I’m a huge believer in using appliances to make your life easier. You may have one of these or all three. No matter which, you’ll find some new fun recipes that can even be made on weeknights!
A slow cooker is usually used to cook meals on low heat for a long time. It’s great for things like the Vegan Slow Cooker Mole Mushroom Taco Filling and can cook all day while you are away at work. If you’re new to slow cooking, start with a soup recipe like the Vegan Instant Pot Teff Vegetable Soup. This way you’ll be able to find out if your slow cooker runs a little hot without ruining your dinner. (Hint: If your slow cooker runs hot, you will need to add extra liquid to the recipe and/or cook for less time.)
An Instant Pot is actually a brand of multicooker that has a pressure cooker function. Not all things labeled multicooker do, so be sure to check that the one you want to buy does have a pressure cooker feature. The Instant Pot brand has a stainless steel insert that makes it popular, and you can sauté, steam, slow cook, pressure cook and even make soy yogurt in some models.
A question I get a ton is what’s the difference between a slow cooker and an Instant Pot, so let’s address that first. While the Instant Pot does have a slow cooker function, I don’t recommend using it in recipes where you are baking in your slow cooker, like the Slow Cooker Whole Wheat Spelt Potato Rolls. I also think the slow cooker function on the Instant Pot doesn’t do dried beans as well as its pressure cooker setting.
Okay, then, what’s an air fryer? Both slow cookers and multicookers cook with wet heat. The air fryer cooks with dry heat and uses the same technology that convection ovens use. The fan blows the hot air all around the food and makes everything nice and crisp. It makes the best tofu I’ve ever had and heats up leftovers quickly as another bonus.