We Love One-Pot Meals
We love the easy of one-pot meals. Particularly one-pot meals in an Instant Pot!
We also love the set-it and forget-it ease of using an Instant Pot. No more being concerned about boil-overs (and the clean up involved in that! Am I right?), boiling dry (another cleanup nightmare), or even overcooking. Okay, it is possible to overcook in an Instant Pot but, hey, that’s why we’re developing and testing recipes for you!
Yes, we’ve had let than optimal results, but those ones won’t make it to our blog, so you don’t have to worry about that.
Sunday Dinner
This recipe actually makes an amazing Sunday dinner.
It is a main dish with the herb-coated, whole cauliflower, carrots, parsnips and even gravy! You could even include whole, baby potatoes, if you like. (See the note in the recipe below.)
Complete Cooking Time
A lot of Instant Pot recipes proclaim “Cooks in only 4 minutes!” Well, technically, that’s true, but it’s not the whole picture.
Heck, we could say that this recipe cooks in only ONE minute! But that’s not really accurate.
We like to make sure you have the complete time in the Instant Pot so you can plan any other dishes you may be cooking to complement the meal.
For this recipe, here’s the breakdown of the timing, based on using a 6-quart Instant Pot:
- Time to come to pressure: approx. 19 minutes
- Cooking time: 1 minute
- Natural Pressure Release (NPR): 5 minutes (explained in recipe below)
- Quick Release (QR) time to release the rest of the pressure: approx. 2 minutes
- TOTAL INSTANT POT TIME: approx. 27 minutes
Here’s how we made Herbed Whole Cauliflower One Pot Meal (complete recipe is below):
Gather the Ingredients
Start by gathering together all the ingredients you’re going to need.
Herbed Whole Cauliflower Ingredients
Coat the Cauliflower
Combine all the ingredients for the coating and rub in on the whole cauliflower.
Yes, you’re going to have to get your hands dirty. It’s the best way the ensure that the cauliflower is evenly coated with the herb mixture.
Once coated, set the cauliflower aside until needed.
Coated Cauliflower
Prepare the Veggies
Peel and chop the carrots, parsnips and onion – then place them in the inner liner of your Instant Pot.
Combine the vegetable broth, lemon juice and thyme and pour it over the chopped veggies.
Chopped Veggies and Broth
Place the trivet in the inner liner of your Instant Pot and try to make it as level as possible.
A trivet with handles is HIGHLY recommended to make removing the cooked cauliflower easier. This way, you’re more likely to be able to keep the cauliflower intact.
Trivet on Veggies
Now, carefully place the coated cauliflower on top of the trivet.
Place Cauliflower on Trivet
Start the Cooking Process
Place the inner liner in the base of your Instant Pot.
Place Inner Liner in Base of Instant Pot
Close and lock the lid, ensuring that the Pressure Valve is in the Sealing position.
Press the Pressure Cook button (Manual button on some Instant Pots) and set the cooking time for 1 minute. Yes, that’s right, ONE minute.
It will take about 19 minutes for the pressure to build and then it will count down the one-minute cooking time.
When cooking time is complete, allow a 5-minute Natural Pressure Release (NPR). All that means is you just let the Instant Sit for 5 minutes.
After the 5-minute NPR is done, release the rest of the pressure by CAREFULLY turning the Pressure Valve from Sealing to Venting.
Releasing all of the pressure will take approximately 2 minutes and then the Float Valve will drop. (You can’t open the Instant Pot until the Float Valve drops.)
Carefully remove the lid.
Lid Removed After Pressure Release
Transfer Cauliflower to Pre-heated Plate
Carefully remove the trivet and cauliflower and transfer the cauliflower to a pre-heated dish.
Then place the cauliflower in the oven, at 170°F, to keep warm.
Cauliflower on Pre-heated Plate
Transfer Most of the Veggies to a Pre-heated Bowl
Next, transfer MOST of the veggies to a pre-heated bowl and place in the oven with the cauliflower.
You want to leave some of the veggies behind to add more flavor to the gravy.
Remove Most of the Veggies
Place Veggies in Pre-heated Bowl
Making the Gravy
Press the Off button on your Instant Pot and then Press the Sauté button.
Using an immersion blender, blend the remaining broth and veggies together until smooth.
Use Immersion Blender
Then, gradually whisk in the whole wheat flour until gravy is bubbly and thickened to the desired consistency.
Whisk in the Whole Wheat Flour
Press the Off button and then press the Keep Warm button to keep the gravy warm while you assemble the meal.
Completed Meal
Cut the cooked cauliflower into quarters.
Cut Cauliflower into Quarters
Then plate the meal (on pre-warmed plates, if desired), top with gravy, and any extra veggies (we added some boiled potatoes) and serve.
Herbed Whole Cauliflower One Pot Meal
Herbed Whole Cauliflower One Pot Meal
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 medium cauliflower whole
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced, for the coating
- 1 teaspoon thyme for the coating
- 1½ teaspoons herbes de Provençe or Italian seasoning, for the coating
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice for the coating
- 1 teaspoon paprika for the coating
- 1 teaspoon sea salt for the coating
- ½ teaspoon black pepper for the coating
- l large yellow onion chunked
- 4 cloves garlic whole
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1½ teaspoons lemon juice
- 6 medium parsnips peeled and chunked
- 6 medium carrots peeled and chunked
- 1 tablespoon whole wheat flour to thicken gravy
Instructions
- Rinse the cauliflower well and remove the leaves. Cut stem back so cauliflower can sit flush on the trivet.
- In a small bowl, mix together the coating ingredients - garlic, thyme, herbes de Provençe (or Italian seasoning), lemon juice, paprika, salt and pepper.
- Coat the entire cauliflower with the coating mix and set aside.We found the best way to coat the cauliflower was to use our hands. That way we got the surface of the cauliflower evenly coated. It’s messy, but it’s worth it.
- Cut the onion into fairly large pieces.Leave the 4 cloves of garlic whole.Cut the parsnips and carrots into large pieces.Place these all in the inner liner of the Instant Pot.
- In a measuring cup or small bowl, combine the vegetable broth, thyme and lemon juice and mix well.Pour over the chopped veggies in the inner liner of the Instant Pot.
- Place the trivet over the veggies and broth.
- Carefully place the coated cauliflower on the trivet.
- Place the inner liner into the Instant Pot base.Close and lock the lid, ensuring that the Pressure Valve is in the Sealing Position.
- Select the Pressure Cook button (Manual on some Instant Pots) and set the cooking time for 1 minute.(Yes, we know that doesn’t sound like much time but, trust us, it is.)
- When cooking time is complete, allow a 5 minute Natural Pressure Release (NPR).. All that means is to let the pot sit for 5 minutes before releasing the rest of the pressure.
- After the 5-minute NPR, release the rest of the pressure by carefully turning the Pressure Valve from Sealing to Venting.
- When all the pressure has been released, and the Float Valve has dropped, carefully remove the lid and transfer the cauliflower to a pre-warmed plate and keep in the oven (pre-warmed to 170°F) until ready to serve.
- With a slotted spoon, transfer most (not all) of the veggies to a pre-warmed bowl and place in the oven with the cauliflower, until ready to serve.
- Press the Off Button on the Instant Pot and the Press the Sauté button.We’re using what’s left in the pot to make the gravy.
- With an immersion blender, blend the broth and veggies until smooth.Slowly add the whole wheat flour, whisking constantly.The mixture will bubble and thicken.When the desired consistency is reached, press the Off button and transfer the gravy to a gravy boat or similar dish.
- Remove the cauliflower and veggies from the oven and serve.
- We cut the cauliflower into 4 wedges to serve and added the veggies and gravy to each plate.
- A side note: We boiled some potatoes separately to have with this meal, however, if we had had whole baby potatoes, we would have included them with the rest of the veggies in the Instant Pot, creating a truly one-pot meal!
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