You can use a pressure cooker for meal prep for eggs, rice and oatmeal, which are base items for several dishes. You can also make beans and stock at home. In addition, the cooking time for whole grains is slashed in half, and shredded pork or chicken will be easily made.
Wanting a complete, nutritious meal shouldn’t feel like a punishment. It shouldn’t mean that you’ve to be a chef or that you’ve to slave away in the kitchen forever. It’s also not something you can manage only over the weekend because that’s the only time you have the time and energy for it.
And like most other things in life, this is a task that can be easily accomplished if you have the right tools. In this context, we’re talking about a pressure cooker (or an instant pot).
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The Benefits Of Using A Pressure Cooker For Meal Prep
The best pressure cookers have handles with locking lids, don’t build a dangerous level of pressure (despite the name) and don’t spit steam or make as much noise as they used to. So it’s a shame if you let fear keep you from reaping the benefits of this modern kitchen messiah.
If you’re still unsure, I’ll tell you what you’re missing out on.
Cook Breakfast Oatmeal For The Whole Week At Once
You won’t have to spend a chunk of time cooking because a pressure cooker quickens the process by about 70 per cent. So, it can cook enough breakfast oatmeal to last a week while you clean up the kitchen and set the dinner table.
Since it’s an incredible appliance for one-pot meals, you will find many recipes online to turn rolled or steel-cut oats into a sweet or savoury breakfast dish.
Add salt and cinnamon to the oats and place them in the pressure cooker. Once it’s done, add maple syrup, vanilla extract or brown sugar to sweeten the deal. Berries and sweet fruits like bananas and apples are also good picks.
Let the oatmeal cool and freeze in a mould to make muffins. It’s a great snack to have while on the move. Freezing the oatmeal also will enable you to store it for longer if you want to take a break midweek.
Make Entire Chicken Dishes With Ease
Pressure cookers also allow you to make chicken dishes easily, which is great news for busy home chefs. Using a pressure cooker to cook chicken can significantly reduce cooking time while producing moist and juicy meat. From chicken curry to chicken noodle soup, countless recipes can be made in a pressure cooker. Plus, hands-off cooking means you can focus on other tasks while your meal cooks. So why not give it a try and see how your chicken dishes turn out
Make a salad or turn it into an enchilada, and the liquid can be consumed as soup or broth and used for other dishes. You can also use it instead of water when making rice for extra flavour. In any case, it is, without a doubt, much better than the canned stuff you’ve been buying.
If you’re gunning for tacos or burritos, add other ingredients like dried chilli, oregano and cumin.
Forget About Canned Beans
Beans are another great source of vitamins C and D, calcium and iron, to begin with. Of course, you want to eat them as much as you can, but if cooking is a pain, it’s understandable that you’d turn to canned goods. Not if you have a pressure cooker, though. You don’t have to spend as much as you do on canned beans when there’s a better choice.
You won’t even need to spend as much time cooking them if you remember to soak them overnight. But if you’re like me and can never remember to wash them, we’re all in luck because there are plenty of other ways to cook beans.
Map out your bean assault on Sunday, and you can have a great time all week.
Hard-Boiled Eggs Are Ready In No Time
This is one of the easiest things to cook unless you don’t eat eggs. And it gets a lot easier when you combine eggs with a pressure cooker. Hard-boiled eggs are essentially steamed, and this appliance is perfect for that recipe.
You can sprinkle any seasoning on them, and you’re good to go. Hard-boiled eggs can also be used for devilled eggs and added to salads, sandwiches or even ramen. They turn out perfectly every single time, and pealing them becomes a piece of cake. So, you don’t even have to be super skilled.
Make Rice For Multiple Dishes
The pressure cooker is perfect for making rice, the base of many dishes. Once you have steamed rice, you can make burritos, bowls, salads, different types of fried rice, and more. It takes only about 20 minutes in a pressure cooker, and you can chop and saute other stuff.
Shredded Protein Is At Your Disposal
Whether it’s pork or chicken, you can make them easily if you have a pressure cooker. All you need to do is throw your ingredients in and let it do its thing for a few hours. You’ll have a delicious feast ready with juicy and tender meat at the end.
It’s easy to shred this meat, which means you can add it to tacos or make grain bowls and more. It honestly doesn’t get a lot easier than this.
Cook Whole Grains In Half The Time
And finally, more and more experts emphasise consuming whole grains for a happy and healthy life. But you and I both know the feeling of receiving free advice you can’t use because you need time, energy, or money to make it work.
This one is not a tough nut to crack because cooking whole grains in a pressure cooker is quite the joy. It reduces the cooking time by half compared to a stovetop. Of course, you’ll have to wait for the pressure to be released, but even so, it’s better than the alternative. And you don’t even have to be around to monitor it.
You can make brown rice in about 22 minutes. It’s a healthy way of cooking, and the flavour doesn’t escape since the pressure cooker takes care of that. So you’ll have a great meal without getting hassled while preparing it.
The Benefits Of Using A Pressure Cooker: The Final Word
If you’re worried about safety, you should know that today’s pressure cookers have many features that make this a non-issue. And by now, you should be convinced that an Instant Pot is just the same and a worthy addition to your kitchen, irrespective of your culinary talent.
