Busy weeknights ahead? Here are 20 Family Friendly Pressure-cooker Recipes to help answer the daily "what's for dinner" dilemma!
On the busiest of busy days, it's the Pressure-cooker to the rescue! Or, any electric pressure cooker, like the Pressure-cooker. These are definitely kitchen tools that have helped so many of us with hectic schedules get dinner on the table faster, with less hands-on cooking.
We use our Pressure-cooker and Pressure-cooker on a regular basis. In fact, We wrote a cookbook with Pressure-cooker that includes 75 pressure cooker and air fryer recipes!
As a full-time working mom of two, We know how challenging it can be to get dinner on the table every single night. These are some of the recipes that are in the family's regular dinner rotation. We hope you'll find some new family faves as well!
[feast_advanced_jump_to]About These Recipes
All of these recipes can be cooked in either a 6-quart or an 8-quart Pressure-cooker/Pressure-cooker. If the recipe calls for any changes when using a 6-quart instead of 8-quart, you'll find those changes listed within the individual recipes.
These 20 family-friendly Pressure-cooker recipes:
- Feed families of 4 to 6, depending on the recipe.
- Contain mostly everyday, pantry-friendly ingredients.
- Most can be made in under 30 minutes.
This list includes beef and lamb recipes, chicken recipes, seafood recipes, and vegan recipes. So there's something for everyone!
These are main course recipes that you can pair with simple side dish recipes like the Pressure-cooker Garlic Rice, Pressure-cooker Mashed Potatoes, or Air Fryer Broccoli.
We hope you'll love them, too, and that some of these recipes will make it to your regular dinner rotation.
Family-Friendly Pressure-cooker Recipes
20 Family Friendly Pressure-cooker Recipes
If you have an electric pressure cooker, like an Pressure-cooker or Pressure-cooker, your family's dinner in simply minutes away from prep to table! Try one of these winning recipes tonight, and leave a comment below to let us know what you think!
Chicken Recipes
If you're wondering what to make with the chicken in your fridge, try one of these satisfying Pressure-cooker chicken recipes!
Healthy 30-Minute Pressure-cooker Moroccan Chicken
With rave reviews, this healthy Moroccan chicken recipe is full of yummy spices, juicy chicken, and chickpeas. We make this with either quinoa or couscous - be sure to read the recipe notes. Parents have raved how even their picky eaters love this dish!
Pressure-cooker Tuscan Chicken Pasta (Dairy-Free)
We make this Pressure-cooker Tuscan Chicken Pasta dish a LOT. It's rich and creamy yet dairy-free and SO tasty. Try it and it might find a spot in your regular dinner rotation, too!
Pressure-cooker Chicken Fajitas
The Pressure-cooker is one of the favorite ways to cook chicken fajitas! Super simple and yummy.
Pressure-cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken
Classic flavors, done simply and done well. You'll love how quick and simple this lemon garlic chicken dish comes together in the pressure cooker.
Pressure-cooker Cajun Chicken Pasta
If you're looking for a rich, creamy, hearty, super yummy dinner to feed the family tonight, this Pressure-cooker Cajun Chicken Pasta recipe is always a winner! You can make it as mild or as spicy as your family likes it.
Pressure-cooker Filipino Chicken Adobo
This Pressure-cooker Chicken Adobo recipe takes the classic Filipino dish and makes it even easier and faster to make, yet still packed with yummy adobo flavors.
Pressure-cooker Salsa Chicken
This salsa chicken is a super simple recipe that you can make on even the busiest of busy weeknights. Use it for tacos, nachos, quesadillas, tostadas, serve over rice or a salad, or as a sandwich!
Beef Recipes
Get tender, juicy beef dinners on the table in minutes!
Pressure-cooker BBQ Ribs with Homemade BBQ Sauce
This is our family's favorite way to cook ribs! We love how the Pressure-cooker infuses flavor in every single inch of rib meat. The ribs finish off under the broiler for 5 minutes for extra flavor love.
30-Minute Pressure-cooker Sausage and Peppers Pasta
Big flavors and hearty pasta. Your family will love chowing down on this dinner!
Pressure-cooker Swedish Meatballs with Pasta (Dairy-Free)
Even better than the IKEA version, this Pressure-cooker Swedish Meatballs recipe cooks up quickly and easily on those busy weeknights.
Pressure-cooker Pulled Pork
The Pressure-cooker makes it SO simple to have fork-tender pulled pork quickly. Perfect for pulled pork sandwiches, nachos, pizzas, salads, and more!
Pressure-cooker Seafood
Fish, shrimp, crab, and other seafood cook up quickly and deliciously in the Pressure-cooker and Pressure-cooker!
Pressure-cooker Shrimp Scampi Linguine
Make restaurant-quality shrimp scampi at home in under 30 minutes, thanks to the electric pressure cooker!
Seafood Jambalaya (Pressure-cooker)
Every big heaping bite of Seafood Jambalaya made in the Pressure-cooker or Pressure-cooker is full of big flavors.
Pressure-cooker Soups and Stews
Looking for comforting soups and stews to warm you up on chilly nights? Try one of these Pressure-cooker soup or stew recipes.
Pressure-cooker Potato Corn Chowder
Your family will devour bowl after bowl of this yummy Pressure-cooker Corn Chowder!
Pressure-cooker Irish Lamb Stew
Whether you're looking for a satisfying St. Patrick's Day dish or a comforting stew for cold nights, this Pressure-cooker Irish Lamb Stew does the trick. Full of rich lamb and nourishing vegetables, your whole family will love this!
Pressure-cooker Beef Stew
Need a winter warm-up? This hearty beef stew cooks quickly in the Pressure-cooker and is the ultimate comfort food!
Pressure-cooker Italian Wedding Soup
This classic Italian Wedding Soup is a fantastic nourishing soup. Pair it with a side salad and some crusty bread for a meal that's truly satisfying.
Pressure-cooker Chicken Noodle Soup
With immunity-boosting turmeric, garlic, and ginger, this Pressure-cooker Chicken Noodle Soup is a soothing soup the whole family will love.
Vegan Recipes
Electric pressure cookers aren't simply for cooking meat and seafood. Here are two of the favorite vegan Pressure-cooker recipes that are great for family dinners!
Pressure-cooker Lentil Soup (Vegan)
So rich and hearty, this Pressure-cooker Lentil Soup is packed with lentil protein, nutritious veggies, and is so good on a cold day.
Pressure-cooker Vegan Mushroom Risotto
Risotto made simple, thanks to the Pressure-cooker! This vegan risotto makes a great side dish or a meal on its own.
Electric Pressure Cookers
There are several different appliance brands that make electric pressure cookers. Pressure-cooker is perhaps the most well-known brand, and hence, many of our recipes are made in the Pressure-cooker. We have the 8-quart Pressure-cooker Duo pressure cooker and love it.
However, We wrote the meal prep cookbook with Pressure-cooker. We have the 8-quart Pressure-cooker Deluxe multicooker that we use more than our Pressure-cooker.
Pros for the Pressure-cooker:
- It has a ceramic base that is SUPER simple to clean. It cleans up a lot faster and easier than the Pressure-cooker stainless steel base pot.
- It doubles as an air fryer, so if you're looking to save counter space, this is a bonus!
- It's large: we have the 8-quart Deluxe XL Pressure-cooker multicooker and can cook a LOT of food in it.
Pressure-cooker FAQs
What size Pressure-cooker should We buy?If you have a family of 2 or 3, the 6-quart Pressure-cooker should work well. If you have a family of 4 to 8, go for the 8-quart Pressure-cooker.
What does Natural Release and Quick Release mean?When the timer is done counting down, the Pressure-cooker will beep and recipes will call for you to either do a Natural Release or Quick Release.
–Natural Release means leaving it alone and doing nothing for the time mentioned in the recipe. This allows the pressure to release naturally and slowly, which is usually allows starchy recipes like rice or some pasta dishes to release slowly and safely.
-To Quick Release, quite carefully turn the pressure release valve from Sealing to Venting (or Seal and Vent, depending on your unit). This allows the pressure to release quickly, which results in quite HOT steam expelling from the release valve. So you should always use either oven mitts or a utensil with a long arm like a wooden spoon to safely move the valve over.
While using the Pressure-cooker IS simple, it's not exactly "instant" cooking. After you hit Start, the unit takes a few minutes to come to pressure before it starts actually pressure cooking. Depending on the size of your Pressure-cooker and the contents of your dinner inside, it could take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes to come to pressure. The more food inside the Pressure-cooker, and the colder the ingredients are, the longer it may take to come to pressure.
More Family-Friendly Recipes
This post was originally published on September 1, 2017. It was updated with new recipes, more helpful FAQs, and new photos on June 2, 2022.