The best Instant Pots make delicious meals easily and quickly. Whether you're batch cooking, slow cooking, or making a delightful hotpot, an Instant Pot will soon become one of your favorite small kitchen appliances. Even the most basic Instant Pots can be used as rice cookers, while some higher-end options can air fry food.
Although an Instant Pot may sound like a pressure or slow cooker, it is so much more. The best Instant Pots can be electronically controlled and steam, slow cook, and even sauté or fry your food. Some models also have additional features like sous vide cooking. Several models are available, which are great for beginners and seasoned chefs. To help you choose the best Instant Pot, we will break down and assess the features and functions of each model.
In terms of price, one of the best Instant Pots on the market is also very affordable. The Duo Nova, our top-rated Instant Pot, comes in various quart sizes, including 3, 6, 8, and 10 quarts. It is priced at just under $100, which is great, especially considering seven different kitchen appliances are rolled into one. If you're looking for more kitchen gadgets to make cooking easier, check out our guides to the best rice cookers and bread makers.
The best Instant Pots we recommend in 2024
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While we haven't been able to test any of the units in this guide in person, we've instead honed in on top-rated brands and used our knowledge of the best features to help you make the right decision for your home, all for the best price.
The best Instant Pot overall
The Instant Pot Duo Plus is a great kitchen appliance designed to simplify cooking. It offers 9 functions, including pressure cooking, slow cooking, and sous vide, and is equipped with smart cooking programs and a large LCD display with step-by-step instructions. Its whisper-quiet steam release and remote release button also prioritize safety, and the appliance has an energy-efficient design that promises to use up to 60% less energy than traditional electric ovens.
The Duo Plus is comprised of a heavy-duty stainless-steel cooking pot, auto-sealing lid, and anti-spin design. It can serve up to 6 people. Its quick cooking reduces cooking time by up to 70% compared to traditional processes, and the dishwasher-safe components mean easy cleanup.
The best value Instant Pot
This Instant Pot is your guilt-free answer to all your fried food needs. The Instant Pot Duo Crisp lets you fry a range of food (think French fries, chicken strips, onion rings, and more) with 95% less oil.
The clever gimmick is from the brand’s best-selling Duo line. It takes all the great things about the Duo range but has added the air fryer component on top. The air fryer is a kitchen device with two lids. One lid you use for when you want to slow cook or pressure cook foods. The other lid is only used when you want to air-fry food.
One thing to bear in mind about this Instant Pot is that it’s quite bulky when it comes to storing it, and you’ll need to find room for the two lids.
The best Instant Pot for creative cooks
The Instant Pot Max is a standout addition to the brand’s range, with tweaks making it more capable than models. This includes the increased sustained pressure of 15psi, previously only found in stovetop pressure cookers, and amped-up safety measures, such as the automatic steam release.
Instant Pots are known for their speedy cooking, and the Instant Pot Max can cook up to 15% faster than previous models, making it a great choice if you want to upgrade.
The Instant Pot Max is an extremely customizable multicooker, meaning you can set it to exact temperatures and pressures. This is great if you’re an experienced home cook and no longer need to benefit from the presets built into other models.
However, the improvements of the Instant Pot Max come at a hefty price, and it can retail at over $200. If you’re just starting your Instant Pot journey, a more affordable model like the Instant Pot Lux may be better.
The best Instant Pot for experienced cooks
The Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus is the third release in the brand’s Duo line, and its features are the best so far. This Instant Pot has a larger LED screen than the Duo Nova and three more one-touch buttons for easy cooking.
This includes cooking a stock pot, using the Duo Nova as a rice cooker, turning it into a yogurt maker, warming food, or using it as a steamer. You can also bake and use this machine to sous vide food, slow cook, pressure cook, and sauté food.
The Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus has 11 safety features and is available in two sizes—a 6-quart option and an 8-quart model. However, some users criticized this Instant Pot’s ability to cook rice, and others found it tricky to navigate.
The best Instant Pot for customization
The Instant Pot Viva is a capable and affordable multicooker with nine modes and easy-to-use controls. In addition to the classic stainless steel design, it is available in five colors: black, blue, cinnamon, copper, and eggplant. That makes it the perfect pot for adding a pop of color to your kitchen or coordinating your Instant Pot with your countertop.
The Instant Pot Viva is extremely popular with users, with 97% of purchasers on BestBuy saying they would recommend it to a friend. This is likely due to its range of functions, including the new cake-making mode and simple interface, which makes it easy to operate. The Instant Pot Viva is also available in the 8-quart size, perfect for those with bigger households or who want to cater to family functions.
The Instant Pot Viva lacks later models' extensive features and customization options, such as the Instant Pot Ultra. It also doesn’t have air frying capabilities and only has ten safety features, while later models have 12 or 13. However, the Instant Pot Viva is an incredibly affordable and efficient appliance and would be a great addition to any kitchen.
The best premium Instant Pot
The Instant Pot Pro Crisp is impressive in terms of aesthetics and features. It has 11 different cooking modes and 11 smart programs, allowing you to cook your favorite meals at the touch of a button. However, for its hefty $215 price tag, the Pro Crisp is not distinctive enough from the Instant Pot Duo Crisp, the model that preceded it.
The Instant Pot Pro Crisp has certain tweaks that may interest those looking to upgrade their Instant Pot or those interested in their technical abilities. It has the widest temperature range of any Instant Pot model and can cook foods up to 450°F, which is ideal for the pot’s air frying function. It also has a new inner pot design, with fill markings and a flat bottom, for more even cooking.
If you’re taken by the new look of the Instant Pot Pro Crisp or want to capitalize on its new features, then an investment in this model is advisable, as it is a very versatile multi-cooker. However, if you’re looking for a cheaper alternative with almost all the same features, the Instant Pot Duo Crisp will not disappoint.
Instant Pot FAQs
Are Instant Pots pressure cookers?
Most Instant Pots primarily act as pressure cookers, with a tight seal around the lid that helps to create a large amount of heat and pressure within the pot.
Instant Pots usually have a few extra features compared to a conventional pressure cooker. The extra features vary across models, with some offering sauteing capabilities while others can be used as yogurt makers.
This is the general rule for most Instant Pot models, but there is the odd outlier across this multi-cooker range. For example, the Aura Pro model doesn’t function as a pressure cooker but instead essentially works as a slow cooker with additional features.
How do Instant Pots work?
As mentioned, most Instant Pots feature a tight seal that closes over a container. As this sealed container is heated, steam is trapped inside, which causes pressure to increase.
The increased pressure pushes the temperature past boiling point - you will be achieving a temperature within this sealed space that can't be achieved in a normal cooking atmosphere. It’s this increased temperature that speeds up the cooking process. And handily, as the steam is trapped within the sealed space, the food doesn’t dry out.
Are Instant Pots dishwasher safe?
Almost every part of an Instant Pot is dishwasher safe. This includes the stainless steel cooking pot, the lid, the steam rack, and the sealing ring.
The steam rack and inner pot are made of food-grade stainless steel, which means they are sturdy and won't rust or tarnish in the dishwasher. These are best placed on the top rack for cleaning.
The only part of an Instant Pot which isn’t dishwasher safe is the cooker base. This part plugs into your socket and is essential to heat your cooker, so it mustn’t get wet. To clean the cooker base, you can use a damp cloth.
Can you make Instant Pot hard-boiled eggs?
You absolutely can because an Instant Pot is really the small kitchen appliance that keeps on giving! Thanks to its high-pressure cooking capability, eggs can be perfectly boiled and easy to peel in under 15 minutes.
To make them, you’ll need your Instant Pot, the metal trivet the kitchen appliance has, and a pair of tongs to remove your eggs once they are perfectly hard-boiled.
Pour one cup of water into the Instant Pot, place your eggs on the trivet, and cook for two to 10 minutes, depending on how well-cooked you would like your eggs.
