Instant Pot Taco Rice

This comfort food combines taco-seasoned meat with cooked rice and salsa in a hearty bowl of family-friendly food. This recipe is great to serve a crowd, too. Use the Instant Pot for easy clean up!

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This is not a pressure cooker recipe, but I am including it in my Instant Pot on Campus series for a couple of reasons. First, this recipe is a family favorite which my son has cooked on the stovetop many times under my tutelage. I'm posting it on my website so that he can access it without sending me texts at 10:49pm asking how to make it.

Second, using the Sauté function on the Instant Pot or Mealthy (or Brown on the Presto) makes your electric pressure cooker function like a high-sided electric skillet. When I make this dish in my 12 inch cast iron skillet I inevitably fling some of the contents all over the stovetop as I'm stirring. That results in a thorough cleaning not only of the skillet but also of the stove. Using the Instant Pot to cook this meal saves clean up!


The third reason I'm sharing this is because I think that electric pressure cookers are hidden gems for disabled cooks. Instead of having to strain to access a stovetop to brown meat--or pay to modify the stove height--cooks can position the electric pressure cooker on a convenient flat surface and work in comfort. Wear an apron and mind the splatters, though.

Shrimp and Garlic Scape Scampi

Shrimp seasoned with garlic scape pesto and parsley then tossed in a wine/butter/lemon sauce and served over pasta.  This is local seasonal eating. The high falutin' way.

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You're either here because you've got garlic scapes and want ideas for how to use them, or because you're looking for a different twist on the classic Shrimp Scampi. Either way, let's start with a little background info so that we're all on the same page.

What is a garlic scape?

Garlic grows in a bulb--like a tulip--and produces a flower. Unlike tulips, though, you don't want this flower--so you cut off the scapes while the flower part is still a tight bud. That's a garlic scape. Old Farmers [my Dad] say cutting off the bud forces enables the garlic plant to put all its energy into making a larger base or head or bulb. We're all about bigger bulbs of garlic, right?

Since garlic--again like tulips--ripens but once a year there's only one shot to get garlic scapes each year. If you don't grow your own garlic [and here's a DIY post on planting/harvesting/putting up a year's supply of garlic and pesto from one raised bed] you can find scapes at a farmer's market of from a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share. It is rare to find them in a grocery store which is all the more reason to eat locally--they are a versatile veggie!

The requisite Food (Blogger) Origination Story

The first time I made Shrimp Scampi was in high school.  In an effort to save money I decided to make my boyfriend our pre-prom dinner at home. [We went to different high schools and attended two proms--though I have no memory of actually going to his prom . . . perhaps we just ate shrimp scampi at my house instead?].

I got the recipe on a piece of lab paper from Miss Tigani, my high school biology teacher. That scrap of paper hasn't been seen in decades, but the basics of scampi--garlic, butter, parsley, lemon, white wine--stayed with me.  I thought the milder taste of garlic scapes would go nicely for my family.

See, while I would love me some garlic shrimp from the white shrimp truck on the North Shore of Oahu, I know that the resulting 3 days of garlic oozing from my pores would not be appreciated by my spouse.  So I'll stay on the mainland and create this instead.

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Instant Pot Vegetarian Breakfast Burritos

Use the Instant Pot to speed up your meal prep! In this recipe we'll cook eggs and potatoes at the same time in the electric pressure cooker then create Egg and Potato Breakfast Burritos, Egg Salad, and Mashed Potatoes. Cook once, eat twice, and get out of the kitchen to enjoy life!

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Welcome back to my Instant Pot on Campus series! I created this recipe series to help my son learn some basic recipes for when he heads back to school armed with an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. You can see my inaugural IPOC recipe, Spaghetti and Meatballs, right here.


Each of the Instant Pot on Campus recipes will have several things in common. These recipes use a small number of ingredients and have easy prep. I'll walk you thru what to buy at the store, what you'll need in the kitchen, what could go wrong and how to fix it, and how to Level Up when you're feeling fancy.


In today's recipe we're going to cook two building blocks--hard boiled eggs and roasted potatoes--and combine them in various ways to make a variety of meals. This Instant Pot recipe works for vegetarians and omnivores alike.

What to buy at the store

These ingredients are handy to have around because they keep well. If you only grocery shop once a week, use this as your go-to meal the day before you shop (kinda like your 'I'm doing laundry' outfit).

• Eggs (up to a dozen)
• Small potatoes (up to 3 pounds waxy Yukon or redskin type--NOT russet)
• tortillas
• cheese (cheddar or colby jack works great)
• Tabasco or your favorite hot sauce

I generally get my eggs from the local coop which means I'm getting whatever size the chickens are laying, but anywhere from Medium to Jumbo will work in this recipe. The larger the egg, the longer you may wish to cook to achieve a chalk-like yolk.

As for potatoes, the smaller the better works best in this recipe. You will not cut the potatoes before cooking, so choose egg-sized or smaller potatoes to make sure they are fully cooked.

If you've got a box grater, a block of cheese is generally cheaper per pound than a bag of shredded cheese. However, it's a timesaver just to open a bag and shake out what you need. Your choice! Same with tortillas. If you prefer breakfast tacos, get a smaller corn or flour tortilla. If you've got a bigger appetite, get the burrito-sized tortilla.