Instant Pot Artichokes with Creamy Dip
This Instant Pot Artichokes recipe is so easy and healthy. You’ll love how fast it is to make them in a pressure cooker. Serve your cooked whole artichokes with a simple lemon mayo dip. This gluten-free and dairy-free recipe is also vegan-friendly.
Cooking whole artichokes in the Instant Pot is the absolute easiest way to cook this delicious, healthy vegetable. If you’re ever cooked them on the stovetop, you know that it takes forever to get them tender and cooked through.
With the pressure cooker, you literally just place the trimmed artichokes on your trivet stem side down, add a cup of water, and set the time. When you open the lid, you’ll find perfectly steamed and ready-to-eat artichokes to go with your favorite dipping sauce. I promise you it’s this easy! Let me show you exactly how to make these pressure cooker artichokes.
Why You Need This Recipe
- Save tons of time by cooking fresh artichokes in the electric pressure cooker as opposed to the stovetop.
- Artichokes are so healthy! They are a source of fiber, micronutrients, and antioxidants that support a healthy body. They also contain a type of carbohydrate known as a fructooligosaccharide that has anti-cancer properties.
- This simple recipe tastes fancy and is perfect for a dinner party, special event, or just a casual family dinner. In fact, when I was growing up, my mom let my sister and me choose one special recipe on our birthdays. Mine was always artichokes served exactly this way!
Ingredients
Fresh artichokes are the base of this easy vegetable recipe. Look for round, green artichokes whose leaves are tight to the center. Don’t use Jerusalem artichokes for this recipe as they are a completely different type of produce. The type of artichokes you might most often at the store are formally known as globe artichokes.
Water is necessary to get the pressure cooker up the pressure.
Mayonnaise makes the base of the dipping sauce. You can use regular or vegan mayonnaise in this recipe.
Salt and pepper help add flavor to the sauce.
Lemon juice adds a nice brightness of flavor to the sauce and goes so well with this green veggie.
Recipe Steps
Step One
Wash and pat dry the artichokes. Lay them on a cutting board and cut off the stems up to the base with a sharp knife. You want to base of the artichokes to be flat so they can be served standing up.
You can also trim the tops of the artichokes by roughly cutting off the top 1/2 inch. This is a nice thing to do as the tops of the artichoke leaves can sometimes be very sharp.
Step Two
Place the stainless steel trivet in the bottom of the Instant Pot. Add 1 1/4 cups of water to the bowl for steaming.
Step Three
Place the artichokes upside down (flat side side up) on the trivet. Lock on the lid.
Step Four
Use the manual setting to set the cooking time to 23 minutes on high pressure for large artichokes. Depending on the size of your artichokes, you’ll either need more or less time (see below). You can also either use the quick release or the natural release. I like a really soft artichoke, so I use the natural release for at least 10 minutes.
If you are using a medium artichoke, you can decrease the pressure cooking time to 18 minutes. For small or baby artichokes, I like to cook them for just 10 minutes.
Step Five
Make your dipping sauce by combining the mayonnaise in a small bowl with the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Serve your artichokes warm with the dipping sauce on the side.
Recipes Tips & Substitutions
- It’s best to cook the number of artichokes that you want to serve right away. In other words, artichokes don’t necessarily re-heat that well as they can turn mushy after they have cooked and cooled.
- You can try other types of dip or sauces for your cooked artichokes as well. Try a balsamic vinaigrette or just melted butter (or vegan butter) if you like. Some people also like to sprinkle some Parmesan on their cooked artichokes before serving.
FAQs
The best way to eat an artichoke is to pull off each leaf, turn it over, and use your teeth to scrape or bite off the last 1/3 of each leaf. You won’t be able to eat the whole leaves because they are too tough.
Once you get to the inside of the artichoke, called the artichoke heart, you will need to use a knife or a spoon to scrape out the fuzzy part. Then, you can eat the base of the artichoke, also called the artichoke heart. That is the best part, in my opinion.
You can cook about two medium-to-large artichokes in a 3-quart Instant Pot or up to four medium-to-large artichokes in a 6-quart Instant Pot.
You can either use a trivet or steamer basket to keep them from touching the water in the bottom of the pot. If you don’t have either of these, you can several pieces of aluminum foil bunched up into square shapes to keep the artichokes off the bottom of the pot.
Artichokes peak season is from March through May in most part of the United States. In California, though, artichokes grow almost the whole year. A good artichoke will have the leaves tightly closed.
Other Easy Instant Pot Vegetables Recipes You Might Like
- Instant Pot Whole Butternut Squash
- Instant Pot Asparagus
- Instant Pot Cabbage
- Instant Pot Cauliflower Mash
- Instant Pot Carrots
- Instant Pot Sweet Potato Mash
- Instant Pot Red Potatoes
Or, check out my entire index of healthy Instant Pot recipes.
I hope you make this recipe! If you do, please leave a comment and a starred review below.
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Instant Pot Artichokes with Creamy Dip
This Instant Pot Artichokes recipe is so easy and healthy. You’ll love how fast it is to make them in a pressure cooker. Serve your cooked whole artichokes with a simple lemon mayo dip. This gluten-free and dairy-free recipe is also vegan-friendly.
- Total Time: 48 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 4 large artichokes
- 1 1/4 cups water (for cooking)
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cut off the stems of the artichokes with a sharp knife so the bases are flat.
- Add the stainless steel trivet to the base of a 6-quart Instant Pot pressure cooker.
- Add 1 1/2 cups of water to the bowl for steaming.
- Place the artichokes upside down (base side up) on the trivet. Lock on the lid.
- Use the manual setting to set the cooking time to 23 minutes at high pressure. You can either use the manual release or the natural release (use a natural release of at least 10 minutes for a softer cooked artichoke).
- To make the dipping sauce, combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Stir to combine.
- To serve the artichokes, use tongs to place them on a large plate with the dipping sauce on the side.
Equipment
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Notes
- You might need to adjust the time based on the size of artichokes you are cooking. For extra large artichokes, set the time for 28 minutes. For medium artichokes, set the time to 18 minutes. For baby or small artichokes, set the time to 10 minutes.
- The best way to eat an artichoke is to pull off each leaf, turn it over, and use your teeth to scrape or bite off the last 1/3 of each leaf. You won’t be able to eat the whole leaves because they are too tough.Once you get to the inside of the artichoke, called the artichoke heart, you will need to use a knife or a spoon to scrape out the fuzzy part. Then, you can eat the base of the artichoke, also called the artichoke heart.
- The total cooking time for this recipe includes 10 minutes for the pot to come up to pressure, plus the cooking time and the natural release time.
- For vegan diets, use a vegan mayonnaise.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 23 minutes
- Category: Side dish
- Method: pressure cooker
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Diet: Vegetarian
Keywords: how to cook artichokes in an instant pot, easy artichokes recipe, pressure cooker artichokes
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Is there a specific reason to cook the artichokes upside down? Is it just so they will fit?
Can’t wait to try recipe!
I always do it that way when steaming, so I guess I carried it over! I’m guessing there might be some benefit from the steam that comes from the bottom of the pot (with the benefit being that the steam gets inside the leaves better). Thanks for asking! 🙂
I was taught to add vinegar to the water when cooking on the stove. Can you add vinegar to the water in an Instant Pot?
Yes, absolutely! You can do that. I’m guessing it might help keep the artichokes a nice green color?
This is wonderful! Thank you for the reminder! I tend to not buy artichokes because they take too long to cook and I am prone to burning things on the stove that I can walk away from. I have a question. Why do you put the artichokes in upside down?
★★★★★
Hi Robin, I put the artichoke upside down to help the artichoke steam since the steam comes from the bottom. It’s probably not necessary, but it’s how I always do it. 🙂
I love cooking artichokes in my Instant Pot. For medium to small artichokes, I cut them in half and pressure cook them for 5 minutes, let them natural release for 5 minutes and then release the steam. They come out perfect every time.
LOVE artichokes! cant wait to try this!
I never even thought about cooking artichokes in an instant pot. Looking forward to trying this!
I love how much you can make in an instant pot! These look delicious!
Looks so good! Can’t wait to try it out!