The Instant Pot was a total game-changer when it came to making quick and easy dinners. We’ve had ours for quite some time now, and we love it just as much as the day we brought it home! From dinners to dips, desserts to side dishes, is there anything the Instant Pot can’t do? What makes it even better, is that these meals are so easy to clean up, seeing as there’s just one dish to do. That’s a total win-win in our book! Go ahead and check out our top 10 favorite weeknight dinner recipes in the list below.
Whole Roasted Chicken
One of the greatest things about the Instant Pot is that you can sauté your food right in the same pot, which is the key to getting a nice and crispy skin on this chicken. You start by coating the chicken in oil, stuffing the cavity with fragrant garlic and onions, and then seasoning it well with salt and pepper before you sear it on both sides in the Instant Pot. While it sears, you can mix up a quick seasoning blend. We love a combination of garlic and onion powders, basil, cumin, and chili powder, but you could absolutely use about two tablespoons of your favorite seasoning blend instead. Get the recipe here!
Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Thighs
This sauce is seriously the stuff of dreams. Once your chicken cooks, you’ll set it aside and whisk your softened cream cheese and parmesan cheese into the chicken broth (that the chicken cooked in, ensuring it stays nice and juicy). This creates a creamy, cheesy backdrop for when you stir in the spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. This sauce then coats the chicken perfectly and tastes amazing on its own or if you decide to serve it with noodles or rice. It’s so good and you’ve got yourself a whole meal that comes together in 20 minutes! Get the recipe here!
Instant Pot Lazy Lasagna
Lasagna is one of our favorite meals. It’s comforting and delicious and something that, if it’s on the menu, we’re ordering it. That being said, it can be a bit of a pain to make ourselves and we reserve making it for very special occasions. Or at least that’s what we thought. We’ve made a couple versions of lasagna that are a little untraditional (slow cooker lasagna soup comes to mind), but this recipe is both one of the easiest versions we’ve tried and one that tastes the most like the real deal! Get the recipe here!
Instant Pot Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta
If you’re looking for a little kick, this meal is just the thing for you. With a creamy sauce, this dish is flecked with garlic and chilis (thanks to a sweet Thai chili sauce), and full of tasty shrimp, brightened up by freshly squeezed lime juice. Not only does this dish taste incredible, but it also only takes 15 minutes to make – can you believe it?? Now, you could easily cook this the old-fashioned way, boiling your pasta and sautéeing your shrimp on the stove before stirring everything together, but the instant pot makes this dish a BREEZE to put together. Get the recipe here!
Instant Pot Sour Cream Pork Chops
Building layers of flavor is the best way to truly make a meal taste as though it was slow-cooked, especially when we’re making a meal this quickly. So, we start with butter and onions, we keep the chunks of onion big for added texture and add rich and flavorful beef stock. Then we add the pork chops, season them with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. To ensure that the pork isn’t overcooked, the meat comes out of the Instant Pot so that we can start to make the sauce – a savory sauce made silky by the addition of sour cream. Once thickened, the pork is added back into the Instant Pot for just a few moments before the meal is ready to be served. Get the recipe here!
Instant Pot Copycat Chipotle Barbacoa Beef
My favorite thing at Chipotle is hands-down their barbacoa beef, and I’m sure I’m not alone. I tend to order shredded beef if it’s an option at whatever Mexican restaurant I happen to be visiting, but Chiptole’s is so flavorful – juicy and spicy and succulent – that I haven’t found another that’s quite as crave-worthy. This recipe is the perfect copycat – all the flavor of the Chiptole version, so easy to make (thanks Instant Pot!), and great in so many applications. (Burrito bowls, or nachos, or tacos… it all works). Get the recipe here!
‘Best Ever’ Instant Pot Mac And Cheese
One might say that I am somewhat of a macaroni and cheese connoisseur. It is – without contest – my favorite comfort food and I appreciate it in all its forms. This Best Ever Instant Pot Mac and Cheese is my favorite “convenience” mac and cheese, if you will. It lets you create a homemade macaroni and cheese that’s on your table in only twenty minutes that is still utterly creamy and cheesy and satisfying. Get the recipe here!
Instant Pot Cashew Chicken
Take-out is something that most of us turn to when we’re pressed for time or just plain don’t have the energy to get in the kitchen and cook a meal. But the reality is you can make a meal that’s better for you, better tasting, and takes less time and effort than arranging for delivery or carry-out. Take our Instant Pot Cashew Chicken, for instance. It has all the flavor of the Chinese food classic, but you get to control the ingredients and it’s still on the table in less than thirty minutes. Get the recipe here!
Instant Pot Piña Colada Chicken
Our Instant Pot is an instant miracle worker when it comes to making dinner. We’ve enjoyed so many wonderful meals since this wonderful device arrived in our kitchen. For dinner tonight, we’re planning on making something truly special; our Piña Colada chicken made in the Instant Pot is going to wow our hungry bunch with amazing food whipped up in virtually no time at all. Get the recipe here!
Instant Pot Creamy Ziti
There’s really no end to what we can cook in our Instant Pot, and our next favorite meal to prepare in this amazingly wonderful kitchen tool is our creamy ziti dinner. This one-pot-wonder means that we can have a satisfying meal on the table in under 30 minutes, and on busy weeknights that makes a HUGE difference for our family. Get the recipe here!