Instant Pot Cooking Times

The Instant Pot is a pretty awesome little appliance (my husband calls it the Magic Gadget for a reason!), but it can take some getting used to if you’re more familiar with traditional oven/stove cooking.

If you’re brand new to the Instant Pot, I covered all the buttons in my Instant Pot beginner’s guide and I shared my 5 top tips in my Instant Pot Hacks post.

But something that I know a lot of Instant Pot users (new and old) find themselves constantly looking up is cooking times. So today, I wanted to share my handy Instant Pot Cooking Times Cheat Sheet with a matching printable!

Instant Pot Cooking Times Cheat Sheet

If you want your food to be cooked properly, you need to be familiar with the Instant Pot cooking times of your favorite foods! Not just because over/under-cooked food may have bad flavor or texture, but also for food safety reasons.

You don’t want anyone biting into what appears to be a well-cooked chicken leg, only to find it pink and raw in the center! Poorly cooked food ruins a meal and wastes money.

So if you can avoid all that by a minute or two of looking at my Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet, I think that’s time well spent!

Remember, while the Instant Pot is a magical little device, it can’t go from zero to finished in just 5 minutes. It has to heat up in the beginning and release steam at the end.

And if you’re using frozen food, while you don’t have to defrost it ahead of time, it can make your Instant Pot take longer to pre-heat to the optimal temperature.

So the cooking times you see here refer to the active cooking times of the food. Make sure to plan extra time for your Instant Pot to heat up and release its steam.

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For everything on the cheat sheet below, use the manual setting on high pressure. For the foods where I’ve given a cooking range, choose the smaller range for smaller amounts of the food and the end of the range for larger amounts.

I suggest using the quick release for everything except for red meats, in which case I recommend the natural release.

Food	Instant Pot Cooking Times	Tips
Beans- dry black, cannellini, great northern, pinto, or navy	26 minutes	Completely cover the beans with water.
Beans- dry red kidney	18 minutes	Completely cover the beans with water.
Beef Roast	35-40 minutes	–
Boneless Ribs	25 minutes	–
Butternut squash- fresh, cut into slices	2-3 minutes	Use your metal steam basket and add 1 cup of water.
Chicken- breasts (boneless)	8 minutes	–
Chicken- thighs	9 minutes	–
Chicken- drumsticks	15-20 minutes	–
Chicken- whole	6 minutes per pound	Put a little oil in the pot and use the sauté function to brown it first.
Corn on the cob	3-4 minutes	–
Couscous	2-3 minutes	For every 1 cup of couscous, add 2 cups of water.
Eggs- hard-boiled	4 minutes	Use your metal steam rack and add 1 cup of water.
Eggplant (fresh- cut into slices or chunks)	2-3 minutes	Use your metal steam basket and add 1 cup of water.
Fish fillet- fresh/thawed	2-3 minutes	–
Fish fillet- frozen	3-4 minutes	–
Green beans- fresh, whole	2-3 minutes	Use your metal steam basket and add 1 cup of water.
Ham- picnic shoulder	8 minutes per pound	Put a little oil in the pot and use the sauté function to brown it first.
Lobster- fresh/thawed	2-3 minutes	Use your metal steam basket and add 1 cup of water.
Lobster- frozen	3-4 minutes	Use your metal steam basket and add 1 cup of water.
Mixed vegetables- fresh, cut into chunks	3-4 minutes	Use your metal steam basket and add 1 cup of water.
Oats- quick	5 minutes	For every 1 cup of quick oats, add 1.6 cups of water.
Oats- steel-cut	10 minutes	For every 1 cup of steel-cut oats, add 1.6 cups of water.
Parsnips- cut into chunks	3-4 minutes	Use your metal steam basket and add 1 cup of water.
Pasta	4 minutes	Completely cover the noodles with water.
Pork chops	5 minutes	Put a little oil in the pot and use the sauté function to brown it first.
Pork roast	45-55 minutes	Put a little oil in the pot and use the sauté function to brown it first.
Potatoes- whole	12-15 minutes	Use your metal steam rack and add 1 cup of water.
Potatoes- fresh, cubed	2-3 minutes	Use your metal steam basket and add 1 cup of water.
Rice- basmati	2-3 minutes	For every 1 cup of basmati rice, add 1 cup of water.
Rice- brown	25 minutes	For every 1 cup of brown rice, add 1.25 cups of water.
Rice- jasmine	4 minutes	For every 1 cup of jasmine rice, add 1 cup of water.
Rice- white	12 minutes	For every 1 cup of white rice, add 1 cup of water.
Rice- wild	27 minutes	For every 1 cup of wild rice, add 1.3 cups of water.
Turkey- drumsticks	15-20 minutes	–
Shrimp- fresh/thawed	1-3 minutes	Use your metal steam basket and add 1 cup of water.
Shrimp- frozen	2-4 minutes	Use your metal steam basket and add 1 cup of water.