If you're looking for a great vegetable side dish you can make in a pressure cooker, this Instant Pot spinach recipe is a great. Add bacon and it's a cheap great addition to any meal.

A bowl of spinach sits on a wooden table, steaming beside a checkered cloth, ready to enjoy from the instant pot.

Are you all about using your pressure cooker nowadays?? We know we are. We have made over 101 easy Instant Pot recipes and here is one focusing on vegetables! Ok so you can make this the healthy way or add a bit of bacon and/or diced pork and add a lot of flavor to it too. Either way this is a great side dish, or meal really, you can make in minutes.

We will admit, we wasn't a huge fan of vegetables when we was younger but after our mom served this easy spinach quiche over and over again that became of favorite of mine and we've been trying to incorporate more veggies in our meals ever since then.

Now our kids would probably rather eat a whole plate of vegetables instead of meat, go figure. We have tried different veggies to make and serve with meals over the years and surprisingly this buttery dish has become a favorite.

You shouldn't have trouble finding fresh spinach in the store and it is healthy for you so pack it in! Like we said, if you're going for the healthy side dish then skip the pork entirely but let us tell you it adds a wonderful flavor and aroma to this side dish.

Ingredient notes

You are going to start off with a bag of fresh spinach leaves. You can find them bagged, fresh in bins or in large plastic containers at the store. Make sure they are brightly colored, green, without any shriveling or brown.

Yellow or white Onions diced add flavor and texture in a cheap ways so we suggest that you add these into the mix.

Olive oil or avocado oil is necessary if you want to add meat (bacon or salted pork diced fine) that needs to be precooked before starting to pressure cook it all together.

As for seasonings we always add garlic to all our dishes and lightly seasoned with salt and pepper is all you need.

Diced bacon or salted pork pieces work well if you're going that route, or leftover ham bits would work great as well if you're making this after the holidays. Your choice…..

Ninja Foodi Option

Remember that these instructions work in a Crockpot Express or as one of our Ninja Foodi recipes as well. Using the high pressure function they all work similarly, except the latter uses the lid that is not attached.

If you want to make it crispy though you can in fact make a batch of air fryer spinach as well with this pot which is sure nice to have a choice.

Instant Pot Spinach Recipe

By If you're looking for a great vegetable side dish you can make in your Ninja foodi pressure cooker, this Instant Pot spinach recipe is great. Add bacon and it's great. Prep: 10 minutes minsCook: 4 minutes minsTotal: 14 minutes minsServings: 5 Save Recipe Saved! Pin Recipe Comment Print Recipe

Equipment

1 pressure cooker

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup bacon, or salted pork, diced – optional
8 cup spinach, fresh leaves
3/4 cup chicken broth, or vegetable broth
1/2 small onion, diced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder, or cajun seasoning, optional

Instructions

Turn your Instant Pot to saute, add 1 tbsp olive oil. Saute bacon, onion and garlic for 4-5 minutes stirring on and off until pork is cooked and onions are softened. Turn pot off/cancel button.
(deglaze your pot, link to how to do this in post) – basically you add chicken broth, scraping bottom of pan and stirring.
Add spinach to the pot and then add seasonings. Turn pressure valve to sealing and set manual pressure on high for 4.
Do a quick release when done and serve!