[Instant Pot] Double Decker Korean Sesame Beef + Zoodles

Double Decker Dinner is a personal favorite Instant Pot recipe theme, all about finding the right combination of foods that pair together as a balanced meal and that can be stacked and cooked at the same time in the same pressure cooker. It’s one-pot wonderful!Β 

Using your Instant Pot to cook zucchini noodles is handy. It’s even handier when you can cook everything you need to round out a balanced meal all at the same time!

These zoodles resemble classic Korean japchae noodles, dressed up with a spicy-sweet sauce, ground beef, extra veggies and a flourish of toasty sesame seeds.

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[Instant Pot] Double Decker Thai Coconut Beef Curry + Brown Jasmine Rice

Double Decker Dinner is a personal favorite Instant Pot recipe theme, all about finding the right combination of foods that pair together as a balanced meal and that can be stacked and cooked at the same time in the same pressure cooker. It’s one-pot wonderful!Β 

It’s been a minute, amigos! It turns out that mothering an infant is kind of time-consuming… Who knew? πŸ˜‰

I’ve always appreciated efficiency in the kitchen – but now that I’m a mom, shortcuts are serious business! My signature Double Decker Dinners continue to prove their worth, and today’s stackable recipe is particularly peppered with some rather satisfying shortcuts.

This dead-simple coconut curry makes appearances in my Instant Pot when I feel like Thai food but don’t feel like take-out. I can’t claim authenticity, but I can affirm that it hits the spot and does it quickly! 

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[Instant Pot] Double Decker Coffee Pot Roast + Butternut Mash

Double Decker Dinner is a personal favorite Instant Pot recipe theme, all about finding the right combination of foods that pair together as a balanced meal and that can be stacked and cooked at the same time in the same pressure cooker. It’s one-pot wonderful!Β 

I’ve been told that my grandmother cooked a famously aromatic pot roast made with coffee. Unfortunately nobody knows the recipe, so I imagined how I would like it to taste. Deeply savory, slightly bitter but countered with natural sweetness from onions, enhanced with thyme and bay leaf, and finished with a touch of syrupy acidity from aged balsamic vinegar. I gave it a shot, and it was love at first bite. Now, I am here to make sure nobody loses this recipe!

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[Instant Pot] Korean BBQ Beef Roast + Ssam

I was never really exposed to Korean food growing up in Florida, but I learned to LOVE it after moving to San Diego. I lived and worked near the Convoy district, the city’s great wonderland of pan-Asian cuisine, and that’s where Korean barbecue stole my heart. Sweet, salty, garlicky, fragrant with toasted sesame oil, utterly addictive – especially when devoured ssam-style, in lettuce wraps piled with rice and lots of kimchi.

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[Instant Pot] Ropa Vieja: Cuban Shredded Beef Stew

Ropa vieja. Be still, my heart.

While I was studying to become a dietitian, I lived in Miami for three years. Moving to Miami can cause some serious culture shock, even for a Florida native, but I have to admit that crazy town has some perks.

Some of the best perks were getting to know Cuban friends and their Cuban FOOD. In Miami, I met some of the world’s nicest people who got me very well acquainted with Cuba’s rich culinary traditions. Cafecitos. Maduros. Picadillo. Pastelitos. And one of my personal favorites, ropa vieja, a classic comfort food that makes you feel at home whether you grew up eating it or not. It’s a flavorful stew made with peppers, tomatoes, and flank steak cooked low-and-slow until the meat is tender enough to effortlessly pull apart into long shreds that resemble the fibers of threadbare cloth, hence the name (ropa vieja = old clothes).

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