Some may wonder—some have wondered, aloud and to my face—what a vegetarian like me does with an Instant Pot.
And to that question, I answer: How else can you cook an entire kabocha squash—no cutting, peeling, or deseeding—in 20 minutes? (My next answer: Have you tried these magically creamy pressure cooker beans? My third—but not final—answer: I steam-cook eggs.)
Ready to become an Instant Pot convert?
Sure, the Instant Pot has proven itself most helpful for tenderizing tough cuts of meat or zooming through low-and-slow braises (like coq au vin) in record time. But the most underrated feature—and a huge helping-hand to vegetarians during the winter doldrums—is that your Instant Pot can turn an intimidating squash, root, or tuber from rock-solid to approachable and sliceable. And it does it in a whooooole lot less time than it’d take to roast that same sweet potato, turnip, or—heaven help you—spaghetti squash in the oven (on a weeknight, the gods forbid it!).
Once the vegetables are even partially cooked, they’re easier to cut, scoop, and, if applicable, deseed. That means that all of those hairy, gnarly things (some may call them “vegetables”) that you run away from at the market—rutabaga, kohlrabi, celeriac, you know the type!—are also worthy candidates. And bring on the beets, those dreadful taproots that always, always, always take 30 to 40 minutes longer to cook through than I’ve allotted for. Cauliflower, too.
Here’s how you’ll do it: Scrub the outside of your vegetable, pour a little water in the base (so that it will steam), then squeeze the veg into the IP, resting it on the steaming rack that came with it, and cook on high for 6 to 15 minutes, depending on your specimen’s size. (If you’ve got a mammoth squash that’s too big to fit into a six-quart Instant Pot as one piece, remove its stem and cut it in half.) You won’t be sure exactly how long it will take your vegetable to cook through, so start with a cautious estimate, then do a quick-release, prod it with a fork, and reassess. For sweet potatoes that are on the small side, I start with 6 minutes. For a big butternut, I go for 9.
If you’re planning to blend said vegetable into a soup or blitzing into a purée, you can pressure-cook it to the point of mush. But if you’re going to roast, sear, grill, sauté, cube, or slice, or stuff it, you’ll want to remove the vegetable when it’s still-firm but much easier—and safer—to slice through.
I was in disbelief when my hefty kabocha squash came out of the Instant Pot fully cooked after 12 minutes. I let it cool for 10-ish minutes (a.k.a. my patience threshold) before I sliced it open, removed the seeds, and put it to use in this One-Skillet Squash with Spiced Chickpeas. I wish I could say I did something productive with the 45 minutes I shaved off my prep time (take that, oven-roasting), but I think I just gazed at my Instant Pot, love in my eyes.
