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6 Ways To Use Leftover Chicken

September 14, 2022

Tips for stretching a whole chicken, plus a variety of recipes to use your leftover chicken!

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Back to school schedule rhythms

We are back into fall routines, and we all know that means needing a little more rhythm to our meal plan! Many of us are back to busy schedules, after school activities, homework…and enjoying all of the fun fall events too! This felt like a simple enough post to write, but I felt very important, since this “using a whole chicken for multiple meals” thing is something that I rely on very heavily on a weekly basis during the school year.

My year ’round menu staple…

Learning how to cook a whole chicken was one of the very first things I learned how to make when I started my whole foods journey. I was actually quite sick at the time. After seeing doctor after doctor, I saw a more holistically minded practitioner that turned my focus to healing through food. I made my first whole chicken and my own bone broth, and over a period of a few months, and other diet clean-ups, I saw a significant change in my health. I was sold, and the practice of making a whole chicken and broth on a weekly basis became a household staple.

It isn’t as intimidating as it sounds!

Little did I know that years after I got into that rhythm of making a whole chicken and broth, and I started having children, that this simple kitchen task would actually end up becoming a budget and meal planning lifesaver! Whole chickens are less per pound than chicken parts, and you can really stretch that chicken into multiple meals. Of course if you have a larger family, you may need to make more than one chicken at a time to accomplish this! Here are a few posts to get you started on your own journey to making whole chicken! Use whatever kitchen appliance you have – I have a method for just about anything!

How to Make a Whole Chicken In the Instant Pot
How to Make a Whole Chicken In the Slow Cooker or Oven Roaster (an oven roaster allows for multiple whole chickens to be made at a time, by the way! If you like to batch up for a month, or you have a larger family, this is definitely worth looking into!)
How to Make a Slow Roasted Chicken in the Oven

Onto the recipes!

Whether you plan to make a whole chicken specifically to use in a recipe like these, or you plan to make a whole chicken for dinner, and use the leftovers for another meal, I think you’ll find that the possibilities are endless when it comes to utilizing the whole chicken for your weekly meal plan!

Recipe #1 :: Chicken Noodle Soup (plus other chicken soup ideas!)

The quintessential leftover chicken recipe, and my “go-to” on many weeks, is soup. Whether that be chicken noodle soup, or something heartier like stew, it is truly a no brainer. Save the juices that you cook your whole chicken in (called meat stock), and you can literally make soup in the same pot as your whole chicken! Also! If you need some biscuit ideas to go with your soup, you can try my Grain Free Butter Biscuits, my Soft Fluffy Pumpkin Biscuits, or my Cheesy Spinach Biscuits! Here are some of our soup favs with chicken (all of these are gluten and dairy free!):

Recipe #2 :: Chicken Fajitas

I can’t think of a way that I love using shredded chicken for more than fajitas. The texture from a whole chicken is out of this world, and I think you’ll find that the kids will love this on the meal plan rotation often! Go ahead and veggie load that fajita filling too (you can learn how to veggie load taco meat here, and use the same method!), and you can have the whole skillet as a meal to use in tortillas, shells, or on a big salad. If you need a fantastic fajita seasoning blend, you can find my recipe for fajita seasoning mix in my cookbook, The Little Lunchbox Cookbook! Or, if you prefer to buy, this is a good brand.

Recipe #3 :: Chicken Fried Rice

When my girls were little, fried rice was an easy lunchtime staple that I made often while they were home with me. Now that they are bigger, they love to take this savory meal in a thermos to school, but since they are bigger, the little bit of egg in the fried rice doesn’t go as far! I started adding chicken, and it is protein packed enough for a meal for big kids too! If your kids are sensitive to eggs, you can leave them out and add more chicken. This recipe is in my cookbook, Nourished Beginnings – the flavor will definitely remind you of a restaurant fried rice! So good!

Recipe #4 :: Chicken Pesto Pasta

*The* most requested pasta dinner in my house is this! I know, I know…it’s green. But hear me out! This creamy, dreamy pasta is SO, so flavorful and comforting. The recipe for my pesto pasta is in my cookbook, The Little Lunchbox Cookbook, but if you have a favorite pesto recipe, you can toss that with pasta and chicken and make your own! The recipe from the cookbook has some hidden veggies in with the pesto that the kids will never know are there because the sauce is so creamy, so you can truly call this a one pot dinner!

Recipe #5 :: Chicken Salad

Whether you are super short on time, or the weather is too hot to cook, chicken salad is a fast, no-cook way to use up the leftover chicken from your weekly whole chicken! My kids love to scoop chicken salad with veggies and crackers, which makes for an easy lunchbox protein. You can make chicken salad with a simple mayo (I like this brand from Costco, or here is my Paleo Mayo, or my dairy based egg free mayo), or get fancy with yummy add-ins. There is a really delicious chicken salad pinwheel recipe in my cookbook, The Little Lunchbox Cookbook that the kids will love, or you can try this Mexican Chicken Salad! (PS! If you want to try another “cold” chicken sandwich idea, try my shredded BBQ chicken sandwich recipe!)

Recipe #6 :: Chicken Stir Fry

Clean out the veggie bin at the end of the week and toss it with your leftover chicken! It can be as simple as that, or you can dress it up with some yummy stir fry sauce! Here are some recipes to get you started:

20 Minute Ginger Almond Crispy Chicken Stir Fry with Bone Broth Rice
Sweet & Sour Chicken Sauce for Stir Fry
Teriyaki Stir Fry Sauce
The *Best* Asian Take-Out Copycat (In my cookbook, The Little Lunchbox Cookbook)
Chicken & Kale with Garlic Sauce Stir Fry
Spring Chicken & Pasta Stir Fry

Don’t forget the bone broth!

If you are investing in a whole chicken, you might as well squeeze the most out of it that you can! Having the bones leftover after pulling the chicken apart is like the gift that keeps on giving. My usual routine is to toss the bones/carcass into my Instant Pot or Slow Cooker as I am de-boning the chicken and make the bone broth right there. You can leave it to cook in the slow cooker over night, or pressure cook it it a couple hours using your Instant Pot (a lot of the times I end up pressure cooking after dinner, and then leave it it in the pot over night since it is so incredibly hot – it cools off by the morning and then I strain and freeze it.

So tell me!

What are your favorite things to do with leftover chicken? Also! I would love to hear from you if you try making a whole chicken for the first time after reading this post! Let us know how it goes!

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Prep Day Instant Pot Shredded BBQ Chicken

July 5, 2022

Save money using a whole chicken on your prep day for shredded BBQ chicken to use for salads, sandwiches, and baked potato toppers!

Summer vibes

All the sun, all the sand! Our barefoot days spent on the shore of Lake Michigan in the summer is what gets us through the snowy winters here, and this summer is no different! The weather has been incredible…which also means I don’t want to be inside cooking meals all day!

Growing tweens and teens nutritional needs

If you have been around here as long as this blog has been around, you have truly watched my girls grow up. I started this blog when my third born was just a baby, and you’ve gotten to witness so many seasons of their growth. In the last few years, I’ve slowly started a bit of a larger gear shift as my oldest went through her tween years, and then turned 13 this spring. Now, with my second born right smack dab in her tween-hood, I feel like I’m seeing a pattern in nutritional needs of these rapidly growing, hormone-shifting years. Protein. And a lot of it. Sure, this age needs some really good, healthy fats for their ever-changing hormones and growth spurts – in fact it is vital. Hormones *need* fats to work. But I am also seeing even more importantly that their growth spurts and rapid metabolisms need protein, or they will eat you out of house and home!

Keeping the tweens from being starving!

I remember the moment I decided I had to change *something.* My oldest was a tween, and I literally couldn’t keep satisfied – she was always hungry! She was growing out of shoes left and right, and within one school year grew at least 5 inches. I was feeding her the same sort of meals as I always had, with larger portions, and making sure there was healthy fat at each meal. What I noticed was that on days that we had more protein on the plate, she was happier and more satiated. I started working on getting more meat into specifically our lunch meals, and it really helped during those growth spurting tween years. (Side note! YES pastured eggs are a great source of protein as well, and we use them for my younger two – but my oldest cannot have them other than in baked goods so that source is out for her!)

Saving your budget with a whole chicken

With an increased need for quality protein in my growing kiddo’s diet, I changed a few things around, and started focusing on using whole chickens for meal preps. We already had our half grassfed cow in the freezer at around $4 per pound (an absolute budget lifesaver!), but I didn’t want to be blowing my budget in cuts of chicken day in and day out. I needed something to pull for meat every day without cooking every day too! The budget savings in using a whole chicken at $4 per pound or less, versus cuts of chicken at over $6 per pound – well that is a no brainer.

More than just the meat!

Of course the tender, juicy chicken meat off the bone is by far superior to cuts of chicken, but you also get to use the leftover chicken juices (called meat stock), as well as the bones to make bone broth – practically free broth to use for weekly soups, stews, gravies, and cooking veggies or rice in! When your whole chicken is done cooking – whether that be in a slow cooker, oven, or Instant Pot, just strain the juices off and you’ve got yourself a nutrient packed stock for cooking with – without having to buy it at the store!

Let’s talk BBQ Sauce before we get to the chicken!

For this post, and for most of the summer, I like to use my super quick 5-minute BBQ Sauce. It stirs up in a jar in literally minutes, and it tastes so good! If you prefer a more fruit sweetened sauce, try my date sweetened BBQ Sauce here – it blends up in a blender in just minutes without cooking too! Or, if you have a store bought version that doesn’t have a bunch of junk ingredients, that works too! There are plenty of brands out there now that have made BBQ sauce from the store healthier without using high fructose corn syrup, dyes, and preservatives. Since we are talking a bit about budget saving in this post, I’ll recommend trying to make your own, and saving the money!

The Method :: Cooking the Whole Chicken

My goal in this meal prep recipe is to make the prep part as simple as possible, so that you will want to do this regularly, instead of just one time! Since the purpose of this whole chicken is to be shredded up with BBQ anyway, I don’t even spend time fussing with seasoning the chicken. We are essentially boiling/poaching the chicken plain. That way, the meat stock leftover in the pot is a perfectly beautiful, unseasoned but flavorful blank slate that you can use for anything you want. To get started, fill your Instant Pot liner with a couple cups of water and fill with carrots, onion, and celery – this veggie mix along with the chicken will flavor the stock beautifully. Add the chicken to the water and veggies, and pressure cook on the poultry setting for 28 minutes. After the chicken pressure cooks, let the pressure release naturally for about 15 minutes before opening the lid and getting the chicken out. Be sure to strain off the liquid (meat stock) to use for soup or cooking veggies/rice in this week!

The Method :: Shredding the Whole Chicken

Once the whole chicken has been cooked, you can pull the meat off the bones as soon as it is cooled off enough to handle. Sometimes I don’t have the time to wait, and I’ll use some tongs or put some rubber gloves on to get it done! Put all of the meat from the chicken into a large bowl and shred with 2 forks. You could blend with a hand mixer if you want too – it really does work!

The Method :: How to Turn the Shredded Chicken Into BBQ Shredded Chicken!

The only thing left to do is stir in the BBQ sauce at this point! Use as little, or as much as you want! For this 5 pound chicken, I did use an entire pint of my 5-Minute BBQ Sauce. You may also need to salt and pepper your chicken to your taste since we did not season the whole chicken, and chicken tends to be bland without. It is truly a blank slate – make it taste how your family likes it!

How to serve your shredded BBQ chicken!

For this post, I’ve shown you how to use the BBQ chicken for sandwiches, but there are a couple other ways I like to serve it too! One of the girls’ favorite ways is over baked sweet potatoes. It changes up the starch from bread, and adds a veggie in there too! My kids will eat the chicken cold in a lettuce wrap as well. Another option is mixed into a salad, or you can go with the classic bun (we like the GF buns from Trader Joes’), pita (we like the GF pitas at Costco from BFree), or wraps!

Print Recipe

Prep Day Instant Pot Shredded BBQ Chicken

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

2 cups water
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 carrots peeled and coarsely chopped
2 stalks of celery coarsely chopped
1 Whole chicken between 4-6 pounds, rinsed
1-2 cups BBQ sauce of choice I like to use a pint of my 5-minute BBQ Sauce
Sea salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Put 2-3 cups of water into your Instant Pot liner, along with the veggies, and then the whole chicken on top.
Close the IP lid, seal the valve, and press "Poultry." Bring the time up to 28 minutes. The IP will start on its own, taking about 5-10 minutes to come to pressure before counting down the 28 minutes of pressure cooking time.
Once the chicken is done pressure cooking, let the IP sit for 15 minutes to naturally release some of the pressure. After waiting 15 minutes, release the rest of the pressure from the valve, and transfer the whole chicken to a large dish or plate to de-bone. Strain the juices (called meat stock) and use those for any soups, stews, stir fry, or cooking veggies/rice in another time!
De-bone the whole chicken, and then shred the meat in a large bowl using 2 forks. Once the chicken is shredded, stir in the BBQ sauce, and then season with salt and pepper to your taste.

More real food recipes you might like!

If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can cook your whole chicken using the slow cooker, or the oven!
Instant Pot Bone Broth
Instant Pot Potato Salad
How to make Prep Day Hard Boiled Eggs
Prep Day Paleo Crispy Chicken
Veggie Loaded Taco Meat for Taco Night
Mahi Fish Taco Loaded Buddha Bowls

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Simple Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

March 28, 2022

This simple, no fuss, fool-proof Instant Pot hard boiled egg method is sure to become a part of your weekly prep day to set you up for easy grab and go meal add-in’s!

Prep day staples to make meals run smoother

Just about every time I post one of our breakfast bar mornings to my Instagram, I’ll get a private message or 2, and some comments asking how I do the hard boiled eggs in the Instant Pot. I never really gave thought to posting this, since it seems so simple, but truly, these are the kitchen tasks that make the meal plans we do during the week flow so much faster – in other words…this is how we do real food for real life families!

So let’s talk about what a Prep Day is in my house

For me, Prep Day is hardly a “day,” so let’s just get that out there! I know there are people that truly spend an entire day prepping food for the week or month, and I think that is great. Do what works for you. For me, I’ll pick a 2 hour spurt during the week (typically on Sunday’s, but this changes depending on the time of the year). During that 2 hour spurt of the week there are a few tasks that I *always* do (like these hard boiled eggs), and a task or 2 that will be specific just to that week, or maybe dedicated to replenishing a monthly pantry item like granola bars.

What in the world do you do with a dozen hard boiled eggs in 5 days?!

In my family of 5, this dozen eggs sometimes doesn’t even make it to the 3rd day, but let me give you some ideas! If you have a bigger family, by all means batch this up more!

Easy breakfast addition or breakfast bar item to go with muffins or breakfast cookies
Quick lunchbox add-in to go with everything from a soup or salad to leftover pancakes from the weekend to make a “breakfast for lunch” lunchbox
Fast morning or afternoon snacks
Egg salad for lunch or dinner
Crumbled onto a salad at dinner for extra protein for growing kids
Deviled eggs for a fun and easy addition to a charcuterie board lunch or dinner

So now that you know how to use them, let’s talk about what kind of eggs to use!

I’ll keep this as short as I can, because truthfully, I want you to use whatever are the best eggs that you can afford. However, I was reminded this week that some people may not understand the difference between cage free, free range, pastured, organic, etc when it comes to eggs, and I want to be sure you know! Because when you know better, you can do better, right? No beating yourself up – just work on fitting into your budget what you can. Obviously the best bet is going to be a local, pastured egg from chickens on pasture around where you live. Whether that be a friend down the street or a local farmer, these eggs will be the best nutrition for your family. Eggs with bright orange yolks are indicative of nutrients in the grasses and bugs that the chickens were eating. You’ll notice that conventional store bought eggs have a pale yellow yolk, and those eggs just don’t have the levels of nutrients that a pastured egg does. Unfortunately many may be tricked by the verbiage “cage free” because it sounds like the chickens are treated pretty great as they are not in a “cage.” Tricky, tricky wording because technically cage free chickens still can be kept inside with a certain about of space per chicken, and may not even get to feed on grasses or bugs at all. Chickens were meant to be on grass eating from the ground, giving their eggs the most optimal levels of nutrients. My recommendation would be to look for at the very least “free range,” and at the very best “pastured.” If you have further questions on this, please as in the comments, and I’ll do my best to answer! I would also encourage you to visit your local farmer’s market to ask your local chicken farmers questions about how their chickens live and about their eggs – 9 times out of 10, farmers just love to talk about their chickens – especially if they are raising them right!

How to make Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

***First, you’ll fill your Instant Pot with a cup of water and place a steamer basket or the trivet your IP came with into the bottom of the pot. I love the steamer basket because at the end, I just pull the whole basket of eggs out and dunk them into the water

***Second, you’ll put the IP lid on and close the valve. Press “Manual” on the IP and bring the time down to 5 minutes. The Instant Pot will beep, and then take a few minutes to come to pressure before counting down the 5 minutes.

***Next, after the Instant Pot pressure cooks the eggs, you’ll release the valve right away, and pull the steamer basket out of the IP to dunk into a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking. If you are using the trivet, you’ll have to use a tongs to individually take the eggs out, which is totally fine. I just use a large mixing bowl in the sink to fill with cold water.

***Finally, after the eggs cool off for a few minutes, you can crack and peel them. I have left the eggs in the cold water up to an hour and that is fine too, although I have found they peel the best right away. Peel your eggs and store them in an airtight container in the fridge.

Get the kids involved in prep day!

Making the weekly hard boiled eggs is actually a fantastic way to get the kids in the kitchen. If you have little ones, have them help you peel the eggs – they will love this task! If you have older children, put this kitchen task on their plate entirely from start to finish. It is great life skills for when they are older, and they will feel proud contributing to the family. I’d even let them make some deviled eggs to get fancy if they love those!

Tips for introducing eating hard boiled eggs to little ones

Hard boiled eggs were one of my girls’ favorite finger foods as toddlers. They were an easy, compact protein for on the go little people, and I have a few ideas to make the introduction even more fun! Little kids *love* to be in charge. It all starts with letting them help you make the eggs, and for little ones this will mean gently placing the eggs in the IP, and maybe even helping you press a button or 2. Little ones also love peeling eggs – let them help you! Get a little egg cutter to make the prep a little safer (the egg cutter pictured below is one that I have had over a decade and I couldn’t find it, but there are so many in the stores, and if you like the Prime stuff, here are some to choose from there!), and let them cut the egg how they like – their choice. Let them sprinkle a little sea salt on the egg too!

Print Recipe

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

1 cup water
12 uncooked eggs

Instructions

Add 1 cup of water to the bottom of your Instant Pot stainless steel pot, and place a steamer basket, or the trivet in the bottom of the pot.
Put up to 12 eggs into the steamer basket or on the trivet, close the lid of the IP, and seal the valve so it is closed.
Turn the IP on, press "Manual," and bring the time down to 5 minutes. The IP will beep, and then take a few minutes to come to pressure before counting down the 5 minutes.
Once the 5 minutes of pressure cooking is done, open the valve so the pressure releases, open the lid of the IP, take the steamer basket out, and place the steamer basket with the eggs into large bowl of cold water. I just fill a large mixing bowl with cold water in my sink. If you are using the trivet, you'll have to use tongs to pull out each egg and drop them into the bowl of cold water.
Let the eggs sit in the cold water at least a few minutes, though sometimes I forget about them for up to an hour. The eggs will peel the best after just a few minutes, but it still works if you have left them longer.
Once the eggs have cooled in the cold water for a few minutes, you can peel them. Store your hard boiled eggs in an air tight container up to 5 days in the fridge.

More real food recipes you might like! ::

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Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff :: Veggie Loaded, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, & Nut Free!

November 10, 2021

Use your Instant Pot or slow cooker to get the most tender and flavorful beef stroganoff! This one is veggie loaded for added nutrients and you’ll never know those extra veggies are there!

Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff :: Veggie Loaded, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, & Nut Free!

SOLD!

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve had the chance to write for you, and it’s for good reason! In a whirlwind month, our house was up for sale, sold, and we moved into a temporary rental – whew! We’ll be in our permanent new place by late January (hopefully!), and we are excitedly anticipating that! For now, we are settling into our temporary space, and I wanted to show you how I’ve been cooking during this really busy season, utilizing my Instant Pot!

Kid Friendly Veggie Loaded Beef Stroganoff :: Gluten Free & Dairy Free!

A sea of boxes…

We’ve been living amongst boxes for the last month, while packing up our home for the last 11 years, as well as while settling into this new space, and for a while there, I really did rely on my Instant Pot for a lot! My goal was to keep things simple, but nourishing as our bodies processed all the new changes, both exciting and sad. Moving really is really a very bittersweet season of life! Simple, one pot and one skillet meals like chili, skillet stuffed peppers, and one pan chicken & pasta have been my saving grace during this time. I found a bag of frozen stew meat while I was moving our deep freezer to our temporary home, and decided that beef stroganoff was due on the menu!

To Instant Pot or not to Instant Pot…

I have had really good luck with stew meat in the Instant Pot. Similar to how a long, Dutch oven braise, or all day slow cooker method of cooking stew, pressure cooking stew meat makes this typically tough cut of meat, very, very tender. And truthfully, as much as I adore slow, oven cooking all day, during seasons like moving your family to a new space, a faster, Instant Pot pressure cook is really the ticket to a quicker, more convenient, but still delicious meal outcome. But have no fear! If you are not a part of the Instant Pot crew just yet, I have left slow cooker instructions in the “Notes” section of this post, just for you!

Beef Stroganoff…veggie loaded?!

I know, I know…definitely not what we all grew up eating, but remember the season I’m in right now? Getting literally the entire meal, including the veggies for the meal, into the same pot all at once is totally my jam right now. No extra clean up, just a little extra chopping time. You can leave the veg out and serve a side salad if you wish, but I am really willing to bet you’ll never know the veggies are there. I purposely picked veggies that get super sweet and soft with sautéing, and they really blend right into the sauce once it’s all cooked. All the benefits are there, and no change to that delicious, rich, stroganoff sauce!

The Method :: The Veggies

It’s going to feel like a lot, but all these veggies really cook, down – promise! And you’ll be left with fiber rich, mineral loaded veggies blending right into your stroganoff meal! Simply chop the veggies super small – I used a shredder for the carrots even. You could pulse in your food processor to save on time if you wish (secretly, chopping is very cathartic for me, so during this time of change and unknowns, I find therapy in it!). You’ll use the “Saute” feature on your Instant Pot to melt some coconut oil to cook in, and saute your veggies up to 10 minutes. The secret to the sweet veggie flavor, and blending the veggies into the sauce is this saute step – do not skip it!

The Method :: Pressure Cooking the Stroganoff

Once the veggies are soft, sweet, and fragrant, you’ll add the flour to coat the veg – this will help create the sauce in the end. A little goes a long way, but you can adjust the amount to your sauce thickness preferences. From there, it’s just adding in the rest of the ingredients except the pasta and yogurt, and pressure cooking away. It goes so fast, and the pressure cooking method leaves the meat so tender. You will add the pasta after the meat has pressure cooked since it does not need a lot of cook time. Just a few minutes to pressure cook the noodles in and you’re done! Stir the yogurt in (you really can leave this out if you don’t have access or can’t have it!), and season to your taste.

Allergen considerations

My biggest goal in creating this stroganoff, besides getting all the veggies in, was to make it dairy free. Traditional stroganoff finishes with sour cream, and I don’t usually have that around since we are mostly dairy free. We also have gluten free covered using gluten free pasta, and since most stroganoff uses egg noodles, I also covered egg free in using a still curly spiralized rice pasta that the kids will love! If you are grain free, Jovial has cassava flour pasta now that you can use, or you can serve the stroganoff and sauce over a baked potato.

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5 from 1 vote

Instant Pot Veggie Loaded Beef Stroganoff :: Gluten Free & Dairy Free!

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

2 tbsp coconut oil or olive oil
1 medium onion diced
6-8 ounces white mushrooms sliced
1 heaping cup thinly sliced cabbage about ¼ of a small head of cabbage
1 heaping cup shredded carrot 1 medium carrot
1 heaping cup chopped cauliflower about ¼ of a head of cauliflower
1 tsp dried thyme
3 cloves of garlic minced
2 tbsp Namaste GF Flour Blend most GF flour blends should work here
¼ cup red wine of choice
1 ½ – 2 pounds grassfed stew meat
Sea salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp coconut aminos
3 cups beef bone broth You can also make beef broth in the slow cooker. Chicken bone broth does work if that is what you have.
8 ounces GF pasta I used the Jovial GF Spiral Pasta
½ cup plain coconut yogurt to your preference
Chopped parsley to garnish

Instructions

Turn the Instant Pot on to “Saute” and add the coconut oil to warm. Once the Instant Pot is nice and hot, and the oil warmed, add the onion, mushrooms, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, and thyme, with a big pinch of sea salt. Saute for 7-10 minutes until fragrant and golden.
Add the garlic and GF flour, stir to combine and coat the veggies, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add the wine, stir to combine, stir off any bits on the bottom of the pan, and cook the wine for 1-2 minutes.
Turn the “Saute” feature off. Season your beef stew meat with sea salt and pepper, and add to the Instant Pot. Pour in the coconut aminos and beef broth, and stir everything to combine.
Put the lid on the Instant Pot and seal the valve. Press “Manual” on the Instant Pot, and bring the time down to 15 minutes. The Instant Pot will take around 5 or so minutes to come to pressure before counting down the 15 minutes of pressure cooking time.
Once the Instant Pot has pressure cooked for the 15 minutes, release the valve right away. Open the lid, stir in the pasta, and put the lid back on. Seal the valve, press “Manual,” and bring the time down to 3 minutes. This will cook the pasta to al dente.
Once the 3 minutes of pressure cooking is done, release the valve right away, open the lid, and stir in the coconut yogurt, and season with salt and pepper to your taste. You can garnish with chopped parsley if you like too.

Notes

Slow Cooker tips! YES! You can make this in your slow cooker if you don’t have an Instant Pot! Every ingredient is the same EXCEPT you will be halving the bone broth (use 1 ½ cups) since you will need to cook your pasta separately. Saute your veggies in a skillet to give them more flavor, just like the saute in step 1 above. Put everything but the pasta and yogurt into the slow cooker, stir to combine, and cook on high low for 8-10 hours. Once the stroganoff has slow cooked for 8-10 hours, stir in the yogurt and cooked pasta, and taste for seasoning to your preference.
I get the So Delicious brand of plain coconut yogurt in 32 ounce tubs at our local grocer. You can also make coconut yogurt!
I love adding finely chopped baby spinach to the Instant Pot after the stroganoff has cooked – it will wilt into the hot stroganoff and give another layer of veggie and color!
I tend to pepper my stroganoff per bowl – it doesn’t taste like stroganoff to me without a good amount of pepper, but some kids might be sensitive to that. I set the pepper grinder at the table and the kids can do it to their preference.

More real food recipes you might like!

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Fresh Green Bean Salad

May 19, 2021

Warm or cold, this fresh green bean salad is the perfect veggie side dish change up any time of the year!

Our summer happy place

We endure a pretty long cold season in order to enjoy quite possibly the most amazing place in the world to spend summer – the beautiful coastline of Lake Michigan! There is really nothing like it! We have finally hit a warm spurt and it doesn’t even matter that the lake hasn’t warmed up yet! My crew is all in, and we are ready for a few months of sandy barefoot days.

A summer produce favorite

Green beans are one of the only garden items I can grow like weeds. Our dune-sandy soil is so hard for growing some things, but green beans – I can do that! The girls adore green beans too, so it really works out! As your summer green bean harvest starts coming in, or you see piles of them at the local farmer’s market, grab a big bag full, and try out this fun veggie side with your summer BBQ, or a big juicy burger!

Simple ingredients

Summer is definitely not the time to be spending loads of time in the kitchen. We only get a few months out of the year to really enjoy all that warm sunshine, so I want to be outside as much of our summer days as possible! This summer salad can be put together in 10 minutes and just hang out in the fridge to be your easy lunch or dinner side dish all week. A simple pound of summer green beans, pretty cherry tomatoes, and a handful of walnuts get tossed with a pantry friendly dressing that shakes right up in a little jar. It doesn’t get much simpler than that – perfect for summer!

Green bean steaming method options

For this green bean salad, I very lightly steam the green beans. You could potentially serve them raw, but I do find that the dressing soaks in a bit better and is better over the course of days if you give the green beans a light steam, or at the very least, a quick blanch. Here are some steaming options:

For the INSTANT POT put 1 cup of water in the bottom of the pot, put the green beans in the steamer basket inside the pot, put the IP lid on, and seal the valve. Press the STEAM feature and bring the time down to “0” minutes. The IP will come to pressure in about 5 minutes in and then be done since you set the time to 0. Release the valve immediately.
For an ELECTRIC STEAMER, or if using a STEAMER BASKET OVER BOILING WATER, put the green beans in the steamer and set the timer for 5 minutes.
You could also blanch the green beans if you really want a very crisp bean salad.

Fuss free prep

10 minutes! I promise! Maybe even less if your veggies are already washed up! While your green beans have a quick steam, you’ll make the dressing. You probably already have all of the ingredients right in your pantry to shake up the dressing in the jar. Once the dressing is ready, the cherry tomatoes get sliced, and the walnuts can get a quick chop. Then you’ll toss the lightly steamed green beans with the dressing, tomatoes, and walnuts, and you’re done!

Serve it cold or warm!

If you happen to get a chance, enjoy a few bites of your freshly tossed green bean salad while it’s warm! Absolute heaven! If it feels like 100 degrees outside, I’m sure the chilled salad fit your menu the best, but if you happen to change up your meal plan in the winter, you can enjoy the cozy warmth of the salad right out of the steamer.

Nut free friends, and other swaps!

If you are nut free, swap out the nuts for sunflower seeds to add some texture to the salad. I also think that if you have the time to give the walnuts or sunflower seeds a quick 2 minute toast in the saute pan, you’ll really enjoy the flavor that brings. If you are a household that can do dairy, parmesan is a fun addition. And if your kiddos are more Ranch style salad kids, I say swap the dressing for your favorite healthy Ranch if that will make them more willing to try a new salad – you’re still a fantastic momma in my book! You can try my classic Ranch, or, if you are dairy free, use this Paleo Ranch or this better choice store bought Ranch.

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Fresh Green Bean Salad

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

For the dressing:

¼ cup olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp juice from a lime about 1 lime
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2-3https://amzn.to/3wfuzVW tsp raw honey
½ – 1 tsp sea salt to taste start small and you can always add more
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ – ½ tsp dried basil use 1-2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil if you have it

For the green bean salad:

1 lb fresh green beans trimmed and cut in half
10-15 cherry tomatoes halved
½ cup walnuts coarsely chopped
1 recipe of the dressing from above

Instructions

Put all of the dressing ingredients into a small mason jar with a lid and shake vigorously for 1 minute until combined. Set the dressing in the fridge to chill while you make the rest of the salad.
Steam the green beans to crisp tender. You could do this a few different ways. For the INSTANT POT put 1 cup of water in the bottom of the pot, put the green beans in the steamer basket inside the pot, put the IP lid on, and seal the valve. Press the STEAM feature and bring the time down to “0” minutes. The IP will come to pressure in about 5 minutes in and then be done since you set the time to 0. Release the valve immediately. For an ELECTRIC STEAMER, or if using a STEAMER BASKET OVER BOILING WATER, put the green beans in the steamer and set the timer for 5 minutes. You could also blanch the green beans if you really want a very crisp bean salad.
Once the green beans are lightly steamed, add them to a medium serving bowl, and toss with the cherry tomatoes, walnuts, and dressing. You can use half the dressing if you want it lightly dressed, or all of it – I would recommend starting with half to see how you like it! Sometimes I use about half and keep the other half for a salad later in the week. Keep in mind that the dressing will soak into the veggies a little bit too. You can eat the salad warm, or chill in the fridge.

Notes

This salad stays good in the fridge for 5-7 days. Make some up on a busy week to pull from all week long!
You can use a tasteless healthy oil, such as avocado oil, if your crew doesn’t love the taste of olive oil.
This salad and the dressing double up for a crowd very nicely. This amount feeds my family of 5 for a side dish plus a little leftover.
Balsamic vinegar makes a delicious swap for red wine vinegar to change things up. White wine vinegar is another way to change it up a bit.
Lemon or lime juice will work but I do love the lime the best!

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Instant Pot White Chicken Chili

February 11, 2020

Fast and easy prep white chicken chili with a smooth, creamy texture, and out of this world flavor!

Winter hikes & (kid friendly!) warm chili

I’ve learned that if I just don’t get out in it, I become a big grump by February my friends. So we pull on the winter gear and trudge through the snow, no matter how deep it is. Every weekend. Some winters we can barely tolerate 20 minutes the cold is so bitter and the snow is so deep. Other winters, like this year, we are left wondering if this really is still Michigan or not with the mild(er) temps and small dusting of snow! No matter the winter, a warm bowl of chili is always a good idea during the darkest months of the year!

An old recipe made (so!) much easier!

White chicken chili has been one of my favorite slow cooker recipes for years. The creamy broth base is super kid friendly, and my version is not only packed with chicken, but boasts a load of veggie variety that contributes to it’s amazing flavor. With busy schedules that come with the territory of having older kids and not as much time at home, I was finding that I wasn’t making my favorite white chicken chili as much because it did feel a bit time consuming!

Enter the Instant Pot, and an easy peasy secret to the creamy broth!

When I wrote that recipe, oh so many years ago, the Instant Pot was not even a thought! Since my trusty IP has become my go-to for our favorite regular chili, I decided it was time to give my favorite white chicken chili a face lift – Instant Pot style! And since I don’t always have time to make the cream of chicken soup for the creamy base, a little coconut milk and potato starch did the trick so well!

Dump it all in!

Other than a quick little saute to pull some flavor and sweetness out of the veggies in the beginning, this recipe is a dump and go! *Cue the busy mom applause!* The beauty of the Instant Pot is quick cook times and flavorful, juicy meat outcomes, and this recipe does not disappoint. Simply put all of the ingredients into the IP after sauting the veggies, place the raw chicken breasts on top, and when the Instant Pot is done pressure cooking, you’ll have easy to shred chicken to stir into your chili!

A note on the heat (and to bean or not to bean!)

This recipe is mild in heat and very kid friendly. I left the jalapeno as optional in case your kids are sensitive to heat. I use just one jalapeno in mine, and while I’d love a bit more heat to my bowl, I want my kids to inhale the chili too! I tend to add a hit of cayenne or chili flakes to my bowl to heat it up. One of my tricks to “cooling down” a bowl of chili for little ones is to be sure you top the chili with sour cream. The cool, fatty dairy cuts the heat well. You can use coconut yogurt or coconut milk if you are dairy free. This recipe as written does not contain beans, but if you want to add some white beans, you may!

Storage and school thermoses!

This white chicken chili freezes really well! I love that this hearty chili can be packed in school thermoses on a cold winter day! They play so hard outside at recess! You can pack a side of cheese or sour cream to add on top in the thermos too. To freeze the chili, cool the chili to room temperature, and store in freezer safe containers.

Print Recipe

Easy Instant Pot White Chicken Chili

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

3 tbsp ghee to cook in butter, coconut oil, olive oil, or tallow/lard work too
1 medium onion diced
1 red bell pepper diced
1 yellow bell pepper diced
1-2 small jalapenos optional if you like the heat
5 cloves of garlic minced
2 tbsp potato starch Not potato flour. Tapioca or arrowroot would work here too
2 tsp taco season I use my own DIY blend
2 to matillos diced
2 small zucchinis large dice
1 – 4oz can green chilis
1 cup bone broth
1 cup full fat coconut milk
3 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts 1 lb
Sea salt/pepper to taste
Cilantro, lime wedges, and avocado slices per preference to garnish (optional shredded raw cheese or sour cream if you tolerate that)

Instructions

Turn the Instant Pot on to “saute” and melt the ghee. Saute the onion and bell peppers with a pinch of sea salt for about 5-7 minutes until fragrant and soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Turn the Instant Pot “off,” and stir in the taco season and potato starch until the veggies are coated. Stir in the tomatillos, zucchini, broth, and coconut milk, and then set the chicken breasts in the liquid.
Put the lid on the Instant Pot, and close the valve. Turn the IP on to “Soup,” and bring the time down to 20 minutes. The IP will take about 5 minutes to come to pressure before counting down the 15 minutes. When the 15 minute timer is up, turn the IP off and let it naturally release for 5-10 minutes before releasing the rest of the valve pressure.
Take the chicken breasts out of the IP, shred them with a fork, and then return the shredded chicken to the IP, stirring the chicken into the chili. Season the chili to your taste and garnish each bowl with cilantro, lime, and avocado slices per your preference.

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Spring Instant Pot White Bean Soup :: Stovetop Directions Included!

March 28, 2019

Light and refreshing spring flavors, creamy and comforting without being heavy, this Instant Pot White Bean Soup is your answer to cool spring days!

We had our feet in Lake Michigan this weekend!

Well, let me rephrase that…my Michigan born and bred kids had their feet in the “just starting to thaw” Lake Michigan waters that were registering in at an invigorating 32 degrees Fahrenheit 🙂 I enjoyed my thermos of coffee from ashore in my winter boots! They are like a moth to a flame to this beach, and I love watching them enjoy it in every season!

Cool spring days meals

Spring has a way of really messing with us here along the lakeshore. We see that sun finally peeking out, and most Michiganders trade snow boots for beach flip flops at a mere 40 degrees. The girls saw the slightest bit of water thawed at the lake, and their boots and socks were off faster than I could say “barley thawed.” The sun is deceiving with chilly air still hanging around, so warm meals with spring freshness has become a bit of an expertise of mine.

The key to warm spring meals…

Despite the cool air, our body clocks definitely still shift in the spring. So the key for me has been to invite those fresh spring flavors into light spring soups. We enjoy spring Nettles and garlic in this roasted asparagus and garlic stinging nettle soup. We make fresh skillets of spring veggies, and this spring I’ve been using my Instant Pot a bit more since, well…life, right?! I created this Instant Pot leek asparagus soup with fresh lemon that we have been literally guzzling by the mug full weekly – it is so addicting! And this week, we enjoyed this lighter version of bean soup.

More…soup?!

Ummm yes, because, at least where I live, March is notorious for spring colds, the last of the flu viruses, and various other bugs that kids like to pick up. Packing nourishing, healing bone broth based soups in our lunchboxes for school, or soup bowls for dinner is vital at this time of year. If you have never made bone broth before, please check out how easy it is to make with these recipes either in your Instant Pot OR slow cooker!

Creamy and comforting bean soup without the heaviness…just in time for spring!

Because I really do feel the shift from winter to spring – while we crave those heavier comfort foods during the cold winter months, our bodies shift in the spring to the desire of refreshing spring food. This brothy soup is light and airy, with a bit of creaminess to the broth for comforting and amazing texture. Kids tend to like soups with a creamier feel, and this one will not disappoint. The spring dill and bright lemon juice finish at the end is fantastic.

Instant Pot OR Stovetop!

Because I’m hearing from more of you on my last IP post that stovetop is still your main cooking jam, and I *big puffy heart* love that! You are my people! I love my stovetop cooking, and while my Instant Pot has made it’s way to a permanent spot on the counter, if I have the time, I will choose the stovetop every time. Please see the Stovetop directions below to adapt this recipe to how you cook!

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5 from 18 votes

Spring Instant Pot White Bean Soup :: Stovetop Directions Included!

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

2 cups dry navy beans
1 tsp sea salt
3-4 tbsp butter to cook in bacon grease, olive oil, ghee, or other cooking fat of your choice will be fine
½ large onion diced
1 large carrot or parsnip peeled and diced
1 large celery stalk diced
2-3 cloves of garlic minced
½ tsp sweet paprika
½ tsp dried dill
A pinch to 1/4 or more tsp of red pepper flakes depending on your heat preference this amount leaves the soup with a very mild kid friendly heat.
1 ½ quarts bone broth
Juice of ½ lemon about 1-2 tbsp
1 bunch lacinato kale de-ribbed and chopped
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

INSTANT POT METHOD

Put the 2 cups of dry navy beans and sea salt in a medium bowl with warm water to cover by 2-3 inches. Let the beans soak for 8-10 hours, then rinse and strain and set them aside until they are ready to add to the IP.
Turn the Instant Pot on to “Saute,” add the butter to melt, and then add the onion, carrot, and celery with a pinch of sea salt. Saute for 5-7 minutes until fragrant and soft.
Add the garlic, paprika, dill, and red pepper flakes, stir and saute for 1 minute. Turn the IP to “Off.”
Pour the drained beans and bone broth into the IP, stir to combine, put the IP lid on, and turn the valve to closed.
Turn the Instant Pot on to “Soup,” and leave the time at 30 minutes. The Instant Pot will automatically turn on, and will take about 10ish minutes to come to pressure (depending on how cold your broth is) before counting down the 30 minutes. When the time beeps that the 30 minutes is done, turn the Instant Pot “Off,” and leave the valve closed and lid on to naturally let the pressure release. This gives the beans time to finish cooking and locks flavor in. After about 15 minutes, you can open the lid.
Ladle out about half the soup, puree it in a blender or with a hand-held immersion blender, and return the pureed soup to the pot. Add the lemon juice and kale to the soup and stir. The heat from the soup will wilt the kale, and you can season your soup with salt and pepper to your taste.

STOVETOP METHOD

Put the 2 cups of dry navy beans and sea salt in a medium bowl with warm water to cover by 2-3 inches. Let the beans soak for 8-10 hours, then rinse and strain and set them aside until they are ready to add to the soup.
Warm a soup pot over medium heat, add the butter to melt, and then add the onion, carrot, and celery with a pinch of sea salt. Saute for 5-7 minutes until fragrant and soft.
Add the garlic, paprika, dill, and red pepper flakes, stir and saute for 1 minute.
Pour the drained beans and bone broth into the soup pot, stir to combine, and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Simmer until the beans are cooked and tender. This will take 45 minutes to an hour. Stir occasionally and check the beans for done-ness.
Ladle out about half the soup, puree it in a blender or with a hand-held immersion blender, and return the pureed soup to the pot. Add the lemon juice and kale to the soup and stir. The heat from the soup will wilt the kale, and you can season your soup with salt and pepper to your taste.

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Instant Pot Spring Leek & Asparagus Soup :: Gluten and Dairy Free!

March 7, 2019

Instant Pot leek & asparagus soup pulls the best flavors of spring with a quick pressure cook prep time!

Snow Day number 7,458…

Another lake effect snow storm, polar vortex, whatever you want it call it…is in the books! In March. It’s Michigan…I get that. By March I’m definitely over it, and I’m so ready to bring you some bright, fresh spring recipes! Since it is so cold here, we’ll start with spring produce in soup form to keep us warm, m’kay?!

Whatever state is sending us spring produce…THANK YOU!

We adore you. No really we do. Because we won’t see fresh Michigan asparagus until almost May, and I just can’t go that long without some spring in my life! When I saw the first asparagus sale from at the store a couple weeks ago, I snagged what I could and to the girls’ complete delight we had roasted asparagus with dinner that night – something other than winter veggies! They were in heaven! Leeks and lemons are such a bright and fun spring addition to this smooth and creamy soup too – it’s like spring in a bowl!

Flavors that will blow you away

It is just so good. This soup – you will want cup after cup after cupful. The mild leeky onion allows the rest of the veggies to really shine through, and that tangy bright lemon and yogurt put it over the top. Once you try the little hit of lemon in your asparagus soup, you’ll never go back. This soup would be a great appetizer or soup course item for Easter brunch or dinner. Your guests will be wondering what it is that is making the flavor so amazing, and it is really that combination of the perfect balance of sweet veggies, tangy finishes, and delicious herbs. It will vanish before their eyes!

Instant Pot quick!

I cannot wait to make this soup all spring long! If you happen to snag a great in season deal on asparagus this spring, you can really stock up your freezer with asparagus soup. Shopping veggies in season is defintely how to keep your real food budget in check. And since we can make the soup easily in our Instant Pot, the though of making it all season long doesn’t sound daunting! If you have the 8 quart, I bet you could double this recipe!

The perfect, kid friendly (and not so veggie loving person friendly) soup!

I made this soup on the “soup-ier” side so I could drink it from a mug easily, and so my younger girls could easily use a straw for their school lunch thermos. When my girls were older baby and toddler ages, they really loved eating soups like this with a straw. Between the pressuring cooking time and the blending of the soup, I promise there are no asparagus “strings” left and it is super kid friendly in texture. While I absolutely believe in making sure kids are exposed to every food texture, I understand how those bigger asparagus spears can be kind of stringy. The texture of this soup is soup smooth and creamy – perfect for kids and adults alike!

Freezer Friendly!

Absolutely fill your freezer with at least a couple quarts of leftover soup when you make it! When late fall and middle of winter hit your home, it is SO nice to pull out a jar of spring flavors to change up your menu! To freeze the soup, I like to cool it to room temp, and then fill BPA free freezer quart containers. If you freeze in glass jars, just be sure to leave the lid off for 24 hours in the freezer so it has room to expand and not break your jar. You can put the lid on once it freezes completely.

Print Recipe

5 from 21 votes

Spring Leek & Asparagus Soup :: Gluten & Dairy Free!

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

3-4 tbsp friendly fat to cook in I prefer the flavor of a combo of butter and olive oil. Ghee is lovely too.
2 large leeks ends and green tips removed, sliced into rounds and rinsed of sand (Use the white and light green part. If you don’t have leeks 1 medium onion or a couple shallots would work well.)
3 cloves of garlic peeled (no need to chop – it will all get blended up in the end)
2 bunches of asparagus woody ends removed and coarsely chopped
1 small/medium yellow potato cubed
1 ½ quarts bone broth
1 tsp dried dill if you have access fresh use about 2-3 tbsp
¼ cup full fat coconut yogurt regular yogurt, crème fraiche, or sour cream (you can use raw milk or coconut milk if you don’t have these, but the tang of the fermented creams is lovely)
Juice of ½ lemon use about 1 tbsp
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Turn the Instant Pot to “Saute,” and melt the butter/oil. Add the leeks and saute for 5 minutes until fragrant, soft, and sweet. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, and then turn the Instant Pot “Off.”
Add the asparagus, potato, bone broth, and dill, stir to combine, and put the lid on the Instant Pot. Be sure the valve is closed, and turn your Instant Pot on to “Soup.” Bring the time down to 10 minutes. (The IP will start automatically from here. It will take about 5-10 minutes to come to pressure depending on how cold your broth was, and then will start counting down the 10 minute pressure cooking time.)
When the 10 minutes of pressure cooking is done, release the valve and take the lid off. Blend up the soup using your immersion blender or regular blender until it is smooth.
Stir in the yogurt and lemon juice, and then taste for salt and pepper. You can sea salt and pepper the soup to your taste, and serve.

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Instant Pot Poblano Potato Soup

January 15, 2019

Poblano potato soup is winter comfort food…with a Mexican twist and in a fraction of the time with your Instant Pot!

A fresh week, a delicious soup, and a brand new cookbook…

For this real food blogger, it really doesn’t get any better than that – specifically that last part. A sparkling new cookbook filled with so many amazing possibilities! My dear blogging friend for so many years, Emily, from Recipes to Nourish sent her second cookbook, “Amazing Mexican Favorites with Your Instant Pot” to me this weekend, and authentic Mexican food makes this momma so happy!

Fun Mexican favorites…and some new ideas!

I’ll be the first one to admit that my Mexican food comfort zone revolves around the basics…tacos, fajitas, and maybe a little tortilla soup, so I was really happy to step out of my comfort zone and learn a few new food ideas from this beautiful cookbook. There are so many great taco, burrito, and fajita ideas that I can’t wait to learn how to make in my Instant Pot, but there are also a handful of recipes that I have never heard before…and that my friends, is where the magic lies…

Giving your kids the gift of a broad taste palate…

Here’s the deal dear momma! When your goal is creating broad taste palates for your kids, it goes so much further beyond just eating their broccoli at dinner. I honestly didn’t know how the girls were going to like this soup, but what I DID know, was that they were going to happily come to the dinner table that night, even if there was new food in their bowl. Mealtime has been, and always will be positive, and they have been exposed to a variety of flavors from early on. The flavors in this book are super authentic, and this soup is bold and SO amazing…and all 3 of them liked it – my oldest in this picture ate 2 bowls (she adored it!).

That spark in her eye…

She asked to look through the book more and I love that it sparked an interest for a different culture of food. We talked about where Rudy, Emily’s husband, has family roots, and while she knew where Mexico was on the map, it was really cool to see her eyes light up learning about the food culture there. THIS is where it’s at dear momma. Don’t be afraid to put different cultures of food, bold and bright as they may be, in front of your kids. They will grow into adults that appreciate the variety in culture that surrounds us, and have a deep appreciation for food!

Winter comfort food…with a Mexican twist!

SO, let’s talk about this amazing Poblano Potato Soup! I have definitely had my fair share of potato soups – we LOVE creamy and comforting potato soups in the winter – but THIS! This potato soup has the most delicious Mexican twist to it. The smoky paprika flavor, and the mild, sweet heat from the poblanos was so surprising to me. It really was so different…and we adore this soup!

Breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

Since I made the Poblano Potato Soup for the first time at the beginning of the day, I ended up eating the bowl of soup for my breakfast with a side of eggs and figs – it was so satisfying, not to mention FAST using my Instant Pot! The fiber and slow burning carbohydrates in potatoes along with the cooking fat and my side dish protein made for a really balanced meal. My girls ate theirs with fish sticks for dinner – it was a real hit!

A quick note on the heat for your littles

All 3 of my girls loved the taste of this soup at first. Like I said earlier, my oldest ate 2 bowls and really enjoyed every single bite. My younger 2 girls, who are still a bit sensitive to heat, started heating up after about 3 bites. They both said they wanted to keep eating it but their mouth felt too spicy. I asked Emily personally where the heat was coming from – was it the poblanos or was it the smoked paprika? She is thinking it is more the peppers, so I am planning on making this soup again and cutting back on the poblano peppers by 1 or even 2. My poblanos were…HUGE – as you can see in the photo above! It could have just been that too! I LOVE that each recipe in the cookbook has a spicy heat level attached – mild, medium, and hot. This soup recipe is labeled as “medium,” and so it makes sense that my littles found it to have more heat than they are used to. I felt like most of the recipes in the book were labeled as mild, and the ones that are labeled hot or medium, are easily adjusted for heat if you have little guys not used to it.

Notes for my dairy free friends

Since we don’t tolerate dairy, I did swap the cream for a mix of coconut yogurt and coconut milk – I think all coconut milk would be fine too. I did not taste the coconut. I also left the cheese out. I think it would taste even more amazing with the cheese, so if you can tolerate the dairy – enjoy that!

Print Recipe

5 from 13 votes

Poblano Potato Soup

Author: From “Amazing Mexican Favorites with Your Instant Pot,” by Emily Sunwell-Vidaurri

Ingredients

3 poblano peppers
3 tbsp 42 g butter, ghee or avocado oil
1 leek white and pale green parts only, sliced
5 fresh garlic cloves crushed
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp dried dill
½ tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp ground black pepper
3 russet potatoes peeled and chopped
4 cups 1 L chicken broth or vegetable stock
1 cup 230 g sour cream or 1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream
½ cup 55 g shredded sharp cheddar cheese
½ lb 225 g pan fried Spanish style chorizo, sliced into small pieces

Optional Toppings

Sour cream
Freshly chopped cilantro

Instructions

Preheat the oven to broil with a rack in the highest position.
Place the poblano peppers on a baking sheet and broil until they start to blacken, about 3 minutes. Remove from the oven and when cool enough to handle, carefully peel the blackened skin off. Remove the stems and discard. Coarsely chop the peppers, then set them aside.
Add the healthy fat of your choice to the Instant Pot and press “Sauté.” When the fat has melted, add the leek, sautéing for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the garlic, salt, dill, paprika, cumin and black pepper and continue to sauté for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Press the “Keep Warm/Cancel” button. Add the potatoes, roasted peppers and broth.
Place the lid on the Instant Pot, making sure the steam-release valve is sealed. Press the “Manual” button and set for 9 minutes. When the Instant Pot is done and beeps, press “Keep Warm/Cancel.” Using an oven mitt, “quick release”/open the steam-release valve. When the steam venting stops and the silver dial drops, carefully open the lid.
In batches, ladle the soup into a blender, taking care to fill only about half of the blender (hot liquids will expand, so please use caution). Blend on a low setting just until puréed and combined. Add the puréed soup back to the Instant Pot and press “Sauté,” bring to a boil and give it a few stirs. Add the sour cream and cheese and stir until fully combined. Turn off the Instant Pot by pressing “Keep Warm/Cancel.”
Serve immediately garnished with browned chorizo and the toppings of your choice.

Notes

Notes: For a vegetarian version, omit the chorizo and use vegetable stock instead of the chicken broth.

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Instant Pot Cauliflower and Kale Soup :: Stovetop Directions Included! :: Gluten and Dairy Free!

January 4, 2019

Make super smooth and creamy cauliflower and kale soup in a fraction of the time with your Instant Pot!

Winter hikes, and warm bowls…

At this point in the year, my little Michigander children expect snow…and lots of it! Every once and a while we experience a “barely white” Christmas, and this year was one of them. With the last 2 weeks off from school, they’ve been less than impressed with the lack of fresh powder, but thankfully that leaves roads clear enough to visit some of our favorite hiking places to move around. We warmed up with warm bowls of this super smooth and creamy cauliflower and baby kale soup after a hike this weekend, and the rest will be saved for school lunchbox thermoses, and momma’s breakfast.

A mind-blowing breakfast revelation….

Those of you that follow my Instagram much in the last few years know that soup is on my breakfast plate most days of the week – especially in the cooler months of fall, winter, and early spring. Years ago a nutritional therapist that I was working with opened my eyes to just how many more vegetable minerals and vegetable fiber our bodies need on a daily basis, and one of the ways I have figured out to get veggies into this not-so-smoothie-loving girl’s plate is to use soup.

A new breakfast favorite!

Ever grab a head of cauliflower at the market only to forget about and find it a few days later with the beginnings of those little brown spots on it? Just me?! Well, it happened to me a couple months back in the thick of the beginning of the holiday season, and I decided to use the whole head up in one shot so it didn’t go to waste. I used what I had in-house, and this delicious soup was the result – and became my breakfast for the rest of the week! It has been a nice change up from my typical breakfast soups, which also means veggie nutrient variety for my body, and that is always a win.

What I eat with my soup for breakfast

When I eat soup for breakfast, I like to have it with sides of just about anything! That keeps things interesting, so you don’t get bored. Fried eggs or sausage, a healthy muffin or breakfast cookie…even dinner leftovers will work. Leftover soup warms up quickly, and can go with you in a to-go mug too.

Ok, breakfast soup for mom, but will the kids eat it?!

Well devour it is more like it in my house, but yes, this soup is super kid friendly. If your kids aren’t big soup for breakfast eaters, pack it along in their school lunchbox thermos, or serve it with dinner. It’s a great way to get in more veggie variety with an easy to eat, flavorful soup. The texture is super smooth which most kids prefer, and the flavors are pure and delicious versus super complex. Your toddlers/babies can use a straw if they want to do it themselves. Veggie soup purees were some of my girls’ very favorite first foods, and because we started out young, they crave these mineral rich soups!

Kale? But why?!

The baby kale (or baby spinach if that is what you have) just adds more nutrients to the soup without changing the flavor. Baby kale/spinach is super mild and wilts right into hot soup – I add it to many of my soups because it is an easy way to get those dark green leafies in! It obviously changes the color, but its nice to add more nutrients without any fuss to the flavor. You can certainly leave this ingredient out if you don’t have it around, or if the kids are going to complain about the soup being “green” 🙂

The key to amazing flavor from the Instant Pot

Get those veggie basics down into some flavorful fat on the “saute” feature first. You’ll be so glad you did because the difference in flavor is very different than if you were to just toss everything in and go. Pulling the sweetness out of the carrot and onion builds the flavor in the soup which is why it is so tasty without a bunch of complex seasonings.

Chop and GO!

One of my favorite parts about soup purees, is that the veggie prep is really carefree. You don’t need a fine, perfect dice on your veggies. It all ends up getting pureed in the end, so just a quick, coarse chop will do.

Some for now, and some for later

This cauliflower and kale soup freezes great. This batch was eaten for lunch after our hike, I packed a serving away to have for my breakfast the next day, and I packed a quart away into the freezer for another time. That is probably the only true meal planning tip you’ll ever hear from my end! Whenever I make veggie soups, I always pack a quart away into the freezer for another time. I pack thermoses for the girls twice a week, and having soup in the freezer helps with that!

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5 from 17 votes

Instant Pot Cauliflower & Kale Soup

Author: Renee – www.raisinggenerationnourished.com

Ingredients

3-4 tbsp ghee
2 medium onions, cut in half and then into strips
2 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 large head of cauliflower, coarsely chopped
1 quart bone broth, (you can adjust this based on how thick or thin you prefer your soup)
½ cup coconut milk or cream, (or raw milk or cream)
1-2 cups baby kale, (baby spinach would work here too)
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

INSTANT POT METHOD:

Turn the Instant Pot on, and press “Saute.”. Put the ghee into the pot to melt, and add the onion and carrot with a big pinch of sea salt. Cook the onion and carrot on the “Saute” function for 5-7 minutes until they are soft and sweet. Add the garlic, stir in, and then turn the “Saute” feature “Off.”
Once you turn the “Saute” feature off, add the cauliflower and bone broth, and put the Instant Pot lid on. Turn the valve to closed, and press the “Soup” button. Bring the time down to 10 minutes. The Instant Pot will automatically turn on, taking about 10 minutes to come to pressure before counting down the 10 minutes of pressure cooking time.
When the Instant Pot is done pressure cooking, release the valve to let the pressure out, and take the lid off the Instant Pot. Add the coconut milk and baby kale, and use your immersion blender to puree the soup until it is smooth. Add sea salt and pepper to your taste after you puree the soup.

STOVETOP METHOD:

Melt the ghee in a large soup pot, and add the onion and carrot with a big pinch of sea salt. Saute the veg until it is soft and sweet.
Add the cauliflower and bone broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 20-25 minutes until the cauliflower is soft, and then turn the heat off.
Add the coconut milk and baby kale, and use an immersion blender to puree the soup until it is smooth. Add sea salt and pepper to your taste after you puree the soup.

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Mashed Acorn Squash and Parsnips :: Oven Roasted or Instant Pot Method

November 14, 2018

Mashed acorn squash and parsnips is a sweet, rustic, healthy change up to your dinner side dish menu plan!

Simple & Sweet

Sometimes the best things come in the simplest of packages. One of the things I love the most about this space I am so blessed to get to write in every week, is opening messages from…you. This week I got the sweetest message from a new momma, that was not unlike so many other messages I get on a daily basis. That whole…“how in the world do I get this thing done?!” question. I felt an urge to hop on my IG Stories and chat about baby season, and it was really nostalgic to look back on those blur of a days that infant season brought to my life. One of my answers to the “how do you get it done” question is…keep it simple and sweet dear momma.

Back to the basics…

Because sometimes as a blogger, I get caught up in needing to post the next fun dessert, or fancy food prep that will draw eyes to the blog, when really what I know you all need is real life. That is why I am here in the first place – when I was a brand new momma I didn’t have very many places to turn for real life recipes. I didn’t want another momma to have to figure this thing out on her own, and that is one of the drives behind this writing space. So here I sit, writing to you about simple split pea soup, the basics for how to roast a whole chicken, and then make a simple chicken stew out of the leftovers…and how to take budget friendly in season veggies and turn them into a nourishing side dish that the whole family will love.

Team Oven Roast or Team Instant Pot???

Believe it or not, when my babies were babies, I didn’t own an Instant Pot! I didn’t have one until I was well out of the baby years – it’s only been about 3 years since my Instant Pot became a staple on my counter. While the Instant Pot has revolutionized my kitchen routine, the oven does tend to draw me in during these cold winter months. There is just something about the flavor that embeds into those veggies when you roast them in an oven. Don’t get me wrong – I still totally make this side dish in the Instant Pot if I’m making it on a whim and haven’t the time for the oven roasting, but this sweet and earthy veggie mash has it’s roots in my babyhood season of life…and during those years, it was all done in the oven.

Sooo…what does it taste like?

I think both parsnips and acorn squash are overlooked a lot during the fall and winter, getting passed up for the more popular butternut squashes and carrots or sweet potatoes. But let me tell you about these great veggies! Not only are both acorn squash and parsnips loaded with vitamin C, fiber, and an array of other nutrients, they have really mild kid friendly flavors. Acorn squash is sweet and buttery, and when you cook parsnips they become like a sweet carrot. The added roasted onion and hint of that little clove of garlic really take the mashed veggies to another level.

What do I serve mashed acorn squash and parsnips with?

My babies ate it as is! It makes a great first foods start (you can leave the onion and garlic out if your baby is just starting food but my babies over 7-8 months old were eating all of this). But really your mashed acorn squash and parsnips will go alongside just about any dinner. Here are some meal ideas to serve it along with:

Roasted Chicken
Meatloaf (Or mini meatloaf cups!)
Beef Roast
Meatball dinner
Even your Thanksgiving dinner!

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5 from 13 votes

Roasted Acorn Squash and Parsnip Mash

Mashed acorn squash and parsnips is a sweet, rustic, healthy change up to your dinner side dish menu plan!

Prep Time10

Cook Time45

Total Time55

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: mashed parsnip, roasted acorn squash

Servings: servings

Author: Renee - www.raisinggenerationnourished.com

Ingredients

1 medium acorn squash or 2 small acorn squashes quartered and seeds scooped out
2 medium parsnips peeled and quartered
¼ medium/large sweet onion
1 clove of garlic don’t peel it if you are doing the Roasting Method
2 tbsp olive oil
3-4 tbsp butter
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

ROASTING METHOD ::

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.
Toss the squash, parsnips, onion, and garlic onto a baking sheet with the olive oil and a big pinch of sea salt. Bake the veggies at 425 degrees for 45 minutes until everything is soft.
Peel the garlic, and scoop the squash out of the shell, and then put all of the roasted veggies into your blender or food processor with the butter. Blend until smooth. Taste for salt and pepper and add that to your liking.

INSTANT POT METHOD ::

Fill your IP with 1 cup of water and place a steamer basket inside. Put the squash, parsnips, onion, and peeled garlic into the IP on top of the steamer basket.
Put the lid on, close the valve, and turn the IP on to “Manual.” Bring the time down to 15 minutes. The IP will start automatically. Once the IP comes to pressure, the 15 minutes will count down.
When the veggies are done pressure cooking, turn the IP off, release the pressure, and transfer the veggies to your food processor. Make sure to scoop the squash out of the shell. Add the butter to the food processor, and blend until smooth. Sea salt and pepper the veg to your taste.

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Healthy Instant Pot Split Pea Soup :: Stovetop Directions Included Too!

November 10, 2018

The humble, pantry staple split pea made into a delicious, healthy split pea soup using your Instant Pot OR stovetop!

Purposely slowing it all down…

I woke up a week or so ago with the thought that we are almost through fall, and I didn’t even realize it! So we are slowing it down, taking more off the schedule, and making more time for spending with family outdoors before that cold snow hits!

A kid soup favorite

Part of me slowing down has been to ask the girls some of their favorite fall and winter foods that we want to be sure to include in our meal plans over the next few months. We all want those most looked forward too meals, and the girls were excited to collaborate on a few favorites. Of course indulgent lasagna, Thanksgiving meal staples, casserole, biscuits, and hot cocoa were all on the list. But want surprised me was some of the simpler foods that my kids looked at as “comfort foods” in their eyes – like this split pea soup. They’ve been eating this exact recipe for split pea soup since they were toddlers! It took me a bit to figure out the exact timing for making it in the Instant Pot, loosely following the IP instruction manual time table for different legumes, but I’ve got it how I like it now, and I’m so excited to share it with you!

A soup (and pantry!) staple

The humble split pea. It is almost always on my pantry shelf, for a myriad of reasons! I first learned about peas/dried peas in the very first real food cookbook that I bought, “Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon. So much of the traditional food preparation that I do even today stems from what I learned in this priceless book! At a dollar a pound, dried peas are really one of the most cost-effective ways to feed my family in balance with other nutrient dense food staples. Peas, along with many other legumes are also a great “perfect food” balance of slow burning carbohydrates for energy, and protein. While we are not an exclusively plant-based diet family, properly prepared legumes like peas help me balance meals – because most people don’t need to be eating meat for their only source of protein all day long. And one of the biggest reasons dried peas are almost always found in my pantry is because my kiddos adore them! I purchase split peas in the bulk section of our local health food store. Check around where you shop, or local food co-ops. You can also find them on Amazon.

Pea Powerhouse!

Peas are more than just their fiber – which is a fantastic nutrient benefit by the way! They are also packed with protein, three different B vitamins, and essential minerals that our organs depend on to function together the way they were meant to. We already talked about how the combination of slow burning carbohydrate energy and protein makes peas a great balanced food, so the added bonus of these nutrients is fantastic!

Split Pea Soup

Typically, split pea soup is flavored with a ham hock and/or chopped ham. It is really rare for me to have pastured ham around other than Easter, so over the years I have perfected that smoky pork flavor that infuses split pea soup with so much amazing taste with a couple secret ingredients. Using smoked paprika works so well, and it is a cost-effective staple that most people have in their pantry. If we happen to have a little bacon grease leftover from weekend breakfasts, a small spoonful of that into the cooking fat also adds smoky pork flavor. The flavor also comes from cooking the veggies the right way……

Instant Pot Pro Tip…SLOW DOWN…

Seems a contradiction, eh?! I know it, you bought the Instant Pot so you could make meals…instantly! But if there is one thing this stovetop soup lover has learned, it is that if I want that amazing flavor that so many veggies have to offer…I’ve gotta slow down and let that saute do it’s magic. Don’t skip that step. Get your veggie basics down in the pot with some flavorful fat – I promise it is worth the 10 minute wait. The flavor is a night and day difference.

To blend or not to blend?

That is all up to you! Pictured in this post is the more traditional way of serving split pea soup – un-blended. The little bits of peas and carrots are so fun and colorful. Truth be told, because I served this soup to my little ones as toddlers and tended to blend it up completely so it was easier for them to serve themselves with a straw, all 3 of my kids prefer the soup totally blended. It transforms into this super velvety bowl of soup – the texture is amazing.

Soaking/Sprouting Tips

Since split peas are technically a “legume,” we know that soaking will help reduce the phytic acid in the split peas, making them easier on digestion. You’ll notice around the 10 hour mark of soaking that the peas will have the start of a little sprouted “tail.” Sprouting these little “tails” in legumes allows the nutrients in the bean more readily available to absorb. Dried peas are very easy to sprout because they naturally “split” during the drying, but you can certainly just do the minimum 6 hour soak if that is what you have time for (I end up in this boat more often than not!). Soak for at least 6 hours and no more than 12. You can approach the soaking a couple different ways (it truly just depends on how your schedule works – there is no one right way!) ::

Get the peas soaking first thing in the morning when you wake up to make the soup around dinnertime.
Or soak them overnight to make the soup in the morning/early afternoon.

Tips for making split pea soup stove top

You can definitely make this soup stovetop, and I did for years – literally the girls’ entire babyhood! I didn’t have an Instant Pot until my youngest was 2! The absolutely lovely part about making this recipe stovetop, is that you can totally double it up into a large stock pot. In fact, this recipe that I have been using in my kitchen for years is halved to fit into my Instant Pot. I made and froze batches of the large batch for years. Simply follow the same sautéing instructions in the recipe, and then when you get to the bone broth part, just pull your heat up to make the soup simmer until the split peas are cooked through. It will take about 45 minutes to simmer stove top.

Freezer Friendly

Cook once, eat multiple times, dear momma! This batch typically feeds my family of 5 for two to three lunches. It freezes up great. As mentioned in the above paragraph, you can double this into your stockpot and cook it stovetop if you want more leftovers. If you have a larger Instant Pot (I have the 6 quart IP), you may be able to get away with a double. I’m not sure if the IP pressure cooking time changes with it doubling into the 8 quart pot – if you do happen to try it, let us know!

Print Recipe

5 from 21 votes

Healthy Instant Pot Split Pea Soup

The humble, pantry staple split pea made into a delicious, healthy split pea soup using your Instant Pot OR stovetop!

Prep Time6

Cook Time30

Total Time6 30

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Instant Pot split pea soup, pressure cooker split pea soup, split pea soup recipe

Servings: servings

Author: Renee - www.raisinggenerationnourished.com

Ingredients

1 lb split peas this is about 1 ½ cups of dried split peas if you buy in bulk
2 tbsp ghee or butter plus 1 tbsp leftover bacon grease for sauteing you can use all ghee or butter if you don’t have the bacon grease – the bacon grease gives a lovely flavor and hint of smoky pork
1 medium onion diced
2-3 medium carrots peeled and diced
1 large or 2 small stalks of celery diced
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 ½ quarts bone broth less if you want your soup very thick
1 bay leaf
Sea salt/pepper to taste

Instructions

Six to 12 hours before you want to make the soup, soak the split peas. Soaking helps reduces the phytic acid in the legume, making them easier on digestion. You’ll notice around the 10 hour mark that the peas will have the start of a little sprouted “tail.” Sprouting legumes allows the nutrients in the bean more readily available to absorb. Soak for at least 6 hours and no more than 12.
When you are ready to make the soup, turn your Instant Pot on to “Saute,” melt the cooking fat (ghee and bacon grease), and add the onion, carrots, and celery with a big pinch sea salt. Saute for about 10 minutes until the veggies are very soft and sweet. Slow down and don’t skip this step! This is flavor!
Add the garlic and smoked paprika and Saute for 1 minute, then turn the Instant Pot to “Off/Cancel.”
Drain and rinse your soaked split peas, add them into the Instant Pot along with the bone broth and bay leaf, and stir to combine.
Put the lid on your Instant Pot, turn the valve to closed, turn your Instant Pot on to “Soup,” and bring time down to 10 minutes. The Instant Pot will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure before counting down the 10 minutes. When the timer beeps that the 10 minutes of pressure cooking is done, turn the Instant Pot off, and leave the Instant Pot alone for 5 minutes. This naturally will let some of the pressure in the Instant Pot release and finishes the cooking process without overcooking the split peas. Release the rest of the pressure after 5 minutes, and take the lid off the Instant Pot. Remove the bay leaf.
Scoop out 2-3 cups of the soup to a small mixing bowl, and blend with an immersion blender (you could use a regular blender), and then return the blended portion of soup back into the pot with the rest of the soup (it makes the broth nice and creamy!). Stir to combine, and sea salt/pepper your soup to your taste. The split pea soup will thicken a bit more as the soup cools since the peas continue to absorb liquid. You could alternatively blend the entire soup – my toddlers enjoyed using a stainless steel straw to drink their soup this way!
Drizzle olive oil and/or splash raw cream or coconut cream into each bowl of split pea soup to garnish if you wish.

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Kid Prep Instant Pot No Peel Applesauce! :: Let Them Make It Start To Finish!

September 29, 2018

Give them ownership over a kitchen project with Instant Pot no peel applesauce! Let the kids make it start to finish!

Still making time for it…

A little real food blogger confession. As the girls have been getting older, I’ve been less likely to invite them into the kitchen to work with me. Shocking, right? The real food blogger that literally shoves it into your face the importance of getting your kids into the kitchen with you, struggles with making time for it now that the littles aren’t so little anymore? Well, when those babes are super little, they are constantly needing you, hanging on you, and forever by your side, so inviting them up to the counter to help is really survival mode many days, yes?! {And all the toddler mommas are nodding their heads!} Now that the girls are older, more independent, and off doing their own thing a lot, I really have to make a conscious effort to make them a part of what I’m doing in the kitchen.

A big job, made into a family project

So I also must confess that I was somewhat dreading apple season. I knew we wanted to go picking – it is the highlight of the fall me to watch them, and the girls love it. But man, oh man, the food prep that goes along with picking a bushel or 2 of apples! It is a lot of work! Older kiddos also mean less time at home, busier schedules outside the home, and the desire on their part to do more adventuring outside the home. Catch the theme? Less home time, means mom gets stuck doing all the kitchen work tending to the apples, and I decided on a plan to get through the apples and maintain my sanity! Make them a part of it! So off we went apple picking…!

A one day job!

What used to take me a full week to get through with a bushel of apples and applesauce on my mind, now just takes a day thanks to the Instant Pot. We started making applesauce in the IP last year, and I’ll literally never go back! It still locks in all the nutrients in the apple, and gets the job done in a fraction of the time. Remember that whole, away from home, busy schedule thing? This definitely is right up my alley right now!

So kid friendly, you can just leave it up to them!

Kids eat up independence. When you let them know that they can have a whole kitchen task to themselves, well, that ownership is magical, dear momma. I gave my 2 older girls a quick lesson to remind them of how to make applesauce with the Instant Pot, including having them write down step by step instructions, and I left the kitchen. Did you hear that part? I left. They have made it with me so many times, cut apples since they were toddlers, and respect kitchen tools, so I just left them to it. Sure I popped in if there was a question, and I popped in simply because I wanted to spend time with them, but I left them to own their project. And I can’t tell you the pride that that gives a child – to make their own food.

How To Make Kid Prep Instant Pot Applesauce!

1.) Wash and Cut The Apples

Your toddlers can help with washing the apples! In fact find yourself some laundry to fold, because your toddler will probably want to wash your apples for a good half hour! They just love it. Use an apple cutter for the easiest slicing. This task can be tough for littles if the apples are very hard. Get them up and over their work surface because the leverage helps cut in. Standing on a chair at a kitchen table works well for little ones. My oldest still uses a step stool to get up and over the counter best.

2.) Put The Apples Into The Instant Pot

Dump them in! All ages can help with this part! Fill the Instant Pot up to about half inch below the “Fill” line.

3.) Add 1 cup of Water

Dump it in! Your older children around Kindergarten on up can measure 1 cup if you show them how, and all ages can help pour the water in. Hand over hand with your littles to show them, and let your bigs do it themselves.

4.) Put The Lid On the IP, and Set the Timer, and Quick Release

Make sure the valve on your IP lid is closed, press “Manual” and bring the time down to 4 minutes. The Instant Pot will start automatically. Once the IP reaches pressure, it will count down the 4 minutes. Once the 4 minutes is over, you can do a quick release. I make my girls cover their hand with a towel to open the valve, so they don’t accidentally get steam on their hand. Older children around the age of 7 or 8 and older are best for this job.

5.) Put the Cooked Apples Through The Food Mill

Let the apples cool off for about 10 minutes so the children don’t burn themselves with the steam, and then let them scoop the apples into your food mill to churn. My toddlers needed hand over hand help to learn how turn the food mill, but were independent with this job after a bit! Let everyone take a turn! The color of your applesauce will depend on the type of apples you used! Namely, the color of the skin. If your apples have red skins, your no-peel applesauce will be pink in color. If your apples were more gold/light green, the applesauce will be golden in color!

To sweeten or not?

I’ve never had to sweeten our applesauce. Fresh picked apples are plenty sweet if you get the right variety. If your apples happen to be on the tart side, you can add some raw honey to the hot applesauce after it is run through the food mill. Cook and taste the applesauce first though and see what it needs. If you have really little guys at home, I’d skip it!

How we store our applesauce

I use these BPA free freezer containers and just freezer ours. We don’t make more than maybe 6 to 8 quarts, so it really doesn’t take up a lot of room in our freezer, and we eat it pretty quickly! If you tend to make more, and like to can it, you can certainly do that.

Freezing time…

One thing that you cannot, in fact do, is freeze time. It is always so worth slowing down to spend some time making and sharing food in the kitchen with your kids!

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5 from 10 votes

Kid Prep Instant Pot No Peel Applesauce!

Give them ownership over a kitchen project with Instant Pot no peel applesauce! Let the kids make it start to finish!

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Total Time30

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: homemade applesauce recipe, how to make applesauce in the Instant Pot, Instant Pot applesauce

Author: Renee - www.raisinggenerationnourished.com

Ingredients

Apples cored
1 cup of water you can add more if you like thinner applesauce

Instructions

Fill your Instant Pot liner with apple slices to about half inch below the “Fill” line, and then pour 1 cup of water in.
Put the IP lid on and close the valve. Press “Manual” and then bring the time down to 4 minutes. The Instant Pot will start automatically. Once the IP reaches pressure, it will count down the 4 minutes. Once the 4 minutes is over, you can quick release the valve.
Run the cooked apples through a food mill for the smoothest applesauce. You can use a blender if you wish as well.
Taste your applesauce for sweetness at this point. You can add raw honey if your apples were more tart, or leave as is if the apples are sweet enough.

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Healthy Instant Pot Potato Salad :: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, & Paleo Friendly!

July 19, 2018

Learn how to use clean ingredients to make classic potato salad in a fraction of the time using your Instant Pot!

Summer vacation bliss!

The best. I’m so thankful for you all being so gracious with me while I took some time off to enjoy the summer sun. Thank you! We just got back from the best time of Petoskey stone hunting, wave riding, river bank hiking, and family time.

Summer routine

And as much fun as we had for a get-away, I’m ready to hop back into our “at home” summer routine. Part of that summer routine means having cold salads on hand for quick lunch or dinner side dishes. It gives us a chance to be outdoors as much as possible and still keep the food on our plates real food so we aren’t tempted to eat junk or go out to eat.

My summer salad and side staples

Coleslaw is one of my staple veggie side dishes for summer weekdays. I make it up on Sunday nights and use it for the first half of the week. I also like making our favorite fresh herb filled Paleo Ranch for cold veggie platter dipping or big salad sides. And this summer, potato salad has made one of my summer side staples thanks to my Instant Pot!

Potato salad for more than just that special picnic!

If you were to ask me last year if potato salad was one of my summer staple sides, I would have probably told you no. The time it takes to boil the potatoes was more than I am willing to do for anything more than a special picnic occasion. But my goodness has the Instant Pot changed that for me! In about 10 minutes of time including chopping, cooking, mixing, and clean up, I can have a week’s worth of potato salad ready to go for dinner sides to partner grilled hamburgers and barbeque chicken, or a lunch bowl topped with some crushed walnuts!

Pile it all in!

No really! Just add a cup of water to the bottom of your IP, place a steamer basket down at the bottom, and pile on the cubed potatoes! (I don’t even peel the potatoes, although you may if you wish!) You can just toss the eggs right on the top of the potatoes, and once the Instant Pot comes to pressure, you’re 3 minutes away from perfectly cooked potatoes and hard boiled eggs. And you can totally tailor this to your taste. If you like more or less eggs, you can certainly adjust that! If you like a crisper potato in your potato salad, back the time off to 1 minute. (You may need to pressure cook your eggs separately to get them fully hard boiled if you back off on the potato cooking time).

That dressing, though!

While I’m all about the Instant Pot magic, the dressing is really where it’s at. If your dressing is boring and bland, your potato salad isn’t going to taste great. While your potatoes and eggs are pressure cooking, whisk up this amazing dressing – your family will be licking their plates clean because of this part! The key is to add the dressing to the potatoes while they are still warm, so they soak up all the flavor. This also makes the prep part go super fast! You don’t need to wait for the potatoes to cool down at all!

Mayonnaise options

There are a lot of different options for the mayonnaise part. Browse through this list, and see what fits your family best!

I love and use the Sir Kensington’s Avocado Oil Mayo. You can find it just about anywhere these days. Just be sure it is the avocado oil mayo – the “classic” mayo in this brand uses sunflower oil, and you want to avoid that.
While I absolutely LOVE my Paleo Avocado Mayo recipe, it does turn the potato salad a different color, so I tend to use regular mayo for this salad. If that is the kind of mayo you tolerate, and you don’t mind the change in color, I have made it using that Paleo mayo recipe and it tastes SO good!
If you can’t have the eggs in homemade mayo or store bought, you can try my egg free mayo recipe (this recipe does have dairy, but I think you could swap the sour cream for plain coconut milk yogurt if you do not tolerate dairy).
I also wanted to add that plain sour cream works well for a mayo sub if that is what you have and can tolerate dairy.

Other ingredient notes and swaps

Your potato salad will feel a bit different if you use yellow or red potatoes. Russets are “drier” and have more room for absorbing the dressing which is why I like using them. Red/yellow potatoes will work, but I think you might want to adjust the time for cooking since they tend to cook faster and get softer.
If you can’t have eggs, simply leave them out! I use duck eggs a lot since that is what we tolerate best.
I have been picking up the Bubbies pickle relish this summer and *loving* it! If you can’t find that, you can just chop up regular pickles (we like the Bubbies fermented pickles) for the chopped pickle ingredient. Just watch your ingredients – bread and butter pickles have a ton of added sugar.

Print Recipe

5 from 18 votes

Healthy Instant Pot Potato Salad

Learn how to use clean ingredients to make classic potato salad in a fraction of the time using your Instant Pot!

Prep Time10

Cook Time8

Total Time18

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: classic potato salad, Instant Pot potato salad, Instant Pot potato salad recipe

Servings: servings

Author: Renee - www.raisinggenerationnourished.com

Ingredients

1 cup water
3 lbs Russet potatoes cubed (It’s been about 6 medium sized potatoes for me)
4 pastured chicken or duck eggs optional if you don’t tolerate eggs
1 cup of your favorite mayonnaise I like Sir Kensington's Avocado Oil Mayonnaise. See above "Mayo Options" section for more choices. You can use homemade mayo, or your favorite mayo made with avocado oil or olive oil. If you tolerate dairy, full fat sour cream works fantastic too. We avoid mayos with soy and/or canola oils.
2 ½ tbsp Dijon mustard regular mustard works just fine here too
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp raw honey
Juice of ½ lemon
1 ½ - 2 tsp sea salt to taste start low and you can always add more to your taste
½ tsp paprika I love the flavor that smoked paprika gives if you can find that
¼ tsp pepper
Pinch of cayenne
½ tsp dried dill or about 1 tbsp fresh chopped dill
1/3 cup chopped pickles
½ cup green onion

Instructions

Put the water in the bottom of your Instant Pot liner, and place a steamer basket inside. Put the cubed potatoes in a steamer basket, and lay the uncooked eggs (in their shell) on top of the potatoes.
Put the lid on your Instant Pot, close the valve, make sure the pressure is set to “High,” and press “Manual.” Bring the time down to 3 minutes. The Instant Pot will take about 5 or so minutes to come to pressure before counting down the 3 minutes.
While the potatoes and eggs are cooking, make the dressing. Whisk the mayonnaise, mustard, olive oil, honey, lemon juice, sea salt, paprika, pepper, and cayenne in a small mixing bowl, and chop your pickles and green onion.
When the Instant Pot beeps that the 3 minutes of pressure cooking is done, turn the IP off, and turn the valve to release all the pressure. Take the lid off the Instant Pot, and use tongs to place the eggs in a bowl of cold water to cool off so you can peel them.
While the eggs are cooling off, you can scoop the cooked potatoes into a mixing bowl. Pour the whisked dressing over the potatoes and stir to combine. Peel and chop the hard boiled eggs, and then fold in the chopped eggs, dill, pickles, and green onion.
Chill the potato salad and then taste for sea salt and pepper.

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On-The-Go Instant Pot® Mini Frittatas :: 5 Minute Pressure Cook Time, Freezer Friendly, and Dairy Free!

April 14, 2018

Keep real food on the menu despite your busy schedule with on-the-go Instant Pot mini Frittatas!

A different kind of busy…

We are well beyond babyhood seasons in my household. I remember thinking during those first years with milk stained yoga pants, “5 day hair,” and 2am nursings that this thing must get easier each year. It has to, right?!

Every stage of motherhood has a “busy.”

It changes. It is definitely not as sleepless. And it certainly isn’t as exhausting and desperate. But it is not less “busy.” Instead of a endless rocking, it turns into endless life training. These little people that I am responsible for are navigating society, and I’ll be darned if they aren’t going to be positive, contributing members of the community with hearts that know how to treat other people. Even though I enjoy full nights of sleep again (yes, dear newborn momma, you will sleep again!), life is still filled with schedules, routines, and life training. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Real food goals, momma mental sanity, and busy kids

It does your littles zero good, dear momma, when you are so stretched that you are exhausted beyond function getting real food on the table for every meal. It also doesn’t do the family any good if we are serving sugary cereal at the breakfast table each day. There IS a happy medium. You don’t have to prepare a 5 course meal every day, and you don’t have to settle for convenience foods just to maintain a little mental sanity. You WILL have those days that completely fall apart, and it is so nice to have some real food menu options in your back pocket so you can keep wholesome food in your kids, and deal with the flow that life hands you.

Breakfast goals for busy moms that have real food menu goals

Alright! Take some notes, dear momma…this is as real as it gets from my real home to yours!

Have a weekly menu rotation, and keep it simple. Fit your menu to your family tastes – there is no one right way. There is a weekly breakfast menu printable on this post, along with what a typical school week looks like for my family. You can have a breakfast rotation and still keep things interesting with variety – you can see that in our menu rotation. Fruit and veggies change with the season changes, etc.
Take advantage of your freezer. Mini pancakes, breakfast cookies, waffles, baked oatmeal cups, and muffins all freeze up so well. I always say, if I’m going to be baking, I might as well do double duty. Bake for Saturday morning breakfast, and keep the leftovers for Tuesday or Wednesday in the heat of the busy week. The mini frittatas in this post freeze well too!
Have a granola stash. Always my go-to when my morning plans have been shot! Keep a container of granola in the pantry to eat with a splash of raw milk or coconut milk, or to crumble over yogurt or coconut yogurt. There are loads of granola recipes on this blog – just use the search bar at the top and search “granola” and you will find them. Some of our favorites are Simple Cinnamon Granola, Grain Free Apple Cinnamon Granola, Morning Glory Granola, and Blueberry Granola.
Utilize a prep day, or prep the night before. I rarely get prep days these days. I do most of my breakfast prep the night before. Chop veggies, get dry ingredients into mixing bowl, use the Instant Pot to pre-cook potatoes to make crispy hash in the morning. And these mini frittatas! You can prep them in the little cups the night before!
Don’t underestimate dinner leftovers! My kiddos KNOW that momma gets the dinner leftovers for her breakfast usually! Mine!

Instant Pot game changer!

I feel like I am still just scratching the surface for using my IP regularly, but I’m getting there. I’ve been on a kick for quick breakfasts that travel well in the car lately thanks to my 4 year old that likes to linger in the morning…Instant Pot egg fritattas have been SO nice to have on hand for her! There is a recipe for egg muffins in my cookbook, Nourished Beginnings that I use for her – A LOT. But one morning, I just simply forgot to get the oven going, and didn’t have the time to make them. Enter the Instant Pot!

5 minutes all around!

Five minute prep that can be put into the mason jars or ramekins the night before? Check! Five minute pressure cook? Check! My biggest goal for these frittatas was for them to be just as fast in prep time as they are in cook time. Use simple veggies that chop quick – no extra pan saute time included. I just don’t have time for that on a school morning. I literally want to dump it in a bowl, whisk, and pour. In fact, I have been prepping the egg mixture in my big 4 cup liquid measuring cup so I can just whisk it, and pour right into the cups. One less mixing bowl to clean!

Cooking container notes

So far, I have 2 options that cook well, and fit in the Instant Pot. I’m sure there are more, but this is what I’ve been using.

8oz mason jars. If you are planning on traveling with your frittatas, this is the choice for you! You can pressure cook the eggs, cap them off with these travel safe tops, and you’re set!
8oz ramekins. There are so many to choose from – and there are even ramekins that have travel lids! You can stack the ramekins as well if you are wondering – you can see them in the picture below. My mason jars fit 4 right on the trivet, but the ramekins were too wide – I put the 4th up on top and they cooked great.

Change it up!

The possibilities are endless really. The base of the egg mixture is nice and flavored with onion and garlic powder so you don’t have to spend time chopping and sauteing that for this dish. Here are some ideas to mix things up in the veggie/protein department!

Swap any of the veggies for mushrooms, kale, asparagus, or broccoli. I do love the flavor that bell peppers give, so I tend to leave those in, and just swap the spinach for something new to keep things interesting.
Swap the bacon for cooked sausage, beef, or whatever protein you have around. You can also leave this out if you don’t have any around. I love the flavor that the bacon or sausage give!
Cheese! Two ways! You can either 1.) melt it up on top when the frittatas are done cooking, OR 2.) whisk it into the egg mixture so it is cheesy throughout. And I’m 100% sure there is no one stopping you from doing both! Just sayin’ 😉

Freezer tips

If you have chickens that are producing an abundance of eggs, or you snag a sweet deal at the farmer’s market on some farm fresh eggs, you can utilize your freezer to use them up! Just batch up these mini frittatas and freeze them. Simply slide them out of their container, let them cool completely, and then pop them into freezer bags. You can thaw them out on the counter overnight and then pop them into the oven to warm through in the morning.

Print Recipe

5 from 19 votes

On-The-Go Instant Pot® Mini Frittatas

Keep real food on the menu despite your busy schedule with on-the-go Instant Pot mini Frittatas!

Prep Time5

Cook Time15

Total Time20

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Instant Pot egg bites, Instant Pot eggs, Instant Pot mini fritattatas

Servings: servings

Author: Renee - www.raisinggenerationnourished.com

Ingredients

6 large eggs if your eggs are on the small size you might need 7 or 8
¼ cup coconut milk Raw milk works too if that is what you have. If you are using duck eggs, I have found that I like using a bit more milk since they are denser – use more like heaping 1/4 cup if you are using duck eggs
1 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp pepper
½ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ cup diced bell pepper
¼ cup chopped baby spinach
1-2 slices of bacon cooked and chopped

Instructions

Fill the liner of your Instant Pot with 1 cup of water, and set the Trivet at the bottom.
Butter four 8oz wide mouth mason jars or ramekins<. I think coconut oil or ghee would work here if you can’t have butter. I did try avocado oil spray once and felt like it stuck to the mason jars more just FYI.
Whisk the eggs, milk, oil, and seasonings until frothy. I have been whisking everything in my 4-cup liquid measuring cup so it is easy to pour into the jars.
Whisk in the veggies and bacon, and then pour the egg mixture into the mason jars or ramekins, dividing it equally between the 4 jars.
Set the mason jars on the trivet in the Instant Pot, close the lid, seal the valve, and press “Manual.” Keep the pressure at “High,” and bring the time down to 5 minutes. The Instant Pot will automatically turn on, coming to pressure within a few minutes, and then will count down the 5 minutes. When the timer beeps that the 5 minutes is done, you can release the pressure at the valve and open the lid. Use tongs to take the jars out. The jars and ramekins are cool enough to touch within a few minutes of being out of the IP.
At this point, you can either lid your egg cups for on-the-go, eat them right there, or you can slide them out for either eating, or freezer storage. To freeze the egg frittatas, slide the egg out and let it cool completely before putting them into freezer bags.

More fast, real food breakfast ideas you might like!

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Instant Pot Alfredo :: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free

February 10, 2018

Classic Alfredo flavors in a fraction of the time, and made gluten, dairy, and nut free too!

Mid winter pick-me-ups…

I hear Lake Michigan is over 50 percent frozen these days, and from the looks off the pier down the road at the beach…I believe it! During this frigid time of year, we are definitely in need of some dinner comfort to warm our bellies, and I’ve got just the ticket for you if you’re feeling the same way.

Comforting Alfredo

I remember the first time I ordered alfredo pasta at a restaurant as probably a teen or 20 something. I don’t know of anyone that doesn’t fall in love after the first creamy bite, and I remember thinking this must be the best thing I’ve ever tasted. I also remember thinking…there is no way I could ever make something like this!

Dairy free Alfredo?!

Interestingly, Alfredo bases are really nothing more than a little garlic, butter, milk, and Parmesan. I am a huge fan of raw dairy, but if you are one that can’t tolerate that (sadly myself and one of my daughters included), there is another way! I have found coconut milk and nutritional yeast to be a great swap – you really can’t taste the coconut. I have a couple of coconut taste critics in my household, and this dinner gets gobbled up time after time without complaint. Cooking the noodles in the coconut milk allows the pasta’s starches to thicken the sauce and there really isn’t anything like indulgent, drippy, creamy, garlic infused Alfredo sauce!

Weekday fast in the Instant Pot!

It’s no secret, the Instant Pot has really been a game changer for a lot of family kitchens, and this traditional real foodie is one of them. It did take me a while to get the hang of it (let’s be honest – it took me 2 months to even take it out of the box!), but it has become a counter staple for weekly bone broth, soups, and whole chickens, and full meals like this alfredo dinner.

Literally one pot for the whole meal – that is definitely weekday friendly!

Pasta favorites

If you tolerate gluten/wheat, I recommend the Jovial brand of Einkorn pasta. If you need a gluten free diet, here are some of my favorite gluten free pastas:

If you are grain free, I would recommend separately making this DIY alfredo sauce, and then just add some spiralized zucchini or sweet potato noodles. My kiddos love this dinner too, and it is a great way to get some extra veggies in. The recipe done in the Instant Pot using veggie noodles will not turn out. The starches from the pasta helps thicken the alfredo sauce, and the cook time would make veggie noodles way to soft.

Add-ins to change things up!

I wanted to keep this recipe as simple as possible, so that there were no more than 10 ingredients. This also leaves some room so you can put your own creative spin on it! I happen to love adding cherry tomatoes to the cooking veggies in the first step. I also tend to add a big hand full of spinach to wilt in after the pasta cooks. If you chop it really small, your littles won’t even know it’s there if that is something that would normally bother them – it is taste free and it just looks like herbs. One of my kids particularly loves it when I add peas, while the another likes when I add bits of bacon.

Important Notes

Frozen broccoli gets too mushy. Believe me – I’d love nothing more than to just dump a bag organic frozen broccoli into the pot, but it just doesn’t work.
Different pasta brands might have different cook times.
I think cashew or almond milk would work if you don’t have coconut milk and like using those. If you tolerate raw milk/cream that should work great. I don’t think rice milk is thick/fatty enough, and I do not recommend soy milk.

Print Recipe

5 from 20 votes

Instant Pot Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Alfredo

Classic Alfredo flavors in a fraction of the time, and made gluten, dairy, and nut free too!

Prep Time10

Cook Time12

Total Time22

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: dairy-free alfredo sauce, Instant Pot alfredo, Instant Pot chicken broccoli alfredo

Servings: servings

Author: Renee - www.raisinggenerationnourished.com

Ingredients

¼ cup ghee If you tolerate butter, you can use that. If you don’t tolerate ghee, you can use avocado oil. Coconut oil will change the flavor too much.
1 small onion diced small (or ½ large onion)
2 medium carrots peeled and diced
5-6 cloves of garlic minced
1/4 cup white wine or bone broth to de-glaze the pan white wine adds a really good flavor to the final dish
2 cups cooked chicken about 1 ½ chicken breasts, cut on a bias or cubed
1 tbsp nutritional yeast optional but gives the cheesy flavor of parmesan. You could use a good 2-4 tbsp parm if you tolerate the dairy. If you don’t have this on hand, a little extra sea salt will help with the salty bite of parm.
1 ½ quarts coconut milk I like to use this entire 33oz carton of coconut milk which is about 1 1/2 quarts. If you tolerate raw milk/cream, you may use that
8 oz gluten free pasta
1 head of fresh broccoli cut into florets (not frozen broccoli)
Sea salt/pepper to taste

Instructions

Turn the Instant Pot on using the “Sauté” button, and melt the ghee. Add the onion and carrot with a big pinch of sea salt, stir to combine, and cook for 5-7 minutes so the veggies soften and sweeten.
Add the garlic and cook for one minute, and then add the wine to deglaze the pan. Simmer the wine for a minute or 2 to burn off the alcohol. Turn the Instant Pot “Off.”
Stir the chicken and nutritional yeast into the cooked onion/carrot/garlic mixture. Pour the coconut milk in the pot, and then put the pasta in. Make sure the pasta is submerged in the coconut milk. Put the broccoli on top of the coconut milk/noodle mixture – do not mix the broccoli in, or the noodles will not stay under the coconut milk and won’t cook all the way through.
Put the lid on the Instant Pot, and be sure the valve is closed. Press the “Manual” button and bring the time down to 2 minutes. The Instant Pot will take a few minutes to come to pressure, and then it will count the 2 minutes down.
When the Instant Pot beeps after the 2 minute countdown, turn the Instant Pot off (do NOT release the pressure valve yet), and set a timer for 3-4 minutes. 3 minutes will leave your noodles with an al dente bite, and 4 minutes will leave them softer. After 3 minutes, release the valve for the rest of the pressure in the Instant Pot, and take the lid off. Stir everything up – I like to let it sit for a few minutes to absorb some of the liquid – this will also allow the noodles to soak in more liquid. Sea salt and pepper the alfredo to your taste and serve!

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Instant Pot Beef Picadillo Chili With Sweet Raisins

December 29, 2017

Beef picadillo chili with sweet raisins has salty and sweet “all day cooked” flavor in a fraction of the time with your Instant Pot!

It is officially a winter wonderland!

A week or so into December, it finally decided to be winter in Michigan, and it doesn’t feel like it has stopped snowing since! The lake effect snow machine has been in full force over our little beach town in the last week, and my born and bred Michiganders are loving every minute!

I hope that you and yours enjoyed the holidays, and are ready to gear back up into the first part of the new year!

Fresh new year…any new Instant Pots?!

Over the last few years, the holidays seemed to have become notorious for Instant Pots getting stuffed under the Christmas tree – and for good reason! While it took this old dog a bit of coaxing to embrace a new kitchen gadget, the new tricks that the Instant Pot has allowed this busy momma of 3 kids to learn has literally been a game changer in my kitchen, allowing me to keep real, nourishing food on the table without spending all day in the kitchen.

From my staple weekly whole chicken and bone broth, to school thermos soups and full dinner meals, the Instant Pot is used almost daily in my kitchen now…

…and I haven’t even scratched the surface of the Instant Pot’s capabilities!

Remember that old dog, new trick reference? I’m not kidding when I say it took me a couple months to even take the thing out of the box when I received it 3 years ago! I had my kitchen routine down, and just couldn’t wrap my mind around doing things differently. My first round of bone broth quickly changed my mind, and my kitchen routine has become more convenient without compromising my real food standards ever since.

There are so many things I have not taken on with my Instant Pot though, and I’m so thankful for amazingly talented friends like Emily from Recipes To Nourish for creating a resource like her new Instant Pot cookbook to help me learn how to make the most out of my Instant Pot.

The Art Of Great Cooking With Your Instant Pot

Filled to the brim with 80 gluten free, allergy friendly, WAPF and paleo compliant *nourishing* recipes, The Art of Great Cooking With Your Instant Pot is a must have for your cookbook library if you own an Instant Pot. One thing I noticed when I first started looking for recipes to learn using my Instant Pot was that not all Instant Pot recipe sources are created equal. If using whole, real, nourishing foods is important to you, this is the Instant Pot cookbook for you. Often I would have to make swaps or figure out other ways to make recipes in a real food way using other Instant Pot cookbooks, but Emily’s book is 100% real food. Period.

Chapters include: Hearty Beef, Pork & Lamb, Elegant Poultry, Delectable Pastas, Seafood, Vegetables & More, Beautiful Soups, Tantalizing Stews, Appetizing Breakfasts, and Heavenly Sweet Treats. It has been fun to pull myself out of my comfort zone and attempt some recipes other than my staple soups such as some of the pasta dishes and even the desserts!

A new family favorite Instant Pot recipe!

I’m so honored to have the chance to put one of Emily’s Instant Pot recipes from the cookbook right here on the blog – and I just had to go with a warming chili type stew to add to your winter menu – Beef Picadillo Chili with Sweet Raisins! I will be the first to admit I had no idea what to expect from such a unique chili, and I was blown away with the flavor.

This kid pleasing chili is a must for your winter dinner menu rotation!

The sweet raisins and dash of warm maple syrup and cinnamon give the broth a mild, kid friendly sweetness – the girls were literally licking their bowls clean! There is such a good balance between that mild sweetness that will keep the kiddos happy, and the briney saltyness from the capers and olives that had me hooked. I had to smuggle the last bowl to the corner of the fridge to have for breakfast the next day! The girls brought leftovers to school in their lunch thermoses and really loved the soup, asking if we could make it again soon.

All day cooked flavor, in a fraction of the time!

Because this chili is super delicious, I thought I’d give you a few tips for making it run even faster, so you can have this meal any night of the week!

Get the veggie chopping done the night before – that shaves off a good 5-10 minutes of prep time!
Get all of the seasonings in a little container measured out the night before, so you just have to dump them in.
If your beef is not already pre-cut, you can cube that up too. Our grass-fed stew meat comes cubed up, but I like to cut the pieces smaller since I still have a really little one at the table. If you have kiddos at home, this is a helpful trick to making cuts of beef easier to chew. The Instant Pot cooking makes the beef so tender too!
You could potentially brown the meat the night before as well – if you are going to be spending 10 minutes chopping the veggies and measuring the seasonings, you could be babysitting the meat in the pan next to you too! Just be sure to save the pan drippings to go back into the soup – flavor! The meat saute takes a good 5-10 minutes as well which helps on a busy day!

Beef Picadillo Chili with Sweet Raisins

“This flavorful Latin American stew is seasoned with spices and fragrant herbs. You’ll taste sweet undertones from the raisins and salty goodness from pimento-stuffed olives and capers.”

Recipe reprinted with permission from The Art of Great Cooking with Your Instant Pot by Emily Sunwell-Vidaurri, Page Street Publishing Co. 2017.

Print Recipe

5 from 11 votes

Beef Picadillo Chili With Sweet Raisins

Beef picadillo chili with sweet raisins has salty and sweet “all day cooked” flavor in a fraction of the time with your Instant Pot!

Prep Time25

Cook Time47

Total Time1 12

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Latin American

Keyword: Instant Pot beef chili, Instant Pot beef chili recipe, Instant Pot beef picadillo chili

Servings: servings

Author: EmilySunwell-Vidaurri

Ingredients

3 tbsp 43 g grass-fed butter, ghee or avocado oil, divided
2 lbs 907 g grass-fed stew meat, cut into 2" (5-cm) cubes
1½ tsp 4 g sea salt, divided
1 red onion diced
7 fresh garlic cloves minced
1 jalapeño seeded and diced
2 tbsp 15 g chili powder blend
2 tsp 4 g ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp 30 ml maple syrup or honey
18 oz 510 g crushed or diced tomatoes
½ cup 73 g raisins
5 oz 142 g pimento-stuffed green olives
1 tbsp 9 g capers
1 cup 237 ml chicken bone broth

Instructions

Add 2 tablespoons (29 g) of healthy fat of choice to the Instant Pot and press “Sauté.” Add the stew meat, sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of sea salt and brown the meat, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes (you might have to do this in two batches). Remove the browned stew meat to a plate and set aside. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon (14 g) of healthy fat of choice, onion and garlic and the remaining 1 teaspoon of sea salt, sautéing for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the jalapeño, chili powder, cumin, oregano, thyme and cinnamon and continue to sauté for 2 minutes, giving it a good stir. Press the “Keep Warm/Cancel” button. Add the sweetener of choice, tomatoes, raisins, olives, capers and bone broth and stir to combine. Add the browned stew meat and stir. Place the lid on the Instant Pot, making sure the steam release valve is sealed. Press the “Meat/Stew” setting for 35 minutes.
When the Instant Pot is done and beeps, press “Keep Warm/Cancel.” Using an oven mitt, “quick release”/open the steam release valve. When the steam venting stops and the silver dial drops, carefully open the lid.
Serve immediately. This chili is delicious topped with fresh cilantro, a squeeze of fresh lime juice and a dollop of sour cream or shredded cheese (or both!).

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Instant Pot Chipotle Chili :: Stove Top & Slow Cooker Directions Included! Bean free & Paleo friendly too!

November 4, 2017

Slow cooked chili flavor with a special smoked twist, all in record time!

Snow dusted roof-tops…

…the last week of October. Yup. We woke up to our first light covering of snow this week, as if October just wanted to nudge us a little reminder of what’s to come in the next month. We already had the heavier coats, hats, and mittens dug out of the basement in preparation, and I can’t tell you how my little Michiganders are excitedly anticipating measurable snow in the coming weeks!

So I’m rolling with it…

Chilly fall evenings definitely call for chili! My slow cooker sprouted chili is a family favorite, but this week set ahead of me just happened to be a bit more packed in schedule than my usual, and I just didn’t have time to get beans sprouting. In fact, I decided one morning that chili just had to be on the menu that night, and that figuring out Instant Pot chili was going to happen! I am so glad I pushed myself to figure it out, because this chili is probably going to take over the family favorite status!

Instant Pot versus Slow Cooker versus Stovetop

It’s a hot debate. And I get it. I’m coming from more of an old school, “love my stove-top cooking” type feeling, and I did have a really hard time adjusting to my Instant Pot. I love the flavor that comes from getting veggie down in fat to sweeten and soften, and the slow simmered flavor that comes from the time and patience that stove-top cooking brings. And slow cookers and chili just go hand in hand because that all day low bubble just makes for amazing flavor.

But man, I’m here as a stove-top cooking lover to admit to you that using the pressure cooker Instant Pot the right way gave JUST as amazing depth of flavor as a slow stove top simmer – and gets it done in record time for the busy family.

Weeknight dinner game changer!

Typically chili is something I save for weekend meals since the prep and cook time take a bit longer, but with the Instant Pot, I was able to have this meal done in record time, and it was so satisfying to serve on a Tuesday night!

One of my favorite features of the Instant Pot pressure cooker is the Saute setting. It allows me to get the caramelized flavor out of the veggies that stove-top cooking gives before pressure cooking. While you definitely could just dump all the veggies in and pressure cook it, trust me, the extra 10 minutes of cooking that veg down in some fat makes the flavor SO worthwhile.

Tips for making this chili all YOUR own, and on a weeknight in record time!

I know many people are very passionate about what makes a good chili. I have my list, and yours may look different! If you love a thicker chili, leave out the bone broth. I like a bit more liquid to mine so I can dunk my cornbread or crackers. If you have a certain spice blend that is all yours, do it up! If you prefer beans in your chili, add more liquid/broth and add those beans in there! I don’t tolerate even sprouted beans like I wish I did, and so I’ve learned over the last few years how to enjoy chili without the beans.

While this chili dinner is not a quite 15 minute meal, it definitely is do-able in 30 minutes with an Instant Pot, or right around an hour-ish stove-top so long as you do a few things in prep the night before or on a prep day!

Chop the veggies the night before or on your prep day – this saves you a good 10 minutes between all the veg washing and chopping.
Cook the squash for dinner the night before and save the cup you need for the chili so you just have to dump it in. Or save some extra time and use canned pumpkin/squash.
Cook the beef and bacon the night before or on your prep day. Just be sure to save the fat to cook the veggies in – that flavor is unmatched!
Always have bone broth on your prep day plans. I never let my freezer bone broth stash get below 2 quarts so I’m always ready for making dinners like this.
You can also always make the chili on your prep day and then warm it through in a slow cooker or stove-top during the week. If you are serving to a crowd at a gathering, a slow cooker will keep the chili warm all day on the warm/low setting. The chili freezes up great too. My kiddos LOVED taking this chili to school in their school lunch thermos, and my husband took leftovers in his travel crockpot he warms at his desk at work!

Toppers and Sides!

Here are some weeknight fast toppers and sides for your chili meal!

Avocado slices with chives and parsley
Sour cream or raw cheese and chives
Crackers (I grew up with “oyster” crackers in my chili, and these GF blender batter crackers taste and feel JUST like those! If you are grain free, try these easy blender batter plantain crackers, or we like the Simple Mills grain free crackers – even Costco carries them now!)
Cornbread (This version is gluten free – if you want to make it dairy free too, swap the butter for ghee or palm shortening, and swap coconut milk for the milk and sour cream. The corn bread pictured in this post is done with ghee and coconut milk! If you do not tolerate corn, you could try swapping the cornmeal for almond flour – I actually think this would work ok!)
Grain Free Herb Butter Biscuits (This is a super fast blender batter and they are so good! If you do not tolerate butter, you can use palm shortening or ghee.)
Squash Drop Biscuits (This is another good one to swap if you can’t have corn and need dairy and gluten free too.)
Salads with any of these popular kid friendly dressings, or my personal favorite with this chili is the Olive Garden Copycat dressing.
Big veggie platters with clean ingredient Ranch to dip. It doesn’t get any easier than just making a family style platter of veggie sticks to share around, and you can make either this egg free Ranch or my Paleo egg free Ranch dip if you are dairy free. If you can tolerate eggs, we also love this squeaky clean ingredient store bought Ranch from Primal Kitchen.

Notes for my Slow Cooker & Stove-Top friends!

Unless it’s worked into your budget, or coming on a birthday or holiday wishlist, there is no need to rush out and grab and Instant Pot just for this recipe. One of my mantras has always been…don’t go broke trying to eat healthy! I spent quite literally the first 9 years of my real food journey with just a stock pot and soup pot at my stove while I learned how to cook, and you can definitely do this thing without an Instant Pot. If it fits in the budget and you are a super busy family that would benefit from the ease and fast cook times, I think you will be so happy with your purchase!

I left both stove-top and slow cooker directions in the Instructions, and you can comment below if you have further questions – I am happy to help!

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4.96 from 23 votes

Instant Pot Chipotle Chili

Slow cooked chili flavor with a special smoked twist, all in record time!

Prep Time20

Cook Time20

Total Time40

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Instant Pot chili recipe, Instant Pot chipotle chili

Servings: servings

Author: Renee - www.raisinggenerationnourished.com

Ingredients

3 tbsp friendly fat to cook in divided (Ghee, butter, tallow, lard, coconut oil, or avocado oil)
1 lb grass-fed ground beef
4 strips of bacon diced (you can use more if you wish but we found this to be plenty of flavor and texture!)
2 medium onions diced
1 large green bell pepper diced
1 large red bell pepper diced
8 cloves of garlic minced
3 small zucchini cubed or diced depending on your size preference
3 jalapeños de-ribbed/seeds & ribs scraped out, diced
1 cup cooked & pureed squash acorn, butternut, or koboucha work well. I think canned pumpkin would be fine too.
15 oz can organic diced tomatos
15 oz can organic tomato sauce
1-2 cups beef bone broth depending on how thick/thin you like your chili chicken bone broth would be fine too
3-4 tsp sea salt start out small and you can always add more when it’s done to your taste
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp chipotle powder

Instructions

Brown the beef and cook the bacon in 1 tablespoon of ghee or other friendly cooking fat. If you are using an Instant Pot using the “Saute” feature to do this. If you are using your soup pot, cook over medium heat until cooked through. Scoop the meat out with a slotted spoon so the fat stays behind for cooking in.
Add the rest of the cooking fat to your IP or soup pot and sauté the onion and peppers with a pinch of sea salt for about 10 minutes until soft and sweet.
Add the garlic and cook for one minute.
Return the meat to your IP or soup pot along with the rest of the ingredients. Give the chili a stir to combine. IF YOU ARE USING THE INSTANT POT, put the lid on, close the valve, press “Manual,” and bring the time to 15 minutes. The IP will take about 5 minutes to come to pressure, and then will pressure cook for 15 minutes. When the pressure cooker beeps that it is done, turn it off and let the pressure release naturally about 5 minutes before opening the lid. IF YOU ARE USING THE SOUP POT, put the lid on and bring to a low simmer for about 1 hour. You could alternatively use a slow cooker from this step cooking on low for 6-8 hours.

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Instant Pot Tomato Soup Tutorial :: Picture Tutorial and Lunch Packing Tips Included!

June 16, 2017

Kid favorite tomato soup made with nourishing bone broth and fresh tomatoes in a fraction of the time!

Product links in this post are affiliate links. It does not cost you anything and helps maintain the free information on this site, as well as answer the questions of “what brand do you use?” Please know I never personally recommend any product I wouldn’t use on my own family.

Wait, 92 degrees in June? {In Michigan?!}

I can’t even begin to describe how excited about this I am! I am a hardcore beach bum, and this weather totally suits my style!

It does not, however, jive with some of the cooking projects I had planned this month!

I wasn’t anticipating this weather when I picked up some fresh tomatoes destined for soup. It is just too hot to have that stovetop heating my house up. My kids were really looking forward to that soup, so I decided it was time to get the pressure cooking method perfected on this family favorite soup recipe.

A family favorite staple soup

My original tomato soup recipe is a family favorite – one we have almost weekly all year round! During the summer I use as many tomatoes from our small family garden, along with a good bushel full from a local farmer, and stash it away for cooler months. I happened to see these greenhouse grown tomatoes at the farmer’s market this week, and just had to get started on my stash!

Same soup…WAY quicker cook time!

I’ll be honest, the first time I pressure cooked tomato soup, I wasn’t planning on it taking on the same slow cooked taste as my original. I was curious, however, and boy was I wrong. It literally tasted the exact same! The key is that buttery sauté in the first step before you pressure cook the rest!

And the quicker cook time {plus not heating up my house!} thanks to the Instant Pot has basically sold me on making all of my summer tomato soup this way.

Step 1 – Flavor Infusion

Turn the Instant Pot to “Saute,” melt the friendly fat, and sauté the onion and carrot with a big pinch of sea salt for about 7 minutes until the veggies soften and sweeten. Add the garlic and tomato paste, combine and cook for 1 minute. Turn the Instant Pot to off (“cancel”).

Step 2 – Set It and Forget It!

Add the bone broth, tomatoes, and basil. Put the Instant Pot lid on, and make sure the vent is closed. Turn the Instant Pot to the “Soup” setting. Bring the time down to 10 minutes. The Instant Pot will take around 10 minutes to come to pressure before counting down the 10 minutes.

Step 3 – Blend, Season, and EAT!

Once the 10 minutes of pressure cooking is complete, turn the Instant Pot off, release the valve, and take the lid off. Add the honey, and use an immersion blender to puree the soup. You can sea salt and pepper the soup to your taste once pureed. (If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can pour the soup into a high powered blender to puree)

School {Or Work!} Packing Tips

I mentioned above how nice this soup is to bulk up on, and use for school lunches. Here is how I make that work without being in the kitchen all the time.

Whenever I make the soup, we eat it for a meal, and there is usually enough to fill 1 quart of soup for the freezer. That way, every time I make it, I’m building my stash. You cannot double this recipe in the Instant Pot (although I think you could in the newer 8 quart Instant Pots!), but you can double or triple in a stockpot if you wish to cook stovetop. That is typically how I do things at the end of the summer when I purchase a bushel of tomatoes from a local farmer, to get a bunch done in one shot. I may do both stovetop and Instant Pot this summer!
I freeze soup in these BPA free freezer containers. When my family was small, I froze in pint containers. At this point, I generally freeze in quart, though sometimes in half gallon. I like to thaw on the counter overnight, but in the fridge for a day is fine too. If I’m in a real pinch and forgot, just a sink full of hot water will thaw it out in a half hour 😉
We have had these fantastic soup thermoses since my oldest was in Kindergarten – going on their 4th year of use multiple times per week all school year long, and they still look AND keep food warm just like new. They are a great investment.
These stainless steel, shorter straws are fantastic for babies and toddlers to drink their soup. In fact my youngest 2 (age 3 and 6) still prefer to have soups like this with a straw. My 6 year old especially for school so it is easier to eat and doesn’t make a mess. My oldest is too cool for a straw anymore as I was promptly told not to pack one earlier this year 🙂
My husband takes soup to work in a Travel Crockpot – the base stays at work and he brings the liner home for me to fill up. That way, he can warm it up right at this desk. We’ve had this for years – longer than the thermoses – and it still works like new!
Re-heat your soup stovetop so you keep all the bone broth benefits!

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5 from 12 votes

Instant Pot Tomato Soup

Kid favorite tomato soup made with nourishing bone broth and fresh tomatoes in a fraction of the time!

Prep Time5

Cook Time15

Total Time20

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Instant Pot tomato soup, Instant Pot tomato soup recipe

Servings: servings

Author: Renee - www.raisinggenerationnourished.com

Ingredients

3 tbsp friendly fat to cook in such as butter avocado oil, tallow, lard, or coconut oil
2 medium onions coarsely sliced
2 medium carrots peeled and coarsely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic minced
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 quart bone broth
5 large tomatoes seeds scooped out (no need to chop finely – I just halve them)
½ cup fresh basil or a tbsp or 2 of dried basil
2 tbsp honey
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Turn the Instant Pot to “Saute,” melt the friendly fat, and sauté the onion and carrot with a big pinch of sea salt for about 7 minutes until the veggies soften and sweeten.
Add the garlic and tomato paste, combine and cook for 1 minute. Turn the Instant Pot to off (“cancel”).
Add the bone broth, tomatoes, and basil. Put the Instant Pot lid on, and make sure the vent is closed. Turn the Instant Pot to the “Soup” setting. Bring the time down to 10 minutes. The Instant Pot will take around 10 minutes to come to pressure before counting down the 10 minutes.
Once the 10 minutes of pressure cooking is complete, turn the Instant Pot off, release the valve, and take the lid off. Add the honey, and use an immersion blender to puree the soup. You can sea salt and pepper the soup to your taste once pureed. (If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can pour the soup into a high powered blender to puree)

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Instant Pot Chipotle Chicken and Vegetable Soup :: Dairy Free and Gluten Free :: Stovetop Directions Included Too!

May 20, 2017

Flavorful smokey heat meets creamy chicken veggie soup, without the dairy or gluten, and in record time!

This picture has nothing to do with chipotle chicken and veggie soup…

…but I just had to show you that despite posting such a lovely, warming comfort soup today, spring really has sprung around here! My youngest has been enjoying our lilacs while she patiently waits for her sisters to be done with school for the summer!

So why the soup recipe when summer is around the corner?!

Because this isn’t just any old pot on the stove soup! This is an Instant Pot soup, and that, my friends, means extra time before dinner to play outside! Which is really where we all want to be this time of year, anyway!

I’m all about the faster prep dinners that don’t heat my house up in the warmer months of the year. I probably use my Instant Pot in the spring and summer more than any other time of the year!

Star players, and an amazing finish!

Smoky chipotle gives this soup my favorite heat – a flavorful heat. You can adjust the heat to your preference, and since the nature of chipotle is flavor versus “in-your-face” heat, it really is a kid friendly way to add a little heat to your meal. Coconut milk tames this heat and brings out more of the smoky flavor as well as adding creamy indulgence.

Noodle options…and swaps!

The recipe as is uses gluten free noodles. Here are some gluten free noodle options – these should all cook up about the same in the Instant Pot.

Gluten Free Options ::

Tinkyada Rice Noodles (we get these at our local grocer)
Jovial Gluten Free Egg Pasta
Jovial Gluten Free Organic Rice Pasta
BioNature Organic Rice Pasta

If you are grain free, use veggie noodles! Take the broth down by a cup or so since the broth gets cooked into the regular noodles and you don’t need that extra amount for veggie noodles. You can also get away with 1-2 minutes versus 3 minutes for the cook time. In fact, if using zucchini noodles, I would leave the zucchini out while you pressure cook the soup/broth and then add the zucchini noodles in at the end with the kale to just wilt in. It doesn’t need much cook time.

Grain Free Options (Use a spirilizer, Y Peeler, or Julienne Peeler to make these veggie noodles! Also, back off on the bone broth by a couple cups and make a tapioca starch or cassava flour slurry to make the broth smooth and have the starchy feeling of noodles) ::

Zucchini Noodles
Sweet Potato Noodles
Butternut Squash Noodles
Golden Beet Noodles
Parsnip Noodles
Carrot Noodles

If you are not on a special diet, and can handle the gluten, I recommend using a wheat based noodle using Einkorn flour for best digestion. I have not used an Einkorn noodle in the Instant Pot, so I am unsure of if the time will need to be adjusted for that. If you give it a try, leave us some notes in the comments so others may know what to do!

Tips for stovetop prep!

I didn’t forget about you, dear stove top friends! This soup was actually born on the stovetop this past winter, and I only recently converted it to the IP.

Simply sauté the veggies over medium heat in a large soup pot, following steps 1 and 2. When you get to step 3, add the ingredients listed, except the noodles, and turn the heat up to high in order to bring the soup to a simmer. Once the soup is simmering, add the noodles, and boil until the noodles are al dente. Then stir in the kale. It’s as simple as that!

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5 from 2 votes

Instant Pot Chipotle Chicken and Vegetable Soup :: Dairy Free and Gluten Free :: Stovetop Directions Included Too!

Flavorful smokey heat meets creamy chicken veggie soup, without the dairy or gluten, and in record time!

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Total Time25

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chipotle chicken soup recipe, creamy chicken soup recipe, Instant Pot chicken coup

Servings: servings

Author: Renee - www.raisinggenerationnourished.com

Ingredients

3 tbsp friendly fat to cook in such as butter coconut oil, avocado oil, tallow, or lard
1 medium onion diced
2 medium carrots peeled and diced
2 medium celery diced
½ medium red bell pepper diced
4 cloves of garlic minced
2 tbsp tomato paste
½ tsp chipotle powder This will leave the soup with a mild smoky, flavorful heat that is kid friendly in our house. If you prefer to half this for your kiddos, you can always add more to your bowl if you want more heat. I usually add more to mine from this amount as I like it pretty spicy.
1 ½ quarts bone broth You can use Instant Pot Broth, or here is my slow cooker method
1 cup full fat coconut milk this is my favorite brand that doesn't have gums, fillers, or sweeteners added
3 cups chopped cooked chicken Use leftovers from your roasted chicken, slow cooker chicken, or Instant Pot chicken
8 oz gluten free noodles
½ lb baby kale chopped
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Set the Instant Pot to “Saute” and melt the friendly fat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and bell pepper with a big pinch of sea salt. Saute about 5-7 minutes until the veggies soften and sweeten.
Add the garlic, tomato paste, and chipotle powder, stir to combine, and cook for 1 minute.
Add the bone broth, coconut milk, cooked chicken, and noodles. Turn the “Saute” off, and push “Soup,” then bring the time down to 3 minutes using the (+/-) button. (Make sure the valve is closed so it can come to pressure! The Instant Pot will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure and then will count down the 3 minutes.)
When the Instant Pot is done counting down the 3 minutes, turn the Instant Pot off, and release the valve (use a towel so you don’t burn your hand with steam!). Take the Instant Pot lid off, and stir the baby kale in to wilt. Sea salt and pepper the soup to your taste and serve.

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Instant Pot Winter Vegetable Soup {With Stovetop Instructions Too!}

January 12, 2017

Nourish yourself with the best of the winter produce in a fraction of the time with your Instant Pot!

I really should have known better…

Last year when I started playing around with my Instant Pot a bit more, I fell in love with making some of my staple soup recipes in much quicker time. It meant that I could have veggie soups on the table most days of the week – and for this busy work at home mom with 3 kids under 7 years old, that meant…a lot!

We were blown away at how fast I could make a huge pot of soup, but something was missing…

Butter and time….

I had gotten into the habit of just tossing everything in and hitting go, foregoing that precious little “Saute” button that our Instant Pots come with. A 5-10 minute butter sauté with some key veggies (namely the aromatics like onion, carrots, celery, etc), takes a pot of soup from good to amazing.

As those aromatics cook with a little butter and sea salt their flavor changes and brings a sweetness and depth of flavor to the soup that will hook in just about any hesitant soup eater.

Back to the basics…with a little modern convenience thrown in!

So when it comes to my Instant Pot I’ve gone back to my traditional cooking roots to get that flavor, and am still enjoying the convenience of a quicker cook time than the stovetop would yield. Whether you are a novice cook, or a seasoned foodie I think we would all agree that an extra 5 or 10 minutes to get amazing flavor is worth it – especially when it will be devoured as quickly as this pot of soup did!

The best of winter!

So some of us don’t think of very many veggies being in season in the winter (at least those of us with snow piled knee high!). While there certainly isn’t the abundance that late August brings, you really can find some great seasonal vegetables to use.

Sometimes our grocer is hit or miss on a few of these items, but I would say that the vast majority of us have access to most of this list to at least pair a couple items together with staple onion, carrot, celery aromatics and make a really great soup! Just be sure you include at least one “sweet/creamy” starchy veg such as one of the squashes, sweet potatoes, or potatoes to balance out the sometimes bitterness that dark winter greens can have.

Leeks and/or onions
Parsnips and/or carrots
Celeriac and/or celery
Fennel
Brussel sprouts
Cabbage
Sweet potato
Winter squash (buttercup, butternut, acorn – whatever you can find!)
Winter greens (kale, chard, spinach)
Potato
Cauliflower
Broccoli

At home comfort in a pack-able meal!

This entire pot of soup didn’t even last a week in my house! Between lunch that day, packing some up for my husband’s Travel Crockpot for work lunch, my breakfasts, school lunch thermoses, and my toddler’s tea cups, it was G.O.N.E.!

If you have never used a Travel Crockpot before, and you work away from home, boy are you about to be mind blown! We actually have 2 of these so that my husband can bring multiple meals to work. He keeps a warming base at work and we have 2 of the liners that he brings home to wash and re-fill. Oftentimes he likes to bring soaked oatmeal for breakfast in one liner, and soup/dinner leftovers in the other. It is really great for those who are gone from home most of the day. If you want to read more about how to “temper” a school lunch thermos for the kids so their soup is nice and warm at lunch, this article explains that better!

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4.89 from 9 votes

Instant Pot Winter Vegetable Soup {With Stovetop Instructions Too!}

Nourish yourself with the best of the winter produce in a fraction of the time with your Instant Pot!

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Total Time40

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Instant Pot vegetable soup, Instant Pot vegetable soup recipe, vegetable soup in the Instant Pot

Servings: servings

Author: Renee - www.raisinggenerationnourished.com

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter
2 medium onions roughly chopped (or 2 large leeks, rinsed of sand, tops discarded, and roughly chopped)
2 medium/large parsnips or carrots peeled and roughly chopped
1 celeriac peeled and roughly chopped (If you don't have access to this winter root, 2 celery stalks roughly chopped works fine! Celeriac has a mild celery taste and is so great in soup but even I can't find it at our store sometimes!)
5-6 cloves of garlic smashed
10 large brussel sprouts ends cut and discarded (you can use more if your sprouts are small)
1/2 medium butternut squash peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped
1 small sweet potato roughly chopped
1 handful kale roughly chopped
2 quarts bone broth You can use Instant Pot Broth, or here is my slow cooker method
1/4-1/2 tsp chipotle pepper or cayenne optional if you don't like the heat - we love it and it really brings it to another flavor level! Not to mention the warming heat is great in the cold winter here!
Sea salt/pepper to taste
Parsley to garnish optional

Instructions

Set the Instant Pot to "Saute," melt the butter in the bottom of the pot, and then add in the onion, carrot, and celeriac with a big pinch of sea salt. Saute the veggies for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally while you chop up the rest of the veggies.
Turn off the Saute feature and toss in the rest of the veggies and the bone broth.
Put the lid on, close the valve, and press "Soup". Bring the time down to 20 minutes, and it will turn on automatically. Once the pot comes to pressure, the 20 minutes will count down.
After the 20 minutes of pressure cooking is done, turn the pot off, and open the valve to let the pressure out. Puree the soup with a handheld blender or in batches in a regular blender. After the soup is pureed you can sea salt and pepper to your taste. Garnish each bowl with parsley if you wish.

Stovetop soup instructions

The best part about this section is that it really isn’t much different than using the Instant Pot!

You can still save a bunch of time by just coarsely chopping your veggies – no need to be a perfect dice when it is all going to get pureed anyway! Simply saute the aromatics in butter like the first step. Then add in everything else, bring the whole pot to a simmer, cooking until the veggies are tender. Simmer it at the back of your stovetop so that you can tend to babies, clean up the kitchen, or fold laundry while it simmers away. I did this for literally years dear mommas…I have only had an Instant Pot for a year and a half! Fancy tools are so great, but you really only need a good soup pot if we are being honest!

Biscuit and cracker ideas to go with your soup!

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How To Cook Spaghetti Squash in the Instant Pot or Oven PLUS 2 Different Family Friendly Dinners To Use It In!

December 30, 2016

Learn how to cook spaghetti squash in your Instant Pot or oven for easy, vegetable noodles for the whole family!

He always picks out the biggest one!

I have to admit, I am a pretty lucky girl. My husband does the majority our grocery shopping – I make the list and he shops. It is pretty much amazing, and it is part of this teamwork thing we try to make work in our house!

It never fails though – there are certain produce items that just always come home “the biggest and the best”! I am most certain he picks through the produce stand every week looking for the biggest squash, the head of garlic with the most cloves on it, and onions as big as my head!

Spaghetti squash for days….

So one particular week when he brought home a spaghetti squash the size of a medium sized pumpkin, I decided I’d create 2 meals out of it and take pictures along the way for you all! It was like having 2 full dinners for a family of 5, all in one squash! And I have to admit…my Instant Pot has made making squash on a busy school night SO much faster!

The squash with a blank canvas!

Spaghetti squash is quite literally a clean slate. It doesn’t have a ton of flavor, which actually is a great thing when it comes to feeding kids! There’s no veggie flavor masking here – you can truly make it taste however you wish.

So here is a complete tutorial on how to cook your spaghetti squash, as well as 2 family friendly dinner ideas for using it up!

Cooking Spaghetti Squash – Instant Pot Method

So my Instant Pot has quite literally taken over how I cook spaghetti squash in the last year! It is super fast and easy – you will love it! (If you haven’t taken the Instant Pot plunge yet, have no fear! Keep scrolling for the oven methods below!)

If your squash is too large to fit in the Instant Pot , cut your spaghetti squash in half horizontally (so it can sit up on it’s end). If your squash is as big as mine in the picture, you will only be able to cook half at a time – which is enough to feed my family of 5 for dinner. If you have a smaller squash, simply cut enough of one of the ends off to scoop out the seeds and put the whole thing in!
Scoop out the seeds, and set the squash on the trivet. Put 1 cup of water in the bottom of the pot.
Put the lid on the Instant Pot and close the valve. Press manual and bring the time down to 12 minutes. It will turn on automatically. The timer will start counting down the 12 minutes once it reaches pressure. When the 12 minutes is done, you can turn the Instant Pot off and release the pressure from the valve. Take the lid off and your squash should be done. (Please note that squashes do come in quite different sizes and cook times might need some adjusting. If it doesn’t seem cooked through, simply do another 3 to 5 minutes (I had to do that with the one pictured above by the way – it was massive!).

Cooking Spaghetti Squash – Oven Method

The oven method for cooking spaghetti squash is just as convenient since there is no prepping! It takes bit longer to cook but you can always cook it up ahead of time on the weekends and keep it in the fridge for a weeknight meal if you don’t have the hour to bake it.

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.
Place your un-cut spaghetti squash in a baking dish and bake at 425 degrees for 1 hour. If your squash is quite large, you may need an extra 15 minutes or so.
Cut your spaghetti squash in half horizontally (so it can sit up on it’s end). Scoop out the seeds, and serve.
So from here your squash “noodles” are a blank slate to color in however you wish!

The possibilities are endless from here!

Spaghetti squash noodles work well bound together with eggs for morning hashbrowns, or drowning in butter and garlic with veggies as a quick lunch, or as you will see here in the next 2 recipes, as a delicious, healthy dinner meal for the whole family!

A quick tip for older kids who are new to spaghetti squash

I highly suggest not making a big deal out of the meal 😉 They feel your nervousness in serving something new and feed off it! Serve and be done! Know you are a good mom, be confident in your meal, and don’t beat yourself up if they turn their noses up at first. If you wish, you could “ease” them in by mixing the spaghetti squash “noodles” with some “regular” noodles. I would also recommend doing this for kids that might need the extra carbohydrates – I do this on occasion for my littler guys that need it.

I’m all about quick and easy here. While there is definitely a time and place to make your own spaghetti sauce, most busy school nights I’m all about just “doctoring up” some good jarred spaghetti sauce. If you make or can your own go for it!

You can also make the sauce a meat sauce instead of making the meatballs if you are shorter on time. The meatballs do freeze up great, so if you have some time on the weekend, you can roll up a few pounds of meatballs for the freezer making them super easy to grab for a quick school night dinner. Just freeze the meatballs on a tray and then pop the frozen meatballs into a freezer bag.

Ingredients (This makes enough to serve over 1/2 large or 1 whole small spaghetti squash):

1 lb grassfed ground beef
1 egg
1 TB flour of choice (I usually use white rice flour, but tapioca flour works if you are grain free)
1 TB Italian Seasoning
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2-3 TB friendly fat to cook in such as butter, coconut oil, lard, or avocado oil
1 small onion, diced
1 small green pepper, diced
1 small zucchini, diced
6-8 oz mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 jar organic spaghetti sauce

Directions:

Cook your spaghetti squash according to one of the methods above while you make the meatballs and sauce.
Make the meatballs while your oven pre-heats to 375 (If you are baking your squash, you can cook the meat balls at the 425 degrees along with the squash just back off the cooking time on the meatballs to 10-15 minutes.). Mix the beef, egg, flour, onion/garlic powder, sea salt/pepper in a small mixing bowl. Roll into small balls and place on a Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
While the meatballs are baking, you can make the sauce. Melt the friendly fat in a pot and add the veggies with a big pinch of sea salt. Cook on medium to medium heat for 10 minutes stirring occasionally until the veggies soften.
Add the garlic and cook for a minute.
Add the spaghetti sauce and simmer until the meatballs are ready to be mixed in. Sea salt and pepper your sauce to your taste.
Stir the cooked meatballs into your sauce and serve over the cooked spaghetti squash noodles. Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese if you wish.

Bright, fun colors and loaded with mineral rich veggies! Use whatever vegetables are in season or on hand – it doesn’t make any difference when you are drowning it all in garlic butter sauce!

I didn’t leave the guys out of this recipe either – I know my husband wouldn’t be real thrilled with a veggie only dinner so there is pastured sausage in this meal (you could use grassfed beef or even cooked chicken if you wish!). If you don’t mind the all veggie meal, just leave the meat out.

Ingredients (This makes enough to serve over 1/2 large or 1 whole small spaghetti squash):

1/2 lb pastured ground sausage or grassfed ground beef (you could use a full pound if your crew likes things meatier)
4 TB friendly fat to cook in such as butter, tallow, lard, avocado oil, or coconut oil
1/2 onion, diced
1 medium zucchini, cubed
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
8oz mushrooms, sliced
1/2 small cabbage, sliced thin
5 large cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups halved cherry or grape tomatoes
1/2 tsp oregano
1/8-1/4 tsp chipotle powder or cayenne if you don’t like it smoky (optional but the flavorful mild heat goes really well!)
1/3 cup white wine or bone broth
1 heaping handful baby spinach
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook your spaghetti squash according to one of the methods above while you make the garlic buttered veggies to go on top.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add all of the veggies except the garlic and tomatoes. Put a large pinch of sea salt into the pan, stir, and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally until the veggies are soft and sweet.
Add the garlic and tomatoes and cook for 1 minute.
Add the wine (or broth) and simmer about 7 minutes until the liquid absorbs a bit and the tomatoes soften and burst.
Turn off the heat and stir in the spinach to wilt and then sea salt and pepper to taste.
Serve over the cooked spaghetti squash with a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan cheese if you wish.

More real food recipes you might like:

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Dinner Ideas Instant Pot Lunch Ideas Real Food 101 Real Food Tips school lunches

Fast Prep Instant Pot Vegetable Lo Mein

September 10, 2016

All of the Asian flavors you love, in less than 10 minutes of time! This healthy Asian Lo Mein is weeknight fast and nourishing at the same time!

Our school year is off and running, and I feel like we did just that for the first week…Run!

Whew!

We are still getting our feet wet back into the groove of early mornings and school after a laid back summer break, so I have been perfecting some of my quicker weeknight meals.

While we don’t have a lot of extra-curricular activities after school yet with such little ones, I *do* have a brand new kindergartener getting used to full days of school (read – tired!), a toddler that has to get woken up on occasion from naps for school pick up (read – crabby!), and a 2nd grader that wants to get her project done *right now* (read – busy!). It just helps to have a dinner that doesn’t require a lot of hands on time.

I am coming up on my 1 year anniversary of having my Instant Pot and I feel like this summer we really got to know each other!

I had been using it mainly to make whole chickens and bone broth up until this summer, and boy I am really loving figuring out how to use it for more than just that. As much as I love cooking, there really are more days in the week that I need fast meals than ones that I don’t. If there is room on the birthday or Christmas list this year, an Instant Pot is definitely one I would try to fit in!

This quick Lo Mein has every flavor burst you love about Asian food in a “dump it all in” style of cooking!

I have even done the 5 minutes of veggie chopping the night before and set it in the fridge until dinner the next day so it literally can just be a “dump it all in” meal! Salty, sweet, and savory all in one bite, the kids will not only be in love with *all* the noodles, but it just plain tastes amazing! And you can feel good about getting the veggies in!

A quick note on how you can change it up and add variety!

While this is definitely a filling meal for how my family eats as it is, you can certainly add some chopped beef, chicken, or fish. I usually have leftovers topped with a fried egg the next morning and it is pretty much amazing (scrambling an egg into it would work fine too)! The veggies are pretty interchangeable as well – use whatever you have on hand. I have swapped the spinach for chopped kale if that is what I have, or used fresh broccoli instead of peas.

You can also add more bone broth and make it more of a Lo Mein soup. I have found a rich beef broth tastes so good! Also, don’t forget to pack the leftovers up in the school lunch thermos! Just add a splash of water or broth to warm it up in the morning and put it in a thermos to go! There are more details on how to temper your thermos and keep food warm for school in this post.

Print Recipe

4.29 from 7 votes

Fast Prep Instant Pot Vegetable Lo Mein

All of the Asian flavors you love, in less than 10 minutes of time! This healthy Asian Lo Mein is weeknight fast and nourishing at the same time!

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Total Time25

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: Instant Pot vegetable lo mein, Instant Pot vegetable lo mein recipe, vegetable lo mein in the Instant Pot

Servings: servings

Author: Renee - www.raisinggenerationnourished.com

Ingredients

2 cups bone broth a rich beef broth works best. You can do bone broth in the Instant Pot too !
1/4 cup Coconut Aminos
4-5 cloves of garlic minced
2 inch knob ginger peeled and grated (or 1 tsp ground ginger)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes this leaves a kid friendly, mild heat - if you like more kick add more!
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 bunch green onions sliced on a bias
2 large carrots peeled and chopped
8 ounces of mushrooms sliced
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 lb gluten free pasta of choice I used the Tinkyada brand of rice noodles that our local grocer carries
2 cups baby spinach chopped finely

Instructions

Everything except the spinach into the Instant Pot, stir to combine and seal the lid. Be sure the valve is closed.
Turn your IP on, press manual, and then use the (+/-) button to press the time down to 2 minutes. The Instant Pot will turn "ON" and come to pressure before it counts down the 2 minutes.
When the 2 minutes is done, turn the Instant Pot "OFF", and set a timer for 4 minutes to let the pot naturally release some of the pressure and finish cooking the noodles through.
After the 4 minutes, release the rest of the pressure, take the lid off, and stir in the fresh spinach to combine. There will be a little bit of liquid in the bottom that will continue to soak up into the noodles and the starch from the noodles will make it "saucy". Serve topped with sliced green onion or chopped nuts.

A note on Instant Pot cook times

This recipe gives the noodle a good, “al dente” texture in cook time for me. Not too mushy and not hard! It is just perfect! I have, however, found that sometimes when I have tried other people’s Instant Pot recipes that cook times for noodles, rice, even hard boiled eggs can vary. For instance the “6-6-6” method for hard boiled eggs leaves my eggs really overdone – I have to cook at 5 minutes on low pressure! I’m actually not sure why this is (please chime in if you know!), but keep that in mind. If you open the lid and your noodles need a bit more cook time, simply turn the saute button on and let them cook a little longer. I will try to answer your IP questions as best as I can, but please remember I am fairly new to using it myself – thank you for understanding!

More quick “week-night fast” dinners you might like ::

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Instant Pot Summer Vegetable Soup

July 15, 2016

Vibrant color and full of fresh, in season summer flavor in just 10 minutes for an Instant Pot kid friendly summer soup!

Some say summer isn’t really soup season and I totally beg to differ!

I make the same if not more soup in the summer because, oh! The variety of veggies available! I live in the equivalent of a frozen tundra during the winter months, and while our local grocer has a variety of veggies from around the country, I can’t always afford the out of season pricing.

But summer! Oh how I love our farmer’s markets and grocers in the summer!

Pennies on the dollar you can create the most amazing flavor profiles on super nourishing soups for the whole family.

This is the time of year not only to train your little one’s taste palates to seasonal produce, it is also the time of year to take advantage of seasonal pricing and stock up your freezer. Come January it is so nice to pull out a jar of summer vegetable soup to warm up to.

This summer I have been playing around with my Instant Pot for our summer soups, and let me tell you – this has been such a game changer for me.

Not only does it save me heating up the house with a pot of soup, it also saves me time. Contrary to what most may think of me, I don’t, in fact, love being around my kitchen all day. Especially when it comes summer. I have to soak in all that precious daylight and warmth that I can before our snow season comes back!

Super rough chop and blend it all down is the name of my game for these seasonal veggie soup.

Not only is this method very time saving, it makes for a delicious, sweet blended flavor as well as making it very kid friendly to serve. Pour a little in a small tea cup with a small straw and serve it to those first foods babies and toddlers – they will slurp up every last drop! Pack it up in the school lunch thermoses to give those growing kids a yummy mineral boost to finish off their school afternoon.

This recipe is super forgiving – I haven’t made it the same way twice because there are so many great summer veggies to try!

Here is a list of great in season summer veggies to use in your summer veggie soup!

Zucchini
Summer Squash
Green Beans
Eggplant
Bell peppers of all colors
Hot peppers (you can scoop the ribs/seeds out to eliminate the heat – jalapenos are actually nice and sweet!)
Carrots
Chard
Tomatoes & Heirloom Tomatoes
Tomatillos
Shelling peas/beans
New potatoes
Summer herbs such as basil, dill, and parsley
Corn (this is a grain, so if you are grain free just leave this out!)

Print Recipe

Instant Pot Summer Vegetable Soup

Vibrant color and full of fresh, in season summer flavor in just 10 minutes for an Instant Pot kid friendly summer soup!

Prep Time10

Cook Time25

Total Time35

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Instant Pot summer vegetable soup, summer vegetable soup recipe, vegetable soup in the Instant Pot

Servings: servings

Author: Renee - www.raisinggenerationnourished.com

Ingredients

2 quarts bone broth
1 medium onion peeled and quartered
6 cloves of garlic peeled and smashed
1 small/medium eggplant coarsely sliced into rounds
2 large tomatoes seeded and coarsely sliced
1 medium zucchini coarsely sliced into rounds (green beans work well here too)
1 medium summer squash coarsely sliced into rounds
1 cup corn We have a non-GMO organic farmer we buy from or use Costco's organic frozen corn. If you cannot have corn or grain, you can swap this for a couple of sweet carrots or potatoes!
1/2-1 cup green beans I just grabbed a quick handful from the garden - no chopping just threw them in!
1 small orange bell pepper seeded and coarsely sliced
1 small red bell pepper seeded and coarsely sliced
1/2 cup fresh basil chopped, or 2-3 tsp dried basil
Sea salt/pepper to taste

Instructions

Everything into the Instant Pot, put the lid on, and close the valve.
Push the "Soup" setting and bring the time down manually to 10 minutes. It will turn on automatically and take about 15 minutes to come to pressure before the 10 minutes counts down.
When the soup Instant Pot is done cooking, release the valve to let the pressure out, remove the lid, and use an immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth. Add sea salt and pepper to your taste.