One of my favorite Instant Pot meals

One of my favorite go-to recipes using my Instant Pot is lentils. I like this recipe because it takes just a few minutes to put together and cooks fairly quickly. In addition to it being tasty and healthy, the best thing about this recipe is it makes approximately 6-8 servings, so there’s plenty left over to freeze for future meals.  

2 cups lentils (rinse and drain in colander prior to cooking)

1 whole container vegetable broth

Plus 4 cups water

½ jar (approximately 12-13 ozs) marinara sauce

3-4 garlic cloves

Chopped carrots – approximately 15 baby carrots (use electric chopper for finer pieces)

1-2 tbsp olive oil

2-3 tsp vinegar (mild white balsamic)

2 tsp salt

Stir all the ingredients before closing the Instant Pot lid. Set the “pressure cook” button and add 10 minutes cook time. It may take 15-20 minutes for it to reach pressure due to the amount of liquid. When the timer reaches zero, fast-release the pressure, remove the lid, stir and serve. If it’s a little too thick, you can add water to make it as “soupy” as you like, or if it’s too soupy, you can cut back on the amount of water you add for the cooking process.

Some people like to add a few drops of vinegar into their bowl of lentils for added flavor; I add just a few drops of hot sauce.

The cooking ingredients can also be adjusted to taste. If you like a little more tomato flavor, add a bit more sauce. Same with the carrots, garlic, oil, vinegar, and salt. If you want to add more veggies, chop up a cup of celery and onion before cooking. You can experiment and find what best suits your taste.

I haven’t tried this in a slow cooker or crockpot, but it would probably adapt well by just adjusting the length of cook time for the lentils according to the crockpot instructions.

Enjoy!