Pressure Cooker Artichokes

October 18, 2019 By Whip & Wander 29 Comments

A great excuse to eat more butter

I’ve always considered artichokes to be a special occasion food, maybe because I assume they always take alot of work, or maybe because they are a perfect excuse to eat a whole stick of butter at dinner. Either way, I am here to tell you that they do not have to take alot of work, especially when you make Pressure Cooker Artichokes.

Though they are still a great excuse to eat a whole stick of butter. Just sayin’.

How to choose a great artichoke

Choose brightly-colored artichokes that have tightly packed leaves. A small amount of brown is ok, but if the leaves are splayed, the artichoke is likely older and less fresh.
They should feel heavy for their size. If they feel deceptively light, they are likely a little dry and potentially not very meaty.
A fresh artichoke’s leaves should squeak when squeezed, so give them a quick squeeze!
Frost-kissed leaves do not mean the artichoke is bad. In fact, artichokes that have white frosty spots are often sweeter and more tender than others.

Easy steps to prep artichokes

Remove any small leaves that are toward the bottom of the stem. They should pull off easily by hand.
Slice the top 1-inch or so off the tops of each artichoke with a sharp kitchen knife or a serrated knife.
Using scissors, work around the outside of the artichoke, trimming the sharp tips off of each outer leaf.
Cut the base of the stem off so that the artichokes rest flat, bloom side up.
Optionally, you can rub the tops of the artichokes down with 2 quarters of lemon wedges to help maintain the color of the artichokes. Regardless, they will darken a bit when cooked but the lemon will help them maintain more of their green color.

How to access the heart

Once the large outer leaves have been removed (and the meat is eaten from them) you will get to the point where the leaves are very small, tender, and fairly meatless. You can easily remove these all at once be pinching the bunch and twisting them off in one motion.
You’ll be left with the heart and the fuzzy choke. DO NOT EAT ANY PART OF THE CHOKE. You can remove this inedible part of the plant by scraping it out completely with a spoon or knife. Discard once removed. The remaining meat is known as the heart and is delicious.

Adjusting the cooking time by size

I find that 15 minutes in the pressure cooker is the sweet spot for perfectly tender, though not at all mushy average-sized artichokes (about the size of your hand). If your artichokes are particularly large I would pop that number up by up to 5 minutes. If they are small (often smaller than your palm) which I often see at the farmers market, I would push that number down close to 10-12 minutes of cook time.

Which pressure cooker do I use?

I use the term “pressure cooker” rather than “Instant Pot” very intentionally because I want it to be flexible for those who may use other brands. I personally use an Instant Pot Ultra 6qt, but these Pressure Cooker Artichokes can easily be made in other electric pressure cookers as well.

The reason I mention this is because there is often small variations in machines. With my prior Cuisinart machine, I found that vegetables cooked much more intensely, so I likely would have lowered the amount of time that I cooked these in that machine.

Looking for an upgrade to your kitchen tools? Check out my shop page here for my must-have kitchen tools and other Whip & Wander favorites.

How to serve Pressure Cooker Artichokes

Artichokes are a great served as a first course, a light main, or a side dish and in my opinion, a simple sauce is best. Here are a few of my favorite options for artichoke leaf dipping:

Melted butter + garlic
Mayo + garlic blended into an aioli
Mayo + a few healthy splashes of rice wine vinegar + a sprinkle of black sesame seeds makes for a tangy sauce similar to a Japanese Kewpie mayo.
Lemon Dill Cream Sauce
Romesco Sauce
Lemon Herb Tartar Sauce
Avocado Chimichurri Sauce

A note for special diets

These Pressure Cooker Artichokes are grain-free, gluten-free and friendly for Paleo, Keto, Whole30, Vegan and Vegetarian diets.