Martha Stewart's Pressure Cooker: 100+ Fabulous New Recipes for the Pressure Cooker, Multicooker, and Instant Pot

by Martha Stewart Living

From the expert kitchens of Martha Stewart, an essential guide for your beloved, time-saving pressure cooker--with 100 fast, flavorful recipes that will transform the way you think of weeknight dinners. Recipes include instructions for both types of pressure cookers (stovetop and electric), including the cult favorite Instant Pot(R).

The kitchens of Martha Stewart present an authoritative volume packed with brilliant, effortless recipes that yield maximum flavor and require minimal time. Every recipe is rigorously tested, beautifully photographed, and will work for any type of pressure cooker. If you're new to pressure cooking, this book makes the experience foolproof and fearless. Dishes that once seemed like long weekend affairs or were too labor intensive to muster on a weeknight are now ready in a flash: braised short ribs that fall off the bone after only an hour; dried beans from scratch that skip the long pre-soaking process; and a creamy, perfectly cooked risotto ready in six minutes, without constant stirring. Martha Stewart's Pressure Cooker demonstrates the incredible versatility of the appliance with a chapter devoted solely to desserts, such as cakes, puddings, and more. Staples that traditionally require long cooking times, such as whole grains, dried beans, and stocks, are finished much more quickly and can be transformed into countless, easy meals that will serve you throughout the week.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2018

About the author

Martha Stewart Living magazine was first published in 1990. Over the years, more than two dozen books have been published by the magazine's editors.

Reviews

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't really what I was looking for. Basically teaches you how to make beans-- and then here's a bunch of recipes using beans you just made.
I was looking for some easier, faster recipes.

[MSabatiniReads · Rating 1 out of 5]

(Insert eyeroll here) The title is essentially a misnomer or perhaps I was just mislead or was not as discerning of a consumer as I should have been. I assumed that this cookbook was all pressure cooker recipes that would primarily use the pressure cooker for the entire recipe. 1/3 of the book is using the pressure cooker just to make rice or beans... Then the section on entrees had recipes that I wasn't particularly wowed about. Try it out of you're a hardcore Martha follower, but otherwise, pass on this so-called Pressure Cooker cookbook for another.

[Vicki Gibson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this. Nope. First, you should know that lots of the recipes include one ingredient that is cooked in the pressure cooker and the rest of the dish is prepared traditionally (stovetop, oven, etc.). For instance, Spicy Shrimp and Polenta. The polenta is prepared in the pressure cooker and the rest of the dish on the stove.

There are quite a few recipes that you'd find in any pressure cooker cookbook: legumes, steel cut oats, stock. Nothing new there.

Carrot Soup with Cumin and Ginger, Potato Soup with all the Toppings., Arroz Con Pollo, Coq Au Vin, German Potato Salad. Nothing new.

There are a few weird dishes like Mashed Broccoli with Kalamata Olives and Red Bean Chili with Cashews.

I usually like Martha Stewart cookbooks but this one missed the mark for me. Glad I checked it out of the library instead of buying it.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice tables of times and settings for staples (beans, grains, vegetables).

[Ligaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm generally a bit leery when I read or execute anything with a Martha Stewart label attached to it. The photos, as usual, are styled to unattainable perfection - which is part of the problem. Inevitably, my attempts do not measure up! Before starting this book, I read the acknowledgements and its army of editors, stylists, photographers, and other worker bees that worked on this book. And I must take exception to the declaration "Martha Stewart is America's most trusted lifestyle expert..." Okay, my Martha bias aside, in reading this book I was struck by how many recipes are not pressure cooker/Instant Pot centric! Many recipes utilize one or two ingredients that were made in the pressure cooker/Instant Pot, beans and stock, and then continues with conventional recipe directions. Very disappointing. I made the Spicy Shrimp and Polenta - my first in an Instant Pot - and the polenta, the only thing made in the Instant Pot, stuck to the bottom. Also, not very cheesy. The next night, I made the Corn Chowder which was fairly thin and just okay. I plan to try the Corn Risotto with Basil and Tomatoes and the Dark Chocolate Cake. Still, not the best book for pressure cooker/Instant Pot recipes.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fortunately, I borrowed this from the library. If I'd bought it I would have had to return it. The recipes are for the six and eight-quart instant pots and mine is the smallest. Only on page 17 does it say, "the recipes in this book are designed for six to eight-quart models, and we don't recommend going any smaller. Because the pots should be only partially filled for safety reasons, a tiny cooker doesn't make much practical sense." Well, that's ridiculous. My pot cooks a stew or enough beans to last days as it is so why would I want a bigger one??
I may try some of the recipes, adjusting the amounts to fit my pot, but really, I don't like being told the size of pot I should be using!

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of color pictures, recipes that pull together in one page, ingredient lists and instructions that aren't too long or short. But a few recipes in this pressure cooker cookbook don't actually call for a pressure cooker. Maybe Martha is just trying to keep her readers on their toes? In any case, some of my favs are Alabama-Style Pulled Pork, Corn Risotto with Basil and Tomatoes, and Wine-Braised Pork Shoulder.

[Lindsay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Martha & Co have somehow forgotten that the main purpose of the instant pot is to make tasty meals quickly. Instead, they tell us how to make rice and beans (both of which are explained clearly in the manual that comes with the pot) and then use them to cook with super complicated ordeal recipes that don't even involve the instant pot. MEH.

[Love-To-Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

The recipes are not fitting my lifestyle, though it is a great cookbook.
What I liked a lot about this book that each recipe has a photo illustration, something that is a must-have for me, for I must know in advance what I'm going to cook if it's a dish I have never seen or tasted.
What I did not like, that most of the recipes are requiring at the end to turn off the gadget, quickly release the pressure and then release the electric pressure cooker lid.
I have a T-Fal Cook4me pressure cooker, and so far I have never tried a recipe that calls to release the pressure manually, so I'm a bit confused.
The biggest issue here that if I'm not getting in time to release the pressure manually, the liquids are going to burst out together with the steam, something that happened in the past, so I stopped cooking broths and soups in it. With three little kids, it's often a challenge to be in time in the kitchen.
And being a busy mom is the reason why I buy electric kitchen helpers. As I have mentioned above it is sometimes a challenge to stay close near the pots and pans when I cook, hence the recipes that demand my extended presence in the kitchen are doubtfully going to catch a place in my cookbook.
It is obvious, but I still want to make a point, that most of the recipes are not "set it and forget it," but calling for some culinary activity to prepare the dishes.
Another point to bold, that many recipes are based on beans and grains.
Since I have never tried any Martha Stuart recipes, I have decided to borrow the book from the local library, and I'm glad I did it.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's a Martha Stewart One Pot cookbook from a few years back that is a fantastic cookbook and includes tons of recipes for a range of cooking styles that require a single piece of cookery - from pressure cookers to casserole dishes. Loving that book (and many other MS cookbooks) so much, I had high hopes for this cookbook, and was pretty let down by it. There are a number of good recipes for a meal made in a pressure cooker (or Instant Pot), but there is a huge chunk of the cookbook that covers pressure cooking staples like stocks, grains, and beans, and then many many recipes that call for those building blocks. It's just not what I wanted from this book. I mostly use bouillon and canned beans, and I have no need for an Instant Pot recipe that requires pre-cooked grains. It's called an INSTANT Pot, who has that kind of time for weekday dinners? We also mostly eat pescatarian at home and there weren't very many recipes that fit into our diet. So part of this 2-star review is that this cookbook wasn't for me, and part of it was the book's unbalanced focus on those building block recipes instead of just "real" recipes.

[Janet Hanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know that most Martha Stewart recipes are a bit fancy, but for a pressure cooker cookbook, I thought there would be more recipes that were completed in just the pressure cooker. There were too many that part was in the pressure cooker, but required to transfer or do another part on the stovetop as well. When I use my pressure cooker it's usually because I want it to be really quick and easy!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked many of the recipes and the focus on the basics how the pressure cooker works. I did not like the format of the recipes - with the stove top and electric side by side - I felt that I easily lost track of which direction I was to follow.
although like any cook book I enjoy it made me think about how I can make food differently - not merely using the instant pot a glorified slow cooker.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martha delivers the goods.

A good look at how and why you should do things a certain way when using your pressure cooker.

As expected several recipes that are tantalizing you to try. Good pictures as well.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed in this one. ½ of the book are recipes where you fix only one ingredient for the recipe in the Instant Pot...then the rest of the recipe is either on the stove or oven. Forget it. I want one pot cooking!

[Amber]

I have several recipes to copy from this book.

[Deon · Rating 3 out of 5]

found quite a few recipes I might try, but many were far to complex & time consuming for me to try

[Deborah Cleaves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wish I had enough people to cook for regularly. I have read this cookbook a dozen times and each time regret that I would be cooking for only one.

[Shirley Eiswerth (Quackenbush) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of these recipes I’d never use, there are maybe 3 I might try.

[Alissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Martha Stewart slow cooker cook book was a surprise gem from the library with about 7 recipes I added to our rotation. This one did not measure up to my high hopes.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Complex, but delicious looking recipes. I did not have time to try any. Perhaps that says enough...

[Elena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not helpful for me to cook but interesting to read.

[Brianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I made the lentil soup out of this one and it was good and garlicky.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not actually a pressure cooker cookbook.