These Instant Pot Poached Eggs are fail-proof! They are perfectly cooked in minutes with no hands-on cooking required. Great to make for a crowd without any effort. Easy, delicious, and healthy.
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Breakfast and Instant Pot. These are a few of my favourite things. (Is the melody from that song now in your head?)
I love breakfast and I love cooking with my Instant Pot, so no wonder that I would combine my love of both of them into something delicious and really easy: Instant Pot Poached Eggs Two Ways.
Hands up if you like poached eggs! I do! And I have to say, I actually don’t mind making them using a traditional stove-top method, especially with this ingenious trick from Sarah of Champagne Tastes that results in Perfectly Poached Eggs.
But sometimes I don’t want to stand at the stove and watch the water to boil, and do all those extra steps of swirling the water, draining the egg, watching the stove. Sometimes I just want easy, fail-proof, hands-off solution of making poached eggs without needing to babysit them.
This is when Instant Pot comes to the rescue. I experimented with making Instant Pot Poached Eggs many times to come up with the perfect and fail-proof timing and here are two ways to do them.
Instant Pot Poached Eggs Two Ways
Option 1:
Option 2:
Little glass bowls (The glass bowls that I use do not say that they are oven-safe yet I’ve never had any issues with using them in my Instant Pot. If you are worried, make sure that the glass bowls that you use are marked as oven-safe.)
The reason why I count these as two different options is because they require different cooking times.
How to make Instant Pot Poached Eggs
NOTE: I use this specific model of Instant Pot. It is sized for 6 quarts. Timings for 8 quarts or 3 quarts models might be different!
Egg Bites Poached Eggs
- Spray the moulds with cooking spray really well
- Add eggs to the egg bites moulds
- Add one cup of water to the pot
- Place the egg bites mould onto a trivet
- Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes
- Natural pressure release for 2 minutes followed by a quick release (see notes below)
Glass Bowls Poached Eggs
- Spray the glass bowls with cooking spray really well
- Add eggs to the glass bowls
- Add one cup of water to the pot
- Place the glass bowls onto a trivet
- Cook on high pressure for 2 minutes (see notes below)
- Quick release
Egg bites moulds and glass bowls are made from different materials and after experimenting with different timings it turned out that silicone moulds require longer cooking time than the glass bowls.
What if timings don’t work
Timings for Instant Pot poached eggs depend on different things such as the materials of the containers you use (glass or silicone), altitude, the size of your Instant Pot, temperature of the ingredients.
I have received comments that 4 minutes in silicone molds was not enough even though I tested that number of minutes many different times. So, I tried it again and lo and behold, on the fifth try 4 minutes was not enough for me also, even though I used the same molds that I used the previous four times. Why? I do not know!
So, I tried again and this time I did 4 minutes with 2 minutes of natural pressure release followed by a quick release. They turned out perfect again!
My suggestion is to try one egg first and then if the timing works then cook multiple eggs. Sometimes adding a minute or two of natural pressure release will help to firm up the egg.
Another note, even though I linked to a different egg mold above, it is the egg mold that I do not have. The specific brand of the egg molds I have is not available on American Amazon. I have this specific model which is only available on Canadian amazon.
Different timing variations for Poached Eggs made in Instant Pot
Here are the different variations for timings for the poached eggs in Instant Pot that I tried.
- Egg bites moulds, 5 minutes: egg yolks aren’t fully cooked but barely runny.
- Egg bites moulds, 4 minutes: slightly more cooked egg yolk at the edges and runny egg yolk in the middle.
- Egg bites moulds, 3 minutes: egg whites slightly too runny.
- Glass bowls, 3 minutes: egg yolk is runny just in the centre, most of the egg yolk is cooked.
- Glass bowls, 2 minutes: egg yolk is perfectly runny.
- Glass bowls, 1 minute: egg whites are too runny.
I do not cover the eggs with foil. It means that there will be a few drops of water condensation in the moulds/bowls but I just pour it out. Covering eggs with foil will mean that you’d need to add 1-2 extra minutes of cooking time.
Note: do NOT cover the egg bites moulds with the lid they come with in Instant Pot. That lid is not safe for using in Instant Pot.
Can you meal prep poached eggs?
Fun fact: you can actually meal prep poached eggs! If you use egg bites moulds, you can make 7 poached eggs at a time and then keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
I don’t have a microwave, so if I make extra poached eggs, I warm them up in hot water.
Just place one or two eggs in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Cover with foil or a plate to keep the heat in. Let the eggs warm up for 5-7 minutes.
More Instant Pot recipes using Egg Bites Moulds
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Instant Pot Poached Eggs Two Ways
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- cooking spray
Instructions
Egg Bites Moulds Poached Eggs Instructions
- Spray the egg bites moulds with cooking spray really well.
- Add an egg into each of the moulds without breaking a yolk.
- Place a trivet inside Instant Pot. I use 6 qt model, timings for 8 qt or 3 qt models might be different.
- Add 1 cup water to Instant Pot.
- Place the egg bites mould with the eggs on the trivet. Do not cover with foil.
- Close the lid of your Instant Pot and turn the valve to Sealing.
- Press Manual or Pressure Cooker button (depending on your model) and use the arrows to select 4 minutes.
- It should take about 5-7 minutes to come to pressure. Might be a bit less depending on your model.
- Once the Instant Pot beeps that the 4 minutes of cooking are done, do a natural pressure release for 2 minutes! It means that you just leave your Instant Pot without touching it for 2 minutes, it will count up.
- Once 2 minutes of natural pressure release are done, do a quick release. This will take another minute or so.
- Carefully remove the egg bites mould. There will be a few drops of condensation liquid on each egg.
- Invert the eggs onto a plate and the condensation will just pour out also.
Glass Bowls Poached Eggs Instructions
- Spray the egg bites moulds with cooking spray really well.
- Add an egg into each of the glass bowls without breaking a yolk.
- Place a trivet inside Instant Pot. I use 6 qt model, timings for 8 qt or 3 qt models might be different.
- Add 1 cup water to Instant Pot.
- Place the glass bowls with the eggs on the trivet. Do not cover with foil.
- Close the lid of your Instant Pot and turn the valve to Sealing.
- Press Manual or Pressure Cooker button (depending on your model) and use the arrows to select 2 minutes.
- It should take about 5-7 minutes to come to pressure. Might be a bit less depending on your model.
- Once the Instant Pot beeps that the 2 minutes of cooking are done, do a quick release. This will take about 2 minutes.
- Carefully remove the glass bowls. There will be a few drops of condensation liquid on each egg.
- Invert the eggs onto a plate and the condensation will just pour out also.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Mention or tag @Imagelicious
Conni says
Thanks for all the suggestions on poached eggs in the instant pot. Do you have any thoughts on the timing for jumbo eggs?
NMistry says
Hi Julia,
Thank you so much for the directions and for all the useful tips and information! My elevation level is 167 m (548 ft) and I followed your instructions exactly. They came out exactly as you stated with each of the times and related release times you posted. They were perfect and I am so happy to learn that I can meal prep these as well! I will never go back to the manual way as long as I have an Instant Pot. Thank you!
Elise says
no, just absolutely does not work as easy… pressure ALWAYS give me hard boiled eggs. Tried steam and 4 min also gives me hard boiled…
tried 2 min on the steam mode and the egg whites we almost there, but didn’t hold…
I am using the egg bites mold as instructed, my insta pot os a 6qt.
2 min on steam and 2 min natural pressure followed by quick release Almost did the trick… Gonna try 3 min natural pressure next time…
but definitely not as straightforward as it seems
Barb says
I had the exact same result at 4 mins, perfect shell-less hard boiled eggs. I used the silicone cups, too. I should have guessed, I actually make hard boiled eggs at 5x5x5.
Julia says
It looks like it depends on the model of IP as well as the material of the silicone cups. Since I posted this recipe, I got another model of IP and the timing doesn’t work either. Moreover, unlike you I actually have to increase time in that new IP model.
BellaJ says
I have had 3 IP-6 qt (same model), and all three have cooked differently. The first one didn’t cook anything as the time specified in a recipe—always undercooked. The middle one cooked perfectly, unfortunately I sat it on a hot burner and melted the bottom. The latest one doesn’t do anything well. The rings don’t want to stay put while cooking and leak steam constantly. Very disappointed in the quality control at this company.
Darlene says
I did 2 eggs in the egg bite moulds for 4 minutes, and that was too long. My yolks were hard, not runny. I will try 2 minutes next time.
Mindy G says
I made poached eggs using the silicone egg molds. They turned out perfect! I put them on an English muffin with avocado! Delicious breakfast. Thank you Julia.
Ronda says
At elevation of 5300′ I cooked in egg bite molds 2 min., NP release 2 min. … They turned out great.
Sandy says
I tried your recipe a few days ago using fresh eggs in my silicone egg bites mold. Set it for 4 min with a 2 min NR. I could swear I saw 2 min somewhere. The egg yolks were hard and I couldn’t believe how overcooked they were, especially since I live at high altitude (9000 feet) and everything always takes a wee bit longer to cook. Today I decided to try again, but I was going to set it for 3 min. While it was cooking I decided to look at the recipe again and found that I was supposed to QR! I did the QR, checked the eggs and the whites were a bit runny, so I left it with the lid on while I made a piece of toast. This worked out so well for me. Thank you for experimenting to find the right time for poached eggs!!
carla says
I had already spent months and a few dozen eggs to perfect my poached eggs in the IP a few years ago but I’m always willing to try something new so I tried your technique. A few years ago I didn’t own the egg molds so that was the main reason I tried your method. You didn’t specify, and because I wanted to make sure I’d have a runny yolk I used LOW pressure for 4 min with a 2 min NR. PERFECTION! I know that if I had used High pressure they would have come out overdone and that could be the reason why some are having an issue with this being over cooked. Anyway, this is my new way to cook poached eggs!
Julia says
It’s interesting that you used Low pressure. I use High pressure by default so when I don’t mention it, I just use High pressure. If I use Low pressure I usually specify it in the recipes. But I’m glad low pressure worked for you 🙂
Leslie Rasmussen says
Hi, two minutes is too much for 2 eggs in my 8qt pot, even with two extra cups filled with water(I thought that might lengthen the time). Even one minute makes them hard boiled. Is there some way to reduce the time, or lengthen the time ( make them cook less)?
Julia says
I guess it all depends on the material that you use. If 1 minutes is too much, try 0 minutes. Basically bring to pressure and release pressure right away. Alternatively, you could try to use Low pressure setting instead of high pressure
Brian says
Try using the saute feature to preheat the water.
Lyn says
I went through 2 dozen eggs trying every possible combination of time and pressure. They all came out hard boiled. I used 4 min on high pressure, 2 min on low pressure, 2 min on steam only. My last attempt was 0 minutes after being on low pressure then instant release. Still hard boiled. I have a 6qt InstantPot and use 4 cup silicone cups with 1 cup H2O in pot. Why can’t I get runny yolks??
Julia says
This is sad 🙁 sorry the timing didn’t work for you. I’m not sure what you mean by 4-cup silicone cups. I don’t know what those are so they could effect how the eggs are cooked.
For your last attempt, I would try 0 min on low pressure with quick release (like you tried already) but with only 1/2 cup water and use boiling water. Booing water means that it’ll take faster to come to pressure (so less cooking time) and only 1/2 cup water will make it even faster
Nicole Gillet says
I’m wondering if steam feature might be better? I’m going to try that tonight
Julia says
I haven’t tried but why not?
Carmy says
Poached eggs will never be made the old fashioned way again! I love the IP way!
Melinda says
Thank you for all of the information for me to feel better about making the eggs this way (I bought the mold thing 8 months ago but just have not been confident about using it as I’m still learning to be comfortable using the instant pot. Just want to make sure with this silly question, if I cook more eggs at a time in the mold would it be more minutes or the same that was stated as cooking two. Thank you so much.
Julia says
From my experience, cooking 1, 2, or all 7 requires the same amount of time. It’s similar to the stove cooking. It’ll take you same time to cook one egg on the stove as 7 eggs… if you are worried about undercooking then you can add 1-2 minutes of Natural Pressure Release before doing a quick release.