Dishing Up: Instant Pot Turkey Bean Chili

So you own an Instant Pot?

Instant Pot. I’m not usually intimidated in the kitchen.

Until now.

You see, in addition to all those great cookbooks I got for Christmas, I also got an Instant Pot. Are you familiar? No? Okay, well let me explain. Instant Pot is a pressure cooker. But not just any old pressure cooker – it’s also a slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, saute pan, yogurt maker and  a warming pot. Seriously,  I don’t think there’s anything this thing can’t do.

And you know what? This thing cooks food fast. Real fast. I mean I successfully destroyed an entire bag of broccolini in three minutes flat. Three minutes. You can imagine my horror when I opened up the pot and discovered a pot full of green mush. Hmm – turns out pressure cooking reduces cooking time by 70%.

So apparently there’s a bit of a learning curve when it comes to using a pressure cooker. And so far steaming with the cooker appears to be my biggest challenge. When steaming, you only need a small amount of water and – depending what you’re steaming – a very small amount time. Which theoretically, is a very healthy way of cooking vegetables – you know when you don’t turn them into mush. If you cook vegetables with a small amount of water in a small amount of time, you’re helping retain all those water soluble vitamins.

But I can say that I have successfully made Homemade Stock in about a third of the time than it usually takes. I’ve also thrown in unsoaked dried beans and had them cooked perfectly within 30-40 minutes. This is especially handy since I can never seem to plan ahead with dried beans. But you know what – if you do pre-soak, it can take as little as 10 minutes!

In an effort to get over my intimidation, I attempted chili. Seemed pretty appropriate since the Super Bowl’s right around the corner. Chili and Super Bowl go together – right?! And I mean how hard could it be – there’s even a button that says chili! As it turns out it was pretty easy  if you ask me. Since there’s a saute function you can brown the meat and vegetables right in the pot, add seasonings, beans and liquid. Push a button and there you have it -chili.

Despite my intimidation do I like my new cooking vessel ? Yup. Why? It’s convenient. It’s versatile. It’s efficient. And I’m always up for a challenge in the kitchen.

What’s your favorite pressure cooker recipe?