I must have been living under a rock, because the first time I really heard about an Instant Pot was about 3 weeks ago.
My husband sent me a really easy looking recipe he had found for butter chicken. I took a look at it, and told him it looked really good, but that it was for something called an “Instant Pot”, which we didn’t have.
I read the article again, and the woman was talking about how she used an Instant Pot to make it, and how it made the Indian recipe not only so easy and quick to make, but really flavorful, like she had taken hours to do it.
Since I love Indian food, that really made me take pause. Maybe I need one of these things. So I called my sister, and asked her what she thought. She reminded me that she had one that she used often, and that I could borrow it for a few days to try it out. Why buy something if I’m not sure I would use it?
I took her up on that suggestion. You see, I have a slow cooker taking up space in my kitchen. I think I used it twice. So the last thing I wanted was another cooking device I wasn’t going to use.
She brought it over and the first thing I said was that I don’t want one anymore.
It’s pretty big.
It takes up a decent amount of space if you don’t have a big kitchen. I don’t have a big kitchen.
So all of the sudden, my goal switched from “let’s try this Instant Pot, hope we like it, and go out and buy one”, to “let’s prove that this Instant Pot isn’t any better than the stove, and then we don’t have to go buy one!”
Instead of making dinner with the Instant Pot that night, my idea all of the sudden became this.
Let’s split it in half. Make half of the chicken with the Instant Pot, the other half on the stove like I normally would.
Now, I couldn’t halve the actual recipe, because the Instant Pot needs around a cup of liquid in it to be used. So I figured extra sauce isn’t to bad…and didn’t use less of that. Just put half of the chicken in each.
I did two nights worth of tests, hoping upon all hope that the Instant Pot wouldn’t make a difference, and I wouldn’t want one.
Night 1: Instant Pot Honey Sesame Chicken Recipe
As soon as my sister left, I started looking online for a simple recipe with things I had in the house. I found this, and thought it would be easy to try both in the Instant Pot and on the stove.
Bonus: This recipe told me EXACTLY what to press on my Instant Pot, which is great since my sister didn’t leave me with any instructions. So all I had to do was follow step by step what it told me to do, including what buttons to press.
While I’m cooking both, the first thing I notice is that because it takes time for the Instant Pot to build pressure, that the Instant Pot actually takes a few minutes longer to cook the chicken than it did on my stove. Not a big difference…but still. I didn’t see it cutting down the time it would take to make dinner with chicken.
Not a big deal, but so far, it’s not “better” than the stove.
A few minutes later, both chicken dishes are done, and we put each on our plates separately, so that we can taste test, and see if there is any difference. Hopefully, there will be no difference.
I try the one from the stove. It’s not bad.
Then I try the one from the Instant Pot. Now, I’m not one to curse…but the first thing that comes out of my mouth is “oh F@#$”. My husband doesn’t hear me…and about 30 seconds later does the exact same thing.
We both know right right away why people love the Instant Pot.
There was a HUGE difference between the two pieces of chicken.
One tasted like it had been made on the stove. It wasn’t bad. In fact, that’s how I make most of my dinners.
The other one tasted like it had been simmering for hours, infusing all of the different ingredients and flavors into it. It was more tender, more moist, and just overall better.
I mean, there was no contest. It was a completely different dinner. I would have believed that the chicken must have been marinated for days to taste this flavorful. It was a runaway.
We liked the Instant Pot.
A few days later, I’m still looking at that big piece of machinery, taking up a decent size of my counter top.
Maybe it was a fluke. Let’s try again. We’ll do the same thing. Half in the Instant Pot, half on the stove.
Night 2: Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken
This recipe also looked good, and like something that I could simultaneously make on both the stove and Instant Pot without an issue.
Again, the Instant Pot recipe took a few minutes longer than the stove. Both versions required me to saute the onions first. Not a big deal. This recipe didn’t tell me step by step what buttons to press, but after using it just the one time before, it was easy enough to figure out.
A short while later, we had dinner.
Now…first, we tried the Instant Pot version. It was very flavorful. Then we tried the version from the stove…and it was almost like we could taste each ingredient separately! The difference once again was huge. The Instant Pot tasted like it took days to prepare and the stove version wasn’t even close.
It turns out, we didn’t really like the recipe. I won’t be making it again. But it was still a perfect one to test with. The difference in taste was huge. We both would have believed they were made from different recipes. They tasted that different from one another.
It looks like I’m buying an Instant Pot.
I’m really looking forward to trying beef in there, as I can see it will not only take a lot less time than in the oven, but it will probably taste a lot better. I’m also looking forward to trying soup. I also heard that baked potatoes take about 15 minutes, which is a lot better than the hour it takes in the oven, so that should be really nice.
I just need Amazon to come back in stock with it. It turns out this Instant Pot is just slightly popular. There are over 26,000 reviews on it on Amazon alone. I’m getting the 6 quart version. I could probably get away with the 3 quart, but like the idea of having room for leftovers.
I’ve been looking at pricing, and it looks like the base price is $99.99. You can often get a deal on the Instant Pot at Kohl’s too. Actually, right now it’s on sale there (both the 3 quart and 6 quart are less than Amazon right now.) I’m only waiting for Amazon because I have gift cards that I want to use.
But for under $100, it’s going to be a great addition to my kitchen. My sister sent me a recipe a few days ago. You can even make Instant Pot Chocolate Lava Cake!
I will be trying that for sure. But probably after either a brisket recipe or something similar. I may be wrong, but I have feeling it will taste like it took days (or at least hours) to make, but take only a fraction of the time. I’ll post an update once I finally get the Instant Pot and make it. Knowing Amazon it will be soon.
In case you’re interested in checking out prices, you can get the Instant Pot at the following places (and maybe others, these are just the ones I found):
…and one last thing. I’ve only used the Pressure Cooker function (as well as the Sauté for about 2 minutes), but this version is a 7-in-1 Instant Pot. The other 6 functions are: Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Steamer, Sauté, Yogurt Maker, and Warmer.
Enjoy,
