Easy Vegan Instant Pot Recipes; Dietitian-Approved

Today, I thought I’d cover easy vegan instant pot recipes. Most busy parents I know, myself included, are constantly looking for ways to get dinners on the table more quickly and efficiently. And an instant pot – or any electric pressure cooker for that matter – is a great way to achieve this.

If you’re not familiar with the instant pot, it’s an electric pressure cooker that has various functions and which can drastically cut down your meal prep time. I don’t know about you, but as a busy mama of now two (!), I am definitely open to freeing up some of my time!

I’ve tried my fair share of vegan instant pot recipes, and not have not all have been a success. It can be frustrating to try out a new recipe only to have it rejected by your loved ones come dinner time.

So in the spirit of saving you some trial-and-error time, I thought I’d share three of my family’s favorites, so far. I’ll also share the dietitian-approved modifications I’ve made to these easy instant pot recipes to improve their nutrient content.

Why I consider an instant pot a must-have for busy vegan families

It’s taken me almost three years between when I first bought my electric pressure cooker and when I made my first recipe using it. This is partly because I found it intimidating to use. And partly because I wasn’t really aware of all the benefits it could offer.

But once I actually started using it to cook easy instant pot recipes, I’ve come to love it, and now heavily rely on it. So much so that I now consider the electric pressure cooker one of my most loved appliances in my plant-based kitchen.

It’s actually one of the appliances I use the most often, together with my high-speed blender. Here are four of the main reasons why I love using it.

1. It’s relatively odorless

After the birth of my daughter, almost 3 years ago, I purchased a slow cooker. I had hoped that this new kitchen appliance would help me prepare vegan recipes more quickly, without affecting the quality of my meals.

In theory, this was a great idea. However, in practice, it didn’t work out so well. That’s because I work from home, and, at the time, lived in a small, open-concept flat and hadn’t accounted for the smells a slow cooker releases.

I can imagine that the aroma of a warm, home-cooked meal can be quite appealing to encounter when you get home from work. But working from home meant that I was sitting in food smells all day long, which definitely did not work for me.

So the slow cooker had to go, and it was eventually replaced by this electric pressure cooker, which drastically cut down on this issue.

2. It’s versatile

The cool thing about an instant pot is that you can use it in many different ways. This includes using it as a slow cooker, by throwing all your ingredients in and allowing the electric pressure cooker to cook and keep your meal warm until you’re ready to eat it.

But an electric pressure cooker can do so much more than that. You can also use it to sauté, bake, steam, and even air-fry foods.

This means that you’re no longer only limited to making soups, curries and stews. You can also enjoy less often-thought of options such as lasagna, quiche, bread and even home-made vegan yoghurt!

I haven’t tried my hand at making bread or yogurt yet, but it’s definitely on my to-do list. So if you know of any tried and tested recipes, please share them down below, so I can give them a try.

3. It’s super quick

This was probably the most important aspect for me. The electric pressure cooker significantly cut down on my cooking time.

At first, I used mine exclusively to cook beans from scratch. This is usually a very long process that takes hours on the stove top. But this process is reduced to a total of about 40 minutes when using an electric pressure cooker like the instant pot.

Naturally, faster cook times do not only apply to beans. It applies to all meals! This has allowed me to reallocate part of the time I used to spend in the kitchen to various other activities.

It’s also come in handy on days where I didn’t see the time fly, and started making dinner a little later than expected!

4. It requires little involvement

I’ve found this last point especially useful in the last few weeks of pregnancy, when I didn’t have the energy or will to cook a meal from scratch come dinner time.

On such days, I could simply start the meal in the early afternoon, while my toddler napped, set it to cook, and forget about it until dinner time rolled around.

The low involvement required to make a vegan instant pot recipe freed up some time to play with my toddler in the afternoon. Or simply allowed me to sit down and conserve whatever was left of my energy, while dinner was being taken care of.

Three of my family’s favorite easy vegan instant pot meals so far

Below, you’ll find three vegan, easy instant pot recipes that have been a hit in my household so far. I’ve highlighted the modifications I’ve made to each of these meals in colored text. These will help boost the nutrient content of these meals so they can better fit within a well-balanced vegan diet.

Creamy cauliflower soup

Soups are usually a hit with my family. I tend to make soups on a weekly basis, especially throughout the fall and winter months.

I’ve found soups to be an easy way to get my vegan toddler to try out new vegetables, as well as a great way to boost our family’s overall veggie intake.

The original recipe can be found in Nisha Vora’s Vegan Instant Pot cookbook. I’ve made many different recipes from this book, and all have turned out to be a success so far.

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp (10 ml) olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 head cauliflower, cut in large florets
• 1 lb (450 g) potatoes, cubed
• 4 cups (960 ml) low sodium vegetable broth
• 8 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 14 oz (400 g) white beans, cooked
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Garnishes: red cabbage, walnuts, and nutritional yeast
• Side: toasted whole grain bread with vegan pesto arrabiata and ground chia seeds

How to make it:

1. Sauté onion in olive oil and a pinch of salt for 5 minutes, or until slightly brown.
2. Add cauliflower, potatoes, vegetable broth, spices and herbs and stir to combine.
3. Cancel sauté setting.
4. Secure lid and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes.
5. Allow the pressure to naturally release for at least 10 minutes. If you’re in a hurry, you can manually release any remaining steam after these first 10 minutes. Otherwise, simply allow steam to naturally release until you’re ready to eat.
6. Right before serving, toast bread and top with pesto and ground chia seed.
7. Add garnishes to soup and serve.

Butternut squash risotto

This meal was heavily inspired by Sylvia’s recipe from the Feasting at Home blog.

My little one loves rice, so risotto is usually a surefire winner in our house! This variation with butternut squash and leeks makes for a great fall and wintertime addition to our risotto rotation.

This vegan instant pot recipe was pretty well-balanced to begin with, so it didn’t require many modifications.

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp (10 ml) olive oil
• 2 cups (178 g) leeks, sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 8 sage leaves, roughly chopped
• 1 cup (197 g) arborio rice, dry
• 2 cups (410 g) butternut squash
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) white wine (optional)
• 2 cups (480 ml) low sodium vegetable stock
• 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) nutmeg, ground
• 14 oz (400 g) white beans, cooked
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2-3 handfuls of fresh spinach or kale
• Garnishes: vegan parmesan (optional) and hulled hempseeds

How to make it:

1. Sauté leeks in olive oil for 2 minutes, stirring, until slightly brown.
2. Add garlic, sage and rice and stir for an additional 2 minutes.
3. Add butternut squash and keep stirring until you notice a bit of browning at the bottom of your electric pressure cooker.
4. Deglaze with white wine, making sure to scrape up the brown bits with a wooden spoon or spatula.
5. Let the wine cook off for 2-3 minutes before adding vegetable broth and spices.
6. Cancel sauté setting.
7. Secure lid and cook on high pressure for 6 minutes.
8. Allow the pressure to naturally release for at least 5 minutes. If you’re in a hurry, you can manually release any remaining steam after these first 5 minutes. Otherwise, simply allow steam to naturally release until you’re ready to eat.
9. Add garnishes and serve.

Vegan phó

This vegan Phó recipe from my friend Sadia has been a family favorite for a while already. The only downside is that it’s quite time-intensive to make.

So boy was I happy to come across this instant-pot version from Nisha Vora’s Vegan Instant Pot cookbook. If you’re looking for a recipe book filled with vegan, easy instant pot recipes, consider checking it out.

A friend lent me her copy a few months back, and I couldn’t have been more happy with it! I now have to purchase her a new copy since A) I don’t want to give it back and B) I’ve used this cookbook so frequently that it’s now stained with a rainbow of food ingredients!

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces (340 grams) rice noodles, dry
• 2 tbsp (30 ml) grapeseed oil (or any neutral high-heat cooking oil)
• 2 medium onions, cut in half
• 4-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 cardamom pods, lightly smashed
• 3 whole star anise pods
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick (or 1 tsp ground cinnamon)
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) black peppercorns
• 1 tsp (5 ml) fennel seeds
• 1/2 cup (8 g) fresh coriander (roughly chopped)
• 1 fuji apple, cut into large chunks
• 2 tbsp (15 ml) low sodium soy sauce or tamari
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 cups (250 g) sliced shiitake (or your choice of mushrooms)
• 8 cups (1.9 L) low sodium vegetable broth
• 2 cups (142 g) fresh or frozen broccoli
• Salt to taste
• Garnishes: 14 oz (400 g) block baked tofu, carrot and radish slices, chopped red cabbage, lime wedges, and ground flax or chia seeds

How to make it:

1. Cook rice noodles according to package instructions, or alternatively, allow to soak in warm water for 30-45 minutes, or until the noodles become easy to bend.
2. Meanwhile, select sauté setting on instant pot and, once warm, add oil.
3. Add onion and ginger, cut side down and cook for 4 minutes, or until charred and deeply brown without stirring.
4. Throw in the spices and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
5. Add apple, cilantro, tamari, sugar, mushrooms, broccoli (if fresh) and vegetable broth. Stir to combine.
6. Cancel sauté setting.
7. Secure lid and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes
8. Allow the pressure to naturally release for at least 10 minutes. If you’re in a hurry, you can manually release any remaining steam after these first 10 minutes. Otherwise, simply allow steam to naturally release until you’re ready to eat.
9. If using frozen broccoli, you can thaw it in the broth for ± 10 minutes before serving.
10. Once ready to serve, strain the broth into a large pot, discarding the solids.
11. Spoon cooked rice noodles into bowls and pour strained broth on top. Add garnishes and serve.

If you prefer to watch rather than read, check out this video outlining the simple step-by-step process I followed to make these three simple instant pot meals. You can catch a glimpse of my last few weeks of pregnancy!

If you want to learn more about the reasons behind the specific modifications I’ve made to each recipe, check out the free vegan meal planner template below.

It’s what I currently use, as a vegan registered dietitian, to plan my family’s meals for the week. It’s also the easiest method I’ve found so far to ensure that my family meets their daily nutrient needs, short of tracking everything we eat in an online food journal!

To sum it all up

If you’re looking for a simple and efficient way to get balanced family meals on the table more quickly, consider adding an instant pot – or any other electric pressure cooker – to your kitchen arsenal.

Or if you, like me, already own one, but had it hibernating in a kitchen cupboard for far too long, dust it off and give it a try.

It’s much less intimidating to use than you may think, and it’s a must-have for getting easy instant pot recipes on the table quickly. Now, what will you choose to do with your newly-acquired extra time is up to you!