The Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook: Easy Recipes for Fast & Healthy Meals Paperback – April 6, 2016

If you were one of the lucky ones who bought an Instant Pot (aka IP) on Prime Day in July, like I did, congratulations. If you found, after taking it out of the box, that it's a little intimidating, join the club. There is definitely a learning curve with the IP but so worth the effort. I immediately went on the hunt for recipes to try and downloaded a bunch of *free* Instant Pot cookbooks. Let the buyer beware, *free* does not equal *good* - many of those books are poorly edited/translated and have serious errors.This is an 'official' Instant Pot cookbook and a very good one. I was warned that unless there is a picture of a real IP on the cover (copyright) it is not sanctioned by Instant Pot - this one is an official cookbook but it's so much more than just recipes. I usually purchase my books for Kindle (and there is an e-book version) but this one I bought in soft-back. For the price, under $10, it is definitely a must buy.This cookbook has everything you need to know to use your Instant Pot. The beginning of the book is an introduction to the Instant Pot, to pressure cooking and how to care for your pot. Even though a lot of this information may be found in the Instant Pot manual, the manual (which comes with the IP) is in 2 languages and, I think, is difficult to read.The middle of the book has recipes. Some recipes are more involved but many are recipes for cooking basic things (like Chicken Wings) which a newbie like me wanted to learn. Even after cooking for the better part of 45 years, figuring out the settings and times for cooking in the IP makes me feel like a novice. I made the chicken wings this weekend and, from frozen, were fast and delicious. There are recipes for soups, meats, and desserts.The end of the book has the cooking charts for meats, veggies and grains. The index makes it easy to find exactly what you are looking for (like those wings). I highly recommend this book, it has been the best purchase I made since getting my Instant Pot.[...]

I have used a pressure cooker for years, and purchased an Instant Pot model about 4 months ago. Loved it so much bought one for my sister and was looking for a simple cookbook for her that would help her to adjust to using the cooker since she is new at it. This is an ideal choice for the purpose! The beginning reviews some basics of pressure cooking, although not in specific detail other than tips like "thicken at the end" or when converting recipes reduce the water. But, the lack of specifity works for new users in that it simplifies the learning curve. The recipes are by and large excellent for clean eating and do not rely on highly processed food items, consequently you can be assured you are serving up healthy meals wicked fast. Additionally, the recipes offered are not just "redos" of options found everywhere. They are thoughtfully selected for the book, use common ingredients, and well written. They indeed are simply to follow! I love that the author tagged the recipes by cook times- ones done in under 20 minutes, family friendly, work week appropriate options, etc. Recipes look solid and tasty, and cook times look appropriate. Timing charts are available towards the back (use them!). Overall given this is written specifid to the wildly popular Instant Pot pressure cooker it goes a long way to simplifying using it. The price point is appropriate too. You will not find 500 recipes in here, but you will find a solid foundation to work with. Once you get the hang of them too, they are simple to start to tweak yourself for variations. Love that it is available on Kindle Unlimited!

I purchased 2 cookbooks for the Instant Pot (IP). This one includes a chapter with information on the benefits of pressure cooking, step-by-step electric pressure cooking, how to use the IP, safety tips, converting your recipes, and cleaning and care of the pressure cooker. There are also 9 pages of charts about cooking times and such in the back of the book. The recipes in this book state the prep time and cook time separately; this makes it easier to see at a glance the time needed for each. The total cook time is also stated and includes the time required for the pot to come to pressure (pre-heat), and the time needed to de-pressurize. This is especially helpful when you are in a hurry and need to know at a glance how much time the whole recipe will require. The first page of each chapter lists all the recipes in that category, and there is an index of recipes in the back of the book.My only issue with this cookbook is the limited number of recipes (111 recipes) and most of the recipes are not ones that appeal to my family. However, this is a good cookbook for the first time IP user, which I was. I would just suggest also purchasing another cookbook with more recipes to choose from such as my second purchase, Instant Pot Cookbook 550 recipes for Every Day by Michelle Sanders. I find the two of these together to be the perfect combination.