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The Top Clever Instant Pot Hacks

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These Instant Pot Hacks will help you do even more with your beloved kitchen appliance than make delicious food. From cleaning tricks to clever new uses, you’ll find plenty of reasons to get more joy out of your Instant Pot below.

a collage of instant pots with title text reading Instant Pot Hacks Tricks & Clever Uses You'll Love!

Instant Pot Hacks

The makers of Instant Pot put a lot of thought into the design and not all of these design successes are obvious.

For example, my favorite feature is that the handles are designed to hold the lid upright so that you don’t have to set it on the counter.

an instant pot with the lid open on a kitchen counter

One thing about the design I didn’t like was the rim. This was a huge pain to clean until I realized that foam sponges work great!

an instant pot with a sponge being pushed on the rim with a wooden dowel with a kitchen sink in the background

After trying a dozen different ways to make hard-boiled eggs in my Instant Pot, a friend clued me into a super simple technique. Simply break each egg into one of these egg bite molds (being careful not to break the yolk.

egg molds

Cook on high pressure for 6 minutes, then quick release. Perfectly hard-boiled eggs and no need to peel! Thanks to Stephanie from Easy Instant Recipes for the tip.

Fun Things to Make in Your Instant Pot

I originally bought an Instant Pot to make dinner easier. I soon discovered that it can be used for so much more!

Bake A Cheesecake

One thing people go crazy for is Instant Pot Cheesecake. I talk about why this is a thing when I made this Instant Pot Peanut Butter Cheesecake.

More Dessert Options

If cheesecake isn’t your thing, that’s okay. You can still create an amazing dessert in your Instant Pot. I love this Instant Pot Flan from My Stay at Home Adventures.

And for all of the people, like me, who love the chewy inside pieces in a pan of brownies, you are going to love Instant Pot Brownies!

Can Some Jam

Because most of us who get an Instant Pot are new to pressure cooking in general, we often forget that a generation ago, pressure cooking was used primarily for canning. So, while it’s perhaps not innovative, making jam in your Instant Pot isn’t something most users plan to do when they get one.

I love this super simple recipe for Instant Pot Strawberry Jam from Mama Instincts.

Instant Pot Kettle Corn

When my friend Erin (from Sixth Bloom) told me she made popcorn in her Instant Pot, I had to try it. Seriously, this Instant Pot Kettle Corn is amazing and even better, really easy to make!

Make Homemade Vanilla Extract

I’ve always loved making homemade vanilla extract as an easy DIY gift. This video walks you through how to do it in your Instant Pot.

Instant Pot Crayons

Of all the clever ways to use your Instant Pot, this is my favorite. Take all those broken crayons you have laying around and make some fun new crayons in your Instant Pot!

More Instant Pot Resources

Love your Instant Pot? Find more Instant Pot Recipes here. And check out my favorite Instant Pot Hacks.

6 thoughts on “The Top Clever Instant Pot Hacks”

  1. Just found you today, searching what to do with frozen ground beef. Thank you!! Problem – on your fabulous cheat sheet, there’s no cook time listed for dried beans!!!

    Reply
  2. I promise that there is no such thing as a none pressurizing Instapot. You just need to turn the pressure valve to “steaming” vs. “venting” on the lid of your Instant Pot prior to starting the cooking cycle. Run the water test in the directions first to familiarize yourself with your new Instant Pot. This will help a lot. Next, remember when you first cook with it to start with something that seems too easy. Such as simmer ground beef on saute and then throw in a cup of beef broth orwater and a dry mix packet of beef stroganoff for 5 minutes on high pressure cooking. Quick release the pressure add a cup of sour cream and a dash of Worcestershire sauce for flavor and serve over egg noodles to your family for a delicious dinner the kids will love too. Remember that it will take the Instant Pot at least 10 or 15 minutes to reach pressure before it begins the 5 minutes of pressure cooking, and then carefully release the pressure valve to venting for quick release. I hope this helps. Have a great time with your new Instant Pot. West coast keep on pinning!!

    Reply
  3. I received an Instant Pot for Christmas and it doesn’t have the pressure cooker feature. I’m really upset. I’ve used it, so I can’t return it. Do you have any suggestions or hacks for this ??

    Reply
    • Oh no! Did you get the slow cooker version? The only “hack” I have for that is trying to sell it to someone else who wants one for as much as you can since it’s practically new, then get the version you want. I would also check with the store where you bought it and see if a return is possible. Some stores do accept returns even if you’ve used an item if you are unhappy with it.

      Reply
      • Debie: Do you have a model name… Old models had ‘Manual’ instead of Pressure cook.

        Beautiful site Corinne, I have about 50 tips/tricks frm different site; yours were nice additions.
        Just got Max and all times are off the charts (abt 40-60% less) . But I still copy various techniques. Dabbling into different cuisines is fun. Poor gf is my test audience :))

        Reply

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