Cheap Instant Pot recipes under $10 that you will love! From dinners to side dishes and pressure cooker desserts too. You’ve got to try a new one each week to see which one you love. 

Four delicious dishes: stuffed peppers, a tender chicken drumstick, flavorful curry chicken, and pasta with rich tomato sauce and cheese—all easily crafted as cheap Instant Pot recipes.
Want to save this recipe?
Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus you’ll get new recipes from us every week!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Ok, y’all I’m back again with a quick list of 21 cheap Instant Pot recipes that cost under $10 a meal!! Yes it is possible to cook a complete meal in 15 minutes total and save money along the way. There are many more Instant Pot recipes here too. (affiliate links present)

Cheap Pressure Cooker Recipes

I love a budget friendly meal, and love a great bargain. At the same time I want it to taste amazing and have my kids ask me to make it over and over again. You can make all of these as an easy Ninja Foodi recipe as well. ๐Ÿ˜‰

Just because a meal is cheap doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be delicious as well, that is where we come in.

If you are new to pressure cooking we have a lot of easy one pot meal recipes for you here. To begin with let’s start with a few basic tips:

For reference, this is the model I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.

A white Instant Pot with a Star Wars theme sits on the kitchen counter, ready to tackle your favorite beef arm roast recipe. The digital display glows "On." Next to it lie a patterned cloth and some green onions, all against the backdrop of blue kitchen cabinets and a stovetop.

Ninja Foodi Cheap Recipes

All of these are quick and easy one pot meal ideas. Some are desserts and many are chicken dinners that your family will rave about.

Of course lots of side dishes cost under $1 too like Instant Pot red lentils and lots more. Each one is super fast to throw together and several of them have just a few ingredients. I’ve even found what I needed at the Dollar Store!

All of these are about $10 for the ingredients necessary.

First you will need an Instant Pot —-> this is the one I have that has worked fabulous for feeding the 5 of us.

  • A non stick pot is HIGHLY recommended to avoid getting a false burn notice (which happens).
  • I also recommend getting this Instant Pot air fryer CrispLid!!
pioneer woman instant pot

Easy InstaPot meals recipes

We have a bunch of easy Instant Pot Dinner Recipes to choose from. Let’s start with Instant Pot Italian wedding soup with only a few ingredients. You can even use frozen meatballs in it and I can usually find everything at the dollar store y’all.

  • Instant Pot spaghetti – one of the first recipes I ever made and people RAVE about it. I’ll never make it on the stovetop again after making this one pot pressure cooker spaghetti recipe. It’s on our list of 5 ingredient Instant Pot recipes too.

Homemade Instant Pot macaroni and cheese – a no brainer and so easy to make. As easy as the “blue box” but homemade and super smooth and creamy!

  • Then try our Instant Pot sausage and rice casserole.
  • Pressure cooker corn dog bites are fun and super cheap
  • Use leftover chicken or turkey in Instant Pot turkey tetrazzini

We even share how to make boxed Kraft mac and cheese in a pressure cooker here.

instant pot boxed macaroni and cheese 2

Super Cheap Healthy Instant Pot Meals

Instant Pot taco casserole – this is such a great meal and an absolute favorite among my kids.

Sweet Instant pot cranberry applesauce is a healthy and yummy snack.

Easy Homemade Instant Pot Swedish meatballs – if you’ve never had them they’re fabulous atop some egg noodles and if you’re Grandmother made them like mine did these will bring back a few memories. You could make pressure cooker sweet potatoes as an Instant Pot side dish, or light dinner.

Pressure cooker tuna noodle casserole with a side of Instant Pot steamed vegetables is great

Here are a few more, keep going and save this post because we add to it quite often.

  • Instant Pot turkey soup is cheap when you’re using leftover turkey from the holidays as the protein!
  • Healthy Instant Pot minestrone soup – super easy to make with fresh vegetables, inexpensive, and healthy too!
    • As a vegetarian option try Instant Pot cream of mushroom rice

Pressure cooker egg bites are a great Instant Pot breakfast idea. You can load them up with leftover ham after the holidays, or make them vegetarian.

Flavorful Instant Pot taco meat using ground beef + 4 other Instant Pot tacos recipes everyone loves!

Instant Pot Tacos

Cheap One Pot Meals

Of course everyone has their preferences so I have included a lot of options. Soups (like our Instant Pot tomato basil soup) are always a great option for dinner if you want something inexpensive but fill everyone’s belly.

Another go to dinner for us is always pressure cooker frozen whole chicken (especially on days where I forget to defrost it)!

Shred it when it’s done, and set out small tortillas, cheese and toppings for soft tacos….our fave!

  • Instant Pot chicken parmesan casserole – depending on how much chicken you add you can make this for under $10, use chicken thighs if you really want to cut down on the price too!
  • Pressure cooker chicken rice dish is what you remember from your childhood.
  • This dirty rice, or Instant Pot hamburger and rice as we call it is great

Our Instant Pot chili mac recipe – a favorite with the kids and is great the next day too!

Cheesy Instant Pot cheeseburger macaroni is similar but with a cheesy twist on it and minus the beans. Instant Pot spicy teriyaki chicken thighs – you can make them without the spice too!

Classic 5 ingredient Instant Pot chili – using just 5 main ingredients that typically you can find at the Dollar Store we make this several times each month on top of baked potatoes or rice.

A ladle of chili mac with ground beef, kidney beans, and macaroni pasta over a pot makes an inviting instant pot chili mac recipe.
Four delicious dishes: stuffed peppers, a tender chicken drumstick, flavorful curry chicken, and pasta with rich tomato sauce and cheese—all easily crafted as cheap Instant Pot recipes.
5 from 2 votes

Cheap Instant Pot Recipes

By The Typical Mom
Super cheap Instant Pot recipes that are under $20 total to feed a family of 6. Here's how you make our dump chili.
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Servings: 6
Save this recipe!
Get this sent to your inbox, plus get new recipes from us every week!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Equipment

  • 1 pressure cooker

Ingredients 

  • 1 can kidney beans, 14.5 oz.
  • 1 lb ground sausage, or ground beef
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1 can tomato sauce, 6 oz
  • 1 packet chili seasoning
  • 1 can diced tomatoes, 14.5 oz.

Instructions 

  • Set pot to saute, add olive oil, diced onions and meat. Cook until meat is no longer pink. Turn pot off now.
  • Add all other ingredients and stir.
  • Close lid and steam valve and set to high pressure for 10 minutes followed by a quick release.
  • Serve dump chili in bowls with cheese on top.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 2oz, Calories: 294kcal, Carbohydrates: 10g, Protein: 14g, Fat: 23g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Cholesterol: 54mg, Sodium: 1082mg, Potassium: 705mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 7g, Vitamin A: 710IU, Vitamin C: 16mg, Calcium: 45mg, Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Entree, Main Course
Cuisine: American
Tried this recipe?Mention @thetypical_mom or tag #thetypicalmom!
pressure cooker chicken noodle soup
  • Flavorful Instant Pot red beans and rice – you can make this as mild or as spicy as you like and do not have to precook the rice!
  • Our loaded potato soup has a short cooking time, so cheap!
  • This pressure cooker cabbage and noodles is great

One pot family friendly meals

Good old Instant Pot chicken noodle soup – a favorite even when you’re not sick!

  • Pressure cooker bean soup that goes great with my pressure cooker cornbread
  • Cheesy Instant Pot pizza is fun to make with the kids.

For lunch time Instant Pot hot dogs are always a winner. If you’re having a party too you can cook them in bulk in just a few minutes too. Then you can enjoy the day and not have to cook the whole time.

  • Pressure cooker fried rice is super versatile.
  • Creamy Instant Pot fettuccine alfredo we love with some added shrimp if I have it on hand.
  • Kid fave Instant Pot beans and franks
  • Instant Pot spaghetti squash – mix with spaghetti sauce and cheese!

If you love breakfast for dinner you can try our pressure cooker egg bites that can be made vegetarian or with leftover ham! Eggs are super cheap and fill everyone up. ๐Ÿ˜‰

Instant Pot Beans and Franks 4

Cheap Instant Pot Recipes for 2

  • No Soak Instant Pot baked beans – that’s right NO soaking required!! Love this one with it’s deep sweet flavor (you can add a bit of spice too if you want) and is perfect for a bbq or a side dish year round.

Pressure cooker jam can be made with any fruit and lasts for weeks for breakfast. We have a post to show you how to proof bread in Instant Pot too which is fun for pizza crust or homemade bread.

  • Instant Pot sloppy joes are a family fave
  • Creamy Instant Pot potato salad – always a favorite and easy to make.
  • Side dish Instant Pot roasted potatoes

Then make pressure cooker Mexican rice!

instant pot mexican rice

Pressure cooker mashed potatoes – the best you’ll ever have loaded with goodness. Or lower carb would be our Instant Pot cauliflower mash – oh if you haven’t tried this it is low in calories (if you skip the add ins). Your kids will never guess they’re not mashed potatoes.

Simple and fluffy Instant Pot white rice or you can follow our Instant Pot brown rice recipe. They’re both a cheap side dish you’ll love.

Want a lower carb healthy meal, make our Instant Pot hamburger soup some night too.

  • Breakfast or snack Instant Pot hard boiled eggs are easy and making them into deviled eggs makes for a great side dish or appetizer.
  • This pressure cooker hamburger casserole is creamy.
  • Instant Pot grits
no soak instant pot baked beans 2

More easy InstaPot recipes recipe ideas

Instant Pot Dessert Recipes like our Instant Pot rice pudding is the most amazing and popular Instant Pot dessert recipe probably on my blog, people say….they’ll never make it another way again!!

  • Pressure cooker churro bites can be breakfast or dessert
  • Fluffy Instant Pot pineapple upside down cake is something we literally made with items from the Dollar Store!

Instant Pot angel food cake – seriously to die for and a fat free cake too! But if you want something rich try Instant Pot chocolate cake – I topped it with some warmed raspberry jam and it was amazing!! Very much like a flourless chocolate cake texture, super moist and flavorful.

  • Yummy Caramel Apple Pecan Instant Pot coffee cake – oh my goodness is this amazing and it’s perfect for breakfast or dessert.
  • I added caramel bits and nuts but add or omit what you like, either way it turns out fabulous.
easy instapot recipes

Instant Pot pumpkin apple cake – leave out the walnuts and you can easily make this for under $10 and probably have most of the ingredients at home right now! Pumpkin really is delicious year round.

  • Chocolatey Instant Pot cake brownies
  • Try a batch of Instant Pot chocolate peanut clusters for the holidays
  • Creamy Instant Pot double chocolate cheesecake looks amazing and is on our list to try next.
instant pot coconut rice pudding

I will say that I rarely if ever use the slow cooker function on my multi cooker. It kinda’ defeats the purpose for me and I don’t think it works that well either.

If you want some tasty and simple crockpot recipes I have those as well. I’d use your good ol’ fashioned slow cooker for those though.

  • I’m all about pressure cooking and I hope this list keeps you going for the whole month, or longer!
  • I have a list of June Instant Pot recipes too and will continue add one for each month!

July Instant Pot recipes are up now too and feature seasonal recipes like pressure cooker baked apples, Instant Pot salisbury steak and more.

Do you have any other cheap Instant Pot recipes that you make often?? I’d love to hear about them so we could try it too!

Subscribe to my newsletter below to receive all of my new pressure cooker recipes and have them delivered straight to your inbox each week!

  • If you have a Ninja Foodi you can make any of these pressure cooker recipes too.
  • Skip slow cooking y’all, I know you’re as busy as we are and these will give you more time doing the fun stuff in life.
cheap instant pot recipes

About The Typical Mom

Justine is the creative mind behind The Typical Mom and The Typical Family on YouTube. She began blogging about easy recipes, budget friendly activities for kids, and fun family travel destinations in September 2012.

You May Also Like

5 from 2 votes (2 ratings without comment)

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

10 Comments

  1. Hi there Justine nice too meet you Iam waiting for My Ninja too be delivered I can hardly wait but I am just going to have too sit on My hands till then Lol lol
    Januk

  2. Just bought mine and loving it! Thanks for the great recipe ideas! Stovetop is over rated and the Instant Pot is whatโ€™s hot now. Keep dishinโ€™ out these amazing recipes! Thank you ๐Ÿ˜

  3. You can make all of these just as easily and just as quickly (if not faster) on the stovetop.

    1. Not necessarily so if you compare the time it takes for water to boil or how long it takes for the oven to preheat. The Instant Pot takes about 5 minutes to come to pressure before cooking starts. I do believe water takes longer to boil. And, using what is called a ‘pot in pot’ method, I can cook a meatloaf & potatoes for mashing and be sitting and eating in about 65-70 minutes and I didn’t have to hang around the kitchen while it was cooking. I too was skeptical. But since getting my IP I have ditched my rice cooker, my crockpots; and, my microwave might be the next on to go. And, I recently found a device that turns the IP into a reasonable airfryer. Bye Bye toaster oven. My kitchen counters are bare. Yippee!!! And, Bonus!!!, I can make yogurt and bake cakes in it. The possibilities are endless. I love my IP.