instant pot recipes, with literally no prep

February 19, 2018 8:45 AM

i am looking for Instant Pot recipes with some extreme requirements. They have to be "one pot" recipes, of which there are plenty on the internet. However, I would like there to be no prep required of the ingredients -- no chopping of vegetables, or anything like that. Do you know of any?

ABSOLUTELY NO PREP. There's lots of great recipes that are very simple, except you have to chop up some peppers or something. I don't even want to do that. Pretend I have sworn some kind of monastic oath not to touch a knife or other kitchen appliance. I suppose breaking things apart with my hands as I toss them into the pot would be tolerable.

I'm not so bothered by lots of stages of the cooking, like if you have to add in certain ingredients at certain times, as long as I don't have to use any extra dishes or containers.

Vegetarian recipes are best. I realize these are pretty picky requirements but surely this must exist.

I assume this is going to involve a lot of rice and beans, which is okay.

posted by vogon_poet to Food & Drink (21 answers total)

This recipe (YouTube link) for pasta with meatballs uses frozen meatballs and jarred sauce. I don’t know why frozen veg “meatballs” wouldn’t work just fine.
posted by padraigin at 8:53 AM on February 19, 2018 [2 favorites]

How about buying veggies that are already cut up?
posted by soelo at 8:55 AM on February 19, 2018 [16 favorites]

How about buying veggies that are already cut up?

Lazy as shit protip: if you're cooking a small amount of food, hit up a salad bar. Get a serving or two of a large variety of naked pre-chopped veggies for like $2.

I also do this to get one baked potato's worth of shredded cheese.
posted by phunniemee at 9:01 AM on February 19, 2018 [58 favorites]

What phunniemee says. I do this when just cooking for myself. Find out which shps near you have salad bars, where i live also delis often have self service salad bars.
Or get frozen mixed vegetables, i buy small boxed ones ready for stir fry etc and toss the flavored fat lump that is also in the box.
posted by 15L06 at 9:13 AM on February 19, 2018 [2 favorites]

I agree that you're going to need to get some frozen/refrigerated/salad bar stuff to make this workable in the long run...you can buy chopped frozen onions and carrots, for instance, and Trader Joe's does a mirepoix that's ready to go, or you can buy prepped veggies there as well. With that, you'd have the options of things like chicken and rice, pot roast (brown meat, toss in your fozen or prechopped onions/carrots/skin on baby potatoes, cook), coq au vin, carnitas, tons of soups and casseroles, etc. But IDK how far you're going to get with literally no veggies as seasonings or meat that's just whole hunks. Here's one that fits your bill if you'll tear up tortillas. Another if you'll get frozen onions and maybe chicken already cut into strips. And one more with the same caveat on the chicken.
posted by OneSmartMonkey at 9:18 AM on February 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

It's far from vegetarian, but I've been doing a lot of "shredded meats" in my slow cooker recently. Basically, just buy a bunch of meat (about 2 lbs seems to last me about a week of lunches, with various frozen side dishes added), and add whatever herbs/spices/liquid you like (recently chicken with tajin, pork with a bottle of barbecue sauce, beef with OJ and cinnamon sticks). If it's a really lean cut you might want to make sure you have at least some liquid.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:26 AM on February 19, 2018

This is surprisingly good and fast. I Throw in mexican type flavors & use a nuc' in the microwave instant rice packet with it and bam burritos for dinner. I cook & freeze beans & lentils & throwing some of those in the mix works nicely too. If that counts as prep throw in a can of beans and I think you can even buy those sorts of beans frozen some places now a days too.

This is also good. I don't cook rice & again use the packets you can heat in the microwave, you can get all sorts of grains you can do like that. I use frozen diced onions so no prep. I do the saute stage just because the spices taste better, but hell use a jar mix & skip this step and it will still be fine. If soaking the beans is too much prep, used tinned or frozen.
posted by wwax at 9:30 AM on February 19, 2018

You can bake whole potatoes (regular and sweet) in about 15 minutes. Add your preferred fixings and you're done.
posted by schoolgirl report at 9:30 AM on February 19, 2018

These days I'm really excited about this recipe for a vegan stew of chickpeas, tomatoes and spinach. And already the first time I made it I thought the recipe was too fussy. Also we are only two people. So I used pre-chopped frozen onions, I just crushed the garlic with a knife (then you can peal it easily), and then when the onion and garlic were translucent, I added a can of tomatoes, and a bunch of frozen spinach. The can of chickpeas were added later, but depending on the brand, one might add them all at once. I've only made it on the stovetop, but I think you can get the cooking time down to ten minutes all included if you do it in the instant pot on pressure. It's meant to be eaten with bread.
My supermarket has a lot of different combinations of pre-cut and washed vegs, both in the produce section and frozen. They make life good. They have ratatouille, where you just have to add a can of tomatoes, and "wok", where you can add coconut milk and curry paste for a curry. Put some oil in the pot, and fry the curry paste for a minute, then add the frozen vegs, stir a bit, then add coconut milk, a tablespoonful of soy sauce, the juice of half a lemon, and pressure cook for 2-3 mins. Quick release. TBH, I'd make rice in the Instant Pot and the curry in a wok and it would only take ten minutes longer, but I get that there can be situations where that just isn't an option.
posted by mumimor at 9:44 AM on February 19, 2018 [3 favorites]

If you use minced garlic from a jar and pre-grated parmesan cheese, this fettuccini alfredo recipe should fit the bill (just leave out the chicken to make it vegetarian obvs).
posted by like_neon at 9:47 AM on February 19, 2018

This isn't strictly an Instant Pot recipe, but easily could be: Pumpkin-Bean Soup.
posted by capricorn at 10:05 AM on February 19, 2018 [2 favorites]

Super basic chicken curry:

- frozen chicken breast
- half a cup of rice
- can of coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon of curry powder

8 minutes on high.


Somewhat similar to this recipe. I usually do add an onion and ginger but I imagine skipping those isn't going to ruin the dish.

Buying a bag of frozen veggies would work well too I imagine.
posted by aeighty at 10:23 AM on February 19, 2018 [3 favorites]

You could do a risotto with frozen peas; I normally add an onion but you could either buy pre-sliced or just do without.
posted by katrielalex at 10:50 AM on February 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

This is my dinner tomorrow! 1 bag frozen meat-substitute crumble (you might have to break this up with your hands), 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes, 1 16 oz can tomato sauce, 1 8 oz can tomato paste, 1 16 oz can diced tomatoes with chili peppers, 1 16 oz can kidney beans (we use a brand with a chili sauce in so it doesn't even have to be drained), 1 packet chili spices. Open, dump in, stir. Chili/bean 75 min, NPR. We top with shredded cheese and eat with tortilla scoop chips, sometimes with premade guac packets. It's my go-to "I don't feel like cooking" dinner and happens to be Kid Ruki's favorite. I subbed in the tofu crumbles when I couldn't even be bothered browning the ground beef and no one noticed, so I kept at it.
posted by Ruki at 10:52 AM on February 19, 2018

Ruki, if you’re doing canned beans, you can probably get away with 10minutes and a QR.

My no prep would be 1C frozen chopped onions and 2/3C frozen chopped peppers and saute till thawed and a little color starts to show. Dump in a 28oz can of diced tomatoes, 1 15oz can kidney beans and 1 15oz can pinto beans (both drained and rinsed), a small bag of frozen corn, 1T chili powder, 1 1/2t cumin, 1t salt and 1 cup veggie broth (or water) and 2 cups cavatappi. Stir well. Manual 1 minute (yes, 1 minute) and quick release. Serve with shredded cheese. Yum.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 11:13 AM on February 19, 2018 [3 favorites]

Drain a few cans of Jack Fruit, squeeze out the brine. Dump it into an Instant Pot with some BBQ Sauce. Add 1/4 cup of water. Set the pot for whatever online Instant Pot recipes recommend. Eat on a bun.
posted by jbenben at 11:46 AM on February 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

Lentils and Rice
1 C rice
1/2 C lentils
3 C water
Handful of baby carrots

Use the rice button setting.

Serve with a bagged salad.

Simple but good.
posted by daneflute at 5:13 PM on February 19, 2018 [2 favorites]

Some of the recipes on the Dump and Push Start Facebook group might meet your requirements.
posted by Joleta at 8:36 PM on February 19, 2018 [6 favorites]

Dhal: Melt 1 tbsp butter/marg/ghee/oil and fry 2 tsp ginger and then 1 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp ground coriander and some chili or cayenne pepper (to taste) till fragrant (couple of minutes). Add 1 cup of red lentils and 1 tsp of turmeric and 3.5 cups water. Cook at pressure for 3 min. Add 1/2 tsp salt. Can also add a few frozen spinach portions now. Serve with rice. Serves three.
posted by kjs4 at 8:51 PM on February 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

You could throw chicken parts in, and then dump a jar of prepared salsa over them and heat until the chicken is cooked. Maybe eat with a bagged salad for more vegetables.
posted by Edna Million at 2:43 PM on February 20, 2018

Have you ever considered an immersion blender?

You cook the stuff in the instant pot, without chopping much if anything.
You jam one end of the blender into the cooked food to puree it.
You call it a day. The dirty part of the blender goes in the dishwasher.

This is pretty much how mushy soups work.
posted by talldean at 11:27 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]