Creamy Zucchini Soup in the Instant Pot

My garden was kind of a bust this year, except for a few things.  One of my successful things was zucchini (of course).  This year I accidentally planted two varieties of zucchini--the regular kind, and yellow zucchini (I thought I was planting yellow crookneck squash.  I'm not sure how I messed it up).  I had quite a few zucchini's that had piled up, and because it is chilly outside and soup sounds so delicious, I was really wanting to make soup.  I found this recipe for zucchini soup and tweaked it a bit, including cooking it in my Instant Pot, and it came out delicious!  I'm sure this could also be made on your stovetop without any problems.  This is a great way to use up lots of extra zucchini--the recipe calls for 8, but I think you could just use whatever you had available and it would still come out great.  I used about 2 1/2 of my huge zucchini's that I had left growing for too long.  The one thing I would do differently next time is remove the seeds, especially on those huge vegetables.  I will definitely make this one again!

Creamy Zucchini Soup in the Instant Pot
adapted from: allrecipes.com

2 Tbsp. butter
1 onion, chopped
4 potatoes, peeled and diced
8 zucchinis, peeled and chopped
1 sprig of fresh rosemary (rinsed, dried and rubbed between your fingers before adding)
4-5 leaves of fresh basil
1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
4 c. chicken or beef broth
1 c. milk
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
salt to taste

In your Instant Pot, using the saute setting, melt the butter and saute the onion until it is translucent.  Add the potatoes, zucchinis, rosemary, basil, pepper, broth, milk and soy sauce.  Lock your lid into place, and set it at high pressure, for 10 minutes.  When it is done, do a quick pressure release.  Remove the lid, and using a hand blender, blend the soup until it is thick and creamy, with a few chunks.  Add salt, if needed.  

Tender and Moist BBQ Pork Ribs in the Instant Pot (from frozen meat!)

I've mentioned before how much I'm enjoying my Instant Pot that Dustin gave me for Christmas.  The more I use it, the more I am amazed with it!  The other night I knew that I had some frozen pork ribs, but the only thing I really felt like doing with them was BBQ.  And the only way I knew to do that was to slow cook them all day.  But all these thoughts happened at 4:00 in the afternoon.  I started looking for recipes using the Instant Pot and dealing with frozen meat.  I had cooked some chicken from frozen in my Instant Pot and it hadn't worked as well as I had hoped, so I was looking specifically for tips to be successful with frozen meat.  I came upon a website, www.hippressurecooking.com, and there were great tips for cooking frozen meat, as well as cook times.  I decided to give it another try, and I'm so glad I did!  After 20 minutes in the Instant Pot (plus pressurizing time), My ribs came out tender, moist and so delicious!  I was totally amazed!  Total prep, cook and de-pressurizing time was less than an hour--less time than my sweet potatoes took to bake in the oven.  I am loving this new kitchen gadget.  If you don't have an Instant Pot, but do have all day, I'm sure this would also be delicious in your slow cooker.

BBQ Pork Ribs (in the Instant Pot)
by: Carolyn

2 Tbsp. oil
1 onion, sliced
1 tsp. minced garlic
6-8 frozen pork ribs (if yours aren't frozen, adjust cook time accordingly)
1 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 c. barbecue sauce

In saute mode, heat the oil in your Instant Pot.  Saute the onions until they are translucent.  Add the minced garlic and stir for 30 seconds.  Brown the frozen pork ribs in the Pot (as best as you can, with them being frozen and probably stuck together).  Add the salt, pepper and barbecue sauce and then pour enough water in to cover the ribs.  Set the Instant Pot to the Meat setting, high pressure, and 20 minutes cook time.  You can let it naturally depressurize, or do a quick depressurize, if you need to.

Creamy Potato Soup in the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

My hubby gave me an Instant Pot pressure cooker for Christmas.  I stared at the box for 2 weeks before I even opened it because I didn't know what to do with it.  All I really needed to do was look online because when I did, I found tons of recipes to make using my pressure cooker.  And then I started finding friends who swear that it is the only way they cook now.  This recipe came from one of those friends.  The soup was incredibly flavorful, which is one of the things that people say about cooking with a pressure cooker.  I would be curious to try it in a slow cooker, or on the stove to see if it had as good of a flavor.  My entire family ate it and liked it!  Winner!

Creamy Potato Soup
adapted from: instantpot.com

1 onion, diced
2 slices bacon
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp. oil
1 c. chicken broth
2 1/2 pounds of potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 inch cubes (I guessed on the amount)
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 Tbsp. dried parsley
a dash of red pepper flakes
1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
2 c. chicken broth
1 1/2 c. heavy cream (or use evaporated milk)
salt and pepper to taste

I am going to give the instructions just as my friend gave them to me.  If you make this using a slow cooker or on the stove, I'm sure you can figure it out.
1.  Press Saute on Instant Pot.  Add onion, bacon, garlic and oil.  Stir while sauteing for 3-4 minutes.  Do not walk away or this will burn.
2.  Add 1 c. of chicken broth, potatoes, carrots, celery, parsley, red pepper flakes, and Italian Seasoning.  Stir.  Place the lid on the pot, press Steam button and set minutes to 10.  (It takes about 10 minutes to come to pressure and then cooks for 10 minutes)
3.  When it beeps, do a quick pressure release.  Remove the bacon and discard (I didn't discard it. We just cut it into bite-sized pieces, then put it back in at the end).  Add 2 cups of chicken broth and the heavy cream.  Insert a handheld blender and run it on short bursts until it has a creamy consistency that you like, but make sure to leave chunks of potatoes.  Don't puree it all.  Add salt and pepper to taste, stirring gently to incorporate.