The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook: Wholesome, Indulgent Plant-Based Recipes

Just weeks before COVID shut everything down I bought my first house and started demolishing the kitchen for a remodel. I’d gotten myself an Instant Pot a couple months earlier but hadn’t ever really used it. Now, in June 2021 I still don’t have a range or oven in my kitchen, but I’ve become an Instant Pot pro thanks to Nisha Vora! Both my diet and my boyfriend’s are quite restricted due to several allergies that include avoiding dairy, gluten, soy, cane sugar, hemp, and sesame. However, I can eat almost all of Nisha Vora’s recipes with minimal substitutions. These recipes don’t skimp on taste but the ingredients to get there can cost a pretty penny. Also, one has to be very cautious when considering the salt recommended in the recipes – I love salt but was unable to eat one dish because the recipe called for too much salt and I unthinkingly added it all. With all that said, this is currently my favorite cookbook. I feel like my culinary horizons have expanded and I’ve come across many new pleasant flavor combinations. And I LOVE being able to just follow a recipe and eat the food without having to make so many substitutions because of my allergies. Finally, the instant pot cook time charts at the beginning are fantastic! Below are my individual reviews of dishes I’ve made so far: p.79 Savory Turmeric Breakfast Quinoa – Satisfying: would be better with either more vegetables or 1/2-1/3 less quinoa. Made without tamari, pepper, or sesame seeds. p.103 Coconut-Millet Porridge – Won’t make again. Extremely bland but has good texture. Either needs salt or something sweet. Was able to eat a serving by adding applesauce and maple syrup. Definitely better than oatmeal so oatmeal lovers may like this and know how to season to their tastes. To be fair, I didn’t eat it with the recommended toppings which could have made a difference (chocolate, pistachios, berry compote). p.123 Classic Creamy Polenta – Not worth making. Got burn notice. Should cook polenta enough that it just barely thickens before starting to cook it under pressure. Probably best to do pot-in-pot though. Stir quickly at beginning to avoid lumps. I’ll just have my boyfriend make his greasy oven-baked version in the future though. p.125 Rosemary and Garlic White Beans – Actually pretty good. I’m not a fan of oregano so didn’t think I’d like these but found them satisfying. Omitted salt and added to taste at serving. p.129 Frijoles (Mexican-Style Pinto Beans) – Great flavor! Liked them so much I’ve made them twice. But prepare to suffer if you don’t have Beano. Beans possibly needed more cook time since didn’t have intestinal trouble with sufficiently cooked/reheated leftovers. p.139 Wild Rice Salad with Lemon-Shallot Vinaigrette – Life changing. This is the perfect blend of all my favorite things. It’s what I imagine pesto salad might taste like if it were a dessert. I love tons of dressing so the next time I make this I’ll double the vinaigrette but most people would probably like as is. I’d been planning to cook more recipes out of the book before writing my review, but this was so amazing I had to get the review written immediately after eating it. p.144 Spaghetti Squash Pasta Puttanesca – Worth making again even though I do’t really like oregano. This is better as leftovers because the flavors have a change to meld. DON’T add extra salt!!! p.149 Lemony Asparagus with Gremolata – Not bad and I’d eat again. Prefer my own dressing. Asparagus was way under cooked, had to saute it for another 3-5 minutes. Put the garlic and lemon zest in the dressing and used less parsley since I’m not a huge parsley fan. p.183 Miso Mushroom Risotto – Was tasty until I added the miso then became unbearably salty. I could feel my tongue burning from all the salt. Had to throw most of it away. p.195 Chickpea Vegetable Biryani – So many flavors happening I couldn’t really tell if I liked it. Probably won’t make again, but I loved the fried raisins! p.199 Tex-Mex Brown Rice and Lentils – Good! An excellent freezer meal. In anticipation of adding vegan cheese I omitted all the salt and ended up with a perfectly balanced dish. Increased cook time for rice. Also, tomatoes should be added last after everything else is stirred in. If they rest on top they won’t cause a burn notice. p.229 Creamy Dreamy Cauliflower Soup – Absolutely fantastic! The lemon, nutmeg, and caper combination really makes this. Seemed slightly watery, but I did use a small cauliflower. Not a super filling dish, but is so unique and delicious it’d be worth having as part of a meal with something else. p.231 Red Lentil Almond Curry – Got burn notice and slightly scorched this. Can’t tell if I didn’t like it because of the extra unintentional smoky flavor or what...probably won’t make again, but this recipe had rave reviews from other people. p.257 Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup) – Fantastic and Flavorful broth! This is the best pho I’ve ever had. And while the shiitaki’s make it expensive I tried it with regular mushrooms and it didn’t have the same je ne sais quoi. Still yummy with regular crimini mushrooms, but I’ll be making it with shiitaki’s every time I make it in the future. One of my favorites. Instead of tofu I just added crimini mushrooms after the broth was done and strained. p.267 White Bean and Broccoli Soup – Will not make again; suitable for a different palate but the wine flavor doesn’t work for me. The “Love and Lemons” blog Vegan Broccoli Soup recipe is much better. However, I feel like this recipe has a lot of depth in both flavor and texture. The almond crumble was really yummy and a nice texture counterbalance to the blended soup. p.275 Easy Sweet Potato Dal – Delicious and filling! Would definitely make again. This was the first recipe I made from the book so I didn’t take a lot of notes, but the lemon juice really perks this dish up. It’s like eating warm spicy comforting sunshine. I may edit this review as I make more dishes. Even with the dishes I didn’t like this book has enough showstoppers that you should buy it. I’ve already given it a couple friends as a gift. Pictures are: Easy Sweet Potato Dal, Chickpea Vegetable Biryani with Raita, Creamy Dreamy Cauliflower Soup, and Miso Mushroom Risotto

I absolutely love love LOVE this cookbook! As soon as I opened my copy, I just had to flip through the WHOLE book while still standing in my apartment mail delivery room! The photos are absolutely beautiful with vibrant colors and artistic plating. The recipes are also creative and so easy to follow! Not to mention the author is so funny and such a good story teller. The author, Nisha Vora, does an amazing job at curating chapter after chapter of enticing vegan food. Oh and most importantly--every recipe I have made from this book has turned out amazing and so delicious!! Coming from someone who is not vegan and who also frequently cooks for a significant other who loves to eat meat, I couldn't recommend this book more. You don't have to be vegan to enjoy these amazing recipes-- they are delicious, flavorful and have added great variety to my meals. Additionally, the author did a great job of explaining how to use the Instant pot. She has great tips and tricks for a novice or expert Instant Pot/electric pressure cooker alike! Who knew you could make such delicious desserts in an IP?? I am so glad that I bought this cookbook, and can't wait to incorporate the dishes into my weekly meal prep.

This cookbook is very well written plus the photos are gorgeous. I don’t usually write reviews, but can’t help myself on this one! I love that the author does not assume readers know how to do everything; she takes you step by step through the recipe with thorough explanation plus tips. For example, when I made the Cookies ‘n Cream ‘Cheesecake’, she anticipated that some of us—like me—might forget to soak the cashews over night, so had a fix. By the way, the recipe turned out great. Her explanations for using the Instant Pot are also excellent. I love my Instant Pot and am glad to have these delicious vegan recipes. She has charts up front with times for nearly everything you would want to cook. Those are my go to time charts now. I have not had the book long so have not had a chance to try many but what I have prepared have come out very tasty. I have to say that the garlic mashed potatoes are super and the red cabbage salad as beautiful as her photo as well as delicious. I will caution that if you are off SOFAS, you will need to make adjustments and definitely the Cookies ‘n Cream ‘Cheesecake’ is both high in calories, sugar and oil—but I could not resist trying it. I have also made the simple Dal and the stuffed bell peppers. So far I have not run into any strange ingredients, but she always seems to have options.

This is a great quality book with clear and legible recipes plus lots of vivid photos of the food. Overall, I think this is a great cookbook recipe- and design-wise. However, most recipes are more involved than I was anticipating. I am pretty new to the Instant Pot, but the main reason I got it was for its simplicity: toss ingredients in, push the "Cook" button, have dinner in 20-30 minutes without having to stand there and monitor things. These recipes are more similar to non Instant Pot recipes, in my opinion. Lots of: "First add X, cook for 3 minutes, then add Y, cook for 5 minutes. Turn pot off. Add other ingredients, seal, and pressure cook for 10 minutes. Release pressure, then add MORE ingredients or transfer some to a food processor then re-mix." That said, it's still a good cookbook with some unique recipes. This is just my personal preference. I realize that everyone has their own reason for getting an Instant Pot. I got one so that I could "set it and forget it" with minimal cooking time. These recipes are not designed like that - they remind me much more of standard stovetop recipes.

Incredible book, all the recipes we have tried so far are so tasteful ! Love it !

Good recipes and easy to follow.

Fantastisch mooie uitgave Boeiende recepten

Dieses Kochbuch ist jeden Cent wert. Es ist wertig aufgemacht, schönes Layout und tolle Bilder, die direkt Appetit machen. Die Rezepte haben eine kurze Einleitung mit hilfreichen Tipps, wie man sie abwandeln oder welche Zutaten man ersetzen kann, manchmal eine kurze Backstory, aber nicht zu viel Blabla. Vor allem positiv überrascht war ich von der Vielzahl und Vielfalt der Rezepte. Viele Kochbücher, die ich so besitze, enthalten viel zu viel vom Selben und zu viel Kompliziertes, was man sowieso nie machen würde. Nisha Vora hingegen legt den Fokus eindeutig auf Mahlzeiten. Es gibt zwar ein paar Rezepte zu Dips/Aufstrichen und den meiner Meinung nach etwas unnötigen Teil zu Desserts (backen muss man wirklich nicht im Instant Pot, auch wenn es theoretisch vielleicht geht), aber der Großteil sind herzhafte Gerichte, für die man oft tatsächlich nur den Instant Pot/Schnellkochtopf braucht. Naturgemäß sind das viele Suppen, Eintöpfe, Currys, Bowls und Breie, aber keins der Rezepte wirkt lieblos oder langweilig, ganz im Gegenteil. Durch die Inspirationen aus indischer, afrikanischer und arabischer Küche hat jedes Rezept seinen eigenen Twist, der Lust aufs Ausprobieren macht. Ich koche selbst selten streng nach Rezept, aber das Buch gibt wirklich tolle Anregungen. Meine Empfehlung: das Buch ist sehr darauf getrimmt, das Kochen unter Dampf-Druck zu nutzen, aber viele der Rezepte lassen sich auch im regulären Kochprogramm oder mit einem einfachen Kochtopf machen. Die "3 Minuten Kochzeit" bei manchen Gerichten, die so verlockend klingt, ist eher eine Spielerei, da inklusive des Druckaufbaus und -ablassens doch wieder 20 Minuten vergehen. Für Nudeln und Reis lohnt sich das nicht, ich mache da nur bei Vollkorngetreide, getrockneten Hülsenfrüchten und Eintöpfen mit Kartoffeln, da es so tatsächlich schneller geht. Wer etwas mehr Geduld hat, kann diese Gerichte aber auch ohne elektrischen Schnellkochtopf zubereiten. Daher ist dieses Buch für mich wirklich Gold wert, da es einfach ein gutes Kochbuch ist, unabhängig von dem Instant-Pot-Aufhänger. Ich kann es jedem wärmstens empfehlen, der ein schönes Buch mit tollen, internationalen veganen Gerichten zur Hand haben möchte.

2 stars for the author who seems to be genuinely passionate about her recipes and who did a great job with their presentation. However, I returned the book as the ingredients used for the recipes are too numerous and I am not a fan of coconut milk everywhere.