Why I Love My Instant Pot

Have you fell victim to the Instant Pot craze yet? I have, and I promise that I am never turning back. Before, I would scroll through Pinterest and Facebook and see recipe after recipe adapted for the Instant Pot and roll my eyes and keep scrolling. I just thought that it was another gimmicky appliance. I never in a million years would have thought that I would use one. Then, I was gifted one for my birthday. I really didn't think much of it, but after I made my first recipe in it I was hooked. To this day, I have converted three people into Instant Pot users and I'm hoping to keep raising that number. Lucky for me, I'm a college student just getting started in collecting wares for my kitchen so it gave me a slow cooker, a rice cooker, a yogurt maker, and a pressure cooker all in one. I've experimented with lots of recipes and joined some groups on Facebook of fellow "pot-heads" and I love how I'm finding new things to try every day. 

The first recipe I tried was Platings + Pairings Cheesy Southwestern Lentils & Brown Rice. My roommate loved it so much that she didn't stop talking about it for a week. It not only cooked the lentils (unsoaked) in 30 minutes, but it gave us a delicious and semi-healthy (maybe I could do without the loads of cheese, but who wants that?) dinner that was completely hands-off. Since the IP is a pressure cooker, it makes cooking soups, stews, chilis, meat, rice, and beans a breeze. I wouldn't recommend cooking pasta in it because it usually comes out overcooked and since it's a closed system, the water doesn't evaporate and in my experience, it's kind of a mess. 

Here's some of my favorite things that I have cooked so far! 

White Chicken Chili

Cheesy Southwestern Lentils and Brown Rice

Macaroni and Cheese (after a lot of salvaging it actually turned out okay!)

Chicken Tortilla Soup