Author: Marilyn Haugen
Publisher: RobertRose
ISBN: 978-0-7788-0608-0

“With the Instant Pot and this cookbook, you will be able to quickly and easily put together meals for any time of the day using only 5 ingredients, many of which are pantry staples,” Marilyn Haugen writes in the beginning of her book, 5-Ingredient Instant Pot Cookbook: 150 Easy, Quick & Delicious Recipes.

This one-hundred-and-ninety-two-page paperback targets those interested in making quick recipes with their Instant Pot supposedly using only 5 ingredients. Containing recipes that cover one to two pages each, the book offers many variations for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and desserts while also adding sixteen full-page colored photographs.

After a preface and acknowledgments, the first chapter is about getting to know the Instant Pot and how to use it properly for pressure cooking, slow cooking, sautéing, and other functions. Next, there is a section on making Instant Pot staples that range from broths, stocks, rice, and sauces. The following eight chapters have recipes for breakfasts; soups, stews, and chilis; beef and pork; chicken; fish and seafood; beans, grains and pasta; vegetables and sides; and desserts. The ending has cooking timetables and an index.

Each recipe has a bold heading followed by a descriptive explanation. The quantity, cooking program, and ingredients in used order are on the left side of the page while the instructions are on the right in numbered paragraphs. Sometimes tips or variations are included.

Some interesting recipes are Foolproof Jasmine Rice, Egg-Stuffed Bell Pepper Boats, Streusel Coffee Cake, Senate Bean Soup, Northern Beefy Chili, Easy Colorado Burritos, Vietnamese Port Ribs, Tender Chipotle Chicken, Moroccan Chicken, Spicy Poached Cod, Fish and Pineapple Tostadas, Mediterranean Cannellini Salad, Lemony Bulgur Tabbouleh, Wilted Beet Greens, Braised Red Potatoes, Chocolate Ganache Cake, and Decadent Crème Brulee.

If you love using an Instant Pot, you will enjoy the plethora of delicious sounding recipes. I like that the recipes are varied, with some of them being unique. The introduction has helpful information and tips on how to use the small appliance to get the most out of it.

Those who do not have or use an Instant Pot will have no need for this book. Others may wish there were more than only sixteen photographs. Some may want caloric and nutritional information if they watch their diet.

I have to mark the book down as it is it could be considered misleading that most the recipes have more than five-ingredient recipes; this is because the author does not include in her five ingredient count what she calls freebies: cooking oil, butter, salt, pepper, water, broth, or stock which are in most of the dishes. I wish the book included the preparation time it takes to make each dessert.

If you are looking for a cookbook for your Instant Pot, this may be a good option, but I think it would be best if you ignored the author’s references that each of them only having five ingredients as it is not completely true.

Thanks to Bookpleasures and Robert Rose for this complimentary book that I am under no obligation to review.