When I wrote The Fresh and Healthy Instant Pot Cookbook , I learned a magical tip— you can cook two dishes at once in your pressure cooker! It’s called “pot in pot” cooking, and it takes the convenience factor of the Instant Pot to the next level. You can make an entire meal at once, totally hands-off!
If you’re not familiar with pot-in-pot cooking , it’s a method where you cook one part of your meal on the bottom of the Instant Pot (I own this 6-quart model ), in the large stainless steel insert, while another part of your meal, like a side dish, cooks in a separate bowl placed on a trivet.
That said, you don’t always have to cook two dishes at once to use this method. You may simply want to cook the rice in a separate bowl to avoid having to clean your Instant Pot later. Either way, this method is helpful to know.
Equipment You’ll Need
To get started with pot-in-pot cooking, you’ll need two things:
- a 7-inch oven-safe bowl , to hold a side dish, like rice or vegetables
- a 2.5-inch trivet , to keep the bowl out of your main course
Foods you can cook at the same time in the Instant Pot
Cooking with White Rice:
White rice cooks quickly —just 4 minutes at high pressure— but can take up to 10 minutes when cooked in a separate bowl on a trivet. I always allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes before moving the steam release valve to venting, then removing the lid. When cooking white rice, rinse it well in a fine-mesh strainer to help prevent the grains from sticking together, then use a 1:1 ratio of rice to water in the bowl.
The following items work well when cooked at the bottom of the Instant Pot , with the white rice in a bowl on top.
- Chicken Breasts: Chicken breasts cook in 8 to 10 minutes at high pressure, followed by the 10-minute natural pressure release.
- Pre-Cooked Beans: If starting with pre-cooked beans, like my Kung Pao Chickpeas , you can cook the dish on the bottom of the Instant Pot for 4 minutes at high pressure, and allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes before removing the lid.
- Soaked Beans. Several varieties of beans can cook in 10 minutes or less when soaked in water for at least 8 hours, such as black beans and cannellini beans. Refer to this Instant Pot time chart for specific cooking times.
- Dry Lentils: Dry green lentils will cook in 5 minutes at high pressure, as long as you don’t add salt or acid to the recipe. Try my Instant Pot Lentil Curry recipe for a starting point.
Cooking with Brown Rice:
Brown rice takes 22 minutes to cook in the Instant Pot, but it can withstand a little extra cooking time when cooked in a separate bowl on a trivet. Allow the pressure to release naturally for an additional 10 minutes before removing the lid. Below are some ideas to help you get started, but you can use any recipe at the bottom of the Instant Pot that requires 22-30 minutes of cooking.
When cooking brown rice, rinse it well in a fine mesh sieve to prevent the grains from sticking together, then use a 1:1 ratio of rice to water .
- Dried Beans. Several varieties of dried beans cook in 25 minutes or less, without even soaking them beforehand. Dried black beans or red kidney beans can be cooked in the bottom of the Instant Pot using the cooking times listed in this chart. Tougher beans, like chickpeas, can also be cooked with brown rice if you soak them beforehand.
- Whole Sweet Potatoes. Medium to large sweet potatoes (1 pound or smaller) can take roughly 25 minutes to cook in the Instant Pot, so they can be cooked with rice at the same time. In this case, you might want to place the rice at the bottom of the pot and place the sweet potatoes on the trivet to keep them out of the cooking water.
- *Vegetables. Most vegetables will turn to mush if cooked for more than 1-2 minutes in the Instant Pot, but that can be to your advantage in some cases. Want a creamy cauliflower sauce to go with your rice? Cook the cauliflower with the rice at the same time, and it will totally disintegrate into a puree when you stir it, without using a food processor. (The exception to this rule is mushrooms, as they retain their texture well, even with over-cooking.)
- Chicken Thighs. Chicken thighs can withstand quite a bit of overcooking, as they become very tender after 22 minutes at high pressure. (You can use bone-in or boneless thighs with similar results.)
Cooking with Vegetables:
As I noted above, most vegetables will turn to mush if you cook them longer than 1-2 minutes at high pressure. As a result, you can easily make a vegetable mash to go with your main entree all at once.
- Mashed Cauliflower. If you place a bowl of cauliflower (with no water added) on a trivet over chicken breasts, cooked beans, dry lentils, or anything else that takes at least 5 minutes to cook, with 10 minutes of natural pressure release, the cauliflower will turn to mush. Use a potato masher to mash the cauliflower into “ cauliflower mashed potatoes ” and then serve it as a low-carb side dish.
- Mashed Potatoes. Sweet and white potatoes become very tender with just 8 minutes of pressure cooking, using a quick or natural pressure release. Cook them in a bowl on a trivet with any recipe that requires that much cooking time or more. (In this case, you can’t really overcook them!) Don’t add any water to the bowl of potatoes for cooking; they will be sufficiently cooked by the steam in the pot.
- Steamed Vegetables. If you’d like your vegetables to retain their texture, without turning into a mash, use the method described in my Instant Pot Salmon recipe.
What doesn’t work for pot-in-Pot Cooking?
In my experience, quinoa does not work using the pot-in-pot method. I’ve cooked it in water for anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, and only the quinoa at the top of the bowl gets cooked. (The stuff underneath remains hard and crunchy!)
I don’t know why this happens, but I recommend using my Instant Pot Quinoa recipe instead. (Although a commenter below suggests that covering the bowl with foil can help, so feel free to try that.)
This might also be the case for other gluten-free pseudo-grains, like millet and amaranth. I haven’t tested those myself, after having such a bad experience with the quinoa.
Pot-in-Pot Recipes
Try my One-Pot Chipotle Burrito Bowls or my Low-Carb Chicken Burrito Bowls , which feature pot-in-pot cauliflower “rice.” Yes, you can make easy cauliflower rice in your Instant Pot, too!
My method is much faster than using a food processor or grater to rice the cauliflower ahead of time.
Ingredients1x2x3x
- 1 cup white rice (I like to use jasmine)
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- For best results, rinse the rice in a strainer basket under the faucet, then add the rinsed rice to an oven-safe bowl that is 7-inches or less in diameter. (See notes below for bowl options.)
- Add the cup of water and salt to the rice in the bowl, and give it a stir. Pour one additional cup of water into the bottom of the Instant Pot insert, then place a trivet on top of that. (I use the trivet that came with my Instant Pot.)
- Place the bowl of rice on the trivet, then secure the lid to the Instant Pot. Move the steam release valve to Sealing , then press the “ manual ” or “ pressure cook ” button and set the time to 4 minutes at high pressure. (High pressure is the default setting for most machines.)
- It will take 5 to 10 minutes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure, then the cook cycle will begin. When the cook cycle is complete, allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes. The Instant Pot screen will read LO:10 when the natural release is complete. Move the steam release valve to Venting to release any remaining pressure in the pot.
- Remove the lid and use oven mitts to remove the bowl of rice to a trivet on your counter. Use a fork to fluff the rice, then serve warm.
Nutrition
More Instant Pot Recipes to Try
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes (no drain!)
- Instant Pot Broccoli
- How to Pressure Cook Chicken Breasts
- Instant Pot Lentil Soup
Pot-in-Pot Pressure Cooker Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup white rice (I like to use jasmine)
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- For best results, rinse the rice in a strainer basket under the faucet, then add the rinsed rice to an oven-safe bowl that is 7-inches or less in diameter. (See notes below for bowl options.)
- Add the cup of water and salt to the rice in the bowl, and give it a stir. Pour one additional cup of water into the bottom of the Instant Pot insert, then place a trivet on top of that. (I use the trivet that came with my Instant Pot.)
- Place the bowl of rice on the trivet, then secure the lid to the Instant Pot. Move the steam release valve to Sealing , then press the " manual " or " pressure cook " button and set the time to 4 minutes at high pressure. (High pressure is the default setting for most machines.)
- It will take 5 to 10 minutes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure, then the cook cycle will begin. When the cook cycle is complete, allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes. The Instant Pot screen will read LO:10 when the natural release is complete. Move the steam release valve to Venting to release any remaining pressure in the pot.
- Remove the lid and use oven mitts to remove the bowl of rice to a trivet on your counter. Use a fork to fluff the rice, then serve warm.
