One Pot Instant Pot Beef Ragu Pasta
I like making pasta, but waiting for the pasta to cook on the stove is quite time consuming. I wondered if it would ever be possible to make a one pot pasta dish, from dried pasta and raw meat, without having to look after boiling pots on the stove?
Wouldn't it be a dream if I could put all the ingredients into the pot, press a few buttons and leave it to cook by itself? I tried making a one-pot pasta dish in the rice cooker, but the pasta became very soggy. But it seemed like this may be possible after I got the Instant Pot electric pressure cooker!
After researching pressure cooker pasta recipes from hippressurecooking.com and pressurecookingtoday.com, I decided to give it a try with my ideal no hassle ingredients - one bag of dried pasta, one jar of pasta sauce and one pack of ground beef! On my first try it worked, with the pasta being al dente!
The trick to cooking al dente pasta in the electric pressure cooker is clearly explained here by hippressurecooking.com. You look at the package of the pasta for the total time needed to normally cook the pasta. The pressure cooker will require half that amount of time!
This bag of pasta I used cooks normally in 11 minutes, so I halved it and rounded it up to 6 minutes pressure cooker time. I may add on another minute or two next time, as I prefer softer-than-aldente pasta after my jaw surgery.
The Instant Pot has a "Saute" feature which allows you to stir fry ingredients in the pot (without the lid on) before using the pressure cooker function. I sauted the ground beef so that it would be in pieces before cooking with the pasta (1, 2).
For the pressure cooker to work properly, it's important to put enough liquid so that the pot will be able to build up pressure. I found that after putting in the pasta sauce (3), I only needed to fill up the empty pasta sauce jar full of water to completely cover the dried pasta (4). I didn't even need to use a measuring cup - one less thing to wash!
Before making this recipe, I highly recommend reading these tips that help with ensuring a good pressure seal and opening the lid safely.
Completed pasta dish in 30 minutes from start to finish! Give it a good stir!
Enjoy this super no-hassle recipe!
One Pot Pressure Cooker Beef Ragu Pasta
Instant Pot Pork Rib Adobo
The savory and vinegary flavors of pork adobo make it a delicious and hearty dish to go with rice! I also love this dish because both the pork adobo and rice can be cooked together in the Instant Pot. A one pot meal ready in under an hour without having to stand over the stove--that's the kind of meal I like to cook!
I used pork ribs in this dish, but other cuts of pork can be used. I've also used cubed boneless pork loin chops. I found that the adobo is more tender if there is a bit of fat in the meat.
The garlic is sauteed in the Instant Pot, then the ribs, seasonings and water are added.
If you want to steam your rice in the Instant Pot while the adobo is cooking, add a metal rack on top of the adobo, then put a stainless steel bowl with raw rice and water. Make sure the bowl fits and is below the "MAX" mark on the pot.
I use apple cider vinegar, but other kinds of vinegar can be used too. As for soysauce, I had this organic Kikoman soysauce on hand that I used for this dish. I've also used the low sodium Kikoman soysauce for the pork adobo.
The Instant Pot is set to Manual, Low Pressure, for 35 minutes.
I have a feeling that natural or slow release makes the meat more tender, while quick release can sometimes remove the juices from the meat, making it tougher. Does anyone have any thought about this?
The pork adobo ribs are tender and flavorful. This is a dish that makes me want to eat at home instead of going out to a restaurant!
Pork Adobo Ribs (or Stew)
2 lbs baby back ribs cut into 2-rib pieces (or 1.5 lbs boneless pork loin chops, cut into 1 inch cubes)
More of my Instant Pot Recipes.
Instant Pot Applesauce
Applesauce is an easy and healthy snack to make from any apples that you have on hand!
It's a great way to use up extra apples that you have. Most kinds of apples can be used, as long as it's not too soft.
The Instant Pot, an electric pressure cooker, cooks the apples in no time!
I had 4 Braeburn apples that I used to make applesauce. They are a bit softer than Gala or Fuji apples.
After peeling the skin off, I cubed the apples and put them into the Instant Pot.
The Instant Pot was then set to "Manual", then the time adjusted to 2 minutes.
Instant Pot Applesauce
Instant Pot BBQ Spareribs
Delicious BBQ spareribs are so simple and affordable to make in the Instant Pot, you'll want to make these all the time!
All the ingredients can be bought from Costco! Extra marinated raw spareribs can be frozen, so I can whip up this dish in no time!
The Instant Pot, an electric pressure cooker, cooks the spareribs until they are tender. Then the ribs are glazed with BBQ sauce in the toaster oven, oven or Nuwave oven. These are the best BBQ spareribs I've had, and they're so easy to make!
I bought all my ingredients from Costco: 3 full slabs of baby back pork ribs, dry rub seasoning (McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning) and BBQ sauce.
Since I wasn't going to eat all 3 slabs of ribs, I cut each slab of rib in half (1) and marinated each side of the ribs with the dry rub seasoning (2). I put 2 half-slabs of marinated ribs in a gallon-sized ziplock bag, then froze it (3).
If you're in a rush for time, you can buy the pre-marinated raw spareribs from Costco. This will save time to marinate.
The Instant Pot can fit all 3 full slabs of ribs (6 half-slabs of ribs). This recipe works for one half-slab to six half-slabs of ribs. With one cup of water in the Instant Pot, add the metal rack, and put the half-slab of ribs upright (1). Press Manual, and adjust the time to 25 minutes (2). The meat should still remain on the bone, but soft enough to fall off the bone easily (3).
The next part is to glaze the BBQ sauce onto the ribs. I used the Nuwave oven. A toaster oven or regular oven would work as well.
Put some BBQ sauce on the underside of the ribs (1), then spread it evenly on the surface (2). I set the Nuwave oven to 420 degrees for 5 minutes (3, 4), or until the BBQ sauce is bubbling. Flip the ribs over to glaze the other side.
Instant Pot BBQ Spareribs
Instant Pot Bak Kut Teh Herbal Rib Soup
Bak Kut Teh is a meaty soup with deep herbal flavors. It usually takes hours of slow cooking to make the meat tender and for the flavors of the garlic and shitake mushrooms to come out. With the Instant Pot electric pressure cooker, the whole process is shortened to under an hour, with only 30 minutes of pressure cooking time!
Looking for more Instant Pot Recipes?
Instant Pot Steamed Tomatoes
When I need to cook a large batch of tomatoes or peel the skin off tomatoes, the Instant Pot can do the job easily!
It only took a few minutes of cook time, and I had room to cook even more than a dozen tomatoes!
I had a big batch of tomatoes to cook, otherwise they would go to waste. I lightly steamed them in the Instant Pot, and froze them so that I could use them in recipes later on.
After putting one cup of water at the bottom of the pot, followed by the metal rack, I placed the tomatoes in a layer.
There was plenty of room to stack more tomatoes on top.
Then I closed the lid and set it to manual cook for 2 minutes.
Pressure Cooker Steamed Tomatoes
Instant Pot Steel Cut Oatmeal (Apples + Raisins)
Healthy steel cut oatmeal usually takes a long time to cook, but with the Instant Pot, it's super fast and easy to cook!
I cooked apples and raisins along with the steel cut oatmeal to make this a delicious complete breakfast.
The Instant Pot, an electric pressure cooker, cuts down the time to cook steel cut oatmeal.
I bought a large 7 pound bag of organic steel cut oatmeal at Costco. I decided to add raisins and an apple to this batch of oatmeal.
I first lightly toasted the oatmeal with some butter on "Saute" (1). This gives the oatmeal a nuttier and richer flavor. Then I turned off the "Saute" to prevent any burning. Next the apples and raisins were added (2). Followed by water (3). The Instant Pot was then set to 15 minutes "Manual" (4).
The oatmeal had a little bit of bite to it. I prefer it softer and creamier, so the next time I cooked it at 25 minutes and it was perfect.
Instant Pot Steel Cut Oatmeal (Apples + Raisins)
One Pot Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
Homemade chicken noodle soup made within 30 minutes from frozen chicken breasts, dried pasta, carrots and celery in one pot! Easy and quick chicken noodle soup, made possible with the instant pot!
The Instant Pot makes it possible to throw in frozen meat, raw veggies and dried pasta, press a few buttons, and out comes a delicious chicken noodle soup!
The main ingredients can be stocked up so you can whip this recipe up quickly: frozen chicken breasts (Trader Joes), Fusilli pasta (Trader Joes), carrots and celery!
I found that the frozen organic boneless and skinless chicken breasts from Trader Joes are really handy to have for quick last-minute meals. Each chicken breast is individually frozen, so you can easily take out however many pieces you need. It costs $5.99/lb, which is a great deal for organic chicken breasts. Each bag has 5-6 pieces, and costs around $13-16.
I took 2 frozen chicken breasts and put it at the bottom of the instant pot (1). Then I chopped up a few carrots and stalks of celery and put it in the pot (2). Next came the herbs. I added 2 cubes of frozen chopped up garlic (from Trader Joes), some dried thyme and salt (3). I poured the whole bag of dried pasta on top (4).
I added water until it covered all the dried pasta (5). I put the lid on, pressed "Manual", then adjusted the cook time to 10 minutes (6).
When the 10 minutes was up, I took the 2 chicken breasts out, cut up the tender chicken and mixed it back into the chicken noodle soup (7).
Give this easy chicken noodle soup a try!
One Pot Pressure Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup
4-6 servings.
More of my Instant Pot Recipes.
One Pot Instant Pot Chicken Spinach Pasta
Chicken, spinach and pasta - from raw to cooked in only one pot! Does it sound too good to be true? Did I tell you there's also no cutting involved either? This delicious dish is ready from start to finish in 30 minutes or less!
Making one-pot pasta is now super easy with the Instant Pot electric pressure cooker!
Once you learn the trick to cook al dente pasta in the Instant Pot here, from hippressurecooking.com, you can make all sorts of delicious one-pot pastas!
You look at the package of the pasta for the total time needed to normally cook the pasta. The pressure cooker will require half that amount of time!
This bag of pasta cooks normally in 11 minutes, so I halved it and rounded up (6 minutes), then added a few minutes to 8 minutes, as I like this pasta a little softer than al dente.
The ingredients I had on hand for this recipe were: a 1-lb bag of organic Penne pasta (Costco), a 1-lb bag of frozen organic spinach (Sprouts), a pack of fresh organic chicken drumsticks (5 count, Trader Joes) and a jar of organic Bertolli pasta sauce (Costco).
I took the skin off the drumsticks and put them at the bottom of the instant pot (1). Then I poured the entire bag of pasta (2) and the entire jar of pasta sauce (3). I filled up the empty pasta sauce jar completely with water, then put the lid back on and gave it a good shake. All that water went into the pot as well. I made sure to add enough water so the pasta was all covered (4).
Next, I poured the whole bag of frozen spinach onto the top (5). I didn't stir the spinach, as it will cook quickly and should be left at the top of all the ingredients. After I gave the rim of the inner pot a good wipe (*any sauce on the rim may cause the lid to not seal well!), I put the lid on and pressed "Manual", then adjusted the cook time to 8 minutes (6)!
The chicken was tender, and the pasta was flavorful. A quick and easy meal!
One Pot Pressure Cooker Chicken Spinach Pasta
More of my Instant Pot Recipes.
One Pot Instant Pot Kale Beef Pasta
A one-pot meal made in the Instant Pot with simple and nutritious ingredients from Costco and Trader Joes! Baby kale, onion, ground beef, dried pasta and pasta sauce are all that you need!
The Instant Pot electric pressure cooker makes it possible to cook all these ingredients together, and the pasta still turns out al dente! The trick to cooking al dente pasta in the Instant Pot is explained here by hippressurecooking.com. You look at the package of the pasta for the total time normally needed to cook the pasta. The Instant Pot cook time will be half that amount of time for al dente pasta!
This recipe was made with a bag of Farfalle pasta (Trader Joes), a red onion, a bag of organic baby kale (Costco), frozen grass-fed ground beef (defrosted, Trader Joes), and a jar of pasta sauce (Trader Joes).
I browned the diced onions on "Saute" (1), followed by sauting the ground beef so that it was in pieces (2). The entire bag of dried pasta was poured on top (3), followed by the entire jar of pasta sauce (4).
The empty pasta sauce jar was filled with water, then poured into the pot. I made sure to add water so that it covered all the dried pasta (5). Lastly, I added the raw baby kale to the top, not stiring it, as the baby kale will cook quickly and can be left at the top of all the ingredients (6).
A very important step is to wipe the rim of the inner pot after all the ingredients are put in (7). This ensures a good seal when the lid is put on. After the lid is in the locked position, I pressed "Manual", then decreased the time to 8 minutes (8).
Before making this recipe, I highly recommend reading these tips that help with ensuring a good pressure seal and opening the lid safely. Once the cooking time was up, I put a cloth on the side of the lid with the steam release handle, then used a long utensil to flip open the handle.
Completed pasta dish in 30 minutes from start to finish! Give it a good stir!
One Pot Pressure Cooker Kale Beef Pasta
Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
Sweet and tender sweet potatoes are easy to make in the instant pot!
An entire 3 pound bag sweet potatoes (yams) can be steamed in the instant pot. Perfect for a healthy snack, baby food, or even frozen to eat later!
The Instant Pot, an electric pressure cooker, can cook an entire bag of sweet potatoes with the press of a few buttons.
I bought this three pound bag of organic sweet potatoes at Trader Joes for $3.99. I find that these are consistently sweet and tender (without stringy fibers).
I soaked them in water to get the dirt off the skins, followed by a good scrub.
After putting in the metal trivet into the instant pot, one cup of water goes in. The sweet potatoes are then layered on top.
I pressed the manual setting, then adjusted the time to 10 minutes.
Piping hot and tender sweet potatoes now ready! I removed the skins so you can see how delicious they are! To make baby food, just remove all the skins, and smash it with a spoon.
A whole bag of sweet potatoes may take a while to finish, so they can be frozen for later. I took the skins off the sweet potatoes that I wanted to freeze, then put them on a tray lined with plastic saran wrap without touching each other. I put them into the freezer overnight, then into a ziplock bag and stored in the freezer.
Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes