Sometimes when you come home from a long day at work, or socializing with family and friends, you want the comfort and value of a home cooked meal without having to prepare too much in advance.
The invention of the microwave pressure cooker combines getting the most flavor out of a recipe as possible, while also speeding up the prep time that pressure cooking involves.
Now you can enjoy the perfect taste of any recipe cooked in a pressure cooker, but use your microwave to reduce cook time and prep time down to minutes.
This really is an efficient way to cook, and we’ve found some of our favorite recipes to cook in the microwave pressure cooker so you don’t have to look much further.
Keep reading to find the ultimate guide to microwave pressure cooking.
What Is A Microwave Pressure Cooker?
A microwave and a pressure cooker are two separate appliances in your kitchen.
A pressure cooker is a hands-off cooking method that relies on minimal preparation with longer cook times that a home chef can simply use the appliance and do something else, rather than risking what might be poor cooking skills.
On the other hand a microwave is an invention that allows you to cook and reheat food in really quick time periods, ideal for someone who is busy.
A microwave pressure cooker combines both these elements, now you can create the flavor and delicacy that pressure cooker brings to recipe, but reduce the cook time to minutes with the help of a microwave.
Microwave pressure cookers are widely available, here is an example of one that is reasonably priced as well as eco friendly! They are up to 70% faster and use less energy than pressure cookers as well as stove pots.
The great thing about the microwave pressure cooker is that you can basically cook any pressure cooker recipe in it with similar results. Below we have listed some of our favorite recipes you can cook in the microwave pressure cooker.
13 Microwave Pressure Cooker Recipes
1. Pressure Cooker Osso Buco
Osso Buco is arguably the archetypal long-cook-time dish that has been enjoyed by Italian American families for years. Without the microwave pressure cooker, this could take hours of slaving over the hob, while it could take minutes in the microwave.
The dish uses bone-in veal shanks but you could use any bone-in meat you enjoy for your own summery meal that goes so well with white wine. In the right sized microwave pressure cooker this could serve 4-5 people.
2. Pressure Cooker Beef Stew
Beef Stew is another recipe favored by the pressure cooker lovers around the world, another dish that also has a long cooking time.
With the microwave pressure cooker you could easily have this nutritious and deeply flavored meal ready for the whole family in minutes.
Again this recipe is super versatile and you can swap out any of the ingredients for your preferred ingredients.
3. Pressure Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken
One of the best things about pressure cookers and microwave pressure cookers is that they both allow you to expand your cuisine and taste outside of your own cooking ability.
So why not take a trip to the East and enjoy some Asian food you may have never had before?
You could easily find your new favorite dish by using the pressure cooker! This is one of the most popular recipes on their website.
4. Pressure Cooker Chicken Soup and Veg
As the older months draw in, there is no better way to cuddle up against the cold than with a big ol’ pot of chicken soup. This recipe is great because it gets loads of veg and good stuff into you when you need it most during the winter.
Don’t worry about undercooked chicken or bone-in chicken, the bones come off so easily after pressure cooking. This recipe is a super scalable classic and can serve 4 people at once or one person over a working week, with little effort.
5. Pressure Cooker Cuban Chicken
Cuba is made from slow cooked flavors, like many South Americans enjoy, so why not utilize their clever recipes in the pressure cooker too.
Forget the barbeque this summer and enjoy the fresh taste of Cuban chicken, which will rival any neighbors barbeque food in less cooking time!
6. Pressure Cooker French Onion Soup
I bet you never thought you could cook french onion soup in a pressure cooker! Well now you can with this fun and inventive recipe that helps you recreate this classic French recipe in mere minutes.
It remains super tasty, with a few steps removed to cook the bread and cheese, while also staying fairly true to the original recipe.
7. Pressure Cooker Chile Con Carne
Chilli Con Carne is a classic in America thanks to our useful relationship with our friends down south, but is now easy to make for the whole family in the pressure cooker.
Consider using your own recipe if you have a trusted favorite, but this recipe is a great one to use and remains a traditionally Mexican recipe, simply cooked with the most modern methods.
8. Pressure Cooker Rice and Peas
Pressure cooking can be used to create side dishes as well which is really useful and often gleaned over in the pressure cooking world.
Rice and peas is a Caribbean classic that is often a longer process than needed, you can create it easily in your microwave pressure cooker with great success.
This dish is super cheap and hearty to make, so it is a worthwhile test of your cookers ability, without wasting meat or anything expensive. It’s also vegan!
9. Pressure Cooker Curry Goat
Keeping in our Caribbean theme with the last dish, curry goat is a great dish to combine with rice and peas, but is also great to try on its own.
Goat is a fairly cheap cut of meat so it is a good way to stretch your dimes and cents without having to waste loads of time cooking.
If you have made other curries or stews, this is a great way to broaden your cuisine. This is the kind of slow cooked dish that is ideal for the microwave pressure cooker.
10. Pressure Cooker Chicken Curry
Chicken Curry is a really classic dish, anything hurried is ideal for the pressure cooker, and is super easy, nutritious, as well as easy to change to your own preferences with spice and ingredients.
While classic Chicken Curry would likely use chicken breast, using bone-in chicken is a great way to get the most out of your pressure cooker and microwave.
11. Pressure Cooker Red Beans and Rice
This dish is meat free and vegan but packed full of nutrition as well as protein, another classic big pot dish that you can coke up in minutes while reaping all the rewards.
We love this recipes it’s so versatile, you could add meat, or any vegetable of your choice, and enjoy this tasty, healthy, and meatless recipe.
By reducing your meat intake, as well as the amount of energy you use while cooking, you are really doing a number for the environment.
12. Pressure Cooking Refried Beans
Through our link with Mexico, many Americans have learned to love refried beans, another amazing side dish that can take a long time, but is so easy in the microwave pressure cooker.
More so, this no soak method means your beans keep all their nutrition rather than leaking this into the water. This is another great recipe that is naturally vegan but super versatile.
13. Pressure Cooker Italian Chicken Soup with Orzo Pasta
This is a really great recipe you could impress your next date with, it’s super chic and European as well as tasty, but it can make you look like a great cook without actually having to do much on your side.
You can swap the ingredients out as you see fit, but this recipe is really hand off but impressive.
Final Thoughts
It should be clear that your microwave pressure cooker can handle any pressure cooker recipe but in half the time.
You can make some really sophisticated dishes with this unassuming gadget, and if not something you use everyday it could be something to simply use on those busy days where you just want to push a few buttons and get a hot, tasty meal, rather than wasting money on takeaway, or time on cooking too much.
We can’t recommend the microwave pressure cooker enough, and now you know all the amazing dishes you can make with this versatile trick.
