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Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot

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These mashed potatoes are not only delicious, but the easiest, simplest, fastest way that I’ve ever made mashed potatoes! Plus the fewest dirty dishes!

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Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot

Classic Mashed Potatoes are made easy and delicious when cooked in the Instant Pot.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Pressure Cooking Time13 minutes
Total Time33 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Budget-friendly, Comfort Food, Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Kid-Approved, Kid-Friendly
Servings: 6
Calories: 281kcal
Author: Holly

Equipment

  • 1 Electric Pressure Cooker
  • 1 Potato Masher

Ingredients

  • 2½ pounds potatoes Our favorites are the golden potatoes, but reds and whites work as well.
  • 1 cup water

The Yummy Stuff to Add After Cooking

  • 2 teaspoons salt or to taste
  • ½ cup butter Chop the butter into pieces. You can use less, if desired.
  • milk as needed

Instructions

  • Place whole potatoes in the Instant Pot with one cup of water. No trivet is needed for mashed potatoes.
  • Note: I don't peel potatoes anymore! The skins are full of minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber. Plus it's extra work and time that I don't have to do. I try to make cooking as simple and un-fussy as possible.
  • Close and secure lid.
  • Set valve to Sealing.
  • Select [Manual] or [Pressure Cook] program.
  • Press [+] or [-] to set cooking time of 12 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of your potatoes. *Time-saving tip: if you need your potatoes to cook faster, chop them into smaller pieces and adjust pressure cooking time to 8-10 minutes.
  • Set to High Pressure and wait 10 seconds for pot to beep and let you know it is heating up. It will take around 10 minutes for your Instant Pot to reach pressure, and then the clock will begin to count down. When the time reaches zero, the Instant Pot will beep again and switch to the [Keep Warm] mode, and begin to count up.
  • While keeping your face and hands away, Quick Release the valve by covering with a towel and turning steam release to allow the steam to escape. Open the lid and stick a fork in the potatoes to check for doneness. The potatoes should still be firm, but not at all crunchy. And the fork should go into the potato easily.

Mashing and Yummifying the Potatoes

  • After opening the Instant Pot, add salt and butter. Mash and stir with potato masher. Make sure the bottom and corners are mixed in well. Pull out any large pieces of potato peels.
  • Taste for salt and texture. Add milk if mashed potatoes seem dry. Add salt to taste. Stir well again.
  • Serve and enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 281kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 924mg | Potassium: 800mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 477IU | Vitamin C: 37mg | Calcium: 29mg | Iron: 1mg

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Tuscan Sunset Soup

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Also known as Italian Sausage Soup with White Beans, Kale, and Sun-dried Tomatoes, this soup received raved reviews at our dinner table this evening! Lots of “OOOOOH, Mommy! This is good!” “You need to write down this recipe!” and “Can I have more??”

I loved it because I threw all the ingredients in the Instant Pot, set it to cook, and we all went for a walk/bike ride at the neighborhood playground. When we came home, a delicious dinner was there waiting for us. This is truly my favorite thing about the Instant Pot—the ability to walk away while dinner is cooking, and not have to be there to tend to it.

There are so many ways the kids can help put together this quick soup too!

Here are some age-appropriate ways for kids to help with this easy, delicious dinner.

Toddlers:

  • Help sort dried beans.
  • Carry canned beans from the pantry to the kitchen counter.
  • Carry onion from pantry to kitchen counter.
  • Learn vocabulary—“This is an onion. This is a knife. These are white beans.”


Middle kiddos:

  • Help or make chicken broth.
  • Help with making beans or cook them independently.
  • Brown Italian sausage.
  • Chop and measure garlic, using a food chopper.
  • Measure sun-dried tomatoes.
  • Learn knife safety skills by watching you chop food, and talking about ways to hold the food and how to handle a knife. Or take a course in knife skills together. 


Older children (pre-teens and teens):

  • Make chicken broth on their own.
  • Put on a pot of beans independently.
  • Chop onion.
  • Put together entire recipe, start to finish.
  • Plan the week’s family meals.
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Tuscan Sunset Soup

Also known as Italian Sausage Soup with Sundried Tomatoes, White Beans, and Kale. So much flavor is packed into this delightful soup!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Pressure Cooking Time5 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Dinner, Soup
Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean
Keyword: Budget-friendly, Dairy-free, Dinner, Gluten-free, Homemade, Instant Pot, Made from Scratch, Soup
Servings: 8
Author: Holly

Equipment

  • Electric Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. Italian sausage
  • 1 cup onion diced
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder or 2 tablespoons fresh minced garlic
  • 1 quart 4 cups chicken broth
  • 1 bunch kale chopped; can also use frozen kale (6-8 oz.)
  • 6 cups cooked white beans 1 (15 oz) can of cooked beans equals about 1½ cups of cooked beans
  • 4 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes diced
  • salt to taste
  • 1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar

Instructions

  • Instructions:
  • Brown Italian sausage on [Sauté] mode in the Instant Pot. Add diced onion and sauté for a minute or two. Throw in the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Scrape off all the browned bits from the bottom of the pot, and deglaze with 1 cup of the broth. Make sure there is nothing stuck to the bottom of the pot.
  • Pour remaining chicken broth into the pot. Add salt and balsamic vinegar. Float chopped kale on top of chicken broth and pour white beans on top of kale. Finally, top with sun-dried tomatoes. Avoid stirring.
  • Set Instant Pot to [Pressure Cook] or [Manual] or [Soup/Broth] for 5 minutes on High Pressure. Natural release for at least 10 minutes before manually releasing the remaining pressure.
    Enjoy!

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Kickin’ Cajun Seasoning

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Kickin’ Cajun Seasoning

Make this Cajun Seasoning at home without all the chemicals and fillers in pre-made versions.
Prep Time10 minutes
Total Time10 minutes
Course: Seasoning
Cuisine: Beans & Rice, Cajun
Keyword: Dairy-free, Gluten-free, No Fillers, Seasoning
Author: Holly

Equipment

  • Funnel
  • Empty spice container
  • Measuring spoons

Ingredients

  • 1 part onion powder
  • 1 part black pepper
  • 1 part dried leaf oregano
  • 1 part dried thyme
  • 1/2-1 part cayenne pepper Be careful measuring this ingredient. An adult should handle this one.
  • 2 parts garlic powder
  • 2 parts salt
  • 2½ parts paprika

Instructions

  • Place all ingredients together in an empty spice bottle.
  • Place the lid on tightly and shake to mix well.

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Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs in the Instant Pot

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Last updated on July 28th, 2019 at 09:33 pm

What is the perfect recipe for hard boiled eggs in an Instant Pot? Many friends have become mortal enemies debating this issue, so we’re going to clear it up for you right now.

I’m going to give you…The Perfect…recipe for hard boiled eggs. Are you ready? Do you have something to write this down?

Here it is: …

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Instant Pot Texas Chili

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Last updated on January 1st, 2019 at 11:18 pm

This is the second best chili recipe I’ve ever made.

The best pot of chili I’ve ever made was 20 years ago. Read to the end if you want to see a really sweet story about that special pot of chili.

Note: There’s lots of debate about different types of chili. The conventional wisdom is that Texas Chili has no beans. But we really like the beans in ours. And we’re from Texas. So it’s still Texas Chili. 🤠

On a more practical note, adding beans makes it about $3 cheaper per batch (depending on ground beef prices in your area.) That amount adds up over a few meals. …

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Creamy Ginger Butternut Squash Soup in the Instant Pot

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Last updated on October 1st, 2020 at 01:49 pm

This is such a yummy comfort food, perfect for the fall season.  The combination of apples and squash, ginger and cream, makes a delicious blend of sweet and tart, warm spice and cool cream. You just have to try it!

Now, there are lots of ways to prepare your ingredients, but for me, when I see a recipe call for sliced, peeled butternut squash, it literally makes me cringe. That chore is one of my kitchen nightmares! Cutting up a butternut squash is hard!

So I don’t do it. Let me show you an easier way to “skin that cat” with an Instant Pot!

This is an involved recipe, so it’s lots of fun if the family joins in. Children can do lots of things to help in this recipe! …

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Homemade Chicken Bone Broth in the Instant Pot

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Last updated on July 28th, 2019 at 09:50 pm

Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Under Pressure: 120 Minutes
Quick Release or Natural Pressure Release, your call!
If you’ve got 5 minutes, old chicken bones, leftover veggies, and an Instant Pot, you can have homemade bone broth all the time! Sometimes called Chicken Stock, this commonly used ingredient is the basis for so many recipes! We use it for soups, casseroles, sauces, and gravies. We even sometimes use it for making rice and pasta, instead of water. Here are a few of our recipes that use this delicious broth as a base ingredient:
 
Using store-bought chicken broth is easy, but it isn’t necessarily cheap, and the truth is, you don’t actually know what’s in that can or box or jar.
When I went gluten free and was forced to begin reading every label, I was shocked at the ingredient lists right in front of my face that I had been ignoring! Ingredients such as:

…

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Instant Pot Italian Sausage Lentil Soup

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Last updated on November 4th, 2022 at 04:49 pm

Several years ago, we were at Carrabba’s and I had their Sausage Lentil Soup. It was so good! I’ve spent the last few years trying to re-create it, and I think we’ve finally got it really close! I love working up recipes because I get to eat the results. 😉

This is a hearty and nutritious dinner for the whole family. Lentils provide lots of protein, fiber, iron, and B vitamins!  And it’s delicious! Everyone in our family gobbles up the first bowl and wants seconds, including the toddler! In the Old Testament of the Bible, Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of Lentil stew—so you know it must be good!

…

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