This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure and privacy policy.
There are two reasons why the Instant Pot is a game-changer for healthy cooking. First, it has a stainless steel bowl, so there’s no yucky non-stick coating to worry about.
Secondly, it cooks food primarily with steam pressure from water, rather than using excess oil. Because the food cooks slightly faster than traditional cooking methods, it might retain more of its nutrients, too.
That’s why I was so excited to write The Fresh & Healthy Instant Pot Cookbook. Not only is the pressure cooker great for batch cooking, like chicken breasts or quinoa, but you can also cook an entire meal all at the same time. Check out the printable recipe below for Chicken & Vegetable Bowls, which are cooked with a side of white rice, all at once.
Healthy Instant Pot Recipes
Below you’ll find some of my favorite healthy Instant Pot recipes so you can try them for yourself. If you’re a little intimidated by your Instant Pot, be sure to watch my How to Use Your Instant Pot Video, sharing 10 things I think will help you get started right away.
1. Instant Pot Lentil Soup
Anytime someone in my family feels sick, this is the soup they ask for. There’s no sauteeing required, so you can literally toss the raw veggies, lentils, spices, and water into the pot, then secure the lid and press a button.
The soup will cook to perfection while your hands are free to do anything else.
2. Chicken Burrito Bowls with Cauliflower “Rice.”
These Chicken Burrito Bowls come together in minutes, thanks to the magic of the Instant Pot. The chicken cooks on the bottom of the pot, while a bowl of cauliflower florets cooks on top, in just a 4-minute pressure cooking cycle.
When it’s done, the cauliflower can be flaked into rice-like pieces with a fork, so it’s rice-like without a lot of extra effort.
3. Instant Pot Egg Bites
These Egg Bites come together in minutes, for a protein-rich breakfast or snack on the go. You can even freeze them to reheat for a fast morning. It’s helpful to have the silicone pan, but you can also use small ramekins as an alternative.
4. Korean Chicken Bowls
photo by Inspiralized
These Korean Chicken Bowls are a fast and flavorful meal that you can serve over rice cooked pot-in-pot, or over protein-rich quinoa, as pictured here. (Don’t cook quinoa pot-in-pot, though… it doesn’t work!) My friend Ali shared this recipe from my cookbook over on her website!
6. Instant Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup
photo by Well Plated
Erin shares this recipe from The Fresh & Healthy Instant Pot Cookbook. I love this one, because it has the flavor you love, with a sneaky serving of extra veggies and less cheese, for a “lightened up” version. (Like all of the recipes in my Instant Pot cookbook, this recipe includes a tested dairy-free option, too.)
7. Hidden Cauliflower Mac and Cheese
This creamy Mac n’ Cheese packs a sneaky serving of veggies, and is lightened up by using less cheese than traditional recipes. I love how the cauliflower cooks alongside the pasta and practically dissolves when you give it a stir!
8. Instant Pot Sweet Potato Curry
photo by Fit Foodie Finds
Lee shares this fast vegan dinner from The Fresh & Healthy Instant Pot Cookbook. Red lentils and sweet potatoes cook so quickly under pressure, your entire meal is ready in less than 30 minutes!
9. Wild Rice and Kale Salad
photo by Cookie + Kate
My friend Kathryne shares this easy make-ahead salad from The Fresh & Healthy Instant Pot Cookbook. I love how the Instant Pot takes care of cooking the rice, so you can chop the veggies and make the dressing all at the same time.
10. Instant Pot Salmon and Broccoli
Salmon cooks so quickly in the Instant Pot that I use a 0-minute (yes, zero minutes!) pressure cooking cycle. This means you can cook veggies with it, too! Top it off with fresh broccoli, and you have perfectly cooked salmon with non-mushy broccoli for a fast & healthy dinner.
11. Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats
Steel-cut oatmeal is easier than ever to prepare in the Instant Pot. Instead of waiting for water to boil and watching the stove to make sure it doesn’t boil over or burn to the bottom of your pan, you can just add the oats and water, press a button, and walk away while you get on with other morning tasks.
12. Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs
Want to save this for later?
I'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Hard-boiled eggs can be a pain to peel, but not when they are pressure-cooked! In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to make eggs (soft, medium, or hard) that are easy to peel for a fast, protein-packed option you can add to any meal.
13. Chicken Tikka Masala (Dairy-Free)
Lisa from 100 Days of Real Food shares this recipe from The Fresh & Healthy Instant Pot Cookbook. I love that it’s naturally dairy-free and that you can cook rice for serving at the same time in the same pot.
14. Quinoa Breakfast Bowls
This tutorial teaches you how to make a big batch of cooked quinoa at the beginning of the week for easy breakfasts all week long, topped with cereal.
15. Curried Butternut Squash Soup
This creamy and comforting soup is dairy-free and packed with flavor! You can use frozen bags of cut-up squash to make it as fast and easy as possible.
16. Instant Pot Chicken Breasts
If you like to cook chicken on its own for adding to stir-fries or salads during the week, here’s how to make a batch in your Instant Pot without drying it out! This is the ONLY method I’ve found that makes chicken breasts that aren’t rubbery.
(Otherwise, chicken thighs are more fool-proof.)
17. Curry Chicken Lentil Stew
This easy soup makes such a comforting Fall meal. I love how you can just add all the ingredients to your Instant Pot, press a button, and walk away! No dairy or flour required.
18. Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce
This recipe is low-effort and low in calories, and bursting with flavor! I love how all you have to do is add the ingredients, press a button, and walk away.
19. Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash
I will never cook a spaghetti squash in my oven again. It takes just 7 minutes of pressure cooking when you make it in the Instant Pot! (Plus the time to pressurize.) I like to cut it in half for a super-fast cooking time, but you can even cook it whole if you prefer.
Directions are included for both ways in this post.
20. Instant Pot Black Beans
When I first got my Instant Pot, I used it mostly for making kitchen staples from scratch, like black beans. You can make them for a fraction of the cost of using canned beans, and without preservatives. Freeze them in 1 1/2-cup portions so you can use them in place of canned beans in recipes.
21. Instant Pot Quinoa
Making quinoa couldn’t be easier in your Instant Pot, and it makes a protein-rich alternative to rice. Instead of waiting for water to boil on the stove or making sure it doesn’t burn to the bottom, you just add the quinoa and water, press a button, and walk away.
It’s perfectly cooked every time!
22. Instant Pot Frittata
This easy egg bake makes a healthy breakfast that cooks while you get ready for work or school. When you chop the veggies into small pieces, there’s no need to saute them before you get started with this healthy Instant Pot recipe.
23. Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes turn out soft and tender when you cook them in the Instant Pot, without the risk of burning them. I tested this method for weeks so you’d have a fool-proof formula for figuring out how long to cook sweet potatoes by their weight!
24. Instant Pot Brown Rice
Brown rice can take up to 45 minutes on the stovetop, but the Instant Pot cooks it faster. (Without having to watch the stove to check on the water level.) This is the only way I’m willing to cook brown rice now, because the process is hands-off. Plus, the pressure cooker will turn off automatically when it’s done, so it’s perfect if you get distracted in the kitchen, as I do.
Healthy Instant Pot Recipes: Chicken Bowls with Rice
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup tamari (gluten-free soy sauce)
- 5 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup white rice , rinsed
- 1 red bell pepper , sliced
- ½ red onion , sliced
- 1 cup fresh baby spinach , chopped
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch (optional)
- 3 green onions , chopped
Instructions
- Add the tamari, maple syrup, ginger, sriracha, and garlic to the Instant Pot and stir well. Place the chicken on top of the sauce in a single layer. To cook the rice at the same time, position a 2.5-inch trivet over the chicken and place a 7-inch oven-safe bowl on top. Add the rice and 1 cup of water to the bowl, then secure the lid and move the steam release valve to the sealing position. Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes.
- When the cooking cycle is complete, let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes. (This will prevent any liquid from spewing out of the valve and let the ingredients finish cooking.) Then move the steam release valve to the Venting position to release any remaining pressure. Use oven mitts to carefully lift the trivet and bowl of rice out of the pot. Use tongs to transfer the chicken to a cutting board.
- Add the sliced onion and bell pepper to the remaining liquid in the Instant Pot. Press the saute button and let the veggies simmer in the sauce until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk together the arrowroot starch and 2 tablespoons of water to make a slurry, then set it aside.
- Use two forks to shred the chicken on the cutting board, or slice it into chunks. Add the chicken to the pot of veggies and sauce, and then add in the spinach. Stir until the spinach has wilted, about 1 minute, then add the arrowroot slurry. Continue stirring until the sauce has thickened, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Serve the chicken and veggies over the cooked rice, with a sprinkle of green onions on top. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Notes
Nutrition
If you try these healthy Instant Pot recipes, please leave a comment and star rating below to let me know which one you try. I appreciate your feedback!
I can’t wait to try the Peanut Butter Crunch Granola bars!
I emailed this to my best friend who is looking forward to a change in her vegan life!
I would love to make your instant pot homemade pasta sauce so I could use on your veggie meatless lasagna that you made using eggplant, assorted mushrooms, couliflower and goat cheese
I preordered! Thanks for the free guide. I wonder if you can freeze any of these? I love freezer instant pot meals!
Thanks for your support! I think you could freeze most of the soup recipes using just the raw ingredients– anything that is a “dump” meal where you don’t saute thing first. I wouldn’t freeze things like the eggroll in a bowl or Instant cauliflower fried rice, because those vegetables will get too mushy when they are thawed.
Have you ever tried making any type of French food? They have such wonderful soups and stews. I wonder whether it would be possible to make a healthy French onion soup in the Instant Pot.
When I saw the recipe for the shepherds pie I knew I would be ordering this book. I have never tried cooking 2 things at once in the instant pot, that was a new idea for me… and cant wait to try it..
Aw, thank you! I think you’re going to love it!
Posting on Facebook and Instagram . Looking to use the IP for healthy recipes that the entire family will love. The chicken curry sounds amazing.
The unstuffed cabbage roll sounds delicious!!!
I’d love to make roasted sweet potatoes. Sounds lame, but perfectly roasting them in the oven always becomes a fuss and they never cook evenly! I am sharing this link with my mom and sister. My mom just got an insta!
I would like to make egg white bites like the ones at Starbucks!
Would like to see healthy soup and healthy dessert recipes that are low carb and gluten free. Have had my IP for months and bought two other cookbooks, but have been afraid of the steaming from the stories of old pressure cookers, I guess. Hoping getting this Healthy Cookbook recipes and trying to lose weight, as I am, will help me take the leap and use it regularly. Work a lot of hours and need the quick cooking to make healthy meals.