Instant Pot Recipes Anyone?

[+ Gar1eth]

I bought an Instant Pot. Here are some of the things I've made---spaghetti which I really like (Ok it uses jarred sauce and isn't a good as my Mom's homemade, but it's ready in about 30 minutes or less. I brown a pound of ground beef with and add premade meatballs), Hungarian goulash which wasn't bad, pot roast (was ok-but I feel the same way about slow cooker pot roast too- the meat always tastes boiled to me), and a chicken pot roast equivalent which wasn't bad. 
 

The most surprising thing I've made in it is a Pineapple Upside Down Cake which was  good. It doesn't get caramelized like it would in the oven or an iron pan. But it really was delicious!! My Mom was skeptical, but she became a convert after tasting. 

I found these recipes on a site called Pressure Luck Cooking. The founder of the site, Jeffrey Eisner, happens to be a fellow Friend of Dorothy. He has an interesting story. He worked in advertising. He had an Instant Pot (from here forward to be known as an IP if I use the term again) but hadn't really used it. He became interested, started developing recipes, and published his first cookbook right as Covid hit. Since then he's published 3 more. His cookbooks have been a hit on Amazon, and he's made the rounds of various TV shows. 
 

Here's his website. There's also  YouTube Video. Look up Pressure Luck Pineapple Upside Down Cake. 
 

Home

PRESSURELUCKCOOKING.COM

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Bringing you the tastiest, easiest and best recipes around - no experience required!

He uses Ekovana Stackable Steamer Pans for this recipe. They can be found on Amazon  

 

 

 And here's the recipe. I might add if you make it, that I'd use the longer cooking time. I don't know if that was the reason. But the first time I made it, I used the shorter time, and the cake was still uncooked at the end. Maybe there was too much batter (the recipe makes 2 cakes). 
 

Instant Pot Pineapple Upside Down Cake

PRESSURELUCKCOOKING.COM

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I'd tell you to turn your world upside-down with this one, but one bite and you're gonna knock yourself on the...

So without further ado...

 

  YIELD: 6
Instant Pot Pineapple Upside Down Cake
I'd tell you to turn your world upside-down with this one, but one bite and you're gonna knock yourself on the floor. A huge (and simple) crowd-pleaser.
PREP TIME COOK TIME
5 minutes 1 hour 25 minutes
TOTAL TIME
1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients
1 box of Pineapple Cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Pineapple Supreme)

3 extra large eggs (since 3 is an odd number, if halving the recipe use 2 small eggs)

20 oz can of Pineapple Rings in their juices (NOT in heavy syrup – there is a difference and the can will specify), with the rings separated from the juice. There will be 10 rings in the can

1/2 cup of canola oil (vegetable oil is fine too but I suggest canola for this)

1/4 cup of water

3.4 oz packet of Vanilla Jell-O Instant Pudding mix (make sure it’s “Instant”)

1 stick (1/2 cup) of salted butter

1 cup of dark brown sugar, packed

Maraschino cherries, stem removed

Instructions
1. In a Kitchen Aid stand mixer or in a mixing bowl using a hand mixer, add the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, the juice (and only the juice) from the can of pineapple slices, canola oil and water. Blend well (on speed level 4 if using a Kitchen Aid stand mixer) until all of the lumps are out and it’s nice and smooth
2. Taking pans (I am using my Ekovana pans because they are PERFECT for this) that are about 7-7.5′′ in diameter and about 2.5′′ high, lightly spray some non-stick cooking spray along the bottom and sides. 
3. Place the butter in a bowl and melt in the microwave for 60 seconds. Then add the brown sugar and mix together well. This amount is meant for two pans, so equally distribute the butter brown sugar mixture into each pan so that it coats the bottom of each
4. Lay in the pineapple rings and put a cherry in the hole of each filling in any other spaces with more cherries
5. Pour HALF of the batter into each pan. Assuming you’re using a 2.5′′ height pan, it should not go much higher than half height of the pan (it’s okay if it goes a LITTLE over)
6. Cover the pan(s) with tin foil (or, if using the Ekovana pans, secure the lid and fasten one of them in the caddy it comes with)
7. In the Instant Pot, add the trivet and a cup of water. Rest the foil/lid covered pans on top of it. If using a pan other than the Ekovana, make a sling out of aluminum foil to easily get the pan out of the Instant Pot when done cooking. If you don’t feel like making a sling, just be careful when you lower the pot and be very careful when removing it after cooking
8. Secure the lid and cook in one of two ways: Either on “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” for 50 minutes on High Pressure with a 30 minute natural release -OR- for 40 minutes on High Pressure with a FULL natural (no quick) release (about 40 minutes). Either way will work perfectly fine
9. When done, carefully remove the pan from the Instant Pot and let cool for about 5 minutes. Place a plate larger than the pan’s diameter over the top, hold together securely and quickly flip it upside down. The cake will simply slide RIGHT out of the pan and transfer beautifully to the plate.
10. Serve right away or a few hours away – whenever you want! After your first slice (because, let’s face it, you’re not going to be able to wait) if you keep it at room temperature for a while the cake will begin to soak in that INSANE brown butter sauce and the experience will be taken to the next level!
11. ENJOY! ?
Jeffrey's

The recipe has enough batter for two cakes. Only make one cake at a time. 
If you have two Instant Pots, you can make them simultaneously. If not, you can make one after the other OR just cut the recipe in half and save the rest of the cake mix for another day!
        

 

Edited October 11, 2023 by Gar1eth

[Minneapolis]

Chicken Soup is my favorite thing to make in the pressure cooker.  Get a rotisserie chicken, take off the meat.  Into the InstaPot goes the carcass with one roughly chopped onion, garlic, a little Soy sauce,  salt and MOST IMPORTANTLY 1-2 bay leaves.   Put it on high pressure for 30 minutes and you have an awesome broth.  Shred the meat, put it back in the pot with some chopped carrots snd celery.  Put the lid on and cook for 3 minutes on High pressure. Instant release and enjoy!  At this point you can put a cup of noodles in and boil them until tender.  
 

I have a straining basket I use from an old pressure cooker I had before the InstaPot.  Great for removing the chicken bones and used onion and bay leaves. 
 

I also keep using the bones to make extra stock for other recipes and freezing it in canning jars.  

[Marc in Calif]

On 10/11/2023 at 10:58 AM, Gar1eth said:

I found these recipes on a site called Pressure Luck Cooking. The founder of the site, Jeffrey Eisner, happens to be a fellow Friend of Dorothy. 

Best name ever! I've now bookmarked it along with my other InstaPot cooking sites. Thank you! 👐

[handiacefailure]

Now that spaghetti squash is in season, I've been using mine a lot for that.   Also works great in the summer when fresh green or yellow beans are in season, just put in a cup of water and set it for high for zero minutes and do a quick release    Just the heat and steam from the build up is heat enough to cook them.

For single guys, amazon has a singles cookbook for instant pot  and it's available in the kindle library

 

[+ JEC]

This is my favorite Instant Pot recipe, I use 1.5 X the spices, so yummy:

 

Instant Pot Coconut Tandoori-Inspired Chicken Recipe - Pinch of Yum

PINCHOFYUM.COM

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Coconut Tandoori Chicken made with rich spices and creamy coconut milk. Ridiculously easy (like, 5 minutes hands-on time) and so, so yummy! My new favorite...

 

[+ friendofsheila]

i'm so oldfashioned I've got a slowcooker fromt the 1970's, and a pressure cooker from about 1940.

so I don't know the answer to this:  didn't instapot go out of businesss?

[+ Gar1eth]

On 11/2/2023 at 4:08 PM, JEC said:

This is my favorite Instant Pot recipe, I use 1.5 X the spices, so yummy:

 

Instant Pot Coconut Tandoori-Inspired Chicken Recipe - Pinch of Yum

PINCHOFYUM.COM

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Coconut Tandoori Chicken made with rich spices and creamy coconut milk. Ridiculously easy (like, 5 minutes hands-on time) and so, so yummy! My new favorite...

 

Sorry for taking so long to reply. I just saw this. I like the flavor profile-but I don't really like shredded chicken-so I'd most likely keep the chicken whole.  I also might brown them a bit first. 

On 6/14/2025 at 6:11 PM, friendofsheila said:

i'm so oldfashioned I've got a slowcooker fromt the 1970's, and a pressure cooker from about 1940.

so I don't know the answer to this:  didn't instapot go out of businesss?

From Wikipedia -that fount of all knowledge-they declared bankruptcy in 2023, and were bought out by a private equity firm in 2024. So they are still chugging away.
 

Also @friendofsheila-you may know this-but a common complaint of newer slow cookers is that they heat a lot hotter than the old ones. This is probably by design as they want to make sure the food is heated up at the proper temperature quickly enough to prevent dangerous levels of bacteria from building up. 
 

Apparently either a lot of older slow cookers didn't heat up enough for the food to be safe from the get go-or they just don't work as well in their later years. 
 

It might be prudent to check yours to make sure it's heating correctly. (I'm concerned about your health). 
 

Here is one test I found from Michigan State University website. 
 

Making sure your slow cooker

is cooking adequately.

To test your slow cooker’s heating capacity:

1.  Fill the slow cooker with water about one-half to

two-thirds full.

2.  Heat the slow cooker covered on low for eight

hours.

3.  Using a food thermometer, quickly check the

temperature of the water as the temperature will

drop when you remove the lid.

4.  The temperature of the water should be 185 °F. If

the temperature is below 185°F, your slow cooker

does not heat food properly to avoid foodborne

illness.

 

Edited June 16 by Gar1eth

[+ friendofsheila]

thank you garleth.