Remember the days when your slow cooker was all of the rage? Now it’s the Instant Pot, or electric pressure cooker. I’ve gotten many requests for pressure cooker recipes. Well, guess what? You may have plenty of those recipes and don’t even know it! Here’s why… Most slow cooker recipes can be easily converted to the quicker pressure cooker just by following these guide lines:

1. If desired, brown your meats on the saute setting before you proceed with the rest of the recipe.
2. Saute most crunchy veggies just a bit before adding liquids.
3. The timing is the tricky part. You may have to experiment a little. For bite sized ingredients and pastas try 6 minutes under pressure to start with and go from there. For larger cuts of meat or chicken, start at 20 minutes, or 8 minutes per pound.
4. Most pastas need a quick release to prevent over-cooking.
5. Excess moisture can be stirred off using an uncovered pot on the low saute or soup setting.
6. To thicken sauces use a cornstarch or flour slurry – a Tbsp or two dissolved in cold water and stirred into very hot or boiling contents.