Typically one would spend lots of time stirring and keeping an eye on stove top cooked polenta, but I’m here to tell you the Instant Pot makes one amazing version with minimal effort on your part. Let me show you How to Make Instant Pot Creamy Polenta.
Polenta is a wonderfully creamy and smooth cornmeal that is slowly cooked and eaten both savory and sweet. Best known in the Italian kitchen using cream and lots of cheese whisked in, it makes for a wonderful side dish, or as a base for other toppings or meat sauces.
I love to make it and while I enjoy the traditional cheesy method, often times I make a batch and pour it in a buttered dish to refrigerate and the next morning pan fry and drizzle with maple syrup for a switch up on the usual Sunday breakfast.
Today though we are staying savory and cutting the time and your elbow grease down by using the Instant Pot. Yes it can be done and I have the video to show you how easy it is, too.
Creamy, smooth and cooked completely, butter, cream and cheese get whisked in for a perfect bowl to serve and enjoy.
The trick in the past for me has always been the correct balance of water to cornmeal ratio. Well I’m here to say that it’s 4-to-1. Four parts liquid to one part cornmeal. Now this method using the Instant Pot takes that to the next level, and with no standing over the sputtering, hot pot.
Whether you choose to eat it this way, all creamy and smooth, or bake it, grill it, fry it up in a pan with some maple syrup drizzled on top, polenta is a delicious dish that is now easier to make with the Instant Pot method. On top of that, it’s gluten-free for those of you who need to watch that.
For today’s recipe I made it with added fresh herbs and it was the base for a tasty beef dish, but that post is coming later…. For now how about serving this with my Chopped Chicken Piccata or Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy and swap out the spuds. Enjoy!
How to Make Instant Pot Creamy Polenta
Ingredients
- 1 cup polenta
- 4 cups chicken stock (See Note 1)
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup heavy cream (See Note 2)
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 1 cup Romano cheese grated
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves loosely packed, chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves loosely packed, chopped
- ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the polenta to the Instant Pot and pour the chicken stock over. Add the salt and whisk to break up and lumps. Cover and cook on Porridge setting - High Pressure, Normal with a total of 20 minutes.
- When done, allow a Natural Release (See Note 3) Release vent value and open lid. Whisk to stir and add the butter and cream. Whisk to incorporate. Add the cheeses and herbs, whisk again until smooth.
- Serve with fresh cracked black pepper.
Notes
- Feel free to use vegetable stock or water.
- Feel free to use milk if you choose.
- Natural Release: per manufacturers instruction, this is when the cooker is allowed to cool down naturally until the float valve drops down. This may take 10-15 minutes after cooking is finished. After using the "Porridge" setting do not put steam release in venting position otherwise porridge will splatter through steam release. Use Natural Release.
- Did you know: If you're converting meat from a slow cooker to an Instant Pot, follow this rule: if the meat dish cooks in eight hours on low or four hours on high in the slow cooker, it will cook in 25-30 minutes in the Instant Pot. Make sure the Instant Pot setting reads "sealing" and not "venting" to ensure it's cooked properly.
Nutrition
I made this last night and thought it was delicious! We are big fans of polenta so I am happy to have such a great Instant Pot recipe for it. I have never used the porridge setting and wondered how it was different from manual. Because of the comments about burn notices I made pot-in-pot with a stainless steel steamer pan.
Excellent! Thanks for the tip here Laurie!
On my polenta it says – Cooks in 1 minute. Do I have still to cook it in instant pot for 20 minutes or as it says on the polenta package – 1 minute?
Helen, you must have an instant polenta, which I have never used. I would follow the package directions. It seems to be quicker than getting out your Instant Pot!