No more standing over a stove stirring, this Instant Pot Polenta is so quick and easy! Full of flavor from the fresh herbs, this makes a great base or stews or beans, or serve it on it's own as a side dish! Leave it soft, rich and creamy or chill it to make polenta cakes. Whole grain and naturally gluten free polenta is a healthy choice!
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Polenta - Naturally Gluten Free!
Who else loves polenta? I do! The only thing that makes me sad about polenta is that I spent so much of my life not even knowing it existed. I envy all you people who grew up eating polenta.
If you've never had polenta, it's basically ground corn, usually yellow. You can find it in varying degrees of coarseness: Instant Polenta is ground very finely and cooks quickly, Coarsely Ground Polenta cooks more slowly and has more texture, and you can even buy it already cooked and in a tube.
Even though I have no problem with gluten, I like to vary my grains, so it is nice to know that polenta is naturally gluten free. Like most gluten free grains, there might be issues of cross contamination because of the processing plants, so if you are very sensitive, you probably want to find one that is specifically labeled gluten free.
Polenta vs Grits
Living in the south, I thought I should address the issue of polenta vs grits. They are both made from corn. Grits are made from hominy and are ground much finer. Without getting too technical on you, hominy is corn that has been treated in an alkali solution. Polenta is made from yellow corn and is ground more coarse.
I typically use polenta either as a side dish or as a base like you would use pasta or rice. I like grits for breakfast, though shrimp and grits is amazing.
Making Instant Pot Herbed Polenta is so easy!
It is so easy to make polenta in the Instant Pot!
- Sauté your fresh herbs and shallots in butter on the sauté setting.
- Add the broth and when it comes to a simmer whisk in the polenta.
- Lock on the lid, adjust the pressure to low and set the time for 8 minutes.
- When time is up, let pressure release naturally for 15 minutes.
- Stir in cheese, milk, parsley and nutmeg.
If making cakes:
- Lightly grease a quarter sheet pan with butter or olive oil.
- Spoon polenta into sheet pan and spread evenly.
- Lay wax paper or parchment paper over the top.
- Let chill for 4 hours or overnight.
- Cut into serving pieces and either sauté in a frying pan or roast in an oven.
Instant Pot Herbed Polenta
This polenta was so good! You can make it without the herbs, but once I learned that it had parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme in it, I knew I had to include them all. Go ahead, you can start singing the song now! And, if you don't know what I'm talking about, boy I feel old, and go look up Simon & Garfunkle.
This polenta was rich and creamy, with a nice texture from the coarse polenta. The finer your ground of polenta the creamier it will be. I decided to serve mine as polenta cakes because I was going to be serving it two nights in a row. I served it the first night with cannellini beans and then the second night with a simple and quick tomato sauce.
I found this recipe in Instant Pot Italian, you can check out me review here: The Best Instant Pot Cookbooks.
Looking for more ways to serve polenta:
I served this Instant Pot Red Wine Beef Stew over polenta!
This Braised Chicken with Olives, Capers and Prunes would be lovely served with polenta!
I served this Slow Cooker Chicken and Stout Stew over polenta.
Instant Pot Herbed Polenta
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter unsalted
- 1 shallot finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons sage fresh, chopped
- 2 teaspoons rosemary fresh, chopped
- 2 teaspoons thyme fresh, chopped
- 4 cups broth chicken or vegetable
- 1 cup polenta not quick cooking
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese grated
- ¼ cup milk
- 3 tablespoons parsley fresh, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
- Set the pressure cooker to sauté and add the butter. When the butter has melted add the shallot, sage, rosemary and thyme. Cooking stirring for about 4 minutes until the shallots have softened. Add the broth and ¼ teaspoon of salt. When the broth comes to a simmer, slowly whisk in the polenta.
- Lock on the lid and set the pressure cooker to low for 8 minutes. Make sure the steam valve is set to sealing and that the keep warm feature is turned off (if you can do that, otherwise turn it off after the timer goes off.)
- When the time is up, turn off the keep warm feature and let the pressure drop naturally for 15 minutes. Then release the pressure. Stir in the cheese, milk, parsley and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve immediately for soft polenta. For cakes, grease a ¼ sheet pan with butter and pour the polenta in it and lay a piece of wax paper or parchment paper over the top. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until solid. Cut into slices and roast in a 500 oven for 20 minutes or sauté in a nonstick pan over medium high heat with a little olive oil for about 3 minutes per side.
Nutrition
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Emily says
How would you make this with a precooked tube of polenta? Would you do everything except the bit in the instant pot? like heat butter and seasoning and mix with the tube then cool? Any thoughts?
Pam Greer says
This recipe is designed for cooking the polenta, so already cooked polenta doesn't really work. You could just heat the butter and seasonings, slice the cooked polenta and brown it in the butter.
Julie Rosenthal says
Love the Polenta, because it's such a good gluten-free alternative!
Vickie says
I am I love with this recipe! I will have to tinker with the settings, because I put my IP on porridge to get the low setting and it’s a little too soft to pan fry or broil. No problem though because it’s so delicious! Thank you for sharing.
Pam Greer says
If it's too soft and you want to pan fry it, add less water and make sure you spread it out on a sheet pan and put it in the fridge.
Chanda Phelps says
I am excited to try this recipe! My instant pot does not have a low setting does that change the cooking time? Thanks in advance. 😊
Pam Greer says
You could reduce the time to 7 minutes and that should work fine.
Scylla, Fenris, Tuiren, YinYang & Chimera (ATCAD) says
Mommy has just discovered polenta and she loves it. She loves Shrimp & Grits too, down here that can be a main dish for lunch or supper, in even the finest dining establishments.
Pam Greer says
I could have shrimp and grits all day long!
Ann says
I’m the only one in my household who likes polenta so rarely make it. Your photos always look “delicious”.
Pam Greer says
Thanks Ann. Luckily we all love it around here!
Katie says
And yet again I have to say- I love my instant pot! (I feel like I say this every day) What a time saver with polenta! I think I may make polenta more now that you've shown this recipe. I never even thought of it, but this looks so very good!
Pam Greer says
It is going to be made a whole lot more often around here too!
Catherine Brown says
Polenta is the BEST... and such a great comfort dish! I like making it this way too... enough to have it creamy with a hearty stew-type topping (like you did with the beef stew) and then let the rest cool and slice into wedges for baking or frying... YUM! Love your herbs here too, 🙂
Pam Greer says
It's my favorite way to make polenta now!
Chris Collins says
I can see me making this Instant Pot Polenta with just about everything!! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe 🙂
Pam Greer says
I know, me too!
Helen of Fuss Free Flavours says
Polenta is a great alternative to other carbs like rice or pasta. Making it in the insta pot is such a good idea, so easy and great results.
Pam Greer says
Crazy easy!
Adrianne says
Hey Pam, this recipe is so versatile! I love how you have showed how the polenta can be used with the other recipes like the beef. This is going in my ideas box, the herbs look perfect too! Great post.
Pam Greer says
Thank you! I use polenta almost as much as pasta!