How to Use Your Instant Pot as a Slow Cooker
Updated Jun 18, 2024
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It is not as straightforward as you would think to use your Instant Pot as a Slow Cooker. However, with these tips, you CAN use your Instant Pot for slow cooking.
Many people purchased an Instant Pot to make their lives easier and to cut down on appliances. While the Instant Pot does a wonderful job making Instant Pot Rice, replacing the need for a rice cooker, and is superb at making yogurt, replacing the need for a yogurt incubator, an Instant Pot DOES NOT make a great replacement for a Crockpot.
While the slow cook function on a pressure cooker is not a useless Instant Pot Setting, like Porridge or Beans, it requires modifications.
Important to Remember When Using an Instant Pot as a Slow Cooker
- You must still have thin liquid in the inner pot. For the Instant Pot to reach and maintain a consistent temperature, it is crucial to have at least 1 cup of thin liquid in the inner pot. The slow cooker function will not work without the addition of thin liquid (water, broth, juice, etc).
- Layer correctly. Just like pressure cooking, be sure the thin liquid is on the bottom of the inner pot. If you have a thick sauce, such as BBQ sauce or tomato sauce, your pressure cooker will struggle to reach and maintain temperature.
- You have to modify the setting and time. The heat settings of low, normal, and high do not equally equate to the keep warm, low, and high settings on a slow cooker. Use my guide for converting recipes below.
- It shouldn't take more than 15-20 minutes to heat up. If after 20 minutes your Instant Pot is still heating, rather than counting down the cooking time, it is likely struggling to reach temperature. To override this, you can take the lid off your pressure cooker, press saute, and saute for 2-4 minutes. Hit cancel, and then reset the cooking time using the slow cook function.
- No pressure will be reached. When using the slow cook function on your pressure cooker, pressure will not be reached. Therefore, you don't need to worry about locking your lid or vent knob into place and you can remove the lid to check on your dish as desired. If you would like, you can use a glass lid, which will allow some of the liquid to evaporate, as a traditional slow cooker lid does.
Instant Pot Slow Cook Temperatures Explained
The Slow Cook Function on the Instant Pot can be adjusted to Low, Normal, or High Temperature.
- Low on the Instant Pot Slow Cooker Function is like the keep warm on a traditional slow cooker. The low setting reaches about 170 degrees F.
- Normal on the Instant Pot Slow Cooker Function is equivalent to low heat on a traditional slow cooker. Normal reaches 200 degrees F.
- High on the Instant Pot Function does not get as high as high heat on a slow cooker, but by adding 15 minutes per hour of slow cooking, you can experience similar results. High reaches about 210 degrees F, which is 10-20 degrees less than a slow cooker on high.
How to Use the Slow Cook Setting on the Instant Pot
Below this explanation, you will find a printable chart you can keep on hand to help you quickly remember how to slow cook your favorite slow cooker recipes using the Instant Pot.
- To turn on the slow cook function, hit the slow cook button on your pressure cooker.
- Hit adjust/pressure or toggle your knob to select between low, normal and high temperature.
- Use the knob or +/- buttons to adjust the cooking time, which should be able to be set in 30 minute increments. Remember to add 15 minutes of cooking time per hour if cooking on High.
- Once the cooking time is set, the Instant Pot will heat and once fully heated, the cooking time will begin.
- After the cooking time elapses, most models will default to keep warm (be sure it is selected by hitting the keep warm button if not lit up.)
Click on Picture to access the DOWNLOAD and print.
Should I Get Rid of My Slow Cooker?
NO! If you have space for both a traditional slow cooker and an Instant Pot, I would highly recommend keeping both, as both serve their purpose. A slow cooker will produce more consistent results for crockpot recipes and you don't need to worry about adding thin liquid.
However, if you only have space for one appliance, I would still recommend purchasing the Instant Pot and with this guide, you CAN slow cook using your Instant Pot.
Slow Cooker Recipes to Instant Pot Recipes
While this post was designed to teach you how to use your pressure cooker as a slow cooker, the whole purpose of the Instant Pot is to SPEED up cooking.
Here are some of my favorite Slow Cooker Recipes that I have used as inspiration to create Instant Pot versions.
- Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas to Instant Pot Pork Tacos
- Slow Cooker Steak Fajitas to Instant Pot Steak Fajitas
- Slow Cooker Baked Ziti to Instant Pot Creamy Pasta
- Slow Cooker Pulled Pork to Instant Pot Pulled Pork
If you still have questions, please leave them in the comments and I will do my best to answer!
Hi Kristen,
If I were doing bone broth (a `24 hr cook) on the slow cooker feature of my pressure cooker I would select the medium temp based on your comments above? The manual's temps are as follows:
Low- 176-80
Med- 180-190
High-190-210
thoughts?
Hi Raymond! I would need to know what temperature the original recipe says to slow cook the broth on. If it is on low setting, you would use medium. If it is for high setting you would use high and increase time. I hope that helps.
Do you keep your lid on vent? I'm guessing you don't want it on sealing.
Hi Maggie! On the slow cooker function, your Instant Pot does not ever get hot enough to fully seal, so it really does not make much difference.
I use the glass lid for instant pots when using the slow cooker mode.
Hi! Thank you so much for this article! I am slow cooking a simple bbq pulled chicken recipe in my instant pot on the slow cook setting. The recipe calls for 6-8 hours on low, and since I’m using frozen chicken breast, I set the IP for 8 hours on Normal. Does that sound right to you? I’m testing it out because I’m making slow cooker chicken tacos for a group later this week. I could always use my crockpot, but wanted to learn how to use the function on my IP.
After the 8 hours, will the IP automatically switch to keep warm? Why is the “Keep Warm” button lit when I have it set to “Normal”?
Thanks for your help!
Hi there, I would never put frozen chicken in the instant pot on the slow cooker function. The instant pot will not get warm enough quick enough to safely cook frozen chicken. Instead I would use my Instant Pot chicken breast recipe for frozen chicken and then add in the BBQ sauce at the end and leave on keep warm. I hope that helps.
I know this is an old post, so I'm not sure if you'll see this. But if there's any way you could answer my question, I would appreciate it! (Thank you very much for this post, by the way; it's been very helpful.)
I was just gifted a new instant pot last week. I'm hoping to be able to get rid of my slow cooker, which is old, and I don't have the space for both that and the instant pot. My standard crockpot post roast recipe is: chuck roast, surrounded by carrots, sprinkled with onion soup mix. When making it in my crockpot, I have never had to add water. It sounds like in the instant pot I would need to add water, even when using the slow cooker feature?
Hi Claire! Congrats on your new Instant Pot! If there was any way to keep the slow cooker as well, I think you would be happier in the long run, as the IP does not work the same as a slow cooker. BUT I completely understand space issues. For the slow cooker function, you do NOT technically NEED liquid (because the it will not be coming to pressure), but I have had no success with the Instant Pot holding temperature on the slow cooker function without the water--hence, why I recommend the liquid. If you would like to make chuck roast with carrots, you may want to check out my recipe for Instant Pot Pot Roast. Feel free to use add your onion soup mix to the recipe as well.
Thanks so much Kristen! I will definitely give that a try.
Could you perhaps give me some real specifics on how to cook ribs slow cooker mode in the Instant pot. Do you cook them whole on their side, or do you cut them into pieces? How long would you cook them? And do I have to put water in the bottom? I never did that in my slow cooker ...
As I said before, I’m in the dark. I would appreciate any help.
Hi Libby, personally I would not use the slow cooker mode on your instant pot for ribs...I would use my recipe for Instant Pot Ribs. https://amindfullmom.com/instant-pot-ribs/
Hi there:
Do these same principles apply for the Ninja 101C pressure cooker? I was wondering because I had the same issues with the slow cook function.
If you could confirm that would be great!
Thanks a bunch!
Hi Lynda, from my research, yes. The Slow Cooker function is not effective on other brands of pressure cookers as well. Sorry
Thanks to your article, I’m ordering a slow cooker today. After a slow cooker recipe listed cook time as 4 hours on high, my Instant Pot meal wasn’t bubbling or cooked after 7 hours. This was my second slow cook fail in my IP. Buying a slow cooker is well worth it for me not only to save time but to not waste food or money using the IP slow cook feature. Interestingly, wonder if using the glass IP lid vs. the main lid made for slow cook feature delayed the cook time even more? There is a vent hole on the glass lid and does fit securely.
Hi Ryan! I am glad you found this insightful. I think you will be happy to have both an instant pot and slow cooker. And I tested a glass lid and saw no difference, but that is a GREAT thought. Sometimes the simplest things make the biggest difference.