These pressure cooker meal prep ideas will make the upcoming week a lot easier to tackle! For those of you who are unfamiliar or new to pressure cooking – it is a sealed pot with a valve that controls the steam pressure inside. While the pot heats up, the liquid forms steam, which builds up pressure inside. Pressure Cookers are beneficial, because of their large size and we have many sizes ranging from 6 quart to 12.5 quarts!! With that size, you can cook for multiple people or meal prep for days. Another great thing about pressure cooking is you generally just throw your ingredients in, press a button and done! These appliances include so many functions, such as slow cooking a soup, searing some juicy meat, steaming veggies and much more!
Take a look at last week’s blog post, Meal Prepping with Your Grill for more information, helpful tips to get you started and why now is the perfect time to start!
Below are the supplies and ingredients we used to make our recipes. Any containers, Ziploc bags or other supplies you feel will make your meal prep more successful are welcome.
Supplies:
4 Tupperware Containers
Quick Quinoa & Chicken
Ingredients:
4-5 chicken breasts or 10 chicken thighs
2 ½ cups chicken broth
2 cups traditional quinoa
Directions:
Cube your chicken and add it to the inner pot. Pour the chicken broth on top. Choose the Poultry setting and adjust to 10 minutes.
Once your chicken is done cooking, use the quick release to release the pressure. Open the lid and add 2 cups of uncooked traditional quinoa and stir. Close the lid and set to high pressure for 4 minutes. Release the pressure once it is done cooking and divide into 5 portions.
5 Meal Prep Meals
Utilizing a Pressure Cooker is ideal, because it has so many functions and can make all the fixings you need from rice or meats, to veggies and more! The cooking process is made easy by literally just throwing everything in the pot and waiting for it to cook. This recipe was no different, we simply threw the chicken, quinoa and chicken broth in and voila! While you are waiting for those ingredients to cook, it’s a great time to prep the other ingredients. Once the main fixings are done, toss all the ingredients together for each meal with the chicken and quinoa and enjoy! Quinoa is a healthier option than using rice, but feel free to use whichever. We opted for chicken for each meal, but you can replace chicken with a different choice of meat if you wish. Meal prep meals are designed to be unique, so if you aren’t fond of any of the bowls or ingredients we used, then mix it up and make it your own!
Summer Salad:
Ingredients:
½ green apple, cored and diced
¼ cup pecans, chopped
¼ cup white onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, diced
¼ cup dried cranberries
1 lemon, juiced
2 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Combine all the ingredients, cooked chicken and quinoa in a container. Adjust lemon juice for your preference, season with salt and pepper and enjoy!
Buffalo Chicken:
Ingredients:
3 tbsp buffalo sauce
2 tbsp ranch or blue cheese dressing, if desired
handful of lettuce, shredded
5 Grape tomatoes, halved
¼ cup carrot, shredded
¼ cup celery
¼ cup cheddar cheese, shredded
green onion, chopped
Directions:
Combine the tomatoes, carrot, green onion, cooked chicken and quinoa in a container. Add the buffalo sauce, dressing, lettuce and cheese and stir to combine. Enjoy!
Taco Bowl:
Ingredients:
spoonful of taco seasoning
Toppings:
lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, cheese, green onion, black olives, diced jalapeno, corn, cilantro, lime wedge, sour cream and salsa
Directions:
Combine the taco seasoning, cooked chicken and quinoa in a container. Add your desired taco toppings (amount is your preference) and enjoy!
Crunchy Asian:
Ingredients:
1 packet mandarin oranges
handful of sliced almonds
¼ cup celery, chopped
1 green onion, sliced
¼ cup carrot, shredded
1/8 cup chow mein noodles
Dressing:
3 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Layer the cooked chicken, quinoa, mandarin oranges, celery, green onion, carrots, almonds and noodles in a container.
In a small bowl, mix together the dressing ingredients and store in the fridge until ready to serve.
When ready to serve, drizzle the dressing on top, mix to combine and enjoy!
Greek:
Ingredients:
handful of lettuce, shredded
5 Grape tomatoes, halved
¼ red onion, thinly sliced
¼ cup Kalamata olives
¼ cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
Dressing:
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1/8 cup olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
½ tsp basil
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp Dijon mustard
pinch of salt and pepper
Directions:
Add your cooked chicken, quinoa, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, olives, cheese and parsley in a container.
Combine all the dressing ingredients in a closable container and shake well until combined. Drizzle the dressing over the bowl, stir and enjoy!
If you need more recipe ideas, enjoy our included recipe book with easy to follow steps and check out another pressure cooker staple of ours, Low Country Boil. It’s a healthy and delicious dish that is ideal for meal prepping, because you just throw everything together and let your Pressure Cooker do the rest!
If you still feel unsure, there are so many outlets out there to help you with tips, tricks and recipes! We also have a YouTube channel and other helpful blog posts to help you get more familiar with your GoWISE USA product and find useful tips and recipes.
We appreciate every one of our customers and hope you found this post helpful with getting more familiar with your GoWISE USA Pressure Cooker. And don’t forget to share your experiences and creations with our products using the #GoWISEUSA on all of our social channels or join our GoWISE Creations community on Facebook.
A big thank you to the authors of the recipes we tested out. Check out the links below to take a look at the original recipes.
https://temeculablogs.com/pressure-cooker-chicken-quinoa-casserole/
https://cafedelites.com/balsamic-chicken-salad-lemon-quinoa/
https://www.thebewitchinkitchen.com/homemade-greek-vinaigrette/
https://saltpepperskillet.com/recipes/quinoa-salad-pecans-apples-cranberries/
https://www.lemontreedwelling.com/buffalo-chicken-quinoa-bowls/
https://www.lemontreedwelling.com/asian-chicken-quinoa-bowl/
https://www.lemontreedwelling.com/quinoa-taco-bowls
