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Cooking: Instant Pot Duo Multi-Cooker 3 Qt.

bgibson135

Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Mini Electric Pressure Cooker,
Slow Rice Cooker, Steamer, Sauté, Yogurt Maker, Warmer & Sterilizer,
Includes Free App with over 1900 Recipes, Stainless Steel, 3 Quart

RECIPES:

INSTANT POT RECIPIES —

Instant Pot Duo Mini — Black-Eyed Peas with Onion & Seasoning Meat

(Serves 3–4)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dried black-eyed peas (no soaking required)
  • 1 cup seasoning meat, choose one:
    • smoked ham hock
    • smoked turkey wing/drum
    • fatback or streak-o-lean
    • diced country ham
    • AND you can combine two if you want a stronger flavor
  • ½ medium onion, chopped
  • 2 cups water or broth (enough to barely cover the peas)
  • ½ tsp salt (add more later — seasoning meat is salty)
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • Optional:
    • 1–2 cloves garlic, minced
    • pinch of cayenne
    • 1 bay leaf
    • a splash of apple cider vinegar at the end for brightness

Instructions

1. Sauté the Onion (Optional but better flavor)

  1. Press Sauté on the Instant Pot.
  2. Add a teaspoon of oil or a little rendered fat from the seasoning meat.
  3. Cook the chopped onions for 2–3 minutes until soft.

2. Add Seasoning Meat

  • Add your hock/turkey/ham/etc.
  • Stir briefly to warm it.

3. Add Black-Eyed Peas & Water

  • Add 1 cup dried peas.
  • Pour in 2 cups water or broth—just enough to cover.
  • Add pepper and any optional spices.
  • Don’t add much salt yet because the meat may be salty.

4. Pressure Cook

  • Close the lid.
  • Turn valve to Sealing.
  • Select Pressure Cook (High).
  • Set to 22 minutes.

5. Natural Release

  • Let the pot naturally release for 10 minutes, then quick-release the rest.

6. Final Adjustments

  • Remove the seasoning meat and pull off any tender pieces to mix back in.
  • Taste and add salt, more pepper, or a splash of vinegar.
  • If you want the liquid thicker, turn on Sauté for 3–5 minutes to reduce.

END — Black-Eyed Peas with Onion & Seasoning Meat

[11/22/25]: This was the first thing I cooked in my new Instant Pot and it turned out great. It may not be the best flavored black eyed peas I’ve ever made but it is as good of a flavor when first out of the pot. Recall that my “trick” to fantastic black eyed peas is to refrigerate them and reheat the next day. That allows the flavors to meld and usually makes the peas much, much better.

⭐ ALL-IN-ONE Instant Pot Borlotti Beans, Chard & Sausage Over Polenta

(Put everything in → pressure cook → finish)

🫘 Ingredients

For the Instant Pot

  • 1 cup dried borlotti (cranberry) beans
  • 1 small bunch red chard, stems & leaves chopped (keep stems separate)
  • ½ medium onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2–3 oz hot pork sausage, crumbled
  • 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
  • 2 cups water or broth
  • Salt & pepper, to taste
  • Optional: pinch of red pepper flakes

For serving

  • 1 cup cooked polenta
  • ½ small avocado, mashed
  • Optional: lemon juice or red wine vinegar

🍲 Instructions (ALL-IN-ONE METHOD)

1. Sauté inside the Instant Pot

  1. Press Sauté
  2. Add 1 tbsp olive oil
  3. Add:
    • Sausage (break it up)
    • Onion
    • Garlic
  4. Cook 2–4 minutes until sausage starts browning
  5. Add chard stems and sauté 1 minute
  6. Press Cancel

2. Add beans & liquid

Add to the pot:

  • 1 cup dried borlotti beans
  • 2 cups water or broth
  • Salt (just a little, maybe ¼ tsp — more later)
  • Pepper
  • (Optional) Red pepper flakes

Stir lightly.

3. Add chard leaves on top

Do NOT stir them in — just lay them on top.

This prevents food from sticking to the bottom and avoids a Food Burn warning.

4. Pressure Cook

  • Close the lid
  • Set valve to Sealing
  • Press Pressure Cook
  • Set: 35 minutes (High)
  • Let the Instant Pot run

5. Natural Release

When the timer ends:

  • Let the pot sit for 10 minutes (LO:10)
  • Then do a Quick Release of remaining pressure

Open the lid when the float valve drops.

6. Finish the dish

  • Stir everything together
  • Taste and add:
    • Salt
    • Pepper
    • Extra olive oil (1 tbsp)
    • Optional: 1–2 tsp lemon juice or vinegar
  • If the liquid is thin:
    • Press Sauté
    • Simmer 3–5 minutes until thickened

7. Assemble

Serve over hot polenta:

  • Spoon polenta onto the plate
  • Ladle the beans/chard/sausage mixture on top
  • Add mashed avocado
  • Add a finishing splash of vinegar or lemon juice for brightness

END — ALL-IN-ONE Instant Pot Borlotti Beans, Chard & Sausage Over Polenta

USER MANUAL

Great! Here are three excellent YouTube videos that cover your Instant Pot Duo Mini (or very similar models) — one for setup/basics, one for “pot-in-pot” cooking with the trivet, and one general beginner tutorial.

  1. Getting started / model-specific (Duo Mini) — “Instant Pot Duo Mini Review & Demo Recipes”
  • Specifically reviews the 3-quart Duo Mini model so it’s directly relevant. youtube.com
  • Good for seeing the size, controls, model-differences.
  • I recommend watching the first half for setup and basic functions.
  1. Pot-in-pot + trivet usage — “How to Do Pot in Pot Cooking in the Instant Pot”

  • Shows how to use the trivet (wire rack) and cook something above the water rather than immersed. youtube.com
  • Very useful since you asked about the rack/trivet — helps visualize how it works.
  1. General beginner tutorial (for Duo series) — “How to Get Started with Your Instant Pot Duo”

  • Covers basic safety, pressure cooking modes, sealing/venting — great refresher. youtube.com
  • Even though it may show a larger model, most functions apply to the Duo Mini too.

[NOTE 11/25/25]: I am just finishing up my second INSTANT POT of Borlotti Beans, Rainbow Chard and Hot Pork Sausage. I am making this to take to Mary Ann’s tomorrow for Thanksgiving. I think I made something a couple of Thanksgivings ago, but no one ate it. If someone doesn’t at least try this, it will be their loss. *I did the Pressure Cook routine for 35 minutes but the beans were not soft after that so I added 15 more minutes of Pressure Cook, and I added a small amount of Baking Soda. I know that the Baking Soda causes a chemical change and will help soften the beans. Add too much and it changes the flavor. This meal was the second thing I cooked in my INSTANT POT. The first being a mess of black eyed peas which turned out great. They did not need extra time. The first time for the Borlotti beans, they also needed extra cooking time.

Funny but I’m comfortable with using this machine. I’ve mentioned it to several people. A couple of techs at Cape Fear Eye the other day. But one admitted that she was afraid of using hers. I can understand that, and with other dangerous tools, I’m the same way, but not this. It almost feels natural to use it. Work the process. Maybe using Saute at first to brown meat, or make onion translucent. Then switch to Pressure Cook for a time to tenderize beans. One surprise was that Quinoa only took 1 minute to cook. That’s slightly deceptive because it takes about 10 minutes to build up steam, then it cooks for 1 minute on Pressure Cook, and then it has a cool down time of about 10 minutes and then you can “Quick Release.” So far no problem. Once most of the steam exits, the pot lid comes off easily.

[end NOTE]

STEAMER BASKET

I’ve used this steamer basket to make my Frogmore Stew several times. Works great, but the cleanup afterwards is a problem. Bit of food cling to the fine mesh.