25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (2024)

This post may include affiliate links; for details, see our disclosure policy.

Think a pressure cooker is just for meat? Think again. Here are dozens of vegetarian Instant Pot recipes to prove you wrong.

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (1)

Alex and I eat a mostly vegetarian and plant based diet. (In fact, we wrote a book about it!) When we heard about the Instant Pot, we figured it was just for meat: and didn’t give it a second thought. It wasn’t until a friend shared with us that she cooked sweet potatoes in her Instant Pot that we started to reconsider. Fast forward until today, and we’ve made dozens of vegetarian Instant Pot recipes! The sky’s the limit: from basics like rice and quinoa, to soups and even pastas!

And one of our favorite ways to use an Instant Pot is to cook dried beans. You can cook up a pot in 1 hour. It’s a drastic time savings versus the stovetop method (which calls for starting to soak the beans the night before and takes hours on the stove).

Here we’re sharing all of our best vegetarian Instant Pot recipes! Ready to get started?

Best vegetarian Instant Pot recipes

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (2)

Creamy Instant Pot Pasta

First up in our vegetarian Instant Pot recipes: pasta! Can a pressure cooker cook pasta without turning it to mush? Turns out, it works: and it’s absolutely delicious! Here, we’ve made a creamy Instant Pot pasta with a marinara sauce mixed with creamy goat cheese. It’ssoseriously flavorful, it might just be one of our favorite Instant Pot recipes yet. And it’s a perfect easy dinner recipe: as simple as throwing a few things in the pot and cooking for 5 minutes.

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (3)

Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili

This one is really thebestInstant Pot vegetarian chili recipe! It’s full of beans, veggies, and lentils to up theplant-based protein. A pressure cooker is a quick and easy way to make chili versus Crockpot chili, which takes hours and can turn out soggy. This Instant Pot chili is full of savory, hearty flavor. In fact…we might like it the best of all of ourchili recipes!

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (4)

Instant Pot Lentil Soup

This Instant Pot lentil soup recipe is the perfect intro to pressure cooker soups! It’s easy to make and full of nutritious ingredients. Lentils load it with plant based protein, and it’s bright red from fire roasted tomatoes. The star ingredient: fresh fennel, which adds a smoky undertone. This soup is ultra cozy; enjoy a steaming bowl with a side of the bestvegan cornbread.

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (5)

Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

There’s nothing more comforting than a good bowl of mac and cheese. Turns out, Instant Pot mac and cheese is layer upon layer of cozy! The way the Instant Pot cooks pasta makes it soft and supple, which has a down-home sort of vibe to it. It almost feels like an elevated version of box mac and cheese. The big selling point? Just throw the ingredients in the pot and press Go! Nothing better than that.

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (6)

Instant Pot Acorn Squash

This vegetarian Instant Pot recipe is perfect for cooking fall's favorite ingredient. Tender acorn squash is stuffed with a savory, herb-laden pecan and rice stuffing that truly makes your kitchen smell like a fall wonderland while you make it.Really! Did you know you can cook acorn squash in a pressure cooker? This recipe uses the Instant Pot to cook both the riceandthe squash, making it simple to whip up.

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (7)

Instant Pot Minestrone

Here's a healthy soup that's incredibly tasty: minestrone! This classicItalian soupis full of chunky vegetables, baby kale and pasta in a tomato-y broth. Serve garnished with fresh herbs, or take it up a notch with a dollop ofbasil pesto(orvegan pesto).

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (8)

Instant Pot Tacos

These vegetarian Instant Pot tacos are a total crowd pleaser! They’re fresh and tasty, filled with an irresistible filling of Smoky Instant Pot Lentils and Rice. Topped with all the crunchy veggies. It’s aneasy healthy dinner recipethat pleases everyone. Set out the taco toppings and let everyone choose their own! Our favorite toppings? Creamy Cilantro Sauce and Best Salsa

Another way to use the lentils? The BEST Vegan Nachos

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (9)

Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup

This Instant Pot wild rice soup has become a fan favorite because it's so, so delicious. It cooks dried white beans at the same time as the rice (wow!), and it’s hands off, for the most part. When we took the first bite, we were blown away! It’s also vegan and vegetarian, so it’s all naturally creamy goodness.

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (10)

Instant Pot Refried Beans

Do you make your own refried beans? Homemade refried beans taste so seriously good, it’s worth making them when you have the time! The Instant Pot is actually perfect for homemade refried beans, because it skips the soaking time. Just throw the beans in with some seasoning, and in 1 hour they come out perfectly tender.

Make them into: Easy Refried Bean Dip

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (11)

Instant Pot Spaghetti

Looking for a fast and easy dinner recipe where all you have to do is “set it and forget it”? This vegan Instant Pot spaghetti recipe for busy weeknights, and times when you just don’t want to have to think about dinner. All it takes is just throwing all the ingredients in the pressure cooker! And the flavor? Take it from one of our readers, Erin, who said:“Oh my, I scraped the bowl clean on this one! The flavor was awesome and it was so easy, it was exactly what I needed right now.”

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (12)

Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash

Gone are the days of waiting over 1 hour toroast spaghetti squash in the oven. This Instant Pot spaghetti squash method cuts the time in half! The cook time is only8 minutes. With the 5 minutes to preheat and 10 minutes to let the squash drain afterwards, you’re still only looking at about25 minutes total.

Serve it with marinara as Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti and it's a seriously tasty vegetarian dinner recipe. Or serve it as a side dish with our Easy Pesto Spaghetti Squash.

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (13)

Instant Pot Potato Soup

Who could pass up Instant Potloaded potato soup? This one is creamy with intermittent potato chunks, using no heavy cream at all! Old Bay gives it an irresistible undertone. And it’s so easy to make: you don’t even need a blender! Like any good recipe, the best part is the toppings. Load it up with whatever you like: here we used shredded cheese, sour cream, chives, and smoky, saltyvegan bacon.

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (14)

Instant Pot Split Pea Soup

This vegetarian Instant Pot split pea soup recipe is the ultimate meal! It’s filling, plant based, and easy to make in a pressure cooker. Full of cozy, lightly smoky flavor, all that's required is chopping 3 veggies: onion, celery and carrot. That's it! Let your Instant Pot do the rest of the work.

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (15)

Instant Pot Ramen

Want the best ever comfort food? Steaming bowls of slurpable ramen is where it’s at. Authentic ramen from a Japanese restaurant is the absolutebest. But the next best thing is trying it homemade! Can you use your pressure cooker to make ramen? Absolutely. This Instant Pot ramen features a savory broth flavored with umami-laden miso and soy sauce, tender noodles, and runny soft boiled eggs.

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (16)

Instant Pot Lentils

If you’re looking to eat more vegetarian recipes, you’ve probably heard this:eat more lentils!Right? This Instant Pot lentils is a tasty basic lentil recipe that can be served many different ways: as part of a bowl meal, in a taco, and more! The great part: pressure cooker lentils are totally hands off!They come out tender and perfectly spiced with onion powder, paprika, garlic powder, and oregano. The easiest way to serve them? With a pita and a dollop of Greek yogurt.

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (17)

Granola Instant Pot Apple Crisp

Do you use your Instant Pot for desserts? This Instant Pot apple crisp is simple so that the fresh apple flavors really shine. The topping is seriously simple: you'll use granola instead of oats! It cooks up in just 5 minutes in the Instant Pot! Garnish with lemon zest and a little cinnamon and it's seriously cozy with minimal effort.

Take it from one of our readers, Lisa, who said: "It was easy and quick and even though it was made in the Instant Pot rather than the oven it made my kitchen smell amazing. The apples came out perfectly tender!"

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (18)

Easy Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup

Ready for the quickest, coziest fall recipe? May we present: Instant Pot butternut squash soup! It's spiced with sage, with a hint of cinnamon and a smoky undertone. The squash and carrot give it an electric orange hue, and it's rounded out with potato and apple for sweetness. Really, it's pure gold in a bowl! It's a star in our comforting butternut squash recipes.

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (19)

Instant Pot Hummus

Here’s a fun trick you can whip up with your pressure cooker:Instant Pot hummus! Sure, it’s easy to buy store-bought hummus. But for the verybestcreamy chickpea puree: homemade hummus is where it’s at! It’s a great trick using your Instant Pot, and perfect if you whip up a big batch ofchickpeas.

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (20)

Instant Pot Cauliflower

Here's another healthy Instant Pot recipe that makes a quick vegetarian side dish! This is the BEST way to eat cauliflower: mixed with lemon zest for brightness, Italian seasoning, and olive oil. It's got a Mediterranean flair and is so tasty, you won't be able to stop eating it!

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (21)

Instant Pot Broccoli

This vegetarian Instant Pot recipe has a cook time of 0 minutes! That's right: all you need is 0 minutes to cook this broccoli (though of course it takes 5 minutes for the Instant Pot to preheat!). Mix it up with feta cheese crumbles and red onion, and it's a showy side dish that takes no time at all.

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (22)

Instant Pot Brussels Sprouts with Parmesan

Can you cook Brussels sprouts in an Instant Pot? Though we thought crispy roasted Brussels sproutswas the only way to eat them, turns out, Instant Pot Brussels are delicious too! They come out crisp tender and mixed with butter, chives, and Parmesan cheese, they’re super flavorful. Not soggy or bitter, but savory and irresistible. Watch out: you'll eat the whole bowl!

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (23)

Instant Pot Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats

How about vegetarian Instant Pot breakfast recipes? These Instant Pot apple cinnamon steel cut oats are creamy and come out perfectly tender. The entire process of making steel cut oats in a pressure cooker takes about 30 minutes total including prep, preheat and cool down time. The even bigger benefit is thatcooking steel cut oats with a pressure cooker is totally hands off.Throw in the oats and let the Instant Pot cook for you!

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (24)

Easy Instant Pot Oatmeal

Here’s an easy, healthy breakfast recipe for weekdays or entertaining guests: Instant Pot oatmeal! If you’ve got a pressure cooker, oatmeal is even easier to make. The oats are toasted in butter until fragrant, then mixed with milk and cooked for just 3 minutes. (Vegan variation included.) What comes out is the creamiest, tastiest oatmeal you’ll make!

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (25)

Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes

Why bake sweet potatoes when you can make them in the Instant Pot? What results is perfectly moist sweet potatoes with little effort and much faster than an oven! It’s now our go to method for cooking sweet potatoes. You can use them as a vegetarian side dish, or make them into a plant-based main dish like these Sweet Potatoes with Thai Peanut Butter Sauce. They're topped with a zesty bell pepper slaw and drizzled with peanut sauce and cilantro. Yum!

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (26)

Quick Instant Pot Applesauce

The Instant Pot is a fast way to make applesauce! This applesauce recipe is tangy sweet and depending on the apples you use, you don't even need sweetener. All you need is a bunch of apples and a cinnamon stick.It comes together with no added sugars in under 30 minutes!

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (27)

Instant Pot Beets

Roasting beets usually takes over an hour. But here's a way to cut the time in half! Enter: the Instant Pot. This Instant Pot beet recipe takes about 30 minutes total. And they come out tender and juicy every time! It's so fast and easy, you won't be able to stop making beet recipes. Use these beets in our Beet Salad with Balsamic Dressing! It's a show-stopper.

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (28)

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

Want to make perfect hard boiled eggs? Look no further than your Instant Pot! This method is totally hands off: you don’t have to wait for water to boil or worry about overcooking the eggs. Simply pop the eggs in the Instant Pot and cook for 7 minutes! The entire process takes about 20 minutes and couldn’t be simpler. And even better: boiling eggs in an Instant Pot makes for easy peel hard boiled eggs. (Really! We didn’t believe it until we tried it.)

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (29)

And now for some vegetarian Instant Pot basics! Did you know you can use your Instant Pot to cook whole grains? Here are all our basic methods for cooking up big pots of grains!

Instant Pot Whole Grains
Pressure Cooker Quinoa (Instant Pot)
How to Cook Rice in an Instant Pot
Instant Pot Brown Rice
Instant Pot White Rice
Instant Pot Basmati Rice
Instant Pot Jasmine Rice
Instant Pot Bulgur Wheat
Instant Pot Farro

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (30)

You also can use an Instant Pot to cook dried beans from scratch! There's no soaking required: just pop in the beans and water. It takes only 1 hour to cook dried beans! It's vastly quicker than on the stovetop.

Instant Pot Dried Beans
Instant Pot Chickpeas
Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas
Instant Pot Pinto Beans
Instant Pot Black Beans

What Instant Pot do you use?

For all of these vegetarian recipes,Alex and I use an Instant Pot brand Instant Pot (Instant Pot is the brand name; Instapot is a slang variation).The Instant Pot we use is theInstant Pot DUO60 6 Qt 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker.We have used that Instant Pot to test all of the Instant Pot recipes on this website.There is definitely variations between pressure cooker brands and sizes, so you may see some variation in cook time.

Understanding Instant Pot cook time

When you look at cook time with any pressure cooker, you’ll need to factor in a few more things than just the actual cook time. Keep the following in mind:

  • “Preheat” time: Once you add the ingredients to the pot, the pressure cooker requires about 5 to 10 minutes for come up to pressure. This time can vary depending on the recipe.
  • Natural release: Some recipes call for aQuick Release: here you’ll immediately release the pressure and open the lid. But some recipes call for aNatural Releasemethod, where you wait with the cover on after the cook time for the pressure to naturally release from the pot.

Cleaning the Instant Pot

The plastic sealing rink inside the Instant Pot can pick up odors when you use the pot to cook vegetarian recipes. To remove the smell from an Instant Pot sealing ring, soak it in vinegar for a few hours. Another option is purchasing two sealing rings. We have2 Instant Pot sealing ringsand use one for savory recipes and one for sweet recipes.

A good practice is to store the Instant Pot with the lid upside down so the sealing ring is exposed to air, instead of with the lid closed onto the pot. This allows the sealing ring to air out between uses.

More Instant Pot recipes

Try all our Best Instant Pot Recipes!

Print

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (31)

Vegetarian Instant Pot Pasta (& More Recipes!)

★★★★★5 from 1 review
  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 5 minutes
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 3 to 4 servings 1x
Print Recipe

Description

Can you cook pasta in an Instant Pot? You bet. This recipe is a seriously creamy Instant Pot pasta recipe that you’ll make again and again.

Ingredients

Scale

  • 1 ½ cups water
  • 28 ounce can crushed fire roasted tomatoes (or best quality crushed tomatoes)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 cups baby spinach leaves, tightly packed (or chopped spinach)
  • 8 fresh basil leaves
  • 8 ounces penne pasta (regular, not whole wheat)
  • 4 ounce goat cheese log

Instructions

  1. Place the following ingredients into the Instant Pot: water, tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, oregano, kosher salt, spinach, whole basil leaves, and penne.
  2. Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes: Press the Pressure Cook button, making sure the “High Pressure” setting is selected, and set the time. Note that it takes about 10 minutes for the pot to “preheat” and come up to pressure before it starts cooking. (During cooking, avoid touching the metal part of the lid.)
  3. Quick release: Vent the remaining steam from the Instant Pot by moving the pressure release handle to “Venting”, covering your hand with a towel or hot pad. Never put your hands or face near the vent when releasing steam. Open the pressure cooker lid.
  4. Open the lid and crumble in the goat cheese; stir until a creamy sauce forms. The sauce will thicken even more as it cools.
  • Category: Main Dish
  • Method: Instant Pot
  • Cuisine: Italian

Keywords: Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes, Instant Pot Pasta Recipe

Last updated: January 2021

Published on / Last updated on

Categorized In:

  • Recipe Collections

Tagged with:

  • Instant Pot
  • Pressure Cooker
  • Roundup

About the authors

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (32)

Sonja & Alex

Meet Sonja and Alex Overhiser: Husband and wife. Expert home cooks. Authors of recipes you’ll want to make again and again.

About Us

25+ Vegetarian Instant Pot Recipes (2024)

References

Top Articles
Jackie Kennedy's Fluffy Waffle Recipe
Italian Christmas Desserts: 31 Of The Best Italian Dessert Recipes
LAC-318900 - Wildfire and Smoke Map
Weather On October 15
What Time Subway Open
Ffxiv Ixali Lightwing
New Orleans Pelicans News, Scores, Status, Schedule - NBA
Carmax Chevrolet Tahoe
Gay Black Scat
16Th Or 16Nd
Champion Enchant Skyblock
8x20, 8x40 Shipping containers storage container for rent or sale - general for sale - by dealer - craigslist
Bookmark Cshive
Ticket To Paradise Showtimes Near Laemmle Newhall
Fairwinds Shred Fest 2023
Paul Mccombs Nashville Tn
Roses Gordon Highway
Power Outage Hales Corners
Lighthouse Diner Taylorsville Menu
Craigslist Columbus Ohio Craigslist
Nissan Rogue Tire Size
Dickinson Jewelers Prince Frederick Md
Brake Masters 208
Winzige Tyrannen: So klein begann das Leben der Tyrannosaurier
PoE Reave Build 3.25 - Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur
Tbom Genesis Retail Phone Number
Insulated Dancing Insoles
Pokimane Titty Pops Out
Author T. Jefferson Parker
Ixl.prentiss
Used Zero Turn Mowers | Shop Used Zero Turn Mowers for Sale - GSA Equipment
인민 을 위해 복무하라 다시보기
Prisoners Metacritic
Broncos vs. Seahawks: How to Watch NFL Week 1 Online Today
Coverwood Terriers For Sale
Dr Yakubu Riverview
Trailmaster Fahrwerk - nivatechnik.de
Quiktrip 864
Enterprise Car Sales Jacksonville Used Cars
Accident On 215
Is Glassagram Illegal
Did You Hear About Worksheet Answers Page 211
Pensacola Tattoo Studio 2 Reviews
Gulfstream Park Entries And Results
My Vcccd
Waffle House Gift Card Cvs
Thoren Bradley Lpsg
Arre St Wv Srj
Roblox Mod Menu Platinmods
Umn Biology
New Application Instructions · Government Portal
Two Soyjaks Pointing Png
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Trent Wehner

Last Updated:

Views: 6319

Rating: 4.6 / 5 (56 voted)

Reviews: 95% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Trent Wehner

Birthday: 1993-03-14

Address: 872 Kevin Squares, New Codyville, AK 01785-0416

Phone: +18698800304764

Job: Senior Farming Developer

Hobby: Paintball, Calligraphy, Hunting, Flying disc, Lapidary, Rafting, Inline skating

Introduction: My name is Trent Wehner, I am a talented, brainy, zealous, light, funny, gleaming, attractive person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.