Instant Pot Review: 10 Reasons Why Everyone Needs an Instant Pot

Instant Pot Review

If you’ve been following me for anytime at all, you know I LOVE my Instant Pot.

My mom gifted me my first (..wait, she actually gifted me BOTH of my Instant Pots! My mom rocks!) Instant Pot almost 1 year ago.

She gifted it to me as a ‘you just had a baby, graduated from grad school (Dan), moved across the country, landed our first post-school job all within a month’ present.

I think she might have realized I needed a little extra time on my hands.

Can I just say.. The Instant Pot changed my life!

1. Quicker, easier dinner

With the Instant Pot, I love that I don’t have to start thinking about dinner until dinner time.

Figuring out dinner and popping something in the crockpot right after I either ate breakfast or lunch was so hard for me! I wasn’t hungry and nothing sounded good because of it.

Now, I can usually get dinner on the table, start to finish, in 20-30 minutes.

We have Creamy Ziti (Pictured below) quite often for dinner along with some garlic bread, salad and fruit. That is in your belly 20 minutes after pressing the first button!

2. No More Babysitting Dinner

This is a HUGE reason I love my Instant Pot so much. Say goodbye to babysitting a pot on the stovetop or keeping an eye on something in the oven.

This means that I can be picking up the kitchen, helping with homework or working on putting together those sides while the Instant Pot is working it’s magic.

With little kids, I love that I don’t have to worry about them crawling around a hot oven or accidentally trying to stir pot of boiling liquid with them hanging onto my legs.

3. Yogurt

I’m not sure if I even need to say anymore here. It kind of speaks for itself!

Homemade yogurt will blow your mind. It is so easy. Put it in before you go to bed at night and wake up to yogurt in the morning! It is much cheaper to make your own yogurt, love the taste & it with the Cold Start Method, my kiddos are getting extra protein! More on that in this post, though.

4. A Machine for the Food Prep Fanatic

I am big on prepping & freezing. The Instant Pot makes this so easy to do! I always have cooked ground beef on hand, sliced and shredded chicken on hand, as well as breakfast burritos, bagels & more!

It makes crazy mornings and hectic evenings a breeze when all you have to do is warm something up from the freezer.

5. Bread Proofing

I think this is one of the most unknown uses for the Instant Pot but the one I would never want to live without.  We are bread people, love a good roll or loaf of French Bread! (but really, who doesn’t?!)

With the yogurt button, the rising time for bread dough is cut in HALF!

The Instant Pot keeps a constant, perfect temperature and environment for yeast to grow and flourish.

Not too long ago I converted my mom’s Cinnamon Roll recipe to use the Instant Pot and it took the start to finish time from 4 hours to 90 minutes. I know. MIND BLOWN.

6. So Many Functions in 1 Machine

With the Instant Pot, there is a sauté function that I don’t think gets enough credit.

Brown meat in there, heat up leftovers, quickly boil water. My sauté setting gets used a lot.

This might have something to do with how horrible my stovetop is, but I think even if I had the best of the best I’d still prefer to use my Instant Pot.

7. Cheesecake

Cheesecake. 10 letters that make up one of my favorite desserts.

Once you try Instant Pot cheesecake there will be no turning back! It is creamy, dreamy and only cooks for 35 minutes or so.

There are so many variations too. I made a Cookies and Cream Cheesecake for my Anniversary last year that was just TO DIE FOR!

8. Doesn’t heat up the house

Can I get a Hallelujah from all my A/C-less, folks?

In half of our apartments since being married we haven’t had any cooling system in place. I know how it is! Like, I was pregnant in JULY. In humid & hot Connecticut with no A/C.

The last thing I wanted to do was turn on the oven and frankly, I didn’t much. We would have eaten much better if I would have had the Instant Pot back then.

Even if you do have A/C the Instant Pot will save you money on your utility bills! So, it will pretty much pay for itself, right? ?

9. Save $$$, Eat Healthier

Thanks to the Instant Pot, you can now have a home cooked meal in the same amount of time it would take to drive to Mcdonalds, go through the drive through and drive back home to eat it.

You’ll be saving money by not eating out near as much (our family of 5 spends less then $40 eating out per month! We usually only eat out once, maybe twice.).

Now you can have healthier meals, too. I mean, anything is healthier than fast food! One of my favorite healthier things to make in my Instant Pot is Creamy Cauliflower Cheese soup, pictured below.

10. Buh-Bye Dirty Dishes

Most Instant Pot meals are all made in the Instant Pot itself. Now I have 1 pot to clean instead of a frying pan, large bowl, the pan that goes in the oven etc.

My dishwasher thanks the Instant Pot and so do I!

Popular Instant Pot Meals:

Creamy Italian Chicken Pasta
Steak, Potatoes & Gravy
Chicken Parmesan