i have my “Keepers” list of the best Instant Pot recipes, and i have my “Never Again” list of the stuff that didn’t turn out. Everything else goes into this, my “Meh” list. These are middle-of-the-road Instant Pot recipes which, while not spectacularly bad, just aren’t amazing enough to recommend. And life’s too short to eat un-amazing food!
Meh
Instant Pot Chicken and Stuffing
This used to be on my “Keepers” list. It was great the first time my wife made it, but each successive time (we’ve made it about 5 times in total), something’s gone wrong. Sometimes, it’s user error (like using frozen green beans instead of the recipe’s recommendation of fresh, or using fat-free cream of chicken soup), but i generally suspect this type of recipe works better in a casserole dish in the oven.
Instant Pot Chicken Curry
This one was so forgettable, i didn’t even write notes about it, so i can’t tell you why i didn’t enjoy it. Neena’s instructions are very clearly laid out with lots of pictures, but the curry itself is amnesia-inducing.
Instant Pot Crack Chicken
i understand that any recipe with the word “crack” in it might not be a healthy option. i liked this one, and the yield is high, but i think the problem lies in the powdered ranch dressing. The resulting sauce was noticeably grainy… and apparently so astronomically high in sodium that the following morning, i had retained 3 pounds of water in my body! i guess the titular “Adventures of a Nurse” involve vigorous cardio-pulmonary resuscitation after dinner.
Instant Pot Chili
Amy and Jacky have a lot of Instant Pot recipes where they take great pains to achieve quality results. The drawback is that a lot of their steps are quite fussy, and fussy is the last thing i need on a weeknight when i’ve got to get the kids in bed and i’m so exhausted i can’t move my eyelids.
In this recipe, they have you straining the beef mid-sautée so that it gets crisped, instead of boiled. (You add the extracted juice back in later.) This is one of a few steps which, like making a roux for chicken and sausage gumbo, really have me wondering if they make any difference at all. i would love to own two Instant Pots, just so that i could make two batches of this chili simultaneously and get to the bottom of it. This chili has a unique flavour, as advertised, that i just didn’t care for.
That said, i’ve abandoned this chili for a slightly less fussy one which, when modified with a spice blend from a different recipe, is my go-to weekly chili. Check my Keepers list for it.
Special note: Amy and Jacky have the distinction of being featured on all three of my Instant Pot recipe roundup lists! Deliciousness is on the tongue of the beholder, and i appreciate all they do. 🙂
I’m not going to give you any credence when it comes to food or Instant Pot recipes on this site. Your best of list contains a chili that uses ground beef yet you call it the best chili you’ve ever made? The best chili uses higher quality meats, unless it’s being used for the sole purpose of going on a hot dog.
Also, putting adobo on your worst list is asinine. It’s a fantastic dish that, if cooked right, is easily one of the top dish to impress someone with with the least amount of effort. The recipe you were describing has horrible proportions with respect to the vinegar and soy sauce. It’s a dish that requires a lot of trial and error and it sounds like so far you’ve only experienced error.
Keep working on the site and improving your cooking/tasting reviews!
Cheers
Fair criticism. i’ve honestly never eaten chili that uses better meat than ground chuck, mostly because my family and i eat on a reasonable budget and we don’t have time to go traipsing through forests with a sponge wringing out unicorn tears for a really delicious chili. What do you do – grind your own sirlion, i assume? How’s that go?
i didn’t want to put adobo on my worst list, but that particular adobo recipe definitely deserves to be there. i still keep hearing about how great adobo is, and i very much want to try good adobo. Do you have a better recipe i could try?