Instant Pot Thanksgiving Recipe Ideas
Thanksgiving is the most anticipated dinner of the year. This beloved holiday is full of so many comfort foods like mashed potatoes and gravy and can bring family members closer together. To help you cut down on hours of cooking time, we wanted to share ideas on how to utilize an instant pot this holiday. We love how easy it is to cook with an instant pot!
Macaroni and cheese is always a good side dish to prepare for Thanksgiving. You can cook this side very quickly with an instant pot. Cook the elbow macaroni in 4 cups of water (or more depending on the size of your batch) on high pressure for 4 minutes with a gradual quick release. After that, all you need to do is stir in the butter, milk, and cheese on the “keep warm” setting. If the sauce is too runny, turn the saute function on and turn it down to a lesser saute heat to keep it from burning.
If your family is always fighting over the dark meat, why not cook up a separate batch of turkey legs? This can easily be done in an instant pot in under an hour. All you need to do is rub on your favorite spices and seasonings on each turkey leg, add in a cup of water to the instant pot, and set the pressure to high for 25 minutes after closing the lid and sealing the valve. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and use quick release for the remaining pressure.
What’s a turkey dinner without the gravy? To make an instant pot gravy, strain the drippings from the turkey and cook on manual high pressure for 4 minutes. After the pressure is released, add an equal amount of butter and flour. Season it with salt, pepper, and any other seasonings of choice such as rosemary or thyme. Allow these to blend together and stir it together on saute mode until it reaches the thickness you want.
This pumpkin soup let’s you to decide what extra vegetables you want to add to it. For example, you can add onions, carrots, celery, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, or even some tomato sauce to balance out the pumpkin flavor. Don’t forget to add some vegetable stock to give the soup enough liquid as it cooks down in the instant pot. Cook it on a manual high setting for 8 minutes and do a quick release. If you want to make it creamy, feel free to add in some milk after it is cooked and blend it all together with an immersion blender.
Last but not least, here’s a Thanksgiving dessert you can make ahead of time. Get a spring-form cake pan ready and make a crust by crushing up ginger snap cookies or graham crackers in a food processor along with a pinch of salt and some melted butter. Form that in the bottom of the pan and let it set in the freezer while you make the filling. You will need to mix these ingredients for the filling: cream cheese, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, eggs, and sugar. Once the dessert is ready to cook, wrap the outside of the pan with tin foil and add 2 cups of water and the trivet to the bottom of the pot to set the cheesecake on. Cook it on high for 35 minutes and let the pressure naturally release for 25 minutes. Let it cool, add a layer of whipped cream on top and allow it to set in the fridge overnight.