Instant Pot Accessories: What's Worth the Drawer Space
Instant Pot Accessories: What's Worth the Drawer Space
Fifteen years of pressure cooking and I've accumulated a drawer full of accessories that seemed like good ideas at the time. A stacking steamer basket that wobbles. A silicone egg bite mold that makes eggs taste like the curry ring from last Tuesday. A spare sealing ring I bought for $8 that's still in its plastic wrap because the original hasn't died yet. I've spent real money on this stuff, and I've thrown most of it away. Here's what actually earns space in my kitchen, what I use weekly, and what I'd tell a friend to skip.
| Product | Price | Why it won | Why it lost |
|---|---|---|---|
 Instant Pot Silicone Sealing Ring (B08G4VN4C8) |
$8 | The curry ring problem is real; this is the cheap fix | Nothing, buy two |
| OXO Good Grips Collapsible Steamer Basket | $13 | The included steamer tray is useless; this one actually works | Requires buying separately |
| Instant Pot Stainless Steel Inner Pot (B072N7XS2B) |
$30 | Second pot means cooking rice and curry simultaneously | Takes up cabinet space |
| Egg Bite Mold | $15 | Made egg bites once, they were fine | Silicone absorbs odors, hard to clean, novelty wears off |
| Instant Pot Glass Lid |
$15 | Great for slow cooking and storing leftovers | Doesn't fit in the dishwasher |
Why you should trust me
I'm Tom. I've owned eleven pressure cookers over fifteen years, cooked over sixty recipes in them, and logged every meal in a spreadsheet that's become my kitchen bible. My dog Gus supervises from the floor while I cook for my family of five, and I've washed every single accessory by hand for six months because my dishwasher is broken. I know which accessories survive real weekly use and which ones end up in the back of a cabinet, still in the box.
How I picked
I tested each accessory for at least three weeks of regular cooking. I made curries, rice, steel-cut oats, oxtail, beans from dried, and enough hard-boiled eggs to feed a small army. I measured how long each accessory took to clean, whether it absorbed odors, and whether it actually improved the cooking process or just added another thing to store. I cross-checked my experience against verified buyer reviews on Amazon, looking for complaint patterns that matched my own frustrations.
The counter test applies here too. An accessory earns its spot if it solves a problem I actually have. The silicone ring problem is the biggest one. If you've made curry in your Instant Pot and then made plain rice a few days later, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The rice tastes faintly of curry. Not enough to ruin dinner, but enough to notice. A verified buyer named Patricia wrote in January 2024 that her ring "redeposits previous recipes' flavoring" and she had to deep-clean it to get it back to neutral. I've done the same thing. It's not a dealbreaker, but it's real.
Our pick: Instant Pot Silicone Sealing Ring (B08G4VN4C8)
The single best $8 I've spent on my pressure cooker. The silicone ring absorbs everything, and no amount of vinegar soaks or baking soda scrubs fully fixes it. I bought a second ring and swapped them based on what I'm cooking. Curry week gets the dedicated ring. Plain rice gets the clean one. The swap takes ten seconds, and the difference is night and day. My rice tastes like rice again.
The ring fits the Instant Pot Duo 6-quart and the 8-quart models. It's genuine Instant Pot brand, which matters because the third-party rings I tried were slightly thinner and didn't seal as well. One leaked steam during a pressure cycle and I had to start over. That's a wasted 40 minutes and a dinner that was late. The official ring is $8 and it's worth every penny to not deal with that.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: If you cook strongly flavored dishes weekly, you'll need to remember which ring is in the pot. I've forgotten a few times and gotten curry-flavored rice. My own fault, not the product's. The ring also stretches over time and needs replacing after a year or two of heavy use. At $8, that's not a real complaint.
This is for anyone who's ever made a strongly flavored dish and then wondered why their next batch of rice tastes like last week's dinner.
Runner-up: OXO Good Grips Collapsible Steamer Basket
The steamer tray that comes with most electric pressure cookers doesn't work. It's too small, the holes are too big, and the handles are flimsy. I threw mine away after the second use. The OXO collapsible steamer basket is what I actually use. It collapses flat for storage, expands to fit the pot, and has a handle that doesn't burn my fingers when I pull it out.
I use it for vegetables mostly. Broccoli, green beans, potatoes. Three minutes at high pressure with a quick release and the vegetables come out perfectly crisp. The basket holds about two pounds of vegetables, which is enough for my family of five. The stainless steel construction means it doesn't absorb odors, and it's dishwasher safe even though I'm hand-washing everything these days.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: The collapsible design means the basket can tip if you overload it. I've had broccoli fall into the liquid and turn mushy. That's user error, but worth knowing. The handles fold flat too, which makes them harder to grip when the basket is full and hot. I use a pair of tongs to lift it out. Minor inconvenience, not a dealbreaker.
This is for anyone who's looked at the included steamer tray and wondered why manufacturers even bother including it.
Upgrade pick: Instant Pot Stainless Steel Inner Pot (B072N7XS2B)
I bought a second inner pot so I can make rice and curry at the same time. The Instant Pot Duo comes with one stainless steel pot, and that pot is the reason I trust the machine. No non-stick coating to flake, extremely easy to clean, and it doesn't absorb flavors. But when you're cooking for five people and you need rice plus a main dish, one pot isn't enough.
The second pot is $30, which is less than the price of a standalone rice cooker and a fraction of the cost of a Zojirushi. It's the same thick stainless steel as the original, it works on my gas stove for browning, and it fits in the same machine. I've used it for steel-cut oats in the morning and chili in the evening, and it handles both without complaint.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: It takes up cabinet space when it's not in use. I store it with the lid off and it nests inside another pot, so it's not as bad as it could be. The second pot also means I have to store two lids, which is my pet peeve with two-lid designs. But for $30, having the flexibility to cook two dishes at once is worth the storage trade-off.
This is for anyone who's made rice and realized they can't cook the main dish in the same pot at the same time.
The competition
The egg bite mold is the biggest waste of $15 I've spent on pressure cooker accessories. I made egg bites once. They came out fine, but the mold absorbed the smell of whatever I cooked next, it was a nightmare to clean, and I could make the same thing in a muffin tin with better results. I threw it away after three uses. A verified buyer named Marcus wrote in March 2024 that his mold "retains odor no matter how much you scrub it" and he stopped using it after a month. That matches my experience.
The Instant Pot glass lid is $15 and it's fine, but it doesn't do anything the standard lid doesn't do. I used it for slow cooking once and it worked, but I don't slow cook often enough to justify the cabinet space. If you're using your Instant Pot as a slow cooker weekly, maybe it's worth it. For me, it's another thing to store.
The stacking steamer basket sets are a trap. They look impressive in the product photos, but they're unstable, they don't fit the pot properly, and the handles are too short to grab safely when the pot is full of steam. I've seen at least five verified buyers report the same issues. Skip them.
The silicone egg cooker that claims to make perfect hard-boiled eggs is another one I'd skip. I make hard-boiled eggs in the Instant Pot with the trivet that came in the box. Five minutes at high pressure, quick release, ice bath. Perfect eggs every time. No accessory needed.
The bottom line
The Instant Pot accessories that actually earn their spot are the ones that solve real problems. The silicone ring swap solves the odor problem. The collapsible steamer solves the useless steamer tray problem. The second inner pot solves the one-pot problem. Everything else is marketing fluff that ends up in a drawer. I've bought more than my share of that fluff so you don't have to. Save your money and your drawer space.