Megal Gilmore - The Fresh and Healthy Instant Pot Cookbook: 75 Easy Recipes for Light Meals to Make in Your Electric Pressure Cooker

Lets face it, we all struggle to eat healthy, nutritious meals on busy weeknights. When you just have to get food on the table, its easy to fall back on takeout, frozen meals, and other packaged convenience foods. That can add up quickly when youre on a budget, and this way of eating typically leaves me and my family feeling not so great. Thats why I love the Instant Pot. It makes healthy cooking easier, so I can enjoy nutritious, homemade meals on a regular basis.

When I first got my Instant Pot, I found it slightly intimidating and used it mostly for cooking basic food staples, like batches of quinoa, rice, and dry beans. That alone saved me time and effort, but it wasnt until I discovered that I could cook two dishes at once, using the pot-in-pot method (see ), that I truly fell in love. Now, I can easily make a complete meal in less than an hourwith most of that time being totally hands-off. I love being able to accomplish other tasks around my house while a healthy meal cooks to perfection.

With an Instant Pot, fast and flavorful dishes are within reach no matter how hectic life gets. The quick-cooking power of the Instant Pot means theres no need to spend hours in your kitchen hovering over the stove. And because pressure cooking has proven to be one of the best options available for protecting the nutrients in your food, the Instant Pot is an ideal way to make healthy eating achievable.

Healthy Cooking with the Instant Pot

What is it about the Instant Pot that makes it so well suited for healthy cooking? Well, first of all, the pressurized pot lowers the boiling point of water, so your food is rarely cooked at a temperature above 250F. Since cooking at high temperatures can reduce the nutrients present in food after cooking, it is thought that food cooked at lower temperatures may be more nutrient dense. Along the same lines, because the Instant Pot reduces your overall cooking time, food has less of a chance to lose its nutrients.

Another benefit of cooking with steam pressure is that it can intensify the flavors of your ingredients, and in some cases makes it unnecessary to saut aromatic ingredients before you get started. That means you can use less oil, or even avoid it entirely, while cooking in the Instant Pot. As a result, this may reduce the total number of calories in your meals and aid in weight loss.

Since the Instant Pot cooks food 50 to 70 percent faster than traditional cooking methods, it may also save you energy in the kitchenwith regard to both your own physical efforts and your homes electrical usage. Its considered a green energy choice, requiring less energy than your stove, oven, or even a slow cooker. You could save on your homes cooling bills, too, because the Instant Pot wont overheat your house. How cool is that?

Pressure cooking also makes healthy eating more affordable and accessible because you can easily cook dry beans, legumes, and grains from scratch in a fraction of the time they would take on the stove. Buying these items in bulk tends to be less expensive, and making them at home allows you to avoid the preservatives and additives found in canned and packaged convenience foods.

Unlike traditional cooking, you cant open the Instant Pot during the cooking process to check on your ingredients, so it is even more important than usual to have a trusted and foolproof collection of recipes at your disposal. I have you covered there. All of these recipes have been carefully tested and retested to ensure your meals will turn out perfectly when you finally open the lid.

Keep in mind that using an electric pressure cooker doesnt always shorten the total cooking time, but it will certainly reduce the amount of time you spend in the kitchen actively cooking. You dont need to wait by the stove for water to boil, and you dont run the risk of burning the bottom of the pan when you get distracted for just a second, because the Instant Pot times everything for you.

When using an Instant Pot, you have to keep in mind the amount of time it takes for the pot to come to pressure before the pressure cooking cycle begins, and the amount of time it takes the pot to release that pressure after the pressure cooking cycle ends. Depending on the ingredients in your pot, the time to come to pressure is similar to waiting for water to boil. The time it takes to release pressure differs depending on whether a recipe calls for a quick release or a natural release (see ). All of these recipes list the total time it takes to make the dish, so youll have a good idea of how many minutes it takes to prep the ingredients, bring the pot to pressure, cook the meal, and release the pressure. All of the times noted in this book are for a 6-quart Instant Pot, so if youre using an 8-quart pot, it may take several more minutes to pressurize, since that pot is larger. (As a result, vegetables tend to turn out softer when using this size pot, too.)

Having a realistic understanding of the time required to make each dish gives you the freedom to do something elsewhether thats prepare the rest of your dinner, spend time with your family, or catch up on some laundry. While the food may not always be ready in an instant, youll definitely feel like the ultimate multitasker!