Instant Pot steamed vegetables are the perfect healthy side dish! Mixed veggies like corn, brussel sprouts, corn and green beans all cooked together y’all!
Ever wanted to make a mix of Instant Pot steamed vegetables but not too sure how to do it well? Worried some will come out mushy and others will be too crunchy? We’re here to help! After making over 100 easy Instant Pot recipes I’m here with a few tips for a healthy side dish you can serve night after night. Ready??!! (affiliate links present)
- Believe it or not my 3 daughters would rather eat a plate full of veggies over meat any day of the week! Ok so it didn’t start off like this when they were little but boy am I glad we stuck out the “you have to try one bite” night after night. It paid off!
You may have steamed vegetables in an Instant Pot before, but just one at a time. Mixing them can be confusing if you don’t have an Instant Pot vegetable cook times chart like this one. Let’s start with printing that out shall we.
How long does it take to steam vegetables in an Instant Pot?
Use the chart above! Of course these are approximate times depending on how much you’re making and how thick each piece is, but they’re pretty dead on. (yes I had a mommy moment when spelling broccoli when I made this, please forgive me) 😉
What’s the trick for making perfect Instant Pot steamed vegetables?
You must gather different items that have similar cook times so they’ll come out perfectly tender. Seems obvious but let’s go a step further after that and talk about what we used.
- I chose corn on the cob, brussel sprouts, carrots and green beans to put together.
- On the list they all had somewhat similar times, the green beans were an iffy add but they actually turned out great too.
- You could choose to mix Instant Pot broccoli and cauliflower too since one or 0 minutes is perfect for both of those.
- We used to make them separately all the time, now we can throw them in together!
What do you need to get started?
- Vegetables that take the same amount of time to cook in your pressure cooker or Ninja Foodi brand pot.
- Here’s where you can get fresh produce and food delivery to your door.
- Steamer basket to hold them out of the water below.
- Seasonings you like
- Butter is good on top when done
- Serving dish
This is an Instant Pot accessory must you will use all of the time, I like this one with little feet at the bottom. Yes you can try to use a trivet but I would NOT recommend it. Reason is the smaller pieces will likely roll off and into the liquid below.
When they do they’ll become complete mush so spend the five bucks or whatever and get one of these, you won’t regret it. This, a 7″ bundt pan and a springform pan are the 3 things (other than a trivet that comes with your pot) I highly recommend.
This is what you need to do in order for every batch to come out the best!
- Choose your like vegetables
- Recommendations
- Slice brussel sprouts in half
- Peel carrots and cut into large chunks (the smaller the softer they will be)
- Cut corn on the cob in half
- After cutting ends off green beans, leave them whole
- Recommendations
- Pour a cup of water into the bottom of your pot
- Layer your vegetables inside your steamer basket
- Put the largest – longest to cook items at the very bottom
- Items that will take a bit less time should go on the very top
- Season on the top with ALL THE THINGS you like including salt and pepper, then drizzle with a bit of olive oil.
Then we’re going to set to set the Instant Pot to high pressure. Stand by so you can release the pressure right when the time is over! If you do not quickly release it they will become mush soon after.
- Especially when steaming broccoli for 0-1 minutes, vegetables like these are really delicate and cook so fast
What is the difference between steam and and pressure cook on an Instant Pot?
Steam function is when you just cook your food with steam. Pressure cooking with a steamer basket though is the same cooking mechanism except for the addition of pressure to the mix.
I choose to use pressure cook every time, just my preference. 😉
This is what my batch looked like, a really good mix we all thought. With the time to prep them and cook for a very short time this should take less than 15 minutes start to finish. It’s a great low carb and keto side dish.
Looking for other delicious recipes featuring vegetables?
- If you’d rather make air fryer vegetables that are mixed we share how to do that here as well.
- We have made air fryer corn before and that is a great method as well.
- you can seriously air fry everything to make it nice and crispy if you prefer it that way
- Here are a variety of other ways to cook brussel sprouts so you can find the one you really love.
- we have oven directions for baked brussels sprouts and more
You can print recipe below and have it handy, or come back and refer back and let us know what you think below!
Instant Pot Steamed Vegetables
Ingredients
- 1 ear corn on the cob cut in half
- 8 small carrots peeled, cut into large chunks
- 12 brussel sprouts ends removed, halved
- 12 green beans small handful, ends cut off
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1.5 c water
Instructions
- Pour water inside Instant Pot and lower down vegetable steamer basket.
- Put largest vegetables on bottom. Halved corn on the cob pieces, then large chunks of carrots, brussel sprouts with green beans on the top.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper and some garlic salt. Drizzle olive oil on top.
- Close lid and steam valve and set to high pressure for 2 minutes followed by a quick release.
- Remove basket with veggies and plate.
- Sprinkle more garlic salt, salt and pepper to taste on top. Butter can be added as well and will melt quickly.
Eli says
This looks great snd is very helpful for beginners with Instant Pot, thanks!