There have been dozens of experiments on making hard cooked eggs in electric pressure cookers like the Instant Pot. Our conclusion was that you want to use low pressure to keep the whites from getting tough and cook them for only 5 minutes, releasing the pressure right away to prevent overcooking.
Similarly, people have experimented with soft-boiled eggs in a pressure cooker. We decided it was a waste of time because cooking them is so quick anyway.
And, likewise, poached eggs seemed more trouble than they were worth in the Instant Pot, and hard to get out of the little ramekin or egg cup, even when you used non-stick spray. We recommend using a saucepan for a few, or using a big kettle when cooking for a crowd.
But what about scrambled eggs? They present some special problems because they are so easy to over cook and they often stick the fry pan. And for a crowd, there might be some advantages to the pressure cooker.
A little experimentation suggested we were right. You can make any number of scrambled eggs in a bowl and steam them in the Instant Pot. And they come out well. There isn’t any huge time saving here, but there is some consistency. And, you don’t have to keep stirring and monitoring the pan every few seconds. You do still have to take them out pretty expeditiously to keep them from overcooking, though, but they probably won’t stick to the pan the way scrambled eggs often do.
We tried this recipe for one person (2 eggs) and for 2 people (5 eggs) and it was pretty easy once you arrive at the timing for your bowl configuration. We recommend 7 minutes.
Our recipe uses a bit of butter, since fat carries the flavor better. Don’t leave it out.
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tb milk (about)
- ½ Tb butter
- Salt and pepper
- Spray a small, heat-proof bowl with non-stick spray.
- Break the 2 eggs into the bowl.
- Add the milk, salt and pepper, and beat with a fork until more or less uniform.
- Add the butter.
- Put 1 cup of water in the Instant pot and add the trivet.
- Set the bowl on the trivet, and close the pot and its steam vent.
- Set the pot to Steam at low pressure for 7 minutes. The pot will start chugging away, heating the water, and then start counting down from 7 minutes.
- Release the pressure immediately after the timer is down and open the pot. The eggs should look mostly cooked.
- Stir them up with a fork to see if they are cooked through. Don’t worry if there are a littly liquidy, they will continue to cook in the bowl for another minute or so. If they really seem way too undercooked, just put the lid back on for a minute or so and they will cook some more. You want them to be sort of creamy, not really hard.
- Remove the bowl using a hot pad and fluff the eggs with a fork. Serve right away while still hot.
This is a great, great way to make consistent scrambled eggs with little to no effort. I set mine to 9 for 3 eggs and some egg whites and it was still a bit runny. So I threw it in the microwave for 30 seconds and they are now perfect. So fluffy! To get these results on the stove I would have had to have really been meticulous in stirring them. This is a keeper.
Grr, i had to microwave also. I cooked for 7 and let sit for an extra minute before releasing, and it was still 50% raw egg soup.
Your step-by-step directions left out the butter. I just cut the butter into smaller pieces and mixed it in with the eggs, salt and pepper. I used the silicone cake pan from Instant Pot’s store. Worked great.
What about the butter??
Sorry, I corrected it.
👍
This worked great. Your suggestion to cover again after fluffing the eggs if they were runny worked. I fluffed, added some grated gruyere cheese and covered for one minute. Delicious!
I made this exactly, but with 3 eggs. They came out perfectly. But I put the lid back on the keep them warm and when I got back they were over done. I’m wondering if you could decrease the cook time and do NPR. Would that work
Scrambled eggs are a sort of “eat it right now” dish. They will keep cooking as you observed. You can try reducing the cook time. I might work!
This seems like a lot of trouble to put everything in the pot, wait for it to come to pressure, cook for 7 minutes after coming to pressure and then having to yet again put the lid back on for more cooking if they are not quite done. Is it the consistency of the eggs that would warrant all this time? Not trying to be negative but I just don’t understand.
Yes, you are right. This is just a stunt to show silly things people claim they use their IP for. You can make very good scrambled eggs in 3-5 minutes on the stove, cooking them slowly. And you can monitor them better that way, too.
It’s actually far less trouble than stovetop scrambled eggs (set it and forget it), and much tastier!
I agree James. Who wants to drag out their pressure cooker to make a few scrambled eggs? I can’t imagine they would taste any different and takes so much extra time and effort. Some recipes are just kinda silly. Sorry everyone but just my opinion.
It could also be for people living on sailboats or RVS who don’t want to mess with their tiny gas stove. When sailing, I want to cook just about everything in my Instant Pot while at the dock. Sometimes you just need to think not everyone spends 100% of their time in their home kitchen. We travel 🙂
However, I’m a truck driver and got an instant pot, microwave, and George Forman grill. Space is limited so the instant pot can do many things. Plus it seals, so I can put it in a milk crate and strap it down. That way I can slow cook while Im driving. When I stop for the day dinner is ready right away. Restaurants all the time are too expensive.
About scrambled eggs: I love them so this is a great way to make a big bowl with a compact cooker and REAL important, very little cleaning up. I haven’t tried it yet but, I’m planning on experimenting with lining the bowl with a crock pot liner. I’ll try aluminum foil first.
A note to other truckers. Don’t bother with the multicooker or the Forman grill if you have a battery APU. It can’t handle the load. You need to have a diesel APU (or I suppose you could lug around a portable gas generator.
I completely agree. This was just a stunt!
I think what works for other people is okay. Who cares if it is too much for one and not another. Personally, I do other things while the eggs are cooking and I cannot do that on the stove. I enjoy experimenting making food in my instant pot and then sharing what I was able to do. My thought is to work smarter not harder. In fact today I made a perfect soft boiled egg in my IP, white done, yolk runny.
Since the instant pot will be our only cooking appliance on an upcoming road trip, knowing how to make good scrambled eggs is very useful.
You could also make them using the saute function at low power, but this way may get fewer things dirty.
Worked just fine for us, except we had to cook it longer than the recipe called for.
Seven minutes didn’t work for me either; the eggs (six) were still in liquid form. Tried the one-minute covering; didn’t help. So I steamed them for two more minutes, and they were cooked. The person that said nine minutes may be on target. The other thing is that the bowl I used didn’t leave much space on the sides so possibly this hindered the circulation of the steam. I may try this again with nine or 10 minutes and with less eggs and a smaller bowl. I like the fact that I don’t have to clean a “non-stick” skillet with eggs stuck to it.
most of the time variations are going to be from the amount of water used. just a little more water, and it takes more time to get up to pressure, which means the eggs are cooked for longer. not wanting to clean a spatula and a frying pan made me hunt for this recipe.
Has anyone tried say 18 eggs?? I often cook brunch for a crowd. If I can get consistent eggs for that many and not have to stir and heat up my kitchen, I would be thrilled.
Thank you! No more non-stick skillets for me.
They work fine, too.
Thank you so much! this is the FIRST time I’ve ever cooked scrambled eggs for a crowd and had them actually not stick. The eggs were moist and fluffy. Clean up the easiest I’ve ever had when cooking for a crowd.
I used my 8 quart instant pot and my old workhorse milk-glass mixing bowl 5″ tall and 6 1/2” diameter. I put in a dozen large eggs, put it on the instantpot trivet with about 1 1/2 – 2 cups water underneath. I had sprayed the bowl with canola oil spray, put in the 12 eggs, about 1/2 cup milk, a shot of hot sauce. Mixed well with a fork. added about 1/2 stick of chopped butter and mixed that in. Cooked on ‘steam’ for 9 minutes while I was busy cooking other breakfast parts. 🙂
Did quick release and found cooked eggs on outside of bowl with mostly liquid in the middle. I add salt and pepper and stirred done parts and undone parts well. Kept stirring until it started to thicken up like custard. I put the lid on the pot, left it on ‘keep warm’ and set a timer for 5 minutes while I went back to making toasts.
At the five minute timer, the eggs had finished cooking on there own and I mixed in shredded cheese and served. I think at this point I could have turned off the ‘keep warm’, put on the pot lid and could have let them set for about 20 minutes or so if I still needed time cooking other things. Turning the ‘keep warm’ off would have stopped the cooking process, but the warm pot and warm water would have kept the eggs warm in the lidded pot until I was ready with the rest.
THIS is how I will do eggs for a crowd from now now. Sooooo easy!
*side note…Last time I cooked for a crowd, I had actually tried microwaving scrambled eggs in the same bowl, same canola spray and the eggs stuck to the side like they do and it was a mess to scrub it clean. But using the same bowl in the instant pot and same canola spray and the glass bowl had no eggs stuck to it at all! It wiped right out!!!
Yup this is my new method of easy scrambled eggs when it’s my turn to cook for a large family gathering. 🙂
Perfect. Made recipe as stated. Butter a big plus. Added Chives and Bits of Bacon. No more fry pan for me
Made this recipe, but with 3 eggs the first time. Cooked them for 9 minutes. Perfect! Great recipe! Thanks James.