When your electric kettle is broken and the stove is occupied, the best way to boil a pot of water is by using your instant pot! These step-by-step instructions on How to Boil Water in an Instant Pot have 2 methods to try, and will also give you tips on what to use the water for!
Boiling water is one of the most basic things. When man figured out how to make fire, you can be sure that boiling water was not far behind. Boiled water is essential for cooking. Raising the temperature to a boil can kill impurities in the water, and also in the food you cook in it. But when the stove and water kettle both fail, what can you do? Using your Instant Pot is an easy and quick fix! Follow my easy steps below to learn how to use your instant pot to boil water.
👋 Why this is so handy
- It doesn’t boil over: If you opt for the sealing method, the lid on your pressure cooker is completely sealed meaning you can set it and forget it.
- Any kind of water: Tap water or bottled water – whatever your preference is for cooking!
- It’s quick and easy: The pressure cooker is only on for 3 minutes once it reaches the needed temperature. It was about 10 minutes in total for me which is much quicker than the traditional method of boiling water in a pot on the hob.
- Less energy: As it takes much less time than on the stove with a regular pot, you save on energy which is pretty important these days!
- Frees up the stove: If you’re cooking a large meal, you can consider the instant pot as an extra ring on the stove to boil potatoes for example.
🗝️ Key items needed
- Instant Pot: Any kind of electric pressure cooker is perfect for this job. I used my Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Smart Cooker which has a 5.7L capacity.
- Water: Safe drinking water is perfect for pressure cooking in your instant pot. Here in the North East of England, we drink tap water as it is extremely good quality. Bottled water would be fine too. I don’t recommend carbonated water.
🫧 How to boil water in an instant pot
Method 1: For 1-2 cups of water
1. Prepare your instant pot: First thing, make sure it is clean and has no extra components like the steamer basket inside.
2. Add water: Add the water to the bottom of the pot inside the instant pot. You can use either hot or cold water, however, hot tap water will take less time to boil than cold. Be sure to measure so you don’t go over 2 cups!
3. Select the saute function: Press the sauté button on the bottom left of the instant pot, and make sure it is on high pressure.
4. Allow it to boil: You’ll know the water is boiling when bubbles start to appear on the surface of the water. This is called a rolling boil. It takes 5-6 minutes to reach a boil.
5. Serve: The water is now ready to use!
Method 2: For more than 2 cups of water
1. Prepare your instant pot: Make sure it is clean and has no extra components like the steamer basket inside.
2. Add water: Add the desired amount of water to the inner pot of the instant pot. You can use either hot or cold water, however, hot tap water will take less time to boil than cold.
3. Seal the lid: Place the lid on top of the instant pot and make sure the float valve on the instant pot lid is set to the “sealed” position as opposed to “venting”.
4. Turn on the instant pot: All you have to do is press the pressure cook button on the bottom right.
5. Set it on high pressure: Make sure your instant pot is set on high pressure to ensure a higher temperature when it’s finished. This is the hottest setting on the instant pot. When it’s finished, I like to also leave mine on “keep warm” but it’s not vital.
6. Set the cook time: Adjust the cooking time to 3 minutes and after a few seconds the digital screen will switch to “on”. Now it will begin to build pressure until it reaches the higher pressure and temperature, and then it will begin counting down from 3 minutes.
7. Quick release: After the 3 minutes are up, switch the valve on the lid to “venting” to release the pressure quickly. We want to be as close to the boiling point of water, and a natural release on the pressure cooker will cool the water too much.
8. Serve: After the floating valve has dropped, remove the lid and serve!
🪄 Notes and Tips
- Caution: Hot water! Yes, this water will be HOT when it’s finished boiling so be very careful when handling the instant pot, especially when switching the valve from sealing to venting. I recommend using oven gloves to protect your hands as hot liquids can burn terribly.
- How much water? As much as you need! Use the sauté mode for a little water and pop the lid on for more water. If you’re cooking vegetables or pasta with it, you’ll need enough water to submerge the food. Make sure you don’t pass the “Max” line on the inside of your instant pot.
- Keep it hot! Have you used the sauté function before? It’s so handy for cooking in the instant pot! The best way to retain the heat of the water is to switch the pressure cooker on to saute mode after it’s finished venting.
🤔 What to use instant pot boiled water for
- Boil vegetables for a dinner side dish
- Boil potatoes for mashed potatoes
- Boil swede to make mashed swede (rutabaga)
- Boil parsnips for parsnip puree
- Instead of a rice cooker for Instant Pot White Rice (love this!)
- Make shredded chicken breast meat (from fresh or frozen!)
- To make regular or gluten-free pasta
- To make an emergency cup of tea when the kettle has died
- Other hot drinks like hot chocolate or coffee
- Chinese Hot Pot – boil the broth using the sauté method. You’ll want to start on low and then increase the heat to high for this method.
💯 What is boiling temperature?
Water boils at 100°C/212°F.
🤷♀️ How does an instant pot work?
It’s really simple! By completely sealing the pot so no air can escape or get in, the pressure cooker builds and builds an atmospheric pressure to a super high heat and sustains it until the heat is off. The heat energy inside is perfect for breaking down and cooking tough foods like beans and meats really quickly. For example, you can have refried beans from scratch in less than an hour instead of soaking the dry beans overnight and boiling them for quite a while the next day.
A point to note is that there must be a liquid of some form inside the pressure cooker in order for it to work properly. I like to add a cup of water to most foods that I make in the instant pot like this shredded chicken. The water molecules turn into gas under high pressure which penetrates the meat and cooks it to fall-apart tender!
❓ More cooking questions to check out
- How Long Does Ranch Last?
- How to make Frozen Meatballs Taste Delicious
- Is Sugar-Free Jello Keto?
- Is Ginger Keto?
- How to Cook Sausage Links In The Oven
Have you boiled water in an Instant Pot? How did it go? We’d love to know <3 Tag us (@makehealthyrecipes) on Facebook and Instagram, Pin it on Pinterest, and please leave a star rating review below! Don’t forget to subscribe to the email list (top right of this page) for sparkly new recipes in your inbox.
How to Boil Water in an Instant Pot (2 Ways!)
Ingredients
- Water
- Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker
Instructions
For 1-2 cups of water
- Prepare your instant pot: First thing, make sure it is clean and has no extra components like the steamer basket inside.
- Add water: Add the water to the bottom of the pot inside the instant pot. You can use either hot or cold water, however, hot tap water will take less time to boil than cold. Be sure to measure so you don't go over 2 cups!
- Select the saute function: Press the sauté button on the bottom left of the instant pot, and make sure it is on high pressure.
- Allow it to boil: You'll know the water is boiling when bubbles start to appear on the surface of the water. This is called a rolling boil. It takes 5-6 minutes to reach a boil.
- Serve: The water is now ready to use!
For more than 2 cups of water
- Prepare your instant pot: Make sure it is clean and has no extra components like the steamer basket inside.
- Add water: Add the desired amount of water to the inner pot of the instant pot. You can use either hot or cold water, however, hot tap water will take less time to boil than cold.
- Seal the lid: Place the lid on top of the instant pot and make sure the float valve on the instant pot lid is set to the "sealed" position as opposed to "venting".
- Turn on the instant pot: All you have to do is press the pressure cook button on the bottom right.
- Set it on high pressure: Make sure your instant pot is set on high pressure to ensure a higher temperature when it's finished. This is the hottest setting on the instant pot. When it's finished, I like to also leave mine on "keep warm" but it's not vital.
- Set the cook time: Adjust the cooking time to 3 minutes and after a few seconds the digital screen will switch to "on". Now it will begin to build pressure until it reaches the higher pressure and temperature, and then it will begin counting down from 3 minutes.
- Quick release: After the 3 minutes are up, switch the valve on the lid to "venting" to release the pressure quickly. We want to be as close to the boiling point of water, and a natural release on the pressure cooker will cool the water too much.
- Serve: After the floating valve has dropped, remove the lid and serve!
Notes
- Caution: Hot water! Yes, this water will be HOT when it's finished boiling so be very careful when handling the instant pot, especially when switching the valve from sealing to venting. I recommend using oven gloves to protect your hands as hot liquids can burn terribly.
- How much water? As much as you need! If you're cooking vegetables or pasta with it, you'll need enough water to submerge the food. Make sure you don't pass the "Max" line on the inside of your instant pot.
- Keep it hot! Have you used the sauté function before? It's so handy for cooking in the instant pot! The best way to retain the heat of the water is to switch the pressure cooker on to saute mode after it's finished venting.