5 cheap Thanksgiving recipes to make in your Instant Pot

If you’re in charge of preparing Thanksgiving dinner for your family, you know things can get pretty hectic in the kitchen on that day.

But what if a $70 gadget could make your holiday a lot less stressful this year?

RELATED: 5 ways my Instant Pot pressure cooker makes life so much easier

Instant Pot Thanksgiving dinner recipes

The Instant Pot is an electric pressure cooker and so much more! It’s also a slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, sauté, yogurt maker and warmer.

I’ve been using my Instant Pot at least once a week for the past six months to save time and money.

Instead of reaching for the nearest takeout menu, I throw a few ingredients in my Instant Pot and have dinner on the table in about 30 minutes — sometimes less.

Cooking with the IP has been so easy that I was thinking it may come in handy for the upcoming holidays.

I’m not suggesting that anyone cook a full Thanksgiving dinner in the Instant Pot, but you could prepare side dishes in it while the turkey is in the oven.

Here are five Instant Pot Thanksgiving recipes that caught my eye:

• Instant Pot Green Bean Casserole with Bacon – The Typical Mom
• Pressure Cooker Cranberry Sauce – Pressure Cook Recipes
• Pressure Cooker Sweet Potato Casserole – Pressure Cooking Today
• Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes – The Baker Upstairs
• Instant Pot Pumpkin Apple Cake – The Typical Mom

Lifestyle blogger Justine Howell of The Typical Mom came up with the Instant Pot Pumpkin Apple Cake recipe, which I just had to try.

Here are the ingredients: 

• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup apples peeled and diced
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup vanilla frosting

Justine said there will be enough batter for two small cakes or one large cake.

To make this dessert, you’ll need a 6-cup Bundt pan. That’s smaller than the one you may already own. You can pick one up for about $11 on Amazon. (I got mine at Sur La Table.)

I created the video below to walk you through the process. Here’s the full recipe. 

Justine’s recipe called for a cook time of 23 minutes on high pressure with a natural release. She told me she doesn’t serve the cake until it’s completely cooled so that it continues to cook in the pan.

I put my cake in the Instant Pot for 30 minutes, followed by a 15-minute natural release. It turned out great!

In fact, Justine said on her blog that this cake is one of her favorite Instant Pot dessert recipes of all time — moist, dense and perfect for the fall.

If you already have some of the staples in your pantry, it should only cost about $5 to $10 to make.

More Clark.com stories you may like:

• 4 things to know before you buy an Instant Pot
• Instant Pot helped this woman lose 125 pounds and save $200 a month
• 5 steps to save time and money with Instant Pot meal prep