The Ultimate Instant Pot Guide For Beginners

The Instant Pot is an amazing device, but at first glance it’s pretty overwhelming. There are just so many buttons! How can you possibly choose the right ones for your dish? Luckily the Instant Pot isn’t actually that complex. You just need to know a bit about how it works and what the various functions do before you get started. To help you out, here is The Ultimate Instant Pot Guide for Beginners!

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The Ultimate Instant Pot Guide for Beginners

Basic Instant Pot Tips

First of all, make sure to read through the manual that came with your Instant Pot. Each model is different and some have more function buttons than others. For this guide, we’ll be using the 7 in 1 IP-DUO (6qt). The manual also includes some handy tips and suggestions about the various features. And it goes into detail on how important things, like the steam release handle, work.

Now before we get into my Instant Pot guide for beginners, the first thing you need to remember is that an Instant Pot is not just a pressure cooker. It can also sauté (like a frying pan) and cook things slowly (like a slow cooker). Getting additional accessories like a steam basket or small springform cake pan makes it even more versatile (because yes, you can even make cake in the Instant Pot!).

Also remember that an Instant Pot isn’t exactly instant. While the cook times for most foods in the Instant Pot are amazingly short, your Instant Pot will also need time to get up to pressure and time to release that pressure. So something with a 10 minute cook time could actually take 25 minutes from start to finish. But still, most of that time passes without you having to actively interact with the Instant Pot, so compared to cooking on a stove top, you’re still saving a lot of time!

One last thing before I start this Instant Pot guide for beginners- be aware that many foods are best cooked with additional liquid (water or broth) added. The Instant Pot needs this to create the appropriate steam to cook your food fully. Thick liquids (like cream of soups) don’t count. Dairy also doesn’t pressure cook well.

The Instant Pot‘s Basic Controls

This wouldn’t be a good Instant Pot guide for beginners if we didn’t discuss the basic controls! Below is a picture of the control panel for the IP we’re using for this guide:

Underneath your Instant Pot‘s LED display is a section that says “Low Pressure” and “High Pressure.” The pressure button changes these when you’re doing a manual program.

Under the pressure indicators is an area that says “Less | Normal | More.” These are called the mode indicators. The “Adjust” button changes these. This will affect the cook time. You can’t use the Adjust button for the Rice or Manual functions.

Under the mode indicators are a minus symbol and a plus symbol. You can push the minus or plus to manually adjust the cook time. You can change the cook time for all the function buttons except for the “Rice” function. This is important, because different foods of the same category (like different beans) take a different amount of time to cook.

Below that are the “Adjust,” “Timer,” “Manual,” and “Keep Warm/Cancel” buttons (the exact location of these buttons may vary a little across different Instant Pot models). I already covered the “Adjust” button and will discuss “Manual” in a bit.

The Timer button is used to delay when the Instant Pot starts heating up and working. So if you set a timer for 1 hour, it’ll start warming up in 1 hour, then go through the cook time you specified. Don’t use it for perishable foods that can go bad if left out at room temperature (like raw meat) or foods with a porridge-type consistency (they could mess up the float valve and overflow if left alone).

The Keep Warm/Cancel button can do either of the two things in its name. If your Instant Pot is running a cook program, pushing this button cancels it and puts the machine on standby. If the Instant Pot is on standby, pushing this turns on the keep warm program to keep your food warm until you’re ready to eat it. The Instant Pot will automatically go into keep warm mode after it finishes cooking.

Now let’s get down to the meat of this Instant Pot guide for beginners… the function buttons!

The Instant Pot‘s Function Buttons

Manual

 

I’m going to start this section of my Instant Pot how-to guide off with the manual button. It’s not technically classified as a function button, but I think it should be. I like it because it’s the one that gives you the most control. With this button you get to choose whether you cook your food at high or low pressure, and you can set your own cook time. If any of the preset buttons don’t work as you’d like, just go with the manual button! Once you become more used to working with your Instant Pot, you may decide to use this button most of the time.

 

Sauté

The sauté button is another button you’ll probably wind up using a lot. It saves you from dirtying a frying pan just to brown foods first (like you would have to do with a slow cooker). For best flavor, it’s usually a good idea to sauté your meats a bit first. You could also use this setting to sauté additional ingredients, like onions and bell peppers.

Soup

The soup button is for cooking liquids like soup (obviously) and also broth. What’s great about this function is that it makes the Instant Pot hot enough to get your liquid simmering, but not scalding hot. This way your soup ingredients don’t get too broken down.

Meat/Stew

This preset meat button is for non-poultry meats like beef and pork. It’s also for cooking thick stew-type meals. Use the Adjust button to change the final texture of the meat. Set your Instant Pot to the More setting if you want the meat to be very tender and more broken down.

Bean/Chili

Did you know that you can cook dry beans in your Instant Pot? It’s a great way to save money, compared with buying canned beans (especially if you eat organic). You can use this setting to cook your raw beans, or you could use it to cook bean-based dishes (like chili). I’d suggest using the Adjust button to set your Instant Pot to the More setting for thoroughly cooked, tender beans.

Poultry

This handy button will quickly become your favorite if you love chicken! You can even use it to cook frozen chicken if you forgot to defrost it. Use the Adjust button to change the final texture of the chicken, or to adjust the cook time for more or less chicken in the pot.

Rice

The rice button essentially gives your Instant Pot the ability to also be a rice cooker. As mentioned earlier, you can’t change the cook time for this function. Your Instant Pot will set its own time based on how heavy your rice is. The rice can be raw or parboiled.

Multigrain

This Instant Pot function is one of the more complex ones. It’s designed, as it says, for multigrains. So if you’re cooking wild rice, brown rice, quinoa, lentils, and other hardy grains (or mixtures of several of those grains), then you’ll want to use this function. If you press the “More” button, the Instant Pot will include soak time, which is handy if your grain requires it. This setting does take some time, though. “Normal” is 40 minutes of active cooking time, “Less” is 20 minutes, and “More” is 45 minutes of soaking + 1 hour of cooking.

Porridge

I’ve seen this button have different names for different models, but it’s the same idea. It will make porridge out of grains like oats or rice. Use the “Normal” mode for rice porridge and the “More” mode for porridge made of other types of grain or beans. With this setting you have to use the natural release or else your porridge could splatter out of the steam release.

Steam

This function is the best for cooking crisp veggies! It’s also great for seafood. You’ll want to use this one with plenty of additional liquid, and put your food in the steam rack or buy a steam basket to use. And at the end, use the quick release. The natural release will take too long and the food will wind up overcooked.

Slow Cook

We’re nearing the end of my Instant Pot Guide for beginners, but I don’t want you to go without knowing about this handy feature. It essentially allows you to use your Instant Pot like your slow cooker! Use the plus and minus buttons to change the time and use the Adjust button to change the heat level. Not every slow cooker recipe can convert to an Instant Pot set to “Slow Cook,” but it’s definitely worth a try!

Yogurt

If your Instant Pot has this feature, you can use it as a yogurt maker! You can either make it straight in the Instant Pot’s inner pot or you can make your yogurt in glass jars. There are several steps to this process, so if you’re interested in this, you’ll want to consult your model’s manual.

And there you have it- the ultimate Instant Pot guide for beginners! Now you’re ready to go try your first Instant Pot recipe. Have fun!

What function button do you think you’ll be using the most?

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