If you’ve never tried an Instant Pot or a kitchen gadget like it, you really don’t know what you’re missing. Multifunctional pressure cookers make day-to-day meal preparation so much easier. You can cook meats from frozen, cut cooking times by at least half, and toss a bunch of ingredients in the pot and cook them simultaneously.
While Instant Pot is perhaps the most well-known name in multifunctional pressure cookers, it’s not the only player in the game. There are a variety of other options on the market. We’ve included some of the best Instant Pot alternatives below.
Mealthy Multipot
One of the more attractive multifunctional pressure cookers you can buy, the Mealthy MultiPot has an LCD panel with icons and a sleek looking outside. Its dark steel exterior and high-tech looking panel give it a high-quality appearance.
The MultiPot is a 9-in-1 cooker: It’s a pressure cooker, slow cooker, sauté pot, steamer, cake maker, pasteurizer, yogurt maker, rice cooker, and a hot pot. It also comes with more accessories than some of the other brands, including a steamer basket and silicone mitts in addition to the typical trivet, measuring cup, spare silicone gasket, and spoons that many other brands include.
The Mealthy MultiPot comes in an 8-quart version and a 6-quart size. If you had to compare the MultiPot to an Instant Pot model, the best comparison would be to the Instant Pot Duo Plus.
Cosori CP016-PC
Cosori’s six-quart pressure, stainless steel cooker resembles Instant Pot’s line in many ways, but it’s very affordable and particularly easy to use. In addition to basic functions like sautéing and slow cooking, there are a variety of settings for specific dishes like soup, pasta, beans, steaming vegetables, baking, brown rice, and poultry.
You can create a variety of customizable programs with the Cosori CP016-PC, or just go with manual control when you’re confident about the dish you’re preparing. We also really appreciate extra features like indicators to tell if the lid is unlocked, the ability to switch between Celsius and Fahrenheit, and internal temperature monitors to watch for any unexpected problems.
Ninja Foodi
The Ninja Foodi is unique from the Instant Pot and other multifunctional pressure cookers because it has two separate lids: One lid for pressure cooking and a separate is for air frying. This means you can pressure cook and crisp your foods all in the same appliance.
With the Ninja Foodi, you can steam veggies, pressure cook a roast or even a cheesecake, and then turn around and air-fry a batch of French fries. You can bake, broil, and some models can even dehydrate.
Insignia 6-Quart Multifunction Pressure Cooker
Finding a low-cost pressure cooker you can buy with a budget under $50 isn’t always easy, but we’re making it a lot less challenging with picks like this reliable Insignia model. There are slow-cooker standbys like a 24-hour delay timer and a keep-warm function, along with many features that people now expect of Instant Pots, including dedicated buttons for cooking fish, beans, quinoa, rice, soup, meats or stews, and more – along with a handy sauté setting for prepping ingredients for a longer cook.
The Insignia 6-Quart Multifunction Pressure Cookermay not be quite as intuitive or powerful as an Instant Pot, but at these prices, it offers strong multifunctionality while helping you save money.
Comfee All-in-One Multicooker
Comfee’s multicooker is another excellent option if you are looking for a low-cost alternative that clocks in at around $50, while still providing tons of functionality. There are 12 different cooking programs on this pot, ranging from rice and pasta to steamed veggies and a sauté mode.
For more unique cooking projects, like cake or yogurt, you can program your own DIY cooking program (some experience is required to make this turns out all right). The Comfee All-in-One Multicooker also more traditional options like a 24-hour timer and keep warm function. Keep in mind that it is a bit smaller than most of our other picks at 5.2 quarts, and there’s no option to upgrade the size, so it may not be the best choice if you want to make especially large meals.
Crock Pot SCCPPC600 V1 Pressure Cooker
Crock Pot’s popular brand is put to good work here with this Instant Pot alternative that sports eight different fast cook settings for stews, beans, rice, yogurt, and more. The six-quart inner pot is easy to wash in your dishwasher, and the cooker uses plenty of welcome safeguards for keeping the lid locked while pressure is high.
The Crock Pot SCCPPC600 V1 is an excellent pick for those who want a simpler, more affordable version of the Instant Pot that still offers plenty of the same advantages — and from an experienced company to boot.
