When it comes to cooking for the holidays, people often think the dishes need to be plentiful — and with that, we agree. If there's one day for a truly lavish feast, it's a Christmas feast, and making more food than usual — with plenty of sides — is a time-honored tradition. But people also often tend to think this has to be done the slow, hard way … and that, we just can't get behind. With inventions like the Instant Pot, we can make holiday feasts come together way faster than before. These recipes are almost foolproof for anyone who is generally used to cooking in an Instant Pot, and run the gamut of main courses — including a spiral ham — to favorite side dishes that traditionally grace our holiday table to delicious desserts that are just so much easier in an Instant Pot that in an oven (and don't take up any of that precious oven space).
We love cooking for the holidays, and creating colorful, flavorful dishes that look as good as they taste. For anyone who wants to incorporate some delicious pasta on their Christmas table this year, some colorful Christmas pasta recipes will work wonders. They're tasty, they look great, and they add a pop of color to a spread that can often be monochromatic. While we love an Instant Pot, we are also not giving up our old-school slow cookers, either. These Crock-Pot Christmas dinner ideas can be combined with our Instant Pot recipes to create the easiest Christmas dinner imaginable. And while the kids have us getting up at the crack of dawn to open presents, Christmas breakfast recipes are our way of planning ahead for the adults in the room, so we can keep our blood sugar up without getting hangry (actually, that's important for the kids, too). For the baking-obsessed, how about some ridiculously cute Christmas desserts or Instagram-worthy colorful Christmas cookie recipes?
Instant Pot Candied Nuts
These Instant Pot candied nuts are a lovely way to start the meal — have a bowl out on the coffee table while the rest of the meal is being prepped. They also make a fantastic holiday present. Just fill small mason jars with them and tie with a bow!
Instant Pot Ham With Apple Cider & Brown Sugar
Instant Pot ham with apple cider and brown sugar is a fantastic — and seasonally appropriate — main course. Spiral cut ham is the ideal dinner for Christmas day, and these flavors come together perfectly in the Instant Pot.
Instant Pot Prime Rib Roast
This Instant Pot prime rib roast takes only 15 minutes of prep time and tastes amazing. It creates extremely tender, succulent meat — and a boneless prime rib roast is an indulgent main dish for the holidays. The gravy that comes with this is absolutely the tastiest, too.
Nourishing Christmas Pudding in the Instant Pot
This recipe for nourishing Christmas pudding in the Instant Pot is incredibly flavorful and traditional, despite using the Instant Pot. Made with dried fruits, warm spices, with flavors of orange, vanilla, and raw honey … it's also a relatively healthy dessert (which is always a bonus around the holidays).
Roast Beef Recipe
This succulent, juicy roast beef is tender enough to serve at the holiday table — despite being so simply cooked in the Instant Pot. We love that it takes just 10 minutes of prep time, so there's plenty left for spending time with the family.
Instant Pot Gingerbread Cheesecake
This Instant Pot gingerbread cheesecake is perfect for Christmas dessert — doesn't gingerbread just smell like the essence of Christmas, after all? Add the wonderful creaminess of a cheesecake, and this becomes a wonderful, indulgent dessert.
Smoky Pecan Brussels Sprouts
We make regular Brussels sprouts all the time — just tossed with avocado oil, salt, and pepper, then roasted in the oven at 425 until they smell good — but these smoky pecan Brussels sprouts is a way to make them special for the holidays. And they only take 15 minutes to make in the Instant Pot!
Instant Pot Macaroni & Cheese With Truffle Oil & Gruyere
Macaroni and cheese is a classic Christmas side, but this Instant Pot macaroni and cheese with truffle oil and Gruyere takes it to another level. It sounds — and tastes — really fancy, but it only takes five minutes of prep time. Truffle oil is definitely a bit of an indulgence, but a bottle only costs $10 at Cost Plus World Market, and it's used so sparingly in recipes, it lasts forever.
Instant Pot Scalloped Potatoes
For some folks, a Christmas dinner isn't a true Christmas dinner without scalloped potatoes. But the traditional recipe takes ages and a whole shelf in the oven. These Instant Pot scalloped potatoes provide all that amazingly creamy, cheesy flavor — without all the hassle.
Garlic Butter Herbs Instant Pot Potatoes
What's better than a good side of potatoes served with a beautiful Christmas ham or roast beef? These garlic butter herbs Instant Pot potatoes are so flavorful and perfectly textured — fluffy on the inside, golden and crisp on the outside.
Instant Pot Pineapple Brown Sugar Ham
Another version of the classic Christmas ham, this Instant Pot pineapple brown sugar ham is flavorful, and not in any way dry. The ham comes out tasting fantastic, and because it's made in the Instant Pot, it takes little effort to make it happen.
Holiday Instant Pot Wild Rice
This holiday instant pot wild rice takes regular wild rice — which is delicious all on its own — and amps it up for the holiday table. It's packed with great flavors from the herbs, crunch from the walnuts, and a little sweetness from the dried cranberries. It would be a great addition to any Christmas dinner.
Maple & Vinegar Braised Parsnips
In the winter, we love a root vegetable. These maple and vinegar braised parsnips are vegan, delicious, and a wonderful holiday side dish. With a little sweetness from the maple syrup and brightness from the balsamic vinegar, they're flavorful without being overwhelming.
Instant Pot Orange Ginger Carrots
This recipe for Instant Pot orange ginger carrots takes traditional glazed carrots, and lightens them up in terms of their flavor. Instead of being gooey and cloying, these are just slightly sweet, with bright citrus notes — a welcome break from the heavy flavors on the Christmas table.
Instant Pot Caramelized Sweet Potatoes
These Instant Pot caramelized sweet potatoes make use of either coconut oil, which gives them a lightly tropical flavor, or ghee, which is a form of clarified butter commonly used in Indian cooking. Ghee is easier for those who are lactose intolerant to digest, has a high smoke point, and tastes so rich.
Homemade Instant Pot Dinner Rolls
Soft, fluffy, and perfect — who even knew that proofing dinner rolls in the Instant Pot was a thing? These homemade Instant Pot dinner rolls take all the pressure and guesswork out of making fresh, hot rolls for the holiday table.
Instant Pot Garlic Butter Green Beans
These Instant Pot garlic butter green beans are the perfect side dish for the Christmas dinner table. They go with every main, and they're absolutely delicious. They're also so easy — and inexpensive — that we make them to go with a lot of meals all year.
Instant Pot Creamed Beets
These Instant Pot creamed beets are a fantastic, colorful side dish, sure to brighten up the Christmas table. The creamy, earthy sweetness of the beets is offset by a little crumbled feta and chopped chives.
Instant Pot Italian Cream Cake
For many families, Italian cream cake is an absolutely necessary part of the holiday tradition. This Instant Pot Italian cream cake may not be as classically traditional, but all of the amazing flavors of the original are there.
Sausage Apple Butternut Squash Soup With Crispy Kale
Some families like to start a Christmas dinner with a soup course while the turkey or roast is resting. If that sounds appealing, this sausage apple butternut squash soup with crispy kale is a good choice. This recipe includes instructions for both stovetop and the Instant Pot.
