the meat pre-cooked (use the saute function). If you are adding pasta, you can cook it in the soup liquid and then you can just pressure cook the soup according to how long it will take the pasta to be done.

This is such a tasty soup!  https://marginmakingmom.com/instant-pot-zuppa-toscana/

Converting Stir Fry Recipes

Making stir fry is super simple in the instant pot since you can just treat it like a frying pan on the stove. Use the “saute” function, heat up some oil, and voila! You can make stir fry in the Instant Pot.

Converting Bread/Cake Recipes

Yes! You can bake with the instant pot! You definitely have to make some adjustments when switching from the oven to the instant pot for baking:

First, the instant pot cooks using steam, so your end product is going to be more moist. This can be fine for desserts, but if you want a crunchy bread, it’s probably best to use the oven. Although, you can use the instant pot to help bread rise and then cook it in the oven.

Second, you have to use a pan which will actually fit in the instant pot and keep it out of the water. This is where the trivet comes in handy. You can basically create a little oven in your instant pot by adding a trivet in the bottom which acts as an oven rack. There are different pans/ techniques which can be used. Some examples are below.

Third, cooking time. Cooking time will obviously be different than using an oven. It is a little more complicated since the instant pot changes temperature while coming to pressure. You can see some general guidelines for cakes and breads below.

Baking Cakes in the Instant Pot

A typical boxed cake which bakes at 350 degrees in the oven will usually take about 30 minutes in the Instant Pot. This may need to be adjusted for your liking. You can put a toothpick in the middle to see if it is done and cook for longer if needed. You will need to make an aluminum sling to be able to get the cake out when it is done, but  this trivet with long handles might make that easier that you can find here

Instant Pot Boxed Cake

Baking Bread in the Instant Pot

One of the main changes you have to make when baking bread in the instant pot is having a pan that will fit inside it, a regular loaf pan will not due. People have used coffee cans as loaf pans for quick breads. Quick breads which usually take around 15 minutes in the oven, tend to cook for 20-25 minutes in the instant pot. For yeast breads, some have used the “Yogurt” function for helping dough rise and then cooking it in the oven. See the recipes below.

Instant Pot Quick Bread using a coffee can

Using the Instant Pot to help dough rise

Suggested Extra Instant Pot Accessories:

-An extra inner pot always comes in handy when you want to make multiple dishes at once! Get one here

– An extra inner sealing ring. It’s best to have one for savory and one for sweet since the sealing ring tends to absorb the smells from the cooked food. Find it here

– A pot lid for using the instant pot as a hot plate. Find it here

-Steaming basket: here

-Meat thermometer: here

– Egg rack(Hard boiled eggs are the best in the Instant Pot! The shells just fall off!): here

Quiz yourself! Convert this recipe to an instant pot recipe using the Instant Pot recipe converter:

Cranberry Pasta Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 Cups pasta (any type works, but we like to make this with bowtie or penne with Ancient Grains or Wheat Pasta)
• ½ Cup dried cranberries
• 2 Radishes, sliced
• ½ Carrot, grated
• 1/4 Cup green onions, chopped
• 3 Tbsps parsley, chopped
• 1 Tbsp chives, chopped
• 1 Bay leaf
• Olive oil to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 Orange
• Leftover Turkey (or chicken)

Directions for Cranberry Pasta Recipe

• In a pot, bring water to a boil.
• Add a pinch of salt, the bay leaf and the pasta.
• Cook until al dente following the packaging instructions.
• Drain the water and discard the bay leaf.
• Transfer to a big bowl and mix with the remaining ingredients.
• Transfer to a serving dish.
• Garnish with orange slices and squeeze some orange juice on top if desired.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve and enjoy.

Link to original post

Highlight the area below to see a suggested answer:

Same ingredients, different instructions:

Add the pasta to the Instant Pot, cover with water, add the salt and bay leaf, select “Manual” and set the time for 7 minutes to cook the (we’ll say penne) pasta. Do quick release or natural release. Drain any excess water. Transfer to a big bowl and mix with the remaining ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste. Done!

Congratulations! You are now an Instant Pot Ninja and can tackle any recipe with this Instant Pot recipe converter!

We highly suggest you keep track of the recipes you are modifying and adjust as needed – we would love to hear what recipes you have been able to convert or tips you have. Let us know in the comments!