I Love My Pressure Cooker Because It’s Super Versatile

This week we celebrate the modern pressure cooker and our new book, Pressure Cooker Perfection. Check back daily for tips, tricks, videos, and recipes that will help you get the most out of this essential kitchen time-saver.

Most people understand that a pressure cooker is ideal for efficiently cooking tougher cuts of meat (like pot roast), soups and stews (like chicken noodle), and pasta sauces (like Bolognese). But you can also cook beans, grains, and long-cooking vegetables in a fraction of their traditional cooking times. Long-grain brown rice is ready in less than 15 minutes—white rice in a mere 3 minutes. Barbecued beans made with dried beans are ready five times faster than if you were using the oven method, while butternut squash and beets turn fork-tender in 20 minutes or less. You can even make an ultracreamy Parmesan Risotto; all it needs is 6 minutes under pressure, then 6 more of stirring before it’s ready for the table.

Like the sound of the dishes we mentioned above? Then you’ll love the rest of the offerings in the book. There are chapters on soups, stews, and chilis; one-pot pastas and sauces; fast and easy suppers; big roasts and fancy meals; indoor barbecue; and sides. View the full recipe list here.

MAKE IT NOW: 3 Featured Recipes from Pressure Cooker Perfection.

If you’re in the mood for comfort food, try our Pressure-Cooker Parmesan Risotto: It only takes six minutes under pressure, and about 30 minutes from start to finish.

All you pasta lovers will fall for Our Pressure-Cooker Easy Ziti with Sausage and Peppers, because all you have to do is stir together the meat and vegetables before you toss in the pasta, sauce, and water.

And if you’re craving easy barbecue, give our Pressure-Cooker Asian-Style Boneless Beef Shortribs a go—the extra sauce this recipe makes goes perfectly over a big bowl of rice.