Are you ready to go beyond pressure-cooked hard-boiled eggs? The next breakfast to try in your Instant Pot or multicooker is eggs en cocotte, French for "in pot" or ramekins more specifically. Traditionally, raw eggs are cracked into a buttered ramekin along with a splash of cream and, optionally, your choice of cheese, veggies, and herbs. The ramekins are then placed in a pot filled with a little bit of water. The lid goes on the pot, and the pot goes on the stovetop to boil the water and steam the contents of the ramekins until the egg whites set. It tastes like a cross between poached eggs and an omelette and is heavenly when scooped and spread onto fresh toast. A multicooker makes this process less than five minutes compared to the traditional method, which can take eight minutes to bring the water to boil and another six to seven minutes for the eggs to steam.
You will need an electric multicooker like Instant Pot or Crock-Pot Express, as pictured, as well as a trivet that will fit in the base of the multicooker's bowl and three small ceramic ramekins. We sautéed mushrooms and chives for our pressure-cooked eggs in cocotte, but you can also add in sautéed leek or shallot if you have them on hand. Just keep the overall veggie ingredients about the same so everything fits below the lipped rim of the ramekins.
If you have slightly larger ramekins, try cracking in an additional egg to fill it to just below the rim. A bigger vessel may affect your overall cook time, so be patient as you fiddle with what settings yield eggs the way you like them.
Consider this recipe a loose guideline to introduce the technique. The most important thing to remember is the multicooker will set those egg yolks FAST. So, if you love a runny yolk, start with setting it on a low pressure cook for one minute. Medium eggs, as pictured, will take two minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ghee, plus more for greasing
- 2 cups mushrooms, chopped (or other veggies of your choosing)
- salt
- 1 tablespoon chives, chopped
- 3 eggs
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
Directions
Using the sauté setting of a multicooker, melt ghee, then sauté mushrooms together, until tender, caramelized, and reduced to 3/4 cup. Season with salt to taste.
Meanwhile, grease the ramekins. When mushrooms are cooked, divide into ramekins. Top each with a teaspoon of chives, a freshly cracked egg, and a tablespoon of cream.
The multicooker pots are nonstick, and so you shouldn’t need to wash them. Simply add 2 cups of water to the bottom of the Instant Pot.
Add the trivet, and place the egg-filled ramekins on top. Secure and lock the lid of the multicooker. Pressure cook on low for 1-2 minutes. Quick release and immediately remove the top when the pressure has normalized. Carefully remove the ramekins. They’ll be hot, so use heatproof oven mitts or mason jar lifters (if you have them).
Serve with freshly toasted bread, like walnut levain as pictured.
(Photos via Brittany Griffin / Brit + Co)
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Anna Monette Roberts
As Brit + Co's Food Editor, Anna Monette Roberts has an insatiable appetite for developing tasty dishes. When she's not dreaming about her next meal, she's . . . well, probably cooking up her creations. Her favorite foods include chewy chocolate chip cookies, Rosé Champagne, and gooey French cheeses — in no particular order.
FAQs
Cover each ramekin with foil. Place the trivet in the inner pot of your electric pressure cooker and pour in 1 1/2 cups water. Arrange three ramekins on top of the trivet and carefully stack the remaining three ramekins on top of the first three. (If you have an additional rack, use it for stacking the ramekins.)
How many minutes does it take to boil an egg in a pressure cooker? ›
Place eggs in a single layer on the trivet. Seal the lid and cook on High Pressure for your desired time: 3 minutes for soft yolks, 5 minutes for medium, or 7 minutes for fully set whites (see below for exact cooking times). Once the cooking time is up, manually release the pressure.
Why do my eggs crack in the pressure cooker? ›
One Caveat to Pressure Cooker Eggs
If your eggs seem to be cracking more often, or are cracking before the whites are set, try cooking them at low pressure instead of high pressure.
What not to cook in a pressure cooker? ›
In fact, there are a handful of foods that just shouldn't be pressure-cooked. Among them are dairy and fried foods, as well as burgers and steaks.
What Cannot be put in pressure cooker? ›
6 Things You Should Never Cook in an Instant Pot
- Creamy Sauces. If there's one food group you should avoid in the Instant Pot, it's dairy. ...
- Fried Chicken. The best fried chicken is crisp on the outside, juicy on the inside and perfectly golden brown. ...
- Cookies. ...
- Burgers. ...
- Pie. ...
- Steak.
Promptly refrigerate eggs in their carton at 40°F or below, in the coldest part of the refrigerator. Avoid storing in side doors where the temperature varies. Cook eggs until the whites and yolks have solidified, to prevent food-borne illness.
What is the fresh egg rule? ›
If it sinks to the bottom, turns on its side, and stays there, it is very fresh. If the egg sinks but floats at an angle or stands on end, the egg is a bit older (a week to two weeks old) but still okay to eat. If the egg floats, it's too old and should be discarded.
How many minutes to boil eggs? ›
Start the timer – 6 minutes for runny yolks, 8 minutes for soft boiled, 10 minutes for classic hard boiled, 15 minutes for unpleasant rubbery whites and powdery dry yolks. Transfer into a large bowl or sink of cold water.
Is it safe to pressure cook eggs? ›
Pressure cooker hard-boiled eggs aren't any quicker to make (the pressure cooker's usual claim to fame), but here's why it's great: it actually makes fresh eggs easy to peel! If you happen to raise chickens or have access to really fresh eggs, a pressure cooker is the best way to make hard-cooked eggs.
How do I know when egg cooker is done? ›
You determine your doneness by the amount of water you add to the tray. The egg cooker comes with a small measuring cup with fill lines on it. On one side are lines for soft-boiled, medium-boiled, and hard-boiled eggs, and on the other side is a line for poached eggs and omelets — more on that later.
Pressure settings
At this pressure, water boils at 121 °C (250 °F) (described in vapour pressure of water article). The higher temperature causes food to cook faster; cooking times can typically be reduced to one-third of the time for conventional cooking methods.
What is the 5 5 5 method for eggs? ›
Seal Instant Pot and cook on High Pressure for 5 minutes. Let Instant Pot release naturally for 5 minutes. (Release any remaining pressure after 5 minutes.) Cool eggs in ice bath for 5 minutes.
Why does vinegar stop eggs from cracking? ›
Adding vinegar to the water helps the proteins in the egg white coagulate faster which further plugs any cracks in the egg.
Why did my egg explode while cooking? ›
The albumen or egg white, has more water than fat. It also has the majority of the protein found in an egg, about 40 different proteins to be exact. This network of proteins is complex and are folded onto one another. Adding heat or agitation can denature these proteins and break those strong bonds.
Can you put a ceramic dish in a pressure cooker? ›
If you have a ceramic pot for your pressure cooker, you can make a main dish and a side dish at the same time. It's perfect for one-pot meals. But did you also know you can make desserts in a pressure cooker? Get a springform pan to make fuss-free cheesecakes and custards that won't crack.
Can you put dishes in pressure cooker? ›
I now prefer the 7-Cup Round Pyrex Dish. It easily fits inside a 6-Quart Instant Pot and (my favorite part) it comes with a lid. So easy for leftovers – just pop the lid on and put it in the fridge! You can also use a stainless steel bowl or any other dish / bowl that is approved for cooking under high pressure.
What materials can go in a pressure cooker? ›
Container Material
- silicone actually insulates the contents from heat;
- glass and ceramic are slow to heat-up but also slow to cool down so these containers continue cooking the contents even after they've been removed from the pressure cooker.
- stainless steel heats faster, but also cools down quickly;
