Instant Pot Dessert Recipes

[Instant Pot] Greek Yogurt Cheesecake

Original publish date July 23, 2016. Updated 2022 with new photos and expanded information.

How could I bring myself to host this website without a signature healthy cheesecake recipe? This is my Greek Yogurt Cheesecake, a lighter spin on Instant Pot’s flagship dessert – silky, wholesome indulgence with 100 fewer calories per serving than typical cheesecake recipes!

[Instant Pot] Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

Pumpkin cheesecake is a beloved Thanksgiving tradition in my family. Since I was a little girl, my mom has always slipped a cheesecake layer underneath her annual pumpkin pies… and everyone loves her for it!

The layering is essential, if you ask me. I am not satisfied with the mere pumpkin-flavored cheesecakes of the world, which homogenize together into less than the sum of their parts. This dessert shines from the contrast between rich vanilla cheesecake, and a pure, silky, spiced pumpkin custard layered on top.

If you don’t already know, believe it: Instant Pot is a secret weapon for effortlessly perfect cheesecakes. This fall, let your pressure cooker help you serve up this irresistible seasonal treat!

(Your Instant Pot can also help you make dessert even more special, with your own DIY homemade pumpkin puree… See: Insta-Pumpkin!)

[Instant Pot] Dark Chocolate Greek Yogurt Cheesecake

Today we revisit the first and most popular of my Instant Pot dessert recipes: the classic Greek Yogurt Cheesecake. This time… it’s chocolate! Sometimes the occasion calls for chocolate cheesecake, and this is my go-to method for turning my basic recipe into a super-rich and deeply chocolate-ized treat.

Aside from revealing my chocolate-ization techniques (!) – the other reason I’ve been overdue to return to this recipe is that I’ve discovered a new cheesecake crust that I’m WAY into. Believe it or not, the secret ingredient is dried almond pulp, which I am always scheming to get rid of because the man in my house has a serious DIY almond milk habit (the pulp is the mass that remains after soaking/blending/pressing to make nutmilk). This coarse almond meal does a beautiful job replacing graham crackers in a crumb crust – it comes out less sweet than a graham crust, which I appreciate, and gains a tasty nutty quality. Another added bonus for some of you: it’s gluten-free, too!

[Instant Pot] Pumpkin Salted Caramel Flan

Silky-smooth custard, salty-sweet caramel, pumpkin-spiced joy. This seasonal treat is a perfect fit for Instant Pot’s dessert wheelhouse – like we learned when we made Maple Espresso Creme Brulee and Greek Yogurt Cheesecake, high-pressure steam can be a very effective way to quickly and evenly cook any custard.

If you’ve never made caramel before, it’s an interesting reaction to observe. Upon heating pure sucrose, the sugar molecules begin to break down and their pieces get shuffled around to form a virtually infinite array of new and different compounds, each with unique flavors and aromas. This is why as caramel darkens, it gradually becomes less sweet and more complex.

[Instant Pot] Maple Espresso Creme Brulee

Here comes the fanciest dessert ever to step out of my Instant Pot. Pressure cookers have a special talent for foods that need to cook in a hot, wet place – including the finicky oven/hot-water-bath setup required by cheesecakes and, yes, creme brulee!

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