Our favorite low-carb instant pot recipes will soothe your cravings for a fast one-pot dinner. You’ve heard about the controversy behind pressure cooking. Does it maintain its nutrients? Will you enjoy low-carb meals? How can you be sure you are eating low-carb meals?
Rest assured, our top low-carb instant pot recipes align with low-carb diets. Here, we reveal the truth about which instant pots are healthy and which foods you shouldn’t use in them. Let’s show you the secrets and some incredibly tasty recipes to try at home.
Here’s a sneak peek at three of our favorite low-carb instant pot recipes:
First, let’s look at some quick facts before sharing the mouth-watering recipes.
Let’s discover some low-carb instant pot recipe facts, before showing you some delectable recipes to try at home for healthy eating, weight loss, and protein-rich meals.
You may wonder whether or not an instant pot pressurizes the nutrients out of your wholesome ingredients. Well, a small comparative study in India found that pressure-cooking spinach was one of the best ways to maintain ascorbic acid and beta-carotene nutrients (7).
A small Italian study found that pressure-cooking broccoli maintained 90% of its vitamin C content while boiling only maintained 66% (28). Additionally, a small North Dakota State University study found that pressure-cooking increased antioxidants while boiling decreased antioxidant capacity in legumes (9).
In addition, another small Indian study found that pressure cooking improved the protein digestibility of cowpeas compared to other cooking methods(8). A review found that pressure cooking increases starch digestibility and reduces the levels of anti-nutrients (2).
However, there is some evidence suggesting pressure cooking may cause losses of certain nutrients (10, 15). More research should be done, but most evidence suggests pressure cooking maintains nutrients, compared to the evidence that says the opposite.
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Pressure Cooking Today has a sheet with low, medium, and high-temperature settings and cooking time suggestions for the Instant Pot Ultra (29). The Instant Pot’s low setting is 180-190°F, the medium setting is 190-200°F, and the high setting is 200-210°F. The highest temperature at which you can cook in an instant pot is 210°F or 98°C.
Some foods don’t go in instant pots. For example, don’t put fried foods or attempt to deep fry food in a pressure cooker that only reaches a maximum of 210°F (29). Deep frying requires a heating temperature of 325-375°F (5). Instant pots can’t deep fry food.
In addition, you can’t grill meat cuts in an instant pot because grilled steak, chicken, or fish needs a temperature of 300-500°F to sear (14). Searing traps the flavors inside with those beautiful seared marks which can’t be done at low temperatures.
Ultimately, avoid cooking any food that requires a high temperature in an instant pot. For example, stir-fries are most delicious when fried in oil with a smoking point and temperature above 400 °F (13). Additionally, don’t cook temperature-controlling foods in an instant pot.
Cream-based sauces cook beautifully on a stove, where you can stir them to prevent curdling and burning while lowering the temperature once they simmer (6). You don’t have that level of control in an instant pot, and stirring during the cooking process is impossible.
You typically stir pasta occasionally to prevent clumping when making pasta on a stove. However, you don’t need to stir pasta in an instant pot. Meatloaf and Melodrama suggest you avoid stirring pasta before pressure cooking to avoid it being sticky or clumpy (12).
Also, stirring before you cook pasta in an instant pot may let the pasta absorb water before you close the lid, which affects how much is necessary to bring the pot to boiling point. Instead, don’t stir pasta before cooking it in an instant pot, just add a tablespoon of olive oil to prevent clumping. You may stir it when it is done cooking.
Read more: 7-Day Weight Loss Low-Carb Diet: Choose High-Protein, High-Fiber, or Ultra-Low-Carb
Let’s refresh your memory about low-carb diet rules before sharing the tasty recipes. A low-carb diet typically means you must eat less than 130 grams of total carbs daily or 20-50 grams of total carbs daily on ultra-low-carb diets like keto (24).
Alternatively, some people choose to count net carbs on a keto diet by deducting the fiber from the total carbs (25). All our favorite recipes fit the requirements for a low-carb diet, with some having added protein. However, please note that all macros in recipes are per serving.
Our easy low-carb instant pot recipes include an option with minimal ingredients and other recipes you can make ahead of time, to store for easy weeknight dinners.
That Low-Carb Life shares an interesting soup recipe for an instant pot (23). The broccoli and cheese make an excellent creamy soup alternative, loaded with nutrients for a low-carb morning or dinner. The peppers, mustard, and garlic wrap up the flavors beautifully.
Macros: 455 calories, 7 g net carbs, 38 g fat, 19 g protein, and 3 g fiber (23)
Food, Faith, Fitness has an instant pot breakfast recipe with sausage and very few carbs per serving (18). Also, it makes breakfast easier when you can just throw the ingredients in an instant pot while getting ready for work. Meanwhile, it only uses four ingredients!
Macros: 327 calories, 0.4 g net carbs, 22.8 g fat, 26.7 g protein, and 0 g fiber (18)
Chicken is an all-time favorite. Let’s look at low-carb chicken instant pot recipes that blend two protein sources for an unusual taste.
Kalyn’s Kitchen has a chicken and sausage stew low-carb instant pot recipe to hit the spot on a cold day (4). It has an impressive amount of protein with low enough carbs. The chicken, sausage, peppers, green onions, garlic, and cream cheese are perfect comfort.
Macros: 448 calories, 9.9 g net carbs, 26 g fat, 42 g protein, and 1.1 g fiber (4)
That Low-Carb Life has a cajun and ranch-flavored chicken soup to shake the flavors up and end regular low-carb soup boredom (20). The Cajun seasoning, dill, jalapeno, chives, onion powder, and cream cheese will blow your taste buds away.
Macros: 412 calories, 4 g net carbs, 23 g fat, 44 g protein, and 1 g fiber (20)
Let’s discover vegetarian-friendly instant pot recipes with low carbs. All meat is excluded from these recipes, but they may use cheese for extra protein.
Piping Pot Curry has a paneer palak recipe to enjoy as a vegetarian (26). Palak is a fragrant, diverse curry from India, and this recipe uses palak (spinach) and cottage cheese or paneer to welcome vegetarians to the low-carb instant pot burst of flavor.
Macros: 417 calories, 9 g net carbs, 32 g fat, 20 g protein, and 4 g fiber (26)
The Spruce Eats has an instant pot artichoke recipe that is ideal for vegetarians sick of regular vegetable recipes (16). The lemon and garlic flavored aioli sauce is finger-licking, but the net carbs are high and only suit low-carb diets, not ultra-low-carb diets.
Macros: 344 calories, 27 g net carbs, 22 g fat, 7 g protein, and 14 g fiber (16)
A University of Texas Medical Branch review confirmed that protein is essential for a healthy diet and may improve muscle protein synthesis, which benefits individuals doing resistance training (27). Higher muscle protein synthesis could improve recovery after exercise.
That Low-Carb Life has a roast recipe for your instant pot, with low carbs and loads of protein per serving (21). Chuck beef, pepperoncini, broth, and ranch seasoning make this roast beef instant pot recipe drench and drip with flavors.
Macros: 620 calories, 5 g net carbs, 41 g fat, 58 g protein, and 1 g fiber (21)
The Spruce Eats has a bone broth recipe with low carbs and loads of protein per serving (17). It’s ideal for a fast breaker with protein-rich ingredients. In general, high-calorie meals are better for active people using resistance training to strengthen muscles (11).
Macros: 708 calories, 3 g net carbs, 51 g fat, 58 g protein, and 1 g fiber (17)
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We’d love to show you 50 keto instant pot recipes here, but have instead narrowed the best options to our absolute favorite picks. Weight loss requires dedication to exercise and daily calorie reduction by at least 500 (3), so let’s focus on low-calorie, low-carb recipes.
Eating Instantly has a low-carb buffalo chicken recipe for your instant pot (19). Chicken breasts, wing sauce, butter, blue cheese, and fresh vegetables make this the ideal low-carb chicken instant pot recipe. Meanwhile, it takes less than 30 minutes to make.
Macros: 252 calories, 2 g net carbs, 14 g fat, 28 g protein, and 1 g fiber (19)
Kalyn’s Kitchen has a low-carb and low-calorie instant pot chicken recipe for weight loss (22). Minced garlic and ginger give the chicken most of its flavor, with a touch of low-sodium soy sauce. The sweetness comes from monk fruit sweetener.
Macros: 194 calories, 6 g net carbs, 5 g fat, 28 g protein, and 1 g fiber (22)
Some evidence suggests that pressure-cooking food helps to maintain ascorbic acid, beta-carotene, vitamin C, and antioxidants better than other cooking methods (7, 28, 9). Pressure cooking may also help you better absorb essential nutrients, protein, and starches (8). It may also reduce anti-nutrients (2).
A review found that Sous Vide boiling is the preferred cooking method to maintain folate and other nutritional components in potatoes (2). Sous Vide boiling is a slow, low-temperature style of boiling potatoes. That said, they stated that boiling does not seem to result in a significant reduction in folate. There was no comparison to pressure cooking, but we can assume that it would have similar effects to boiling. So feel free to cook your potatoes in your pressure cooker.
Cooking ramen noodles separately lets you control the texture, taste, and doneness before adding them to a soup or other ingredients. For example, you may prefer al dente noodles, while others enjoy soft-cooked, slurpy noodles.
Merriam-Webster defines al dente as cooking noodles or pasta until it reaches a firm texture (1). In other words, cooking noodles al dente will leave you with a firmer but cooked texture in your soup that makes it feel like it has a slight bite to it.
Our low-carb instant pot recipes deliver variety and flavorsome joys on a low-carb meal plan. Avoid foods you shouldn’t cook in an instant pot, and count your carbs if you’re on a low-carb diet. Go ahead and choose your favorite recipe. Lick those lips today with our low-carb instant pot recipes.
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