The Best Instant Pot Recipes to Prep in Under 30 Mins

Eating healthily when you have little time and a tight budget can be a nightmare! 

By Wednesday, most of us have already had a couple of pizzas or ready meals just because it’s all we have the time or energy for, especially when you through kids and multiple meals into the mix.

That is until we purchase an Instant Pot, the saviour of our weeknights!

However, they can take a little getting used to, and some recipes seem to be more gourmet than instant! 

So we’ve chosen our three favourite recipes that are quick, easy and low cost. Let’s tuck in!

Why is eating healthily important? 

Ensuring you maintain a healthy diet is vital in supporting your long-term health. Eating healthily helps prevent you from becoming overweight or obese, which can lead to further health complications. 

Ensuring you eat plenty of protein, fruit and veg while avoiding too much sugar is the best way to safeguard yourself against a whole host of illnesses, including heart disease and type 2 diabetes. A healthy diet even helps reduce your risk of cancer.

In the short term, a healthy diet gives you more energy and helps you feel great!

The problem? 

Finding the time to prepare nutritious meals. Weeknight meals can be particularly difficult; who has the time to spend 90 minutes cooking on a Monday night?? 

It can be easy to fall into bad habits… but there is a solution. 

The Instant Pot electric pressure cooker is a great tool to help you cook easy, healthy meals for you, and your family. Most of the Instant Pot meals can be prepped in under 30 minutes, some are much quicker! There are so many great recipes to choose from, and it can be as easy as chopping up the ingredients and throwing them in the pot. Below are some delicious meals for you to try.

Healthy Instant Pot Recipes

Pressure cooking with your new Instant Pot can take a bit of getting used to. So we recommend starting out simple. Here are three great recipes that only require a few ingredients, minimal prep time and amazing taste.

Simple Instant Pot chicken 

This delicious recipe is so easy to make! It is naturally gluten-free, dairy-free and low-carb, so it suits many dietary requirements. It has only a few ingredients meaning it's cheap and super quick to prepare this tasty, hearty meal.

Serves 4

Ingredients: 

• 4 chicken breasts (fresh or frozen)
• 300ml of chicken stock
• Mixed herbs seasoning
• Garlic powder
• A teaspoon of brown sugar

Step 1: Season the chicken breasts with salt and vinegar, garlic, sugar and the mixed herbs (or oregano, basil and thyme.) 

Step 2: Place the chicken into your Instant Pot and pour in the chicken stock. Put on the lid and close the vent.

Step 3: Cook fresh chicken for 10 minutes or frozen chicken for 15 minutes. Open the vent carefully to release the pressure and check that the internal temperature of the chicken is 165°. 

And voila! Easy as that. We recommend adding some microwavable brown rice - healthy and easy!

Instant Pot stuffed peppers

There are plenty of vegetables and protein in this super healthy meal.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 large red bell peppers
• 240 g rice 
• 1lb ground beef
• 2 cups grated cheese 
• 1 onion 
• 2 teaspoons of Italian Spices
• 1 chopped garlic clove
• ½ teaspoon of nutmeg
• 4 oz of crushed or chopped sun-dried tomatoes

Option to add a few red pepper flakes (if you like it spicy!)

Step 1: Cook the rice in boiling water or use microwavable rice if you don’t have much time 

Step 2: Combine the rice, raw ground beef, half of the cheese, onion, spices and tomatoes in a large bowl

Step 3: Cut off just the top of the peppers and remove the seeds

Step 4: Put a cup of water into your Instant Pot and then place the trivet inside. 

Step 5: Put the peppers into the Instant Pot and fill them to the brim with your rice mixture

Step 6: Cover with the lid and cook for 10 minutes (some Instant Pots may need longer to cook the beef) 

Step 7: Open the steam release on the Instant Pot and sprinkle on the remaining cheese, give it a couple of minutes to melt before serving up this delicious healthy dinner!

Healthy Instant Pot black beans

A vegetarian and vegan-friendly Instant Pot meal, this recipe has a longer cook time, but the prep time is just as quick!

Serves 8 (great for meal prep)

Ingredients

• 1 lb dried black beans
• 1 onion
• 2 chili peppers or 1 tsp chili powder
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano 
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 lime

Step 1: Rinse and drain the beans

Step 2: Finely chop the onion, garlic carrot and chili pepper

Step 3: Turn on ‘sauté’ on your Instant Pot and once it reads 'hot', add some oil and the onions and sauté them for 2 minutes.

Step 4: Add the chili, garlic and spices to the Instant Pot and sauté, followed by five cups of water.

Step 5: Change from sauté back to standard mode and add your beans. Cook on high for 30 minutes and let the pressure release naturally for a further 20 minutes. 

Step 6: Check to see if the beans are tender, if not cook for another 10 minutes.

Step 7: Serve with lime wedges and rice.

A helping hand for healthy eaters

Even the best Hot Pot healthy connoisseurs need a little help sometimes to achieve their body goals. If you are struggling with hunger pangs, cravings or low energy even when eating healthily, PhenQ’s natural diet supplements could be a game changer. 

PhenQ is a powerful new slimming formula combining multiple weight loss benefits to help you get the slim, sexy body you’ve always wanted. It will keep you feeling full between meals and help you stay motivated to choose your healthy Instant Pot Chicken quick dinner instead of the unhealthy alternatives.