"2 Minute" Recipes - 365 Days of Slow Cooking and Pressure Cooking (2024)
One thing that I love about my Instant Pot is how it can speed up the cooking process. Even if I don’t exactly plan dinner ahead of time I can still throw something into the Instant Pot and get it on the table within a short amount of time. Today I’m going to be sharing with you 2 minute recipes (recipes that take 2 minutes of pressure cooking time or less in the Instant Pot).
First off I want to clarify what 2 minutes of pressure cooking time actually means. When a recipe says to set the pressure cook button to 2 minutes that doesn’t actually mean it will be done in two minutes. Sad but true. The pot will take time to build the pressure. Building the pressure can take a long time if the pot is full of a cold liquid. I’ve had recipes take 20 minutes or maybe even more time to build pressure.
If the pot just has a small amount of food and liquid in it, it will generally build pressure faster. If the liquid you add is warmed up that will cut down on pressure building time. I like to turn my Instant Pot to the saute setting while I add in the liquid so it can sort of “preheat” in a way. I’ve had the pot build pressure in as little time as 5 minutes. Generally the Instant Pot takes about 10 minutes to build pressure.
Once the pot has reached pressure the Instant Pot will start counting down the time that you have set. This will be the time that the food is cooked under pressure. Once the pot beeps indicating that the time is up you have one more step. You must release the pressure before removing the lid. In fact, you physically won’t be able to remove the lid while there is still pressure in the Instant Pot. This is one of their many safety features.
You can move the valve to venting immediately and perform a quick release. Steam will escape from the pot and it will take a couple of minutes to release it all. Then you’ll be able to remove the lid. Or you can use a natural release which is just letting the pot sit there for several minutes until all the pressure has naturally dissipated and then remove the lid. Or you can do a combination of the quick release and natural release. This is what I use most often. This means you’ll let the pot sit for 5 or 10 minutes and then move the valve to venting to release any pressure that is left.
So when I say 2 minute recipes it’s going to be more like 5-10 minutes of pressure building time + 2 minutes pressure cooking time + pressure releasing time (5 minutes-10 minutes). However, this is ALL time that you don’t have to do a thing. You can clean up your dishes. You can set the table and fill up your water glasses. You can prepare a salad. You can throw a batch of laundry in. The Instant Pot saves you time period. Whether that’s the cooking time or the time that you can get other things done instead of babysitting the cooking food.
So without further ado here are 5 Instant Pot recipes with 2 minute (or less) pressure cooking times:
Garlic Herb Pork Chops with Green Beans
This one pot meal can be made in minutes. The pork chops and green beans are full of rich buttery herb flavors. Serve as is for a low-carb meal or serve with your favorite starch (potatoes, rice or noodles).
Pasta Primavera
A meatless pasta and vegetable dish. Rigatoni pasta is cooked quickly in your pressure cooker along with tomatoes, fresh green beans, carrots, mushrooms, garlic and zucchini. The whole dish is tossed with grated parmesan cheese.
Tortellini Soup with Parmesan, Chicken Sausage and Mushrooms
My husband said “this is maybe the best soup I’ve ever had!” It’s slightly creamy (but doesn’t go overboard with dairy) and has amazing flavor thanks to the chicken sausage. It also has a nice pop of color from the chopped spinach. This soup can be made in minutes with your electric pressure cooker.
Sausage Pepperoni Spinach Ravioli
Ravioli is cooked in a marinara sauce with Italian sausage, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese and spinach for asuper fast and easyone pot meal.
Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Reminiscent of Panera Bread’s broccoli cheddar soup this pressure cooker versionhas chopped broccoli, shredded carrots and celery simmered in a velvety smooth cheese sauce. I believe this version is just as good or better than you could order at any restaurant! Try it for dinner this week.
If you liked this check out my ZERO minute pressure cooking times article.
What Pressure Cooker Do You Use?
I use a 6 quartInstant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.
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*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Still, most electric pressure cookers and nearly all multicookers have a “Slow Cook” button as part of a whole suite of options on the pot. And yes, almost all work like a separate slow cooker does.
To ensure you have the right amount of liquid in the final dish, add half a cup more liquid than you want to be left with to account for the small amount of evaporation. Once you've figured out the liquid, you can determine the cooking time by reducing the original cooking time by two-thirds.
Whether you're preparing it for chicken or steak, Diane is a pan sauce made from the same set of ingredients. Recipes vary, but most include butter, broth, brandy, cream, Dijon mustard, and Worcestershire, often with shallots and fresh herbs.
Generally, if your slow cooker meat, soup, or stew recipe calls for 8 hours on the low setting or about 4 hours on the high setting, it should be fully cooked in about 25 to 30 minutes in the Instant Pot. For chicken or turkey, use the 15-minute poultry button. While volume doesn't matter, density does.
Both slow cookers and pressure cookers do a good job of tenderizing tough meat, but each makes meat more edible in a different way. A pressure cooker is an enclosed pot with a lid that locks to form an airtight seal.
The difference between "High" and "Low" on slow cookers seems to differ with every brand and model. One thing that is consistent, though, is that food takes seven to eight hours to reach a simmer point (around 210°) on low; versus three to four hours on high.
Let's say you want to slow cook a pork roast recipe that calls for 8 hours on Low, but you need it done in much less than 8 hours. Switching to High for the sake of time savings can leave you with a roast that's dried out or even burned on the exterior, but undercooked and not at a food-safe temperature in the center.
Change cooking times depending on your schedule. One hour on HIGH generally equals two hours on LOW. Add pasta at the end of the cooking process or it may become mushy. You may want to cook pasta seperatly and add it just before serving.
It's tough, less flavorful, and dry. How to tell if your meat is way overcooked in the pressure cooker? It's tenderized, but dry and flavorless (without the sauce). Some people call this the distinct “pressure cooker taste”.
The pressure inside the cooker builds up rapidly, exceeding the safety limit. The sudden release of this excessive pressure can result in an explosion, sending hot steam and food flying in all directions. Not only can this cause severe burns and injuries, but it can also damage your kitchen.
What is this white goo? It's protein and water released from the chicken's muscle fibers. Heat causes these fibers to contract, displacing some of the juices. If the chicken already has a nick in it, or if you insert a meat thermometer into the muscle to check the internal temperature, those juices rush out.
The white stuff coming out of chicken as it cooks is simply extra protein that dissolves in water and is forced out of the meat by heat. Food scientist Topher McNeil, PhD, explains, “The [chicken] muscles themselves actually contract and squeeze out the liquid that's in between muscle cells.”
Another tip, taken from an Instant Pot Facebook group, is to open the valve all the way on your Instant Pot lid when slow cooking. This allows some moisture and steam to release and keeps the Instant Pot from overcooking your slow cooker recipes.
If you want to turn it on and leave it to cook while you're at work, then a slow cooker is for you. But if you want to cook delicious meals quickly that would normally take hours, then a pressure cooker is for you.
As for convenience, because a pressure cooker cooks so darn fast, you aren't sacrificing all that much on that front, either. Anything that takes eight hours to cook in a slow cooker can be cooked in about 45 minutes in a pressure cooker, and most things cook much, much faster even than that.
Introduction: My name is Kimberely Baumbach CPA, I am a gorgeous, bright, charming, encouraging, zealous, lively, good person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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