Recipes Everyday Cooking Instant Pot¨ Main Dishes 14 Mediterranean Diet Recipes to Make in Your Instant Pot By Vanessa Greaves Vanessa Greaves Vanessa Greaves is a Senior Editor at Allrecipes with nearly two decades of experience helping home cooks gain confidence in the kitchen. A self-taught cook who grew up reading cookbooks for fun, Vanessa lives and breathes the challenges faced by busy everyday cooks to get dinner on the table. Allrecipes' editorial guidelines Published on August 28, 2020 Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Diana71 Want a quick and easy way to make good-for-you recipes? Well, here's how you can easily combine the healthful eating guidelines of the Mediterranean diet with the time-saving convenience of a multi-cooker. To get you started, I'll share a quick overview of the Mediterranean diet plus easy recipes you can make in your Instant Pot or pressure cooker. What is the Mediterranean diet? This popular healthy eating plan emphasizes whole foods, fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains, healthy fats such as olive oil and avocado, and proteins such as chicken, seafood, nuts, beans, and legumes. In addition, you'll cut back on added sugars and processed foods, and eat dairy in moderation. You'll also cut back on added salt by using fresh and dried herbs to flavor your food instead. What are the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet? According to the Mayo Clinic, following this eating style can result in a longer life expectancy and lower rates of chronic diseases. In fact, it's been consistently ranked among the best diets overall. Do I have to eat only Mediterranean food on the Mediterranean diet? Not at all. There are many international cuisines that happen to fall within the guidelines, including Asian and Mexican food. Just be sure you make healthy ingredient choices, such as chicken or seafood instead of pork or red meat, olive oil instead of coconut oil or lard, low-sodium broths, and more herbs instead of added salt. 01 of 14 Instant Pot® Yardbird Chili with White Beans View Recipe bd.weld "I've made this recipe twice in the last month and we just love it! The Instant Pot makes it so easy. The only change I made the second time around was to cut the beans back by half a cup (this seemed to make the bean consistency less tough), increased the broth by a quarter cup and used a mixture of chicken breast and thighs. The flavor of this is amazing and it's just so hearty and perfect for chilly weather days!" — Heidi Nelson Thomas 02 of 14 Instant Pot® Chicken Cacciatore View Recipe France C To keep this easy recipe more in line with the Mediterranean diet, you can reduce the salt by cutting back on the bouillon cubes and bumping up the herbs. "Flavors meld together like they've been simmering all day in a fraction of the time," says kirby1kat. "A couple of small changes: I season the chicken prior to sauteeing. Instead of chicken bouillon cubes, I started using Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base as it contains much less salt and seems to have more flavor." 03 of 14 Instant Pot® Vegan Cabbage Detox Soup View Recipe Fioa "I loved it! Super tasty, I did not change anything, and it was perfect!" says Ildo76. "I was worried about not putting salt into it, but it was great as is!" 04 of 14 Instant Pot® Frozen Salmon View Recipe Mediterranean diet guidelines suggest you eat fish twice a week. With this easy recipe, you'll be able to stock up and freeze salmon when it's on sale, and cook it easily from frozen. "Salmon doesn't get much easier than this!" says thedailygourmet. "This turned out so moist and I like how it can be seasoned to individual preference." 05 of 14 Instant Pot® Lemon Rotisserie Chicken View Recipe Photo by Fioa. Be sure to choose low-sodium chicken broth for this easy recipe. While the skin might not be as crispy as what you'll get with an oven-roasted chicken, you'll still end up with plenty of tender chicken meat to use in recipes using rotisserie chicken. 06 of 14 Red Lentil and Yellow Split Pea Soup Made with a Pressure Cooker View Recipe Red Lentil and Yellow Split Pea Soup Made with a Pressure Cooker. Buckwheat Queen "Tried it with my pressure cooker and it was delicious," says yocook. "I also added 1/2 tsp of curry and a couple handfuls of frozen kale. We ate it over some brown rice and even my 6-yr-old loved it!" 07 of 14 Instant Pot® Chicken Posole Verde View Recipe Owen K "You can have posole without having to stand over the stove for hours. Let your multi-functional pressure cooker do the work for you. Garnish with avocado slices, lime wedges, sliced radish, jalapeno slices, and/or tortilla strips," says Soup Loving Nicole. (May we suggest baked tortilla chips instead of fried?) 08 of 14 Instant Pot® Greek Chicken View Recipe Instant Pot® Greek Chicken. FestivelySouthern "I made it pretty much 'as is' other than I kept the olives whole and roughly chopped the onion. Delicious! I'll make it again," says Judy Good. 09 of 14 Instant Pot® White Bean Soup with Prosciutto View Recipe Instant Pot® White Bean Soup with Prosciutto. Bibi Sort and rinse dried Great Northern beans, then add them to the Instant Pot with chicken broth, diced onions and garlic, bay leaves, and olive oil. Cook with high pressure 25 minutes. Then add carrots, celery, and prosciutto and cook for another 10 or 15 minutes. "An Instant Pot® is certainly handy when it comes to dried beans," says Bibi. "With less than 1 hour of active cooking time, this soup recipe is delicious and filling." 10 of 14 Makhani Daal (Buttery Lentils) View Recipe Makhani Daal (Buttery Lentils). Buckwheat Queen "My first thought was maybe I should cut back on the spices cuz it seemed so much, but I am certainly glad I did not!" says CCCooks. "Followed recipe & since I eat dairy free diet, used vegan butter & left out yogurt & this recipe is amazing! I'd give it 10 stars if I could...just that awesome!!" 11 of 14 Instant Pot® Chicken Tagine with Butternut Squash and Spinach View Recipe This Moroccan-inspired chicken tagine is made for the Instant Pot, so dinner's ready in less than an hour! Chicken thighs combine with butternut squash, spinach, garlic, and spices. 12 of 14 Instant Pot® Spicy Black Bean Soup (Vegan) View Recipe Instant Pot Spicy Black Bean Soup (Vegan). bd.weld "You don't have to soak beans when using an electric pressure cooker. Adjust the spices to your liking in this healthier, easy-to-make black bean soup that freezes well," says bd.weld. 13 of 14 Instant Pot® Spanish Chicken and Rice View Recipe Diana71 "This delicious arroz-con-pollo-esque dish is so easy to make with the Instant Pot," says Diana71. "Colorful, appetizing, and nourishing, this meal comes together in a flash and is chock full of flavor! I hope it becomes your next favorite weeknight meal. Squeeze lime or lemon wedges over if you like!" 14 of 14 Gluten-Free Northern Italian Autumn Minestrone View Recipe Buckwheat Queen "Typical autumn flavors from Northern Italy mixed with gluten-free pasta will warm you on a cool evening," says Buckwheat Queen. "Use any shape pasta you desire, even broken spaghetti works. If desired, the soup without the pasta will freeze wonderfully. Just cook the pasta in the soup once thawed." Related Recipes: 12 Classic Italian Recipes Made Easy in the Instant Pot Top Instant Pot Chicken Recipes More Mediterranean Diet Recipes Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit