I know I can use my Instant Pot as a slow cooker, but should I? We’re giving you the scoop about if it’s all it’s cracked up to be.
I think before jumping into the question in the headline of this article, we have to answer a different one first. Can you use your Instant Pot as a slow cooker? Absolutely. In fact, it’s one of the appliance’s purposes. The Instant Pot is most often used as an electric pressure cooker but yes, it also has a slow cooker setting.
Should You Use The Instant Pot As A Slow Cooker?
An Instant Pot is great at cooking things fast. That’s because it’s intended to be used as an electric pressure cooker. It does amazingly well in this regard. You can drop all your ingredients inside and have a ready-to-eat meal in under an hour.
A slow cooker takes a longer approach to cooking, often taking between 4 and 12 hours to complete a meal. The longer you cook in a slow cooker, the more tender and flavorful your food. So, in theory, the Instant Pot’s ability to serve as both a slow cooker and an electric pressure cooker should make it a one stop shop for all your cooking needs, right?
Not so much…
Difference In Settings
First off, an Instant Pot has different settings than a traditional slow cooker.
Most slow cookers have three settings – Low, High, and Warm. Cooking on low obviously takes the longest, most models run around 190-200°F, but your patience is rewarded with tender flavorful dishes. The high setting is between 225-275°F and will cook most meals within four hours, and warm is a great setting for when your food is finished cooking to keep it at a reasonable temperature.
The Instant Pot’s slow cooker function also has three settings. They are Less, Normal, and More. Many cooks following slow cooker recipes might see that they call for a “low” setting and place their Instant Pot on “less.” But that would lead to a frustrating experience eight hours later when you return to your Instant Pot to find your meal nowhere near done.
In fact, Instant Pot’s less setting is not nearly as powerful as a slow cooker’s low setting. You’re mostly getting temperatures of 170-190°F. That’s too hot to warm your meal, but also not hot enough to cook efficiently. Normal ups the ante to somewhere around 190-200°F, while “more” clocks in at up to 210°F. That isn’t nearly as hot as the slow cooker is able to get.
Converting Slow Cooker Recipes For The Instant Pot
Since we can see that the settings don’t perfectly correspond between these two appliances, not all slow cooker recipes will work exactly the same in your Instant Pot.
If you are using a recipe meant for a slow cooker on low, set your Instant Pot to normal with the slow cooker function for the same amount of time. However, if your recipe calls for the high setting, you’ll need to use the ‘more’ setting as well as add 15 minutes per hour because of the temperature differences.
So a Crockpot recipe that asks you to cook on high for 4 hours, will need to be cooked on more in the Instant Pot for 5 hours.
| Slow Cooker Recipe | Instant Pot Setting |
| Low | Normal |
| High | More, plus add 15 min/hour |
Different Cooking Methods
To further understand why the Instant Pot isn’t a direct replacement for the slow cooker, you need to understand how these appliances work in slightly different ways.
A slow cooker heats from the bottom and sides. That heat spreads so the heavy ceramic bowl of the slow cooker will soak it all up and heat all over. It’s designed to stay heated for long periods of time, but it also allows evaporation to escape as it cooks.
An Instant Pot derives its heat from the bottom, but the thin metal pot that it uses does not have the same heating effect as that of a slow cooker. It’s intended to use that heat to create steam that pressurizes the pot and cooks quickly. There are glass Instant Pot lids for use with the slow cooker setting that allows steam to escape. You could also make sure to keep your Instant Pot on venting instead of sealed when slow cooking in it with the regular lid. You may still want to use less liquid when adjusting recipes for the Instant Pot because there may not be as much liquid evaporating.
In Conclusion
They say it’s better to be great at one thing than it is to be mediocre at many things. The Instant Pot is an amazing electric pressure cooker, but it was not designed to be a slow cooker and is nowhere near as efficient as a Crock Pot when it comes to playing the long game.
If you already have one, keep using your slow cooker and stick to fast efficient recipes with the Instant Pot. If you only have the Instant Pot, it will work as a slow cooker if you keep in mind the recipe conversion advice above.
This post originally appeared in September 2018 and was revised and republished in July 2022.
The instant pot works great as a slow cooker for me but, quite simply, you have to always use high (“more” in IP language), and don’t bother with the other two settings.
Another thing I like to do for meat and stew dishes sometimes is to pressure cook for 10minutes or so, then stop the cooker and slow cook for 6 to 8 hours. That’s good for tough mutton or goat dishes.
Lovely.
Thank you for sharing that info with us, Anthony!
I am very dissapointed in all of these reviews that I have read on this post, I have a new instant pot ultra and was so happy to downsize my small appliances, then I read all of your reviews and I am ready to take it back. Luckily I am a stubborn soul and decided to try it out. I put my 4 lb roast in the IP slow cooker after searing each side, I set the heat to high and the time to 9 hours as per all of you info, after 5 hours of cooking the aroma was fantastic so I decided to check. Potatoes and carrots are so tender and the roast is falling apart, So I am glad I did not listen to all of the negative posts.
Based on feedback, it seems some models work better in this regard than others. I appreciate you sharing your instant pot model and your results with us, Peg!
I LOVE using my 8 qt instant pot as a slow cooker. I always keep the vent open and always use the MORE setting. Recently made a 6 lb chuck roast with whole baby carrots, potatoes and radishes with a red wine sauce. Cooked it on More for 6 hours and the meat fell apart and the veggies were perfect. It makes best creamy Tuscan chicken with spinach when cooked on More for 3.5 hours. The key is to use the More setting. Also, I have always used a slow cooker vs. a crock pot. If your appliance has a ceramic insert it is a crock pot not a slow cooker and there is a difference. Whenever I use a friend’s crock pot I can never get the right heat, it’s either too low or too high so being used to the slow cooker settings for the past 28 years lends to using the instant pot as a slow cooker very easily.
Thanks for the info, Debbie!
This is interesting to me because my duo evo plus slow cooks just fine. Remember that you have to set it to vent when using the slow cook function. I haven’t tried many recipes, but the flavors I get from my slow cooker seem to replicate in my instant pot. My settings seem different than described in this article and almost all these comments, so maybe the instant pot model I have works better because it’s a newer model? I’ll have to make a couple recipes side by side to confirm.
Thanks for letting us know, David. Perhaps newer models have improved that function.
LOL why would anyone want to use a slow cooker when an Instant Pot will produce the far better results in 20% of the time?
Only an Instant Pot can brown (saute 3 different levels) the meat first to produce delicious brown gravy. Deep pot so no greasy mess like you get with a frying pan. Then pressure cook for a few minutes so cheap tough the meat melts in your mouth.
Thank you and yes after buying the special slow cooker lid for my IP I am super disappointed. I cooked a chili on the more setting for 8 hours and carrots were still a bit crunchy. Glad I didn’t get rid of my slow cookers and bummed I spent money on that glass lid 🙁
Sorry about that, LB. We do have an Instant Pot Chili recipe that’s great though!
I have been cooking in slow cookers for years and love the way my soups and pot roasts turn out. I also publish my recipes.
I recently got an 8 qt Instapot and made the same recipes with the slow cooker option. They did not taste as good as they did in my slow cooker. crockpot. There was a big difference in taste. I cooked a lamb roast with vegetables and while the lamb turned out great, the vegetables were half cooked after being in there for 6 hours on medium. It was quite disappointing.
I will try them again but with a different lid and hopefully that makes a difference. Plus I enjoy the smells of slow cooked food in my home which you don’t get with pressure cooking.
Thanks for your feedback, Maureen!
Kim, did you try to use a glass cover so that some evaporation can take place?
Thanks for your suggestion, Sarah. Have you had success with that before?
I have used the instant pot as a slow cooker for chili on the more temp. It takes the same about of time as the old crockpot, but the flavors are not the same. I don’t want to give up on the instant pot for slow cooking, but what can I do to get the flavor back?
The article is incorrect and the author needs to correct the information he is giving. I have been using my Instant Pot as a slow cooker for months now and it is a perfect replacement of a slow cooker.
YOU NEED TO HAVE THE VENT IN OPEN POSITION when you use the slow cooking option – I wish more people read instructions of the appliances they buy.
You have got 3 settings on temperature on the Instant pot slow cooker option : Low, Normal and High.
When using a recipe for a normal slow cooker if it says cook on LOW – use the NORMAL setting for the instant pot. If it says cook on High – use the HIGH setting plus adding extra 15 mins for each hour.
I have successfully made lamb shank that was absolutely divine and falling off the bone, beef stew, whole chicken, chicken breasts etc.
Update…I went through my IP booklet and found that it says to leave the vent in the open position when using the Slow Cooker function. However, I had already gone about 3 hours with my roast on the Slow Cook with the vent closed. For the last hour, I left the vent OPEN position. I am happy to report that my Roast turned out very good using the Slow Cooker setting of my IP. It was tender and the way we had hoped it would be…I will do it again for sure.
Yay! Thanks for coming back with the good news, Steve!
I am using the Slow Cooker feature for the first time…so it is interesting to read these comments…but a little late for me as I already have the roast cooking for 2 hours on ”more” setting. But I was wondering if the steam vent should be open or closed? I would think closed…?
Honestly, I’m not sure, Steve! Let us know how it turned out!
Thank you so much for this information! I tried my slow cook button for my favorite Mississippi Roast recipe. After 8 hours on “normal”, it wasn’t cooked! I was so disappointed since it comes out fabulous in a crock pot. I was hoping to replace two appliances with the Instant Pot…guess I’ll be keeping my crock pot too.
You’re welcome, Mary Jane! We think it’s best to keep the crock pot around too, but I understand wanting to cut down on kitchen appliances! Oh well.
An article I wish I had found 8 hours ago.
Oh no, Ng! Hopefully it will be helpful in the future.
I further agree. I set a full pot of Beef Stew (in which the meat had been browned using the sauté feature, so the pot was hot) to cook on the “more” setting for 10 hours. I just came home to it with 8 minutes remaining of those 10 hours and the carrots were still “al dente”. I took the temp and it was at 160, but that is not NEARLY what I expected from the highest setting there is. I set it to PC for 10 minutes to hopefully finish the stew so I can feed my family, but it was a little irritating given that, had the temps given for each setting been accurate, my food should have been MORE than done.
I agree. Tried to use my IP as a SC, and it was a major fail. Thx for this article.
I love my Instant Pot but I agree with the author that it can’t replace the slow cooker. I have cooked the same recipe (chuck roast) in both and the crock pot won hands down. That is why I’m reading this article. I read the directions and used the Nornal setting on the IP for the low setting but it was not nearly as tender or flavorful as from the crock pot. I’ve tryed several times with the same results. The IP would probably work fine for some recipes like soups.
So it seems like I still need a crock pot for slow cooking. I can not replace it with an instant pot.
DEB has a valid point and the authors explanation is mostly wrong..
The Instant Pot is a complex device that senses & then controls the *temperature* of the thick laminated aluminum/stainless steel bottom. And just as important a heavy cast iron inner shell tends to keep the same temperature around the sides of the stainless steel pot .. When the food reaches cooking temperature it does not consume energy so will automatically hold the temperature. The controlled temperatures range at the lowest the safe minimum 140 deg F for “Keep Warm”, Then 3 temperature levels for slow cooking the highest slightly below boiling so thick foods wont’s simmer and dry out at the bottom and at worst case burn. Then 2 levels of temperature for the 2 steam pressures. Then the highest 410 deg F for Saute.
By comparison inexpensive slow cookers have several levels of *energy* (watts) applied to the ceramic pot. And hot air surrounds the sides which also tends to heat the sides of the ceramic pot. The ones I have used simmer the food at 212 deg F which works well with enough liquids but would slight burn with thick food. As far as electrical costs both will be the same. The energy loss is only to the surrounding air and depends directly on the temperature difference.
There is not efficiency as I understand it to substantiate the statement “The Instant Pot is an amazing electric pressure cooker, but it was not designed to be a slow cooker and is nowhere near as efficient as a Crock Pot when it comes to playing the long game.” I think what you have describe is that the instant pot’s low setting is insufficient to actually cook a meal and there is problems with uneven heating for low liquid meals, but that is not what I understand to be efficiency.
I did use my instant pot just fine as a slow cooker and I was looking for information on efficiency of running it compared to a pressure cooker. I did it on medium and now I am wondering about the cost of leaving it on low and turning it into a “left over” slow cooker, where you just add to it so there is always a hot meal available.