Smarter Ways to Cook Easy One-Pot Dinners

One-pot meals promise less cleanup and easier dinners, but the best tool depends on what you’re cooking and how much time you have. 

Wirecutter senior kitchen writer Lesley Stockton breaks down the pros and cons of Dutch ovens, slow cookers, and pressure cookers, including when an Instant Pot makes sense and why she prefers a stovetop pressure cooker. She also shares some of her favorite recipes from risotto to whole fish, and where to find reliable one-pot recipes.

This episode covers: 

• How to choose the right equipment for your needs. Dutch ovens excel at deeply flavored braises, slow cookers offer inexpensive set-it-and-forget-it convenience, electric pressure cookers save hands-on time, and stovetop pressure cookers cook quickly.
• Why foods taste different cooked in a Dutch oven and pressure cooker. Dutch ovens allow moisture to evaporate, concentrating flavors and thickening sauces as food cooks. Pressure cookers trap moisture, so you may need to reduce the liquid afterward to get the flavor and consistency you want.
• Why you shouldn’t fear stovetop pressure cookers. Modern models have safety features, and they can release pressure much faster than electric pressure cookers. That makes it easier to add ingredients during cooking and build more complex flavors.
• Why you should think beyond stews and braises. Lesley uses pressure cookers for risotto, beans, eggs, and even whole steamed fish. Risotto takes just seven minutes at pressure, without the constant stirring traditional recipes require.
• How pressure cookers can make meal prep easier. Lesley’s favorite thing to make in a pressure cooker is stock and big batches of soup that she can freeze in individual portions. It’s a practical way to have homemade meals ready when you don’t have time to cook.

Other Resources For One-Pot Recipes We Love: 

• A great consolidated resource for one-pot meals: NYT Cooking One-Pot Dinner Recipes
• One-pot recipes from Lesley’s past: Martha Stewart’s One-Pot Recipes
• A dedicated pressure cooker resource: Hip Pressure Cooking by Laura Pazzaglia
• Christine’s favorite one-pot meals cookbook: Instant Family Meals by Sarah Copeland

Products we recommend: 

• A dutch oven made to last: Le Creuset Signature Enameled Cast-Iron 5½-Quart Round French Oven
• The best Dutch oven: Lodge 6-Quart Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven
• The best slow cooker: Hamilton Beach Set & Forget 6 Quart Programmable Slow Cooker
• The best electric pressure cooker: Instant Pot Rio 6-quart
• The best stovetop pressure cooker: Fissler Vitaquick 8.5-Quart Pressure Cooker

Additional reading:

• The Best Dutch Oven
• The Best Slow Cooker
• The Best Electric Pressure Cooker Is an Instant Pot
• The Best Stovetop Pressure Cooker
   

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The Wirecutter Show is executive produced by Rosie Guerin and produced by Abigail Keel. Studio support from Maddy Masiello, Nick Pitman, Kyle Grandillo, and Samantha Winter. Episodes are mixed by Catherine Anderson, Daniel Ramirez, and Sophia Lanman. Original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lozano, Elisheba Ittoop, and Diane Wong. Wirecutter’s deputy publisher and general manager is Cliff Levy. Ben Frumin is Wirecutter’s editor-in-chief. Hosted by Rosie Guerin, Caira Blackwell and Christine Cyr Clisset.

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