Category: Recipes

Instant Pot Beets with herb pesto

This recipe isn’t a traditional Ukrainian-Canadian recipe.  But, it’s all beets so you’re most of the way there.  I’ve combined red and golden / yellow beets here but either kinds work.  If you’re using both, keep them separated while marinating in the sauce – because red beets make everything red.

These beets can be made a day ahead.  With some time overnight in the fridge, they become even more flavourful.  A great make-ahead side dish for Easter. Continue reading “Instant Pot Beets with herb pesto”

Instant Pot Sunday Cream Chicken with potatoes and carrots

This recipe will curdle.  It’s just a fact of pressure cooking dairy with the Instant Pot.  But, it totally works out in the end, and no one will know about the (deliberately curdled) disaster.  Plus, it’s made in half the time. Chicken and vegetables are cooked separately with a pot-in-pot.

Chicken cooked in cream is a standard Ukrainian Sunday meal.  This recipe is a much faster, one-pot dinner in about an hour.

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Instant Pot Quick “Canned” Vegetarian-Vegan Borscht

This is my third recipe for borscht – a little different because this one is made (almost completely) out of canned vegetables. Bonus, there’s almost no chopping with julienne-cut beets in a can. Fast! Easy!

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Gluten-free Instant Pot Traditional Kutia

Kutia, a sweet mixture of cooked wheat, poppy seeds, and honey, is the most important dish of the Ukrainian Christmas Eve meal.  Part of the tradition is for everyone to eat some.  But, what if you have friends or family members who are celiac or avoiding gluten?

Here’s a kutia recipe that uses oat groats instead of wheat kernels. And, you’ll be done in 60 minutes!

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Instant Pot Easy Creamy Summer Borscht

This version of borscht is meant for the spring or summer.  It uses young beets and beet leaves along with fresh, summertime ingredients like dill, fresh peas and fresh broad beans.  Don’t have those things? Frozen dill, frozen peas and canned broad beans make great substitutes.

Also, a new technique that makes Instant Pot borscht-making even faster!

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Instant Pot Bukovinian Nachinka – Ukrainian Cornmeal Casserole with Bacon

Bukovinian Nachinka (known as Bukovynska nachynka) is similar to my traditional nachynka recipe for the Instant Pot. This is just as easy and has just a few extra steps to add bacon.

Bukovina? It’s one of those in-between-places in Eastern Europe. The northern portion of Bukovina is part of the Ukraine. I’m not sure what makes the addition of bacon more Bukovinian but that’s how it’s called in my recipe books.

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Instant Pot Studenetz – Head cheese – Jellied Pork Meat

Studenetz is a Ukrainian version of head cheese – with garlic. Studenetz is a staple all year round but mostly pops up at Easter. If you’re a vegetarian – look away and head over here now.

A traditional recipe takes way over four hours to cook on the stovetop plus assembling time – but less than half that time in the Instant Pot. It’s not “instant” but end-to-end I made this recipe in 4 hours total (then refrigerated everything overnight). This recipe uses the same ingredients as my baba’s recipe.

You either love studenetz or don’t touch it. But, this has turned out to be one of my most popular recipes.  So, there must be at least a few people who love it.

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Instant Pot prune filling for varenyky or pyzirhky

Now that we’ve made pyzirhky (or perishke) with farm cheese, potato and dill filling, this is a sweet option for the baked perishke [pear-eesh-keh].  This needs the dough for pyzirhky.  If you’re making both sweet and savory at the same time, just double that dough recipe.

The Instant Pot makes this filling basically the easiest thing ever. Throw everything into the Instant Pot while the dough rises and you’re done!

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Instant Pot bread dough for pyrizhky – baked pyrohy

Pyrizhky were one of my grandfather’s favourites.  He loved the portability of these tiny buns with cheese, potato, onion and dill filling. And, he’d advise me to keep a few in my pockets to have a snack at hand later.  Sound advice.

This recipe will take you from the dough through filling then shaping and baking.  These are delicious – even better with a creamy dill sauce poured over top. Pyrizhky freeze well. The Instant Pot makes the dough rising more reliable but admittedly not faster.

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Instant Pot farm cheese and potato filling for varenyky or pyzirhky

Springing forward, it’s time to start making more spring and Easter foods.  Here’s a great filling for varenyky or pyrizhky.  Pyrizhky? It’s a bread-based dumpling-bun.

This recipe uses the easy dry curd cottage cheese I made.  The filling is full of spring green onions and fresh dill.

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