On Black Friday 2017, the 8 qt. cult fav Instant Pot was an Amazon Deal at only $81.99, down from the regular price of $129.99. Everyone got a bad case of the FOMOS and bought one, but for many, the giant lidded digital pot is just sitting there unused. Do me a favor, go take it out of the box, keep the instructions and warranty, but ditch the stupid recipe book. Half of the recipe book is in Japanese, and the other half has recipes that are a waste of time. My recommendation is to head over to Pinterest where Instant Pot Pros are documenting cool and creative recipes by the minute.
After playing with the lid and realizing that the red ‘pressure button’ is the indicator of when the Instant Pot is FULLY heated with high PSI, and when the cooking process is over and it’s safe to open it, I was ready to rock an roll. The Pot makes music as an indicator of safety. If it plays a nice little jingle, it’s ready to start cooking. It will also play the tune again when you are ready to safely open the lid. It’s SO USER FRIENDLY. Do not fear the iPOT.
Here’s a French Onion Soup recipe that takes 30 minutes from cutting the onions to the baking of the final cheese and bread topping.
You Will Need:
- 4-5 yellow onions – sliced into rings, do not dice
- 4 cups of broth ( I used vegetable, but you could use beef)
- 1 cup of red wine (I always have some open from the night before. Don’t judge me)
- 1 tablespoon thyme – I used fresh, but dried is OK.
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1-2 bay leaves (dried)
- 4 cloves garlic – diced
- 1 loaf of French bread
- slices of swiss cheese or gruyere
How to Prepare:
Ready? Let’s do this!
Take off the beastly lid and push the button that says ‘SAUTE’. Add the butter, olive oil, garlic, and onions.
Occasionally stir until the onions become a bit translucent. Add the brown sugar and continue to stir. When the onions just start to brown slightly, it’s time to add the liquid.
Add in: broth, wine, and remaining spices.
Put the giant lid on by locking it from a right to left motion. The iPot will sing to let you know your lid is on properly.
Now, look at the top of the pot. Make sure the vent is pointed to SEALING.
Push the MANUAL button and using arrows, dial down timer to 9 minutes.
Now, RUN AWAY! That thing is totally going to blow! Just kidding, you’re good. Go clean up your onion chopping mess and pay a utility bill.
When the timer is up, the Instant Pot is still at full pressure and you’ll note the little red button next to the vent value is UP.
You now have choices. You can wait another 20-30 minutes and ignore it, and most of the pressure will let it’s self out. Or, if you’re impatient, carefully knock the value towards the VENTING position. Do not put your hand over the release hole, as it will start to spout out HOT steam that can burn you. If you tap it gently, you can release steam at a slower rate, and water mess is less likely to come out. I hate messes, so I prefer to let it slowly toot it’s way out. Either way, the red button will be DOWN now that the pressure is out. You may safely open the lid and a little Instant Pot song will play again.
Your soup is almost ready!
Cut the French bread into 1-1/4 ” slices.
Ladle hot soup into an oven proof bowl and top with a slice. The bread will immediately start absorbing some liquid, so add some more on the side if you wish. I like my bread juicy!
Top with 2 slices of swiss or gruyere cheese, covering the bread.
Put in the oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.
You’re done! This is a great soup to serve when entertaining as you can make the onion soup in advance and just pop the bread cheese covered bowls in just prior to serving.
Did you not get an Instant Pot yet? Should you do decide to take the path to faster, yummy dinners, may I suggest you get the larger size? Go big, or go home, right? Oh wait, Go big AT Home?
