Slow Cooker to Instant Pot Converter
Convert slow cooker hours into pressure cooking minutes — or work backwards from an Instant Pot recipe.
How to use: pick which way you're converting, enter the time your recipe gives, and choose the food type. Pressure cooking times exclude the minutes the pot takes to come to pressure and release.
Quick answer
As a general rule, take the slow cooker time on HIGH in hours and multiply by six to get Instant Pot minutes. Times on LOW are roughly double the HIGH time, so halve them first. A stew needing 8 hours on LOW is about 4 hours on HIGH, which becomes roughly 24 minutes at high pressure. Delicate foods convert far shorter — fish takes minutes, not hours.
Important: dried red kidney beans and slow cookers
Do not cook raw dried red kidney beans in a slow cooker without boiling them first. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Bad Bug Book, dried red kidney beans contain phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), a natural toxin. As few as four or five improperly cooked beans can cause severe nausea and vomiting within one to three hours, followed by diarrhoea and abdominal pain.
The problem is specific to slow cookers: most do not reach a high enough temperature to destroy the toxin, and slowly heating raw kidney beans can increase their toxicity rather than reduce it.
The FDA's recommended procedure: soak the beans in water for at least 5 hours, drain and discard that water, then boil them in fresh water at 212 °F (100 °C) for at least 10 minutes — university extension guidance suggests 30 minutes to be certain. After boiling, they can be finished in a slow cooker or any other way. Canned kidney beans are already safe, since they are processed at high temperature. White (cannellini) beans contain roughly one third the toxin of red kidney beans, and broad beans far less, but the same boiling step is sensible for any raw dried kidney bean.
Sources: U.S. Food and Drug Administration Bad Bug Book (Phytohaemagglutinin); University of Illinois Extension; Kansas State University Research and Extension.
Safe internal temperatures (USDA)
| Food | Safe minimum |
|---|---|
| All poultry — chicken, turkey (whole, pieces or ground) | 165 °F / 74 °C |
| Ground meats — beef, pork, lamb, veal | 160 °F / 71 °C |
| Beef, pork, lamb, veal — roasts, chops, steaks | 145 °F / 63 °C, rest 3 min |
| Fish and shellfish | 145 °F / 63 °C |
| Egg dishes | 160 °F / 71 °C |
| Leftovers, soups and casseroles | 165 °F / 74 °C |
Source: USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (fsis.usda.gov). A food thermometer is the only reliable check — colour does not indicate doneness.
Conversion chart by food
| Food | Slow cooker (LOW) | Instant Pot (high pressure) |
|---|---|---|
| Beef stew or chili | 8 hours | 30–35 min |
| Pork shoulder / pulled pork | 8–10 hours | 15 min per lb |
| Whole chicken | 6–8 hours | 6 min per lb |
| Chicken breasts or thighs | 4–6 hours | 8–12 min |
| Beef roast | 8–10 hours | 15 min per lb |
| Soup or broth | 8 hours | 20–30 min |
| Dried beans (pre-boiled) | 6–8 hours | 25–35 min |
| White rice | 1½–2 hours | 4–6 min |
| Root vegetables | 4–6 hours | 8–12 min |
| Soft vegetables | 2–3 hours | 2–4 min |
| Fish fillets | 1–2 hours | 4–6 min |
How the conversion works
The rule works because both appliances are doing the same job — holding food at a temperature that breaks down connective tissue — at very different speeds. A slow cooker sits below boiling point for hours; a pressure cooker raises the boiling point and cooks well above it, so the same transformation happens in a fraction of the time.
Add liquid — pressure cooking cannot work without it
Slow cooker recipes sometimes contain very little liquid, because nothing evaporates under the lid. A pressure cooker needs thin liquid to create steam: at least 1 cup for most models, more for larger ones. Check your manual. Thick sauces, tomato purée and dairy don't count as thin liquid and can trigger a burn warning if they sit against the base — add them after cooking, or layer them on top without stirring.
Liquid does not reduce, so recipes come out thinner
Because steam is trapped and returned, almost nothing evaporates. A stew that would thicken over eight hours in a slow cooker will finish watery in a pressure cooker. The usual fixes are to reduce the added liquid slightly, or to simmer the finished dish on the sauté setting for a few minutes.
Natural release versus quick release
Meat, beans, grains and anything foamy or starchy should have a natural release — letting pressure drop by itself over 10–20 minutes — which continues cooking gently and keeps meat tender. Delicate foods like fish and vegetables need a quick release so they don't overcook. Remember that natural release time adds to the total, even though it isn't part of the stated cooking minutes.
Don't overfill
Fill no more than two-thirds full for most foods, and no more than half full for anything that expands or foams — beans, grains, pasta, oats and soups. Overfilling can block the steam valve, which is a safety issue rather than merely a quality one.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert slow cooker time to Instant Pot time?
Is 4 hours on HIGH the same as 8 hours on LOW?
Why does my pressure cooker recipe come out watery?
Can I cook dried kidney beans in a slow cooker?
Does the stated cooking time include coming to pressure?
Can I convert the other way, Instant Pot to slow cooker?
Related tools
More appliance conversions: the Air Fryer Conversion Calculator and the Oven Temperature Converter. Also useful: the Recipe Scaler, the Cups to Grams Converter, and our Kitchen Conversions Guide.