Chicken Pad Thai - Instant Pot

Servings 4-6 servings

Prep Time 15minutes

Cook Time 15-20minutes

Ingredients
2tbsp olive oil
2 chicken breasts, diced
4cloves garlic minced
3tbsp low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
1/2cup jarred pad thai sauce (I like Thai Kitchen brand)
1 1/2cups water
1/2package thick rice noodles
1cup Carrot matchsticks
1/2each red and yellow pepper, sliced
4 green onions, sliced
1/3cup chopped peanuts
1/3cup fresh chopped cilantro

Instructions

1. Add olive oil, chicken, garlic, soy sauce, pad thai sauce, water and rice noodles to Instant Pot in that order, leaving noodles floating slightly above other ingredients. Set to manual and pressure cook on high for 2 minutes. Instant Pot will take about 10 minutes to pre-heat and then 2 minutes to cook. When complete, press cancel and do a quick release of the steam, waiting until the pressure gauge drops back down and the lid is safe to open.
2. Add carrot matchsticks, bell peppers and half of peanuts, tossing carefully with tongs. Place lid back on and let sit for 5 minutes.
3. Remove lid and serve, then top with green onions, remaining chopped peanuts and cilantro. Enjoy!

No-Knead Bread

Ingredients

6 cups bread flour (recommended) or all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1/2 t. instant or active-dry yeast
2 1/2 t. salt
2 2/3 c. cool water

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the water and stir until all the ingredients are well incorporated; the dough should be wet and sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest 12-18 hours on the counter at room temperature. When surface of the risen dough has darkened slightly, smells yeasty, and is dotted with bubbles, it is ready.
2. Lightly flour your hands and a work surface. Place dough on work surface and sprinkle with more flour. Fold the dough over on itself once or twice and, using floured fingers, tuck the dough underneath to form a rough ball.
3. Place a full sheet/large rectangle of parchment paper on a cotton towel and dust it with enough flour, cornmeal, or wheat bran to prevent the dough from sticking to the parchment paper as it rises; place dough seam side down on the parchment paper and dust with more flour, cornmeal, or wheat bran. Pull the corners of parchment paper around the loaf, wrapping it completely. Do the same with the towel. Let rise for about 2 hours, until it has doubled in size.
4. After about 1 1/2 hours, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot, such as a cast-iron Dutch oven, in the oven as it heats. When the dough has fully risen, carefully remove pot from oven. Unwrap the towel and parchment paper from around the dough and slide your hand under the bottom of the dough ball; flip the dough over into pot, seam side up. Pull the parchment paper off, scraping any stuck dough into the pan. Shake pan once or twice if dough looks unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.
5. Cover and bake for 50 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for 10-15 more minutes, until the crust is a deep chestnut brown. The internal temperature of the bread should be around 200 degrees. You can check this with a meat thermometer, if desired.
6. Remove the bread from the pot and let it cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Chicken Congee - Instant Pot

INGREDIENTS

¾ cup (173 g) Jasmine rice (using standard 250 ml cup)
6.5 - 7 cups cold water (using standard 250 ml cup)
5 – 6 chicken drumsticks
1 tablespoon ginger, sliced into strips
Green onions for garnish
Salt to taste


INSTRUCTIONS

1. Rinse 173g (3/4 standard cup) of rice in the pot under cold water by gently scrubbing the rice with your fingertips in a circling motion. Pour out the milky water, and continue to rinse until water is clear. Drain well.
2. Add ginger, 5-6 chicken drumsticks and 6.5 - 7 cups of cold water (using standard 250 ml cup) into the pot. Do not add salt at this point. (The ratio is 1 cup rice to 9 - 9.75 cups of water)
3. Close the lid immediately and cook at high pressure for 30 minutes + Natural Release in an Electric Pressure Cooker.
4. Open the lid carefully. The congee will look watery at this point.
5. Heat up the pot (Instant Pot: press Sauté button), stir until desired thickness & consistency. Season with salt.
6. Use tongs and fork to separate the chicken meat from the bones (they literally fall off the bone) and remove the chicken bones and skin (if desired).
7. Remove congee from heat and garnish with green onions.
8. Serve immediately.

Chicken Pho (Pho Ga) #2 - Instant Pot

INGREDIENTS

14 oz rice noodles
1 Tbsp olive oil extra virgin
1 large yellow onion halved
1 2-inch piece ginger cut into 1/4 inch slices and slightly smashed
3 cardamom pods lightly smashed
1 cinnamon stick
1 Tbsp coriander seeds
3 star anise pods
5 cloves
1 fuji apple peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 chunks
1/2 cup coarsley chopped cilantro leaves
6 chicken thighs bone-in, skin-on
3 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp sugar
8 cups water
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

TOPPINGS

1 lime cut into wedges
2 jalapenos thinly sliced
1/2 red onion thinly sliced and soaked in cold water for 10 minutes
Fresh herbs (mint, cilantro, basil)
Bean sprouts
Sriracha sauce
Daikon radish sprouts (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Soak the noodles in large bowl of warm water for 30-45 minutes. Set aside while you prepare the pho broth.
2. Add the oil to your Instant Pot and select the sautee option. One hot, add onion cutside down, and ginger. Cook, without stirring, for about 4 minutes, until slightly charred.
3. Add cardamom, cinnamon stick, coriander, star anise and cloves and cook for 1 minute longer, until fragrant. Add the water to the pot along with apple, cilantro, chicken, fish sauce, and sugar. Secure the lid.
4. Select Manual and cook at high pressure for 15 minutes.
5. When done, turn off the Instant Pot and let the pressure decrease naturally for 10 minutes. Set a timer and if the pressure hasn’t completely released when it goes off, turn the valve at the top to release any remaining pressure.
6. Remove chicken from the pot and set aside. Strain the broth and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Skim some of the fat from the broth.
7. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, separate the meat from the bones and divide the meat among 4 large soup bowls. (Reserve the bones for making bone broth.) Strain the noodles and divide them among the 4 bowls.

Mac and Cheese - Instant Pot

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound uncooked whole wheat pasta
• 4 cups water
• 3 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups shredded cheese
• 1 cup whole milk

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INSTRUCTIONS

1. Noodles: Put the whole wheat pasta, water, butter, and salt into the Instant Pot. Cook for 4 minutes using the manual function. You can release the steam in two ways: 1) Quick release the steam using the valve on top immediately after the timer goes off (note: this can cause some butter to spray out, so be prepared with a towel); or 2) Do natural release for 10 minutes – there will still be a little bit of steam, but it will avoid the butter spray. When it’s done, the noodles should have a thin layer of starchy, buttery sauce on them.
2. Cheese: Gently stir in the cheese and milk. Add more seasoning or liquid as necessary. MWAH! Enjoy. It’s so, so good.

NOTES

Butter Spray: After some feedback about the butter spraying out during the quick release, we re-tested the recipe and found that doing a natural release for 10 mins avoids the buttery spray. There will still be a little bit of steam to release when you turn the valve, but will be much more minimal of a mess.
My favorite cheese combo is 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup Italian blend shredded cheese. Really, any kind of cheese you like will be good here. I lean towards smooth-melting cheeses such as cheddar, gouda, gruyere, Monterrey jack, etc. Stringy cheeses (i.e. Mozzarella or Provolone) might be tricky to work with (think ooey gooey cheese bomb) but would obvi still taste awesome.
I tried this with gluten free noodles and did not have great results – they just turned to mush. Sad face. I am writing the recipe to include whole wheat noodles because they kept their shape the best.
I often add a pinch of garlic salt or a swish of hot sauce when serving. I can’t not. 

Quick & Easy Italian Farmhouse Vegetable Soup - Instant Pot

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 brown onion, diced
• ¼ teaspoon of salt
• ½ long red chilli, sliced
• 2 celery sticks, sliced
• 2 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthways and sliced
• 6 large button mushrooms, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, diced
• A handful of dried porcini mushrooms (forest mushrooms, optional)
• 3-4 oz. / 100 grams cavolo nero/kale leaves (medium bunch of kale), leaves removed from the hard stems and sliced roughly
• 1 small zucchini, diced
• 1 cup tinned chopped tomatoes or tomato passata
• 1 litre (4 cups) vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• Lemon zest and chopped parsley for garnish

Instructions

1. Turn the Instant Pot on and press Sauté function key, the pot will start to heat up.
2. Add coconut oil, onion, salt, celery and carrots and stir through. Cook for about a minute or two, while slicing the mushrooms.
3. Add the chilli, mushrooms, garlic, and dried porcini mushrooms and stir through. Cook for 2 minutes on Sauté, while preparing cavolo nero/kale leaves and zucchini.
4. Add the kale, zucchini, tomatoes, stock and bay leave and stir through. Press the OFF function key. Close and lock the lid of the Instant Pot. Check that the the lid knob is turned to Sealing. Press Manual key, High Pressure, and set to 10 minutes.
5. After 10 minutes, allow the pressure to release naturally for a couple of minutes and then use the quick release method to let the rest of the steam out. Serve in bowls with grated lemon zest and chopped parsley on top.
6. If you eat dairy, feel free to grate some Parmesan cheese over the top.

30 Minute Pho Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup) - Instant Pot

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
• 2 medium yellow onions, split in half
• 1 small hand of ginger, roughly sliced
• 1 small bunch cilantro
• 3 star anise pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 cloves
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 6 to 8 chicken drumsticks
• 1/4 cup fish sauce, plus more to taste
• 2 tablespoons rock sugar or raw sugar, plus more to taste
• To Serve:
• 4 servings pho noodles, prepared according to package directions
• 1 small white or yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
• 2 cups mixed herbs (cilantro, basil, and mint)
• 2 cups trimmed bean sprouts
• Thinly sliced Thai chilis
• 2 limes, each cut into 4 wedges
• Hoisin sauce and Sriracha
• 
  

Directions

1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker over high heat until smoking. Add halved onions and ginger, cut side down. Cook without moving, reducing heat if smoking excessively, until onion and ginger are well charred, about 5 minutes.

2. Add cilantro, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, fennel seed, coriander, and chicken to the pot. Add 2 quarts of water, the fish sauce, and the sugar to the pot. Seal the pressure cooker and bring it to high pressure over high heat. Cook on high pressure for 20 minutes, then shock under cold running water in the sink (or release pressure valve if using an electric pressure cooker).

3. Open pressure cooker. Transfer chicken legs to a plate. Pour broth through a fine mesh strainer into a clean pot and discard solids. Skim any scum off the surface of the broth using a ladle, but leave the small bubbles of fat intact. Season broth to taste with more fish sauce and sugar if desired.

4. To serve, place re-hydrated pho noodles in individual noodle bowls. Top with chicken legs, sliced onions, and scallions. Pour hot broth over chicken and noodles. Serve immediately, allowing guests to add herbs, bean sprouts, chilis, lime, and sauces as they wish.