Instant Pot Creamy Cheesy Polenta
By @chef1
A simple and delicious recipe for creamy cheesy polenta made in the Instant Pot, featuring mozzarella cheese.
Recipe Rating
Not yet rated by chefs
Ingredients
- ●1 cup polenta (cornmeal)
- ●2 cups milk
- ●2 cups chicken broth
- ●1/2 teaspoon salt
- ●1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- ●4 mozzarella cheese sticks, shredded
Instructions
- 1In the Instant Pot, combine the polenta, milk, chicken broth, salt, and pepper. Stir well to ensure there are no lumps.
- 2Secure the lid on the Instant Pot, making sure the valve is set to 'sealing'.
- 3Cook on high pressure for 20 minutes.
- 4Allow a natural pressure release for 10 minutes, then manually release any remaining pressure.
- 5Carefully remove the lid. The polenta will look quite liquidy at this point, don't worry!
- 6Stir vigorously until the polenta starts to thicken and becomes creamy. This should only take a minute or two.
- 7Stir in the shredded mozzarella until it's melted and evenly distributed.
- 8Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Recipe details
- Cuisine
- Italian-inspired
- Category
- Side dish
- Preparation
- 32 minutes
- Cooking
- 38 minutes
Estimated total: 80 minutes. Planning estimate: stated duration ranges use their midpoint; standard preparation, heating and handling allowances are included. Overlapping tasks are counted once. Resting/chilling is included in total time.
How these estimates were calculated
- General setup: 5 min planning allowance (setup)
- Shred mozzarella cheese sticks: 10 min planning allowance (vegetable_prep)
- Combine ingredients in Instant Pot: 2 min planning allowance (transfer)
- Stir polenta mixture: 3 min planning allowance (mix)
- Secure Instant Pot lid: 2 min planning allowance (transfer)
- Instant Pot pressurizing: 15 min planning allowance (pressure_heat)
- Manually release remaining pressure: 3 min planning allowance (quick_release)
- Remove Instant Pot lid: 2 min planning allowance (transfer)
- Stir polenta to thicken: 3 min planning allowance (mix)
- Stir in shredded mozzarella: 3 min planning allowance (mix)
- Taste and adjust seasoning: 2 min planning allowance (garnish)
- polenta (cornmeal): USDA cup portion weight
- Using generic whole-grain yellow cornmeal as no specific type was mentioned.
- milk: USDA cup portion weight
- Using generic whole milk as fat content was not specified.
- chicken broth: USDA cup portion weight
- Using generic ready-to-serve chicken broth.
- salt: USDA tsp portion weight
- black pepper: USDA tsp, ground portion weight
- mozzarella cheese sticks, shredded: USDA piece portion weight
- Using DENNY'S mozzarella cheese sticks as a reference for generic mozzarella cheese sticks. Assumed 4 pieces are used, then shredded.
- polenta (cornmeal): 122 g · USDA reference 169697
- milk: 488 g · USDA reference 171266
- chicken broth: 498 g · USDA reference 174536
- salt: 3 g · USDA reference 173468
- black pepper: 0.57 g · USDA reference 170931
- mozzarella cheese sticks, shredded: 108 g · USDA reference 168076
polenta · cornmeal · mozzarella · Instant Pot
Estimated nutrition per serving
284 calories · 11 g protein · 37.1 g carbohydrate · 10.7 g fat · 2.7 g fiber · 1096 mg sodium
Source and basis: USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy (2018), ingredient-based calculation per serving. Standard USDA portion weights; all listed ingredient mass included before cooking losses. Full ingredient matches and assumptions below.
Recipe Context
This recipe was created with the following context in mind: