It’s fun hearing about other overlanders who are just as enthusiastic about their pressure cooker as we are, and we hear from quite a few who bought one after having talked to us. I hope the pressure cooker brings you just as much joy as it does us.
There’s nothing better than an easy yet delicious meal.
Here’s something very simple but something we’d like to recommend: steaming vegetables in the pressure cooker.
Books on Using a Pressure Cooker
(click on the images to look inside)
Products from Amazon
Why Steaming Vegetables?
There are a couple of reasons why we like this method of steaming:
- You’ll find that vegetables, including potatoes (especially potatoes, I should say), have much richer taste than you thought they had.
- Steaming vegetables in a pressure cooker takes minimal time and minimal water. Both are perfect when traveling.
- On the discussion boiled vs. steamed, see e.g. this article.
Note that the times for steaming vegetables may vary per pressure cooker, but in our Futura Hawkins Pressure Cooker we use about ½ cup of water and put in the grid that comes with the pan.
We fill the cooker with vegetables, steam them and have a splendid meal within minutes.
Pressure-cooker Recipes
Our Favorite Steamed Vegetables
Give these a try:
- Green beans cut in halves/thirds – steam about 2 minutes
- Potatoes cut into very small chunks – steam about 2 minutes. In the Andean countries, they have dozens of different types of potatoes, giving plenty of opportunities to experiment and try typical local foods.
- Carrots cut in big chunks – steam about 2 minutes
- Beets cut in small chunks – steam about 2 minutes
- Beets whole (makes peeling easier afterward) – depending on size 9 to 12 minutes
- Broccoli florets cut in pieces – steam about 1 minute
- Cauliflower florets cut in pieces – steam about 1 minute
I keep the stem and leaves of broccoli and cauliflower separate to make soup. More about that in a future post.
By e.g. cutting potatoes in very small chunks and the carrots in big chunks, I can put them in the pressure cooker together, steam them for 2 minutes and both are exactly right.
What to Eat with Steamed Vegetables?
Sometimes a salad, e.g. tuna salad, sometimes humus or other legumes such as lentils.
Enjoy your meal!
Read More: Pressure Cooker 101
Overland Cooking Equipment
(click on the images to check them out)
Products from Amazon
Tips, Suggestions, Feedback?
Any suggestions on the best way for steaming vegetables in the pressure cooker? Let us know in the comment section below!
Originally published 2014 / updated 2020
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Gracias Karen! por tus fabulosas recetas estoy aprendiendo mucho! Abrazo Marisa desde Argentina!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
De nada! Disfruten!
Nice pictures ! Would love to try steaming veggies in a pressure cooker. But its not clear how you use the pressure cooker to steam the vegetables. Same or different process than regular pressure cooked veggies ? Do you put the veggies in an inner vessel ? Please advise.
Heya Kay, we don’t put the veggies in an inner basket or vessel. We use the grid that came with our Futura. Every Futura Pressure Cooker comes with a grid. The grid is used for minimising the contact between food and the cooking liquid and/or the base. You can also use a basket. Particularly handy if you want to cook two different veggies and you want to keep them separate. I will attache a picture here for you to see how the grid looks like.