The Best Instant Pot Recipes (Healthy!)
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The Best Healthy Instant Pot Recipes! These Instant Pot Recipes are healthy, easy to make and delicious. Chicken, dinner, soups & more!
Healthy Instant Pot Recipes are a Lifesaver!
We’ve all been there… struggling to get dinner on the table on a busy night and tempted to eat something unhealthy or get takeout. Using your instant pot can definitely help save you time (and energy) when it comes to meals!
I’ve compiled some of the best HEALTHY instant pot recipes that I know you and your family will love!
If you are following a Whole30 diet, check out these Whole30 Instant Pot Recipes!
Why You’ll Love our Healthy Pressure Cooker Recipes
- one pot = fewer dishes – I mean… need we say more? the fewer dishes the better!
- time saver – Instant Pot recipes are usually quick, so they’re perfect for busy nights or days when you forgot to prep something and need dinner in a pinch!
- great for meal prep – When I meal prep, I wind up using every appliance in the kitchen. I have the crockpot, oven, and stovetop going. If I can use my instant pot too – I’m all over it!
Healthy Instant Pot Recipes: the Top 10!
Greek Lemon Chicken Soup Recipe
A delicious dinner. Easy to make in the instant pot, crock pot or on the stove. Lemony and healthy!
Chicken Pot Pie Soup
This recipe is total comfort food! Paleo, whole30 and SO delicious! You’ll love how creamy and tasty this chicken pot pie soup is while being completely dairy free!
BBQ Chicken Meatloaf
A delicious, healthy, one pan dinner. Paleo + Whole30 – you can make this healthy meatloaf in the instant pot, slow cooker or oven!
Pasta Fagioli Soup
This recipe is better than Olive Garden! Healthy, vegetarian & easy to make in the instant pot.
Orange Chicken
Made in the pressure cooker, this healthy dinner is easy and delicious! Better than Panda Express!
Chicken Taco Soup Recipe
So delicious! Make it in your instant pot, crock pot or on the stove for a quick, healthy dinner!
Instant Pot Chicken Fried Rice
The perfect quick, one pot dinner. Pressure cooker fried rice that’s done in under 30 minutes.
Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe
Everyone will love this recipe! This quick beef soup is delicious, healthy, hearty and so tender from the pressure cooker.
Cheeseburger Soup Recipe
A recipe you’ll love! Keto, paleo and Whole30 friendly. Naturally gluten free and no velveeta needed for this delicious soup!
Ham & Potato Soup
A soup everyone will love! Creamy & delicious! Easily made gluten/ dairy free and paleo or Whole30!
Our Favorite Instant Pot Healthy Recipes
Easy Instant Pot Bone Broth
This recipe is made from just two ingredients in the pressure cooker! This easy bone broth is paleo, whole30 & SO nutritious!
Ground Beef and Sweet Potato Chili
A tasty, easy dinner. Paleo, Whole30 and gluten free this is truly the best beef chili recipe!
Beef Barley Soup Recipe
A recipe everyone will love. Made in one pot, this cozy beef and barley soup is delicious, healthy, and hearty!
Best Ground Turkey Chili Recipe
Learn how to make turkey chili that’s healthy & delicious in your crockpot, instant pot, or on the stove!
Cannellini Bean and Ham Soup
A cozy, hearty, and healthy meal, easy to make in a crockpot or on the stove!
Instant Pot Recipes: Healthy Vegetarian Meals
These vegetarian meals are delicious, plant based, and made with nutritious ingredients – perfect for supper!
Homemade Vegetable Soup
Delicious, easy to make, vegan & vegetarian! A hearty dinner you’ll love!
Creamy Carrot Ginger Soup
So easy to make in your instant pot, crockpot or on the stove. Healthy, vegan & dairy free.
Instant Pot Applesauce
The best way to make homemade applesauce! 15 minutes, apples & spices are all you need to make yummy pressure cooker applesauce!
Bean and Lentil White Chili
Made with coconut milk and salsa verde. It’s packed with flavor and so easy to make!
Mexican Black Beans
Made from scratch using Instant Pot. Hearty, flavorful, high in protein, and fiber-rich dish. Serve it with some rice for a complete meal or as an accompaniment to your favorite Mexican dish. This recipe is no-soak, vegan, and gluten-free.
Easy Butternut Squash Lentil Chili
This recipe has no oil. All you have to do is dump everything in the Instant Pot and hit PRESSURE COOK.
Pressure Cooker Recipes: Healthy Chicken Meal Ideas
We love cooking with chicken for dinner! I have a whole post about Healthy Chicken Breast Recipes because we cook with it so often. Here are some of our favorite Instant Pot Chicken Recipes:
Instant Pot Shredded Chicken
Uses only 4 ingredients and is so simple to make! Paleo, keto whole30, and perfect for adding to soups, salads or with veggies.
Red Chicken Chili Recipe
So easy to make with simple ingredients. Healthy and delicious!
Instant Pot Chicken Pad Thai
This recipe is a healthier version of a classic takeout dish. Packed with veggies, chicken and brown rice noodles.
Chicken Stew Recipe
A recipe everyone will love! Done in under 30 minutes, this pressure cooker chicken stew is hearty & delicious.
Chicken Enchilada Soup
The best cozy dinner! Made with healthy ingredients in the instant pot, crockpot, or on the stove!
Instant Pot Lemon and Herb Chicken Thighs
Juicy, flavorful chicken thighs are cooked in the instant pot with lemon and herb to create a healthy, quick weeknight dinner!
Healthy Instant Pot Recipes: Easy Soups
We absolutely love cozy, delicious soup! These Soup Recipes are perfect for a chilly night (or really any time!):
Kielbasa Soup Recipe
This Polish Sausage Soup is easy to make and so delicious. A hearty dinner you’ll love!
Healthy Zuppa Toscana Soup
A recipe that you’ll absolutely love. Easy to make dairy free, this cozy soup is packed with flavor and so delicious! Use Italian pork or chicken sausage.
Sweet Potato Soup
This recipe can be made in your instant pot, crock pot or on the stove. Vegan, healthy, paleo, Whole30 & done in 30 minutes.
Potato and Leek Soup
Simple to make with only a few ingredients, creamy and delicious! Make it with dairy free milk to make it vegan!
Minestrone Soup
The perfect cozy, healthy dinner! Vegetarian, gluten free, and vegan – it’s delicious and done in under 30 minutes!
Italian Wedding Soup Recipe
This recipe for Italian Wedding Soup is easy to make and loaded with flavor. A delicious, cozy dinner!
Chicken Wild Rice Soup Recipe
This recipe is simply the best! Loaded with chicken and veggies and done in under an hour! Easy and delicious!
Instant Pot Black Bean Soup
This recipe tastes like it’s simmered for hours, but the layers of rich flavor develop quickly and easily in your pressure cooker! Perfect for weeknight dinners on busy evenings or for cozy, effortless weekend meals.
Healthy Instant Pot Meals: Ground Beef Recipes
These ground beef recipes are so perfect for a healthy instant pot dinner:
Hamburger Stew Recipe
This ground beef stew can be made in the instant pot, crockpot, or on the stove for dinner.
Taco Soup
All the flavors of your traditional tacos while being so easy to make! Perfect for a quick healthy dinner!
Hamburger Vegetable Soup
A recipe that is so delicious! This Vegetable Soup with ground beef is hearty, healthy and yummy!
Healthy Pressure Cooker Recipes: Vegan Favorites
If you follow a vegan diet, no worries! We have a few healthy vegan dinners that you’ll love too!
Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
So easy to make! Let the pressure cooker do all the work for this creamy butternut squash soup!
Best Instant Pot Potato Soup
Full of loaded baked potato flavor! Easy to make in the pressure cooker in under 30 minutes. Easily made dairy free, vegan, paleo and Whole30 friendly!
Homemade Tomato Basil Soup
SO creamy and simple to make in the instant pot, crockpot or on the stove top. Healthy, vegan & dairy free.
Easy Lentil Soup Recipe
A recipe you can make on the stove, in the slow cooker or in the instant pot! Vegan, gluten free and delicious!
Magic Cauliflower Cream Sauce
Made in the Instant Pot! Prep this vegan cauliflower sauce ahead of time and use it for mac and cheese, fettuccine alfredo, soups, and other sauces all week long!
Cashew Carrot Ginger Soup
An easy-to-make instant pot soup recipe. Made with cashews, carrots, ginger, coconut milk and Thai red curry paste for a bit of spice. Plus it’s both vegan and gluten-free!
Chickpea pulao
A one-pot rice and chickpea casserole. When made in an Instant Pot, this gluten-free and vegan dish is ready in 20 minutes (with 10 minutes of hands-on time).
Instant Pot Recipes: Healthy Low Carb Options
If you’re eating keto, these Instant Pot low carb recipes are perfect for you! For more low carb recipes check out these Healthy Keto Recipes:
Instant Pot Chicken Parmesan
So easy to make! A low carb chicken parmesan that is done in under an hour in the pressure cooker!
Instant Pot Creamy Tuscan Chicken
This recipe with dairy-free sun-dried tomato sauce and spinach is a rustic, enticing main dish! Serve it up with rice or your favorite side dishes for a complete meal.
Vegan Keto Chili Recipe
This recipe, loaded with walnuts and mushrooms, couldn’t be easier. Toss everything in an instant pot or slow cooker and dinner is ready!
Instant Pot Asparagus Soup
This recipe is delicious, vegan, dairy free, vegetarian, and low carb.
Instant Pot Healthy Recipes: Pasta Meals
Who doesn’t love a delicious pasta meal? We love these Instant Pot Pasta recipes:
Lasagna Soup Recipe
This lasagna soup is cheesy, delicious and done in under an hour. A healthy dinner everyone will enjoy!
Instant Pot Vegetarian Rigatoni Bolognese
A one-pot meal that’s healthy, filling and worthy to be in your regular meal rotation.
5 Ingredient Pesto Chicken Pasta
Turns your leftover chicken into dinner with almost no prep. While it may not be the healthiest dinner on this list, it’s fast enough to keep you out of the drive-thru on a busy weeknight, which I call a win!
Easy Instant Pot Lasagna Recipe
Made without a springform pan in 30 minutes! It is possible to add uncooked pasta, meat, and sauce to your pressure cooker and enjoy saucy, cheesy lazy lasagna.
Italian Instant Pot Pasta
Can be made within just 20 minutes for a healthy, family-friendly dinner! It’s a great way to eat more veggies, tastes really flavorful and is loved by kids and adults alike.
Healthy Instant Pot Hamburger Helper
It has all of the traditional flavors of your favorite ground turkey pasta, but tastes way better and is made with only whole ingredients!
Instant Pot Recipes Healthy Meal Ideas FAQs
They absolutely can be a good cooking method for healthy cooking!
Be careful cooking with dairy in the Instant pot because it can separate weirdly when cooked. Also, recipes like cookies, pie, burgers, or steak are better baked or on the grill.
Cooking in a pressure cooker doesn’t necessarily mean you will have a healthy recipe. It depends on what the recipe’s ingredients are.
So many dishes can be made in the instant pot! We especially love making healthy soups in the Instant Pot!
More like these Healthy Instant Pot Meals:
Looking for other healthy meals?
Instant Pot Healthy Recipes: Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 4 cups butternut squash cubes 1 2.5 lb butternut squash
- ¾ cup celery chopped
- 1 cup carrots peeled and cut into about ¼ inch rounds
- ½ cup shallots diced (2 shallots)
- 4 cloves garlic mixnced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger peeled & grated
- 5 large sage leaves minced
- 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
- ½ cup Anjou pear cored and diced (1 pear)
- 3 cups vegetable broth low or no salt
- 1 1/2 cups full-fat coconut milk or milk of choice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar optional
Instructions
- Prep your ingredients. Peel and remove the seeds from the butternut squash and dice into about ½-inch cubes. Peel and dice the shallot. Peel and mince the garlic.
- Remove the tops and ends from the celery and chop. Peel and cut the carrots into about ¼-inch rounds. Peel the ginger and grate. Remember the soup will be blended so the size and shape of the cuts are not too important.
- Add the butternut squash, carrots, celery, shallot, garlic, ginger, pear, minced sage, coconut sugar, salt, and spices to the basin of the Instant Pot. Top with broth (the coconut milk will be added after cooked and blended) and stir. Before replacing the lid top with thyme sprigs. Select the manual setting and set it to high pressure. Set the time to 12 minutes, then close the lid and valve. If your Instant Pot has a "Soup/Broth" setting, this will also work.
- Top with broth and stir. Do NOT add the milk. Before replacing the lid top with thyme sprigs. Select the Manual setting and set it to High pressure. Set the time to 12 minutes, then close the lid and valve. If your Instant Pot has a "Soup/Broth" setting, this will also work.
- Once finished cooking, release the pressure based on the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Remove the thyme sprigs. Gently run fingers down each sprig to release the leaves into the basin and discard the woody pieces.
- Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until the contents are fully pureed. Be careful as the soup will be very hot. You can also do this by using a high powdered hot/cold blender. You may want to allow the soup to cool slightly before transferring it to the blender pitcher.
- Once pureed, add in the coconut milk and stir until it is no longer visible.
- Serve hot, topped with pepitas, chopped chives, and a swirl of coconut cream.
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
I absolutely love my Instant Pot, and there are just so, so many great recipes here to try! Thanks for all the inspiration!