Easy Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup — The First Recipe in the New Pot

Cody is on day four hundred and eighty of his sentence. AP exams begin Monday. AP English Literature is Wednesday May ninth at eight in the morning, AP US History is Friday May eleventh at eight in the morning. The exams are the kind of stress that requires a kitchen that runs itself, and on Saturday afternoon I bought myself an Instant Pot at Walmart on the May rollback. $59.99, marked down from $89.99 in the housewares aisle. The purchase came out of the savings envelope, which dropped to $498 after the purchase but is going to come back fast at the new shift-lead pay rate.

The Instant Pot is the appliance everybody on the cooking blogs has been talking about for two years. I had been resistant because it was expensive and because the kitchen had been running fine without one. The May rollback at $59.99 was the price I had been waiting for. Mama agreed at Wednesday dinner that the savings envelope was the right account to pull from for a kitchen tool of this kind, because the math on what the pot saves us across pressure-cooked broths and beans and stews is going to pay back inside three months at the cost-per-serving difference and the time-saved difference. Mama is, I have decided, the most cost-aware financial adviser I will ever have, even when the savings being analyzed are mine.

The pot came home in a big box. Mama and I sat at the kitchen table on Saturday afternoon and read the manual together for an hour. The pot has eleven pre-set buttons (soup, beans, meat, rice, multigrain, porridge, steam, slow cook, yogurt, manual, keep warm) plus a pressure-level setting and a time setting. The pot makes a small hissing sound when it is coming up to pressure. The pot has a quick-release valve on top that the manual is very specific about — you do not stand directly over the valve when releasing pressure because the steam will burn you. Mama read that line twice and made me promise.

The first recipe was Cookie and Kate’s easy Instant Pot butternut squash soup. The recipe is the right introduction to the appliance. Cubed butternut squash, an onion, garlic, ginger, vegetable broth, salt, pepper, all into the pot. Saute the onion and garlic and ginger in the pot using the saute function for three minutes. Add the squash and broth. Switch to manual high pressure for fifteen minutes. Quick release the steam (carefully, manual at hand, not standing over the valve). Blend smooth with the stick blender directly in the pot — the same Mrs. Henderson stick blender from January 2017 that has been earning its keep ever since. Stir in coconut milk and a touch of maple syrup off the pressure. Done in twenty-five minutes from start to plate, including blending.

The math: a small butternut squash $1.99, an onion, garlic and ginger from the kitchen, vegetable broth $0.99 from a carton, coconut milk $1.79 (used a half can; the rest will go into Friday’s curry), maple syrup. Total: about $4.77 for a pot that fed Mama and me for three meals.

The technique is the pressure-cook-and-blend. The Instant Pot at high pressure for fifteen minutes does what a stovetop simmer would take ninety minutes to do. The pot self-locks until pressure releases. The stick blender right in the pot means no transferring the soup to a separate blender, which means no extra dishes, which means the cleanup is the soup pot and a cutting board.

I made the soup Tuesday night, the night before the AP English exam. The kitchen needed a low-effort dinner because I had been studying on the back porch since three in the afternoon with my AP packet and a coffee. The Instant Pot ran while I outlined a final practice essay on a Wallace Stevens poem at the kitchen table. The pot beeped when the cooking time was done. I released the steam. I blended. The soup came out smooth and orange and slightly sweet from the maple syrup, with a small swirl of cream on top. Mama got home at seven-thirty from her shift. She sat down at the table. She looked at the pot. She said, baby, the kitchen got a new appliance and the kitchen is going to be different now.

She is right. The Instant Pot is going to live on the counter where the slow cooker has been living, and the slow cooker is going into the cabinet for the Sundays when the slow cooker is the right tool. The two appliances are going to alternate based on the timing of the dinner. The Instant Pot for fast pressure-cooked weeknight soups and stews and broths. The slow cooker for the eight-hour Sunday set-and-forget. The math on the next three months of dinners is going to come out cheaper and faster, and that math is the math the savings envelope earned.

The AP English exam is in twelve hours. The Instant Pot is washed and back on the counter. The pot is going to keep cooking. We are going to keep going.

The recipe is below, the way Cookie and Kate wrote it. The trick I want you to keep is the quick-release pressure (the manual valve) and the stick blender directly in the pot — do not transfer to a separate blender; the cleanup difference is the cleanup difference. Use the saute function to soften the aromatics first, then switch to manual high pressure for the cooking. The Instant Pot is going to change the kitchen the way Mrs. Henderson’s stick blender did in January 2017. Worth the rollback price.

French Onion Soup

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 4 large yellow onions, finely diced or thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup dry white wine (or dry sherry)
• 6 cups beef broth
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 thick slices crusty French bread or baguette, toasted
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese

Instructions

1. Caramelize the onions. Melt butter with olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the diced onions and stir to coat. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent. Reduce heat to medium-low, add sugar and salt, and continue cooking for 35 to 45 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until the onions are deeply golden brown and sweet. Don’t rush this step—low and slow is the key.
2. Add garlic and deglaze. Stir in the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Pour in the white wine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Let the wine cook off for about 2 minutes.
3. Build the broth. Add the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 20 minutes to let the flavors meld. Remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
4. Prepare the bowls. Set your oven rack about 6 inches from the broiler element and preheat the broiler to high. Ladle the soup into four oven-safe crocks or bowls set on a rimmed baking sheet.
5. Top and broil. Place one slice of toasted bread on top of each bowl. Pile about 1/3 cup of shredded Swiss cheese over each slice, letting it extend slightly over the edges. Broil for 2 to 4 minutes, watching carefully, until the cheese is bubbly, melted, and spotted with golden brown.
6. Serve. Let the bowls cool for a minute or two—they’ll be extremely hot. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 420 | Protein: 22g | Fat: 20g | Carbs: 38g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 1280mg