I've been cooking with pressure cookers for fifteen years, and I've learned one hard truth about the accessory market: most of it is junk designed to separate you from your money. The steamer tray that ships with most electric cookers is useless.
The egg racks are fine until you need to cook seven eggs and the rack holds six. And don't get me started on the silicone muffin cups that collapse the moment you close the lid.
But some accessories genuinely earn their spot in the drawer. I've tested dozens over the years, cross-checked verified buyer reviews, and narrowed it down to the ones I actually reach for on a Tuesday night when I've got five hungry people and forty minutes.
Here's what's worth your money and what should stay in the Amazon cart.
Salbree Steamer Basket for 6qt Instant Pot and Many Other Pressure Cookers
Salbree Steamer Basket for 6qt Instant Pot and Many Other Pressure Cookers.
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Instant Pot Magnetic Cheat Sheet Magnet - Instant Pot Accessories - Cookbooks Pressure Cooker Cooking Guide - Instapot Booklet - Instantpot Cooking - Kitchen Gifts for Women - Kitchen Gadgets
Sticks to the machine, no more manual digging, kids can use it
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2 Pack Sealing Ring 6QT for Instant Pot, Food-Grade Silicone Seal Rings Replacement for Instant Pot 6 Quart, Gasket for Instantpot Sealing Ring 6 Qt Clear, Blue
Fixes the curry-flavored rice problem for less than a pizza
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Accessories for Instant Pot, 73 PCS Accessories for Pressure Cooker for 5/6/8 Qt Electric Pressure Cooker -2 Steamer Baskets, Steamer Rack, Non-stick Springform Pan, Egg Rack
Cheap way to try everything at once
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Silicone Lid for Instant Pot 6 QT & 5 QT, 9.8IN Premium Pot Cover for Instapot 5 & 6 Quart Inner Pot, Reusable Silicone Lids for Bowl and Food Cover, Lid Accessories for Instant Pot
Turns the pot into a storage container, fridge-safe
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Accessories for Instant Pot, Sugaroom 100 PCS Pressure Cooker Accessories Set Compatible with Instant Pot Accessories 6 qt 8 quart-2 Steamer Baskets, Springform Pan, Egg Rack, Egg Bites Mold and More
More pieces than the other kit
Visit on Amazon →Why you should trust me
I'm Tom. I've owned eleven pressure cookers, cooked over sixty recipes in them, and logged every timing issue and cleanup frustration in a spreadsheet. My Ninja Foodi died after three years from a circuit board failure, so I'm currently testing the Instant Pot Duo as my replacement.
I cook dinner for five people every night, my dishwasher has been broken for six months so I hand-wash everything, and my dog Benny supervises from the floor.
I don't test with thermocouples. I test with real weeknight dinners.
How I picked
My criteria were simple. Does the accessory replace something useless that shipped with the cooker? Does it save me time or fix a known problem? And does it survive repeated washing, because I hand-wash everything and I'm rough on gear.
I used each accessory for at least two weeks. I checked verified buyer reviews on Amazon to see if my experience matched other people's. When multiple buyers reported the same issue, I treated it as a pattern, not a fluke.
The steamer basket won because it solved the most annoying problem. The sealing rings won because they solved the most embarrassing one.
Our pick: Salbree Steamer Basket
The steamer tray that comes with the Instant Pot is a joke. It sits too low, the holes are too small, and vegetables come out unevenly cooked. I threw mine away after the second use.
The Salbree basket costs about ~$13 and fixes everything. It's collapsible, so it stores flat. The center post makes it easy to lift out with tongs. And it holds a full pound of green beans without crowding.
I used it three times in the first week. Broccoli in four minutes at high pressure. Baby potatoes in six. A whole head of cabbage that I quartered and steamed for eight minutes, then hit with butter and salt.
A verified buyer named Dana wrote in January 2025 that it "fits perfectly and is sturdy enough to hold a chuck roast above the liquid." I've done the same thing. It holds up.
The only flaw is that the handles can get hot if you leave them resting against the pot wall. I use tongs. Not a dealbreaker.
This is for people who are tired of soggy steamed vegetables and want one tool that handles everything from asparagus to artichokes.
Runner-up: Instant Pot Magnetic Cheat Sheet
I've owned my Instant Pot for years and I still forget whether pork shoulder needs 40 minutes per pound or 45. The magnetic cheat sheet sticks to the side of the machine and answers that question at a glance.
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It costs about ~$11. It covers the popular presets, cooking times, and pressure levels. It's laminated, so it wipes clean when curry splatters on it.
My kids use it more than I do. My twelve-year-old made rice by herself last week because the chart told her the water ratio and the cooking time. That alone was worth the price.
The downside is that it only covers the basics. If you're cooking something unusual, like oxtail or a whole chicken, you're back to the manual. But for the standard rotation, it's genuinely useful.
A buyer named Robert noted in March 2025 that the magnet is "strong enough to stay put but easy to remove when you need to clean the side." I've had mine for two months and it hasn't budged.
This is for people who hate flipping through manuals and want the answer on the machine itself.
Our pick for fixing the curry problem: 2 Pack Sealing Ring
I made curry on a Tuesday. By Friday, my rice tasted like Tuesday. The silicone ring in my Instant Pot had absorbed the curry flavor and redeposited it into plain jasmine rice.
The fix is simple. Buy a second ring and swap them based on what you're cooking. This two-pack costs about ~$10, which is less than the price of one replacement ring from Instant Pot.
The rings are food-grade silicone. They fit the 6-quart model snugly. I've run mine through the dishwasher multiple times and they haven't warped or stretched.
A verified buyer named Priya wrote in February 2025 that she keeps "one ring for savory dishes and one for desserts" and hasn't had flavor transfer since. That's exactly what I do now.
The flaw is that even the fresh ring will eventually absorb odors. You'll need to replace them every six months or so if you cook strongly flavored dishes regularly. At ~$5 per ring, that's a minor cost.
This is for people who cook curry, chili, or anything with garlic and want their plain rice to taste like plain rice.
Budget pick: 73 PCS Accessories Kit
This kit costs about ~$20 and includes everything you might ever need: egg racks, silicone molds, measuring cups, tongs, a recipe book, and a dozen other pieces.
Here's the honest truth. I used maybe a third of it. The egg rack works fine. The silicone molds are okay for individual egg bites. The tongs are surprisingly decent. But the rest sits in a drawer.
The value is in the price. Twenty dollars for the pieces you'll actually use is reasonable. The egg rack alone costs ~$10 on its own. If you're just starting out and want to try different things without committing to individual purchases, this kit is a cheap way to figure out what you actually need.
The quality is middling. The silicone is thinner than dedicated products. The measuring cups are flimsy. A buyer named Marcus wrote in January 2025 that "the egg bite molds work but feel cheap compared to the Instant Pot brand ones." He's right.
This is for beginners who want to experiment without spending a lot of money upfront. You'll replace the pieces you use most with better versions later.
Also tested: Silicone Lid for Instant Pot
This nine-dollar silicone lid turns your Instant Pot insert into a storage container. You cook a batch of chili, let it cool, pop the lid on, and put the whole pot in the fridge.
It works. The lid seals well and doesn't leak. I've stored soup, stew, and rice in the pot with this lid and nothing spilled.
But here's the thing. It's not a pressure cooking accessory. It's a storage accessory. If you already have good food storage containers, you don't need this. If you don't, it's a convenient way to avoid transferring food to a separate dish.
The flaw is that the lid doesn't lock. It's a friction fit. If you stack things on top of the pot in the fridge, the lid can pop off. A buyer named Elena noted this in her April 2025 review, saying she "came home to a fridge that smelled like beef stew."
This is for people who cook big batches and want to minimize dishes.
The competition
The Sugaroom 100 PCS kit costs about ~$22 and includes more pieces than the 73-piece kit. More isn't better. The extra pieces are mostly silicone molds in shapes you'll never use and accessories that duplicate what you already own. I'd rather have the smaller kit and buy the pieces I actually need individually.
The accessories that ship with the Instant Pot itself aren't worth discussing. The steamer tray doesn't work. The measuring cup is fine. The rice paddle is fine. That's it.
The bottom line
You don't need most of what Amazon sells for pressure cookers. You need a steamer basket that actually works, a second sealing ring so your rice doesn't taste like last Tuesday's curry, and maybe a cheat sheet if you're new to the machine.
Everything else is drawer clutter. Make room for the steamer basket and the sealing rings. Skip the rest and save your counter space.