I love my Instant Pot it amazes me at times and then a hiccup. Take the case of the beloved Artichoke. To make a wonderful tender artichoke usually requires a large pot of steam on the stove for 45 minutes gently cooking away. Sometimes 45 minutes of boiling steamy water is no big deal other times it is a deal breaker…. too much steam. Enter the Instant Pot. So last week I bought a bunch of large artichokes. I threw one in the Instant Pot on a rack with some water and some lemon juice turned it on high pressure and guessed at a time…. maybe 10-15 minutes… and let it sit a while before I released the pressure. It was an utter disaster… dry, hard, over cooked in places and so crunchy it seemed almost raw in others. I threw it away it was so inedible. I then let the other artichokes I was so hopeful to make sit for a week in my fridge drying out!! They didn’t look picture perfect tonight, they were a bit dry but I thought what have I got to lose? I put my thinking cap on…. what might make a difference and then it struck me… low pressure instead of high pressure. I think most of us Instant Pot lovers are mesmerized by the fast, high pressure cooking concept that we forget all about the tenderness of low pressure hot water steam. Tonight I made perfect tender steamed Artichokes in my Instant Pot and am so happy to now know the secret. I cooked them for 20 minutes and then instantly released the pressure once done. So it still takes about half the time to cook them in comparison to steaming them on the stove but it is a revolutionary break thru as far as I am concerned… low pressure who knew?
Perfect Instant Pot Artichokes
2 large Artichokes (about 300 grams each)-you can trim them and top them if you like but I just threw them in their thorns and all with just the stem trimmed about 1/4″.
1.5 cups of water (preferably filtered water)
1 tablespoon lemon juice or the juice of half a lemon
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil (optional?)
Place the water and the steamer rack that came with it in your Instant Pot.
Place your Artichokes on top.
Sprinkle in the lemon juice
Put a tab of butter on top of each artichoke (optional-I am not sure yet if it is really necessary but I thought I would try it out
Seal your Instant Pot and turn it on. Hit manual; set for low pressure and 20 minutes. When it beeps in 20 minutes, press cancel then immediately release the pressure on the upper valve(quick release). I often throw a thin kitchen towel over the vent so I don’t get a mess streaming up on my cabinets.
Serve with melted butter(or olive oil), sea salt and garlic! YUM! (Pictured with Greek Feta Meatballs and Basmati Rice)
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