Food Cooking Tips & Techniques 14 Genius Ways You Can Use Your Instant Pot for Meal Prep Because it's time to break up with your sad desk lunch habit for good. By Betty Gold Betty Gold Betty Gold is the former senior digital food editor at Real Simple. Real Simple's Editorial Guidelines and Lisa Milbrand Lisa Milbrand Lisa Milbrand has more than 20 years of experience as a lifestyle writer and editor, writing thousands of articles on topics that help people live better and healthier lives for Real Simple, Parents, and dozens of other top publications. Real Simple's Editorial Guidelines Updated on January 04, 2024 We'll never stop searching for ways to overcome the (relentless) challenge of getting a fuss-free dinner on the table every single night. (Sigh.) The Instant Pot can breathe new life into your ability to do this, and in practically no time. We've ranted and raved about how much we love it for making set-it-and-forget-it dishes like mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, one-pot soups, stews, and sides, and all our favorite anti-inflammatory recipes. But let's not limit it—the device can do so much more. Next time you're powering through a Sunday meal prep session, enlist your multi-cooker for help making these delicious dish components. They're super-versatile, so you can mix and match ingredients as you prep lunches and dinners throughout the week: salads, sandwiches, stir-fries, grain bowls, and so on. The best part about the Instant Pot is that cooking is hands-free, which means you can cook a week's worth of meals and spend some quality time with your couch and a glass of wine simultaneously. Now that we're motivated, here are some ways you can use your Instant Pot to meal prep. 7 Brilliant Ways to Use Your Air Fryer for Meal Prep 01 of 14 Cooking a Whole Chicken Caitlin Bensel Rotisserie chicken is the darling of many meal prep recipes, but I'm sure we can all agree that store-bought versions can be dried out. If you cook a chicken in your Instant Pot, you'll find the results are melt-in-your-mouth tender. It won't have the same crispy exterior as your oven-baked breasts or drumsticks, but for a dish like chicken curry, soup, or this creamy chicken and mushroom pasta, you won't miss that one bit. 02 of 14 Hard-Boiling Eggs Greg DuPree Certainly one of the most versatile (and finicky) foods, hard-boiled eggs are built for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and every snack in between. The Instant Pot does an expert job at cooking shelled eggs, plus it can make a large batch of them at once. You can use the eggs to dress up your favorite ramen dishes, like a miso-mushroom ramen with jammy eggs. How to Cook Ramen According to Pro Chefs, Plus 4 Recipes to Try 03 of 14 Steaming Veggies Roasted broccolini takes on deliciously crispy charred edges in the oven, while a bunch of raw broccolini makes sure this easy side retains bright freshness. Tossed with a fresh lemon-honey dressing, this is a balanced and original approach to a standard green side dish. It travels well too, so go ahead and sign it up for the next potluck. Get the recipe:Crunchy Broccolini With Lemon and Pecans. Victor Protasio What vegetables want to get steamy in your Instant Pot? Any you like. From carrots to cauliflower to kabocha squash, the steam setting is the way to go. You can toss in a ton at once (as long as they take about the same amount of time to cook) or steam in sessions. Just make sure not to cook veggies too long and always use the Quick Release valve to avoid a mushy mess. (You can use steamed broccolini in place of the roasted version in this Crunchy Broccolini With Lemon and Pecans recipe.) 04 of 14 Hydrating Every Type of Bean Marcus Nilsson This is one of our favorite lesser-known uses for the Instant Pot. Use the "Bean/Chili" function to cook black beans for burritos, cannellini beans for minestrone soup, and chickpeas for homemade hummus or Greek salad. 05 of 14 Cooking Quinoa (and Other Grains) Johnny Miller The Instant Pot will turn out super-fluffy quinoa. We recommend rinsing first, then pressure-cooking on High for five minutes before releasing with the Quick Release valve. Serve in grain bowls, mix into the base for homemade veggie burgers, or alongside salmon. In fact, we recommend outsourcing all grains to the IP. You can cook wheat berries, barley, and more in your multi-cooker. 06 of 14 Making Yogurt Greg DuPree This one may seem obvious because it's a pre-programmed setting on all Instant Pot models (save for the Lux), but have you ever thought of the money-saving potential of this little button? A tub of Greek yogurt can cost upwards of $10, and considering how easy it is to DIY, adding breakfast to your meal prep to-do list could save you major bucks at the grocery store. 07 of 14 Baking Bread Westend61/Getty Images Bread is a meal-planning staple, and it's easy to trade in your regular storebought bread for an easy-peasy Instant Pot bread loaf that can be used for sandwiches or as a nice side addition to a soup or stew. (In fact, it just takes five minutes of prep on your part to make it happen!) How to Make Easy No-Knead Bread Using Your Instant Pot 08 of 14 Cooking Oatmeal Oatmeal Stories/Getty Images Prep a week's worth of breakfasts (or enough for a small crowd) in just a few minutes by using the Instant Pot to cook up your oatmeal. The bonus? You can set it and attend to other morning to-dos. The Best Healthy Oatmeal Recipes for a Nutritious Breakfast 09 of 14 Making Pizza Dough Getty Images Pizza night can be a breeze if you prep your own dough. And with an Instant Pot, you can have your pizza dough rise and ready to go in under an hour! Making Pizza Dough in Your Instant Pot Is the Perfect Weekend Cooking Project There's more than one way to use pizza dough for your meals, whether you're looking for calzones or stromboli, foccacia, flatbreads, or even breakfast rolls. These 20 Pizza Recipes Are So Good, You'll Never Order In Again 10 of 14 Cooking Rice Adventure_Photo/Getty Images Instant Pot is famous for making risotto easy to make (no long stretches of stirring!), but you can also use it to precook rice for fried rice or for reheating and using with other dishes. Mexican Chicken Soup 11 of 14 Baking Potatoes Westend61/Getty Images Baked potatoes are a perfect side dish (or with an array of baked potato toppings, it can be the main attraction for lunch or dinner). Bonus: You can make several potatoes in under 15 minutes in your Instant Pot. How to Bake a Potato in the Oven, Instant Pot, and More 12 of 14 Cooking Turkey Breast Vladimir Mironov/Getty Images Turkey breast can be the building block for numerous tasty dishes (as anyone who's perused our selection of Thanksgiving leftover recipes can attest). But even if you're months away from November, you can cook a turkey breast in your Instant Pot and use it to make up a great lunch or dinner—or even just an amazing sandwich! Turkey-Barley Vegetable Soup 13 of 14 Cooking Meat Caitlin Bensel Instant Pot's pressure cooking features may be top of mind, but it can also cook low and slow to give you slow-cooked, tender meat that can be used in a number of recipes—topping rice or pasta, on a sandwich or salad, or stir-fries or tacos. (Consider spicy short ribs for instance!) How to Clean an Instant Pot 14 of 14 Making Broth Jennifer Causey Broth is an essential meal prepping building block—it's a must-have for soups and stews, risottos, pasta dishes, and more. It takes a bit over an hour to make a parmesan-infused broth in your Instant Pot, but this tasty flavor bomb will definitely enhance your risottos, stews, and soups. 18 Easy Chicken Soup Recipes That Are Warm and Comforting Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! 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