Instant Pot Cowboy Beans and Rice Burritos

Sometimes you just want a burrito!

This Instant Pot recipe makes super fast, inexpensive and easy burrito filling. It is even kid-approved: my six year old ate two, and my four year old had no complaints (a rare dinner!). You will find it easy to make, healthy and nutritious!

My version is vegetarian as I use a veggie "ground round", but you can certainly make it carnivore-friendly by using ground beef, and I've included instructions for that.

This version is also on the mild side. If you want to spice it up, here are some ideas: use chipotle sauce instead of barbeque, add more chili powder (or some cayenne), add a small can of jalapeños, or chopped fresh jalapeños as a topping, or hot salsa.

I used roti instead of tortillas, which added a really nice flavour and I recommend giving them a try for the wraps. I picked them up at Walmart of all places - $2 for a pack of 10 which is about half the price of tortillas where I live!

I've mentioned this before, but I love my Instant Pot. I use it pretty much daily, and it has make cooking fun again! This is an affiliate link for the 6-quart pot, which I have; I find it perfect for our family of 4. Most meals we end up with leftovers, which I freeze for busy days when dinner seems daunting.

INSTANT POT COWBOY BEANS AND RICE BURRITOS

Filling Ingredients:

-->

·      ½ onion, diced

·      1 Tbsp oil

·      1 stalk celery, chopped

·      1 c. tomato juice

·      1 c. water

·      1 tsp chili powder

·      ½ tsp salt

·      1 tsp barbeque sauce

·      1 19 oz can beans, drained and rinsed (I used a 6-bean blend; use your favourite or whatever you have handy!)

·      1 c. white rice, rinsed

·      1 lb veggie ground round  (**I use Yves Cuisine veggie ground round, which is pre-cooked. You could use lean ground beef if you prefer.)

To Serve:

·      Grated cheddar

 ·      sour cream

·      Tortillas or roti

1.     Press Sauté button on Instant Pot, wait until it reads Hot, then add oil. Sauté onions until translucent. (** If you are using ground beef, add it with the onions and cook until it is brown and crumbling, then drain any grease off.)

2.     Add remaining ingredients in order. Crumble the ground round onto the top of everything else. Press it lightly so everything is submerged in liquid, but don't stir. Press Rice button and set vent to Sealing.

3.     When finished, allow to naturally release pressure for 10 minutes (that means just leave it alone after it beeps for 10 minutes!). Carefully release the vent to the Venting position, release remaining pressure and open lid. Stir to combine.

4.     Put in tortillas with grated cheese, sour cream and any other desired toppings to serve.

Optional toppings:

 Chopped tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, green onions, cilantro, salsa, whatever you like!


If you try this out, I'd love to hear how it turns out for you! 

Instant Pot Tomato Soup

When I learned about the Instant Pot, I knew I needed one immediately. And since I got it three months ago, I have never regretted the splurge. I love it and use it many times a week. Money well spent!

I have the DUO 60. It makes yogourt (delicious, easy yogourt), cooks rice, meat, soups and stews, steams, and even makes cheesecake! Amazing. Pressure cooking is new to me, and I've been having a lot of fun experimenting with new recipes.

Tonight, the kids wanted tomato soup, and we had no cans in the cupboard. Instant Pot to the rescue! I whipped up a batch of homemade in very little time. So here it is - vegan (leaving off the sour cream and using veggie broth), easy, fast and adaptable, as well as kid-approved (my three and six year olds gave it the thumbs up!)

INSTANT POT TOMATO SOUP

makes approximately 1 litre

¼ cup cashews
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
½ Tbsp basil 
1 Tbsp olive oil

1 28 oz can no salt diced tomatoes
1 ½ cups boiling water + 1 veggie bouillon cube  (or 1.5 cups veggie/chicken broth)
1 ½ Tbsp oats
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
 
Press Sauté on the Instant Pot with the liner in. Wait until it says Hot, then add the olive oil, and sauté the first six ingredients until onions are soft and translucent.

Add remaining ingredients. Set your Instant Pot to Manual, turn the dial on the lid to Sealing and adjust time to 5 minutes on high. Do a Natural Pressure Release of 10 minutes (ie, leave the pot alone after it beeps until it reads L00:10, or set a timer) then release the pressure by opening the lid dial to Venting.

Open carefully and use an immersion blender until you have a smooth consistency.

ADAPT IT:

I served with a dollop of sour cream and a dash of freshly ground black pepper. Fresh basil would be a nice addition. Or Parmesan. Or grated cheddar. Or cooked, shredded chicken.

Use the veggies you have. No carrot? No worries. Add chopped red pepper, spinach, kale, zucchini, whatevs! Public Service Announcement: if you hate carrots like I do, don't worry - you can't taste the carrot!

Cashews, nutritional yeast and oats are totally optional! They add depth of flavour, and the oats and cashews add vegan creaminess, but if you are fresh out of cashews, think it's weird to add oats to soup, and don't have nooch in the pantry, that's perfectly okay!

Increase the recipe at will, but remember not to fill the inner pot over 2/3 full for pressure cooking (no matter what the Max line says!). If increasing ingredients, there is no need to increase cook time.