Gluten Free Instant Pot Recipes

[Instant Pot] Insta-Chicken! Pressure Cooker Chicken Breast

Original publish date July 10, 2015. Updated 2023 with expanded information.

It’s true: with Instant Pot, chicken breasts can magically transform into the world’s most effortless healthy dinner! This is the ultimate guide to pressure cooking chicken breasts. I have cooked many, many chicken breasts in the 8 years that I’ve been using my electric pressure cooker – frozen and fresh, from extra-large to tiny tenderloins, and everything in between.

Let your Instant Pot make it easier than ever to turn chicken into a healthy meal prep staple. Fuel up with lean protein that the whole family will enjoy – paleo, keto and gluten-free eaters included.

[Instant Pot] Easy Vegetable Curry

Original publish date September 25, 2014. Updated 2023 with expanded information.

This Instant Pot Vegetable Curry is a simple, healthy dinner that will fill you up with plant-powered nutrition. A mountain of mixed veggies, warm spices and creamy coconut milk make this a quick meal that will nourish your whole family – vegan and gluten free eaters included.

A curry spice blend peppered with cinnamon and nutmeg creates an aromatic curry that transports my appetite to a steamy West Indian or Caribbean kitchen. You will crave it and cook it again and again!

[Instant Pot] Insta-Pumpkin! DIY Pressure Cooker Pumpkin Puree

Original publish date September 26, 2020. Updated 2022 with expanded information.

The easiest way to prep your own pumpkin from scratch: pressure cook it in your Instant Pot!

I love and respect canned pumpkin as much as the next fall baking enthusiast – but if you have a local source for fresh pie pumpkins, you can make your festive fall recipes that much more special by giving them the starring role.

[Instant Pot] Potatoes and Carrots, Upgraded!

Use your pressure cooker to make quick work of this classic side dish – then upgrade it with one of my 3 favorite simple seasonings. Whether your family gets hooked on lemon pepper, garlic herb or maple mustard – Instant Pot Potatoes and Carrots will become a staple veggie dish in your healthy meal prep rotation.

[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] Picadillo: Cuban Style Ground Beef

Picadillo! A Latin American classic, and a sublimely simple dinner to whip up with your Instant Pot. In a pressure cooker, you can achieve slow-cooked flavor in a fraction of the time. It only takes a pack of ground meat, a few chopped veggies, and a couple of basic pantry staple seasonings to fix up a meal that satisfies my chronic cravings for Cuban food.

What is picadillo? Through the lens of American cuisine, you could think of it as a sort of chili, stew or hash… But simply, it’s a dish of ground meat sauteed with onions, peppers and seasonings. Different cooks make it all kinds of different ways, but I’ll walk you through my personal favorite take – inspired by the Cuban-style recipes I’ve become addicted to, thanks to the years I lived in Miami.

[Instant Pot] Insta-Artichokes! How to Steam Whole Artichokes in a Pressure Cooker

With Instant Pot, whole steamed artichokes are faster and easier than ever! Read on for everything you need to know to master this special treat.

[Instant Pot] Insta-Greens! How to Prep Leafy Greens in a Pressure Cooker

Original publish date May 30 2017. Updated 2022 with new photos and information.

Instant Pot makes it SO easy to cook up a batch of leafy greens. Whether you’re looking to prep yourself a pot of kale, collards, chard, beet greens, turnip greens, ANY kind of greens… with your pressure cooker, you can set-it-and-forget-it and get them done in a flash.

I like to call them INSTA-GREENS. Make a batch every week to add to your dinners, lunches and breakfasts. Let your Instant Pot be a positive influence on your self care routine!

[Instant Pot] Banana Nut Oatmeal

Instant Pot makes it so easy to enjoy healthy whole grain steel-cut oats for breakfast – and with this recipe, they taste like a warm, cozy bowl of banana bread!

[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!

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.

[Instant Pot] Saucy Chicken Tinga

Tinga de pollo! In Mexican cuisine, this means shredded chicken, braised in a sauce made with chipotle chilies, tomato and onion. It’s savory, spicy, smoky, and deliciously saucy. It makes incredible tacos, and this year I used it as the star filling in one of my family’s favorite festive holiday traditions: our annual Tamale Party, fueled by Instant Pot!

[Instant Pot] Insta-Zoodles! How to Cook Zucchini Noodles in a Pressure Cooker

Zucchini noodles are a fun way to load up your plate with an extra dose of veggies and mix up your meal prep!

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

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

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!

[Instant Pot] Freezer Meals: 5 Favorite Make-Ahead Healthy Dinner Recipes

As I waddled through the third trimester of my first pregnancy, my attention turned toward strategies for make-ahead meal prep and easy-cooking plans to keep myself well-fed this winter when my life turned happily upside-down!

That’s right… the time has come for us to dish about Instant Pot Freezer Meals! As part of my post-partum food prep strategy, I embarked on a little project to store a lineup of five of my favorite freezer-friendly pressure cooker dinners. Today I’m here to share what I’ve learned along the way – and all of the recipes too, of course!

[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] Double Decker Coffee Pot Roast + Butternut Mash

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!

[Instant Pot] Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Cozy comfort food – it’s what I need right now! This creamy soup is made from roasted broccoli, real sharp cheddar cheese, and an earthy-sweet foundation of onions, carrots and celery. It’s also enriched (in both the culinary and nutritional sense) with a healthy dose of hemp seeds, which blend into a creamy texture without any need to add actual cream.

Reflecting on my favorite soup recipes, it’s hard not to notice a pattern: there are a lot of creamy soups made with roasted vegetables. Why? First, because roasting makes vegetables delicious! Second, because it reflects an efficiency in my food-prep workflow. If it’s the weekend and I’m heating up my oven to cook dinner or bake anything, I always try to double-down and bake or roast several foods in that single session. It saves time and energy, and it’s always handy to have extra roasted veggies on hand.

[Instant Pot] Carrot Cake Steel-Cut Oats

This winter, I found a new favorite cheerful make-ahead weekday breakfast. This golden bowl features whole-grain steel cut oats with no refined sugars, instead sweetened and enriched with lots of carrot (2/3 cup freshly grated root per serving), fresh ginger, warm spices, raisins, juicy pineapple tidbits, and flakes of toasted coconut.

Top as you please with even more nuts and fruits, and a swirl of your favorite creamy dairy or nut milk. Then revel in the moment of cozy glory you achieved. Then tomorrow morning, reheat and repeat.

[Instant Pot] Double Decker Saag Paneer + Cauliflower Rice

I love paneer – it’s a fresh non-melting cheese common in Indian cuisine, uniquely made without salt or rennet. To make it, milk is simply cooked with an acidic ingredient like lemon juice; when the curds precipitate from the whey, they are gathered and pressed into a firm block.

This recipe is my favorite way to eat paneer: the rich, chewy, cheesy cubes are seasoned, crisped, and tucked into this classic curry of creamed greens. I like to serve it with a bed of steamed cauliflower rice – this extra helping of veggies pairs well with the rich curry sauce, and leaves room for a side of bread if desired (I am still working on perfecting my homemade sourdough naan… If you’re interested in that recipe, speak up in the comments to move it up a notch on my priority list!)

[Instant Pot] 50 Clove Garlic & White Bean Soup

Garlic lovers only! Fifty whole cloves – half roasted until deeply caramelized, half left sharply raw before pressure-cooking – make this soup very powerful.

Because this recipe is made with hardy produce that stays available through the cold season, it is an excellent candidate to accompany your winter grilled cheese sandwiches after your freezer supply of Roasted Tomato Soup runs out. Instant Pot makes it easy to pressure-cook garlic, onion, herbs, broth, and soaked dry white beans into a creamy, fiery, satisfying soup.

[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] Double Decker Cheesy Taco-Stuffed Peppers + Quinoa

It’s Double Decker Dinner Time! My favorite kind of one-pot wonderful balanced meal – there’s just something so satisfying about stacking and cooking two foods in one Instant Pot.

This easy recipe begins by using Instant Pot to saute a mix of seasoned grass-fed ground beef taco meat with chopped veggies. We stuff as much as we can into split bell peppers, arranged on a steamer basket – and whatever doesn’t fit is left in the pot and joined by a cup of quinoa. Both layers cook together in just one minute pressure-cooking time!

[Instant Pot] Insta-Broth! The Art & Science of Pressure Cooker Bone Broth

A good broth is a beautiful thing – a magical culinary elixir that extracts the hidden goodness from bones and other kitchen scraps… Food that would otherwise go to waste, but that still has deep flavor and powerful nourishment to offer.

Broth is an ancient food. It’s been around as long as people have boiling food in water. Long-simmered stocks made from vegetables, meats and bones have a history of recognition for not only their culinary value, but also their nutritive merits. Humans have a long tradition of strengthening weak constitutions with broth, from its use by early nutritionists as an inexpensive protein-sparing diet staple for the malnourished, to everyone’s favorite cold remedy – chicken soup.

[Instant Pot] Loaded Potato & Cauliflower Soup

This is what I felt compelled to cook this week when, for the first time in my life, I got SNOWED IN. The three feet of snow that fell on my yard last Saturday came as a bit of a surprise – the forecasts predicted only a fraction of what arrived that day, and they also didn’t tell me it was going to keep dumping more all week. Can’t say I ever expected to see that happen this first winter in our new home on the Olympic Peninsula, famously one of the sunniest places in the Pacific Northwest which historically averages only 2 inches of snow annually. Out of my element, I set up camp in the kitchen.

[Instant Pot] Double Decker Chicken Marsala + Parmesan Polenta

Today, we make a long overdue return to Double-Decker Dinners! This pressure-cooker recipe theme is all about finding the right combination of foods that compliment each other to round out a satisfying meal, and also happen to harmoniously take the same amount of time to cook together in my Instant Pot. This challenge never fails to pique my culinary imagination, so stay tuned – more experiments are in the works.

[Instant Pot] Insta-Beets! How to Cook Beets in a Pressure Cooker

This Instant Pot beets recipe is the simplest, most foolproof way to prep this super healthy vegetable. This is the ultimate guide to pressure cooking beets: learn my simple formula to perfectly cook beetroots of any shape and size, practical tips for prep & storage, and tasty ideas for enjoying them in your everyday meals.

I started regularly cooking beets when I was in grad school, studying to become a registered dietitian nutritionist. I fell in love with their deep, earthy flavor and with the way they made me feel. Food can be powerful! Let your Instant Pot help you eat more veggies and feel awesome.

[Instant Pot] Roasted Tomato Soup

Ever think about using your Instant Pot to transform fresh tomatoes into soup? Think about it! I gave it a shot for the first time this Summer, and the results blew me away: rich, velvety, and intensely flavorful.

Ever wonder why so many recipes tell you to remove the seeds and skins from tomatoes? I avoid that step whenever I can, and not just because it’s annoying…

[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!

Continue reading “[Instant Pot] Maple Espresso Creme Brulee”

[Instant Pot] Pumpkin Spice Steel-Cut Oats

Seattle is getting colder, and predictably, my breakfasts are getting warmer. The days of raw fruit & chilled muesli have come and gone, and now my oats are getting the hot & hearty porridge treatment.

A breakfast like this can help you stay strong through the stresses of the seasonal shift. With the growing season coming to a close and colorful summer crops disappearing from the local food system, pumpkins and other winter squash persevere as a shelf-stable source of vibrantly orange vitamin power. And as the weather chills, spices become magical; we love them, and they love us back with their stimulating, grounding and warming qualities. (Don’t forget: spices are powerful plants that humans have selected, valued, and carried along with us through the history of eating. They interface with our physiology in ways that science is only beginning to understand).

[Instant Pot] Chicken Mushroom & Wild Rice Soup

“#1. Make a Lot of Soup”

This was the first directive scribbled to myself on a note titled “Foodprep Strategy,” a deliberate attempt at eating well and staying sane in this time of post-moving–new-life-upheaval. New year, new city, new kitchen, new climate, new grocery stores, new work-from-home transition, all around brand new routine.

In my disoriented state, emerging from a maze of cardboard boxes to hit the ground running as Dinner Captain once again, I turned to soup. Nourishing, crowd-pleasing, inexpensive, efficient to cook in large batches, quick to reheat, and warming for cold bellies… soup has been serving me well.

[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).

[Instant Pot] Chipotle Chocolate Chili

I’ve never competed in a chili cook-off, but if I did, this is the contender I would bring to the ring.

Since spying the recipe in an issue of Cooking Light years ago, it’s been a go-to for me and for Grant. I have to give him credit, as he’s taken the recipe on as his specialty – he really makes a mean pot of chili! And as much as I love to cook, there’s something extra-tasty about a home-cooked meal where somebody else does the home-cooking, you know?

[Instant Pot] Creamy Coconut Steel-Cut Oats

Resolving to Eat Better this year? Me too, but I’m not just talking about nutrition… I’m also always looking for new and exciting ways to ENJOY IT. That’s why I make this kind of food: wholesome, real ingredients coming together to make something indulgently nourishing for your “most important meal of the day.” It’s simple, but special. It’s rich, but still provides legit nutrition. And as a bonus, it will warm you to the bones not only by virtue of being a hearty porridge, but also by briefly relieving your winter weather woes with a mental tropical vacation.

So, what makes these oats so nutritious and filling? The winning combination of whole grains and coconut deliver fiber, complex carbs and a healthy dose of fat that provide lasting energy to fill you up and truly satisfy.

[Instant Pot] Everyday Lentil & Spinach Dal

These days I do most of my recipe-clipping on Pinterest, but I still have a recipe folder on my browser’s bookmarks bar dating back from the days before ‘pinning’ was a household term (shocking, I know). The heart of the collection is a sub-folder marked “Tried and True,” which holds those special recipes that I’ve come back to again and again… the keepers! Along with the formula behind killer pumpkin garlic knots, this folder is also home to an unassuming yellow dal bookmarked from Smitten Kitchen. I made this recipe for the first time in college, just starting to dip my toes into Indian cooking, and I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve served it up since then!

This dish has been a dinner staple in my house for a lot of reasons. For one, the recipe is really straightforward, easy enough to commit to memory. It’s also super inexpensive. I do my best to cook with economy and grace, and these tasty lentils make it easy: all of the budget-friendly benefits of dried beans, but with no soaking needed. It’s a hearty vegetarian (easily vegan) source of protein – about 14 grams per serving, before the yogurt garnish. And those healthy legumes are filled out with plenty of vegetables and nutritious spices. I’ve been putting more focus on anti-inflammatory foods in my diet lately, and the turmeric, cumin, coriander, cayenne and garlic in this recipe all offer functional health benefits to reduce inflammation in the body. This is definitely an example of getting your flavor from real food, and this enticing combination is so nutritious that it’s practically medicinal!

[Instant Pot] Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes

How much tradition do you like on your Thanksgiving table? Is it just not the same without your family heirloom recipes for turkey, stuffing and green bean casserole? Or do you prefer to flex your creative muscles and trick out your menu with fancy stuff like cranberry coulis or pumpkin panna cotta? Personally, I fall somewhere in the middle. Traditional flavors, but with enough twist to keep things interesting. Right at home on my holiday table? These dreamy Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes.

[Instant Pot] Greek Vegetable Soup

A funny thing happened on the way to writing this post. We’re only here talking about this soup today because two months ago on RD Day, I took the opportunity to scope out a list of fellow RD bloggers. On one of the many links I clicked, I came across a giveaway raffle and entered on a whim. And out of the zillion entries, I actually won! That day I gained an awesome new Mediterranean cookbook, and my first glimpse into what has become one of my new favorite RD blogs, Zen and Spice by the talented Emily Hein. This girl inspires me to live right! If you’re like me and love cooking/eating beautiful whole foods, growing some of them yourself, and generally taking a mindful and appreciative approach to it all, you should definitely check it out!

The book that I won in the giveaway is Eating the Greek Way, by Dr. Fedon Alexander Lindberg. Emily mentioned that this is one of her favorite cookbooks, and I can totally see why. The book features gorgeous photos and recipes featuring the kind of simple but perfect food I can imagine being served up in Mediterranean kitchens on real life weeknights. And now in my kitchen too! On my weeknights! Life is grand.

[Instant Pot] Tamale Party!

Update December 22, 2021: This recipe is now available in Web Story format with video instructions! You can view it here.

Cinco de Mayo is coming up – and while I don’t exactly have a vested interest in commemorating the military victories of our neighbors to the south, I will take any excuse to appreciate delicious Mexican food.

I absolutely love tamales, and from the moment I first read about steaming them in a pressure cooker via this epic Mexican feast on hippressurecooking, I’ve been eager to try out a big batch in my Instant Pot.

Basically… excuse to eat Mexican food + excuse to play with Instant Pot = TAMALE PARTY, AMIGOS.

[Instant Pot] Chicken Tortilla Soup

Today I’m pulling through on my promise to share my successes with Instant Pot, my new electric pressure cooker (you can read more about my pressure-cooking obsession here). It’s been a revolutionary addition to my kitchen, but unfortunately for my readers its major role has been to constantly churn out oatmeal, rice, beans, and other essential staples too boring to blog about. But my favorite appliance is so much more than that! So I’m glad I finally got my act together to write up a recipe that puts Instant Pot in the spotlight.

But if you’re not into pressure-cooking, that’s no reason to pass over this recipe. I’ve been making this soup for years before I got wacky about pressurizing my foods. The flavors develop just as well after a simmer on the stovetop, and the process is still totally easy for a weeknight.