What is an Instant Pot?
An instant pot is an easy way to get a quick meal using a number of different types of cooking. The single appliance can replace your slow cooker, pressure cooker, rice cooker, steamer and saute pan, plus it can be used to keep things warm and to make yogurt. You can even make desserts in them, like cake. It’s a one-pot solution for a multitude of meals. Think things like instant pot pasta, instant pot tikka masala, instant pot casserole.
How does an Instant Pot work?
These easy-to-use appliances are programmable and have specific buttons. So depending on the model, yours could have a button for porridge, soup, rice, or more. You either hit the button for what you’re cooking, or program in the time and temperature, and voila—just a short wait for dinner. The top seals like a pressure cooker, so you’ll get all the benefits of tender meat and perfectly cooked food. Plus, instant pots come with inserts to make cooking certain foods easier.
How to cook ground beef
You can use raw or cooked ground beef in instant pot recipes.
Precook your ground beef
Pre-cooking the meat before using it in an instant pot recipe is easy—just put the meat in a skillet, cut it up with a wooden spoon or spatula, and cook it while stirring until the meat is cooked through. Then you can just dump the meat into the instant pot (drain it first!) with all the other ingredients.
Cook your ground beef in the instant pot
You can cook ground beef in an instant pot whether it’s frozen or thawed. For frozen ground beef, pour a cup of water into the pot. Then add in the trivet—a metal rack with folding handles. Place your frozen beef on the rack, seal the pot (and the vent on the lid), set it on high pressure, and cook for 20 minutes. You’ll follow the same process for fresh ground beef, but you’ll cook it for about six or seven minutes instead. Check the internal temperature to make sure your ground beef is 160 degrees, and you’re done! Pull out the meat and empty out the pot.
Keeping ground beef healthy
When people think ground beef, they normally think things like burgers, which can be pretty unhealthy. But it doesn’t have to be an unhealthy meal. You can make some small fixes to your meat in order to make healthy instant pot recipes with ground beef as the star ingredient.
Drain the grease. The more grease you can get rid of from your cooked meat, the healthier it will be.Use lean beef. Aim for 90 percent lean—it will specify the percentage on the package.Use less of it. Some recipes, like tacos, naturally use less beef.Choose grass-fed beef. It will have more vitamins and less calories than grain-fed.
Instant pots and pressure cookers are all the rage right now—and with good reason. You can make a healthy meal on a short timeframe that pleases the entire family. Try these recipes to get the most out of your appliance.
How to Make Lasagna With Ground Beef:
