Instant Pot Duo Plus Review 2026: 9 Functions, 6 Months of Dinners, One Honest Verdict

Six months ago, my slow cooker died mid-chili. Instead of replacing it with another single-purpose appliance, I grabbed the Instant Pot Duo Plus off Amazon during a lightning deal for $72. That was 180-something dinners ago. The Duo Plus has since cooked everything from weeknight chicken breasts (done in 12 minutes flat) to Sunday beef short ribs that fall apart with a fork. It has also made yogurt at 2 AM, steamed tamales for a party of twelve, and once served as an emergency bottle sterilizer when my sister visited with her newborn.

I am not going to pretend every one of its nine functions is a home run. Some are genuinely life-changing; others collect dust. After half a year of near-daily use, here is exactly what works, what disappoints, and whether the Duo Plus is worth choosing over the cheaper Duo or the pricier Pro.

Key Specs at a Glance

Build Quality and Design

The Duo Plus feels like a proper kitchen appliance, not a plastic gadget. The exterior is brushed stainless steel with a fingerprint-resistant coating that actually works. After six months, the only visible wear is a tiny scuff near the steam release valve from when I stored a cast iron skillet too close.

The inner pot deserves special attention. It is food-grade 304 stainless steel with no non-stick coating, which means no flaking, no chemical concerns, and it goes straight in the dishwasher. The trade-off is that rice and oatmeal will stick if you do not use enough liquid. I learned this the hard way during week one. A quick soak solves it every time, but it is worth mentioning.

The LCD display is a major upgrade from the basic Duo, which uses a simple LED. The blue backlit screen shows the current program, time remaining, and a progress bar that tells you whether the unit is preheating, cooking, or in natural release. This sounds minor until you have cooked with an older Instant Pot that gives you zero feedback during the pressurization phase. The Duo Plus removes that guesswork.

The lid uses a push-and-turn mechanism that locks securely. The steam release valve is a small toggle rather than the older wobbly weight design. It gives you more control during quick release, though I still drape a towel over it because the steam can shoot condensation onto kitchen cabinets.

At 14.6 pounds and roughly 13 inches in every direction, it takes up serious counter space. If your kitchen is tight, you will need a dedicated spot for it. There is no getting around this.

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Pressure Cooking: The Main Event

This is why most people buy an Instant Pot, and the Duo Plus absolutely delivers. Pressure cooking is where this appliance earns its keep, and six months of data backs that up.

Here is what I have actually timed, start to finish, including the pressurization phase that most reviewers conveniently ignore:

The biggest time savings come with dishes that traditionally require hours of low-and-slow cooking. Bone broth in 2.5 hours instead of an entire day is genuinely transformative for home cooking. And cooking frozen chicken directly without thawing has saved me countless times when I forgot to defrost dinner.

The dual pressure settings (high and low) matter more than you might think. High pressure works for most things, but low pressure is the move for eggs, delicate fish, and vegetables where you want them cooked through but not turned into mush. The Duo (non-Plus) also has dual pressure, but some budget competitors only offer high, which limits your range.

One thing pressure cooking cannot do well: anything crispy. You will not get a sear or a crust. I use the sauté function to brown meat before pressure cooking, which partially solves this, but the results are never quite as good as a proper cast iron skillet. This is a universal pressure cooker limitation, not a Duo Plus problem.

The Other 8 Functions: Which Ones Actually Matter

The Duo Plus markets itself as 9-in-1, but not all nine functions are created equal. After six months, here is my honest tier list:

Tier 1 — Use weekly, genuinely replaces a separate appliance:

Sauté: Essential. Being able to brown onions, sear meat, and deglaze the pot before switching to pressure mode means one-pot meals are truly one pot. The heating element gets hot enough for a decent sear (not screaming hot like cast iron, but good enough). I use this function almost every time I pressure cook.

Rice Cooker: Surprisingly excellent. Three cups of jasmine rice with a 1:1 water ratio comes out perfectly fluffy every time. The 4-minute cook time is faster than my old dedicated rice cooker, though the total time (including pressurization) is about the same at 18 minutes. If you already own a great rice cooker, this will not convince you to switch. If you do not, it is one less appliance on the counter.

Steamer: Works great with the included stainless steel rack. Vegetables, fish, dumplings, tamales — all come out properly steamed. The sealed environment actually produces better results than a stovetop steamer basket because the steam cannot escape.

Tier 2 — Use monthly, nice to have:

Slow Cooker: It works, but with a caveat. The Instant Pot slow cooker mode runs slightly hotter than a dedicated slow cooker like a Crock-Pot. My grandmother’s pot roast recipe that calls for 8 hours on low was done in about 6.5 hours. You will need to adjust recipes downward by roughly 20%. For someone who already owns a slow cooker, this is not a strong enough reason to switch. For someone who does not, it is adequate.

Yogurt Maker: I was shocked by how well this works. Homemade yogurt costs about $0.80 per quart compared to $4-6 at the grocery store. The process takes 8-12 hours but is almost entirely hands-off. Heat the milk, add starter, press Yogurt, and walk away. I make a batch every two weeks now. The Duo Plus yogurt mode maintains a more consistent temperature than the basic Duo, which is one of the genuine upgrades.

Warmer: Keeps food at serving temperature after cooking. Not exciting, but genuinely useful when dinner finishes before everyone is home. It holds temperature for up to 10 hours without overcooking.

Tier 3 — Rarely use, checkbox features:

Sterilizer: I used this exactly once when my sister needed to sterilize baby bottles. It works fine — high-temperature steam kills bacteria effectively — but how often does the average person need to sterilize things? If you have an infant, this is a nice bonus. Otherwise, it will sit unused.

Sous Vide: This is the weakest function on the Duo Plus. True sous vide requires precise temperature control within 0.5 degrees, and the Instant Pot can only hold temperature within about 2-3 degrees. For basic tasks like cooking a steak to medium-rare, it kind of works. For anything requiring real precision, you need a dedicated immersion circulator like an Anova. I tried it four times and went back to my standalone sous vide stick every time. This function feels like it was added to inflate the “9-in-1” number.

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15 Preset Programs: Tested Them All

The Duo Plus comes with 15 one-touch presets. Some are genuinely useful shortcuts; others are just pre-programmed time and pressure combinations you could set manually. Here is the breakdown:

The biggest takeaway: the Rice, Yogurt, and Egg presets are dialed in perfectly out of the box. The Soup/Broth, Meat/Stew, Bean/Chili, and Poultry presets get you 90% of the way there. The rest are either niche (Sterilize, Cake) or need manual adjustment anyway (Slow Cook, Sous Vide).

Cleanup and Maintenance

Day-to-day cleanup is straightforward. The stainless steel inner pot goes in the dishwasher, though I hand-wash it most of the time because it takes ten seconds with a non-scratch sponge. The lid needs to be disassembled occasionally — the sealing ring pops off, and the anti-block shield unscrews from the underside. Both are dishwasher safe.

The one persistent annoyance is the silicone sealing ring absorbing odors. After making chili or curry, the ring will smell like that dish for days. The standard fix is to keep two rings (one for savory, one for sweet) and swap them as needed. Instant Pot sells replacement rings in packs of two for about $8. After six months, I am on my original ring for savory and bought a second one strictly for yogurt and oatmeal.

The condensation collector on the back catches drips during cooking. It is small and easy to forget, but if you ignore it, you will find a puddle on your counter eventually. I empty it every few days.

The exterior wipes down easily. No staining, no discoloration, even after six months of daily use. The build quality really shows in the long run.

Instant Pot Duo Plus vs Duo vs Pro: Which One Should You Buy?

This is the question most buyers face. Here is a direct comparison of the three most popular models in the 6-quart size:

My take: The $10 jump from Duo to Duo Plus is worth it for the LCD display alone. Knowing where you are in the cooking cycle without guessing is a quality-of-life upgrade you will appreciate every single time you cook. The sterilizer and sous vide additions are minor bonuses.

The $30 jump from Duo Plus to Pro is harder to justify unless you specifically want the quieter steam release (the Pro has a diffusing cover that reduces the jet of steam) or the additional presets. The core pressure cooking performance is virtually identical across all three.

Energy and Time Savings

I tracked my utility bills for three months before the Instant Pot and three months after. The results surprised me:

The Duo Plus draws 1000W, but it cycles on and off during cooking rather than running continuously. For a typical 30-minute pressure cook session, actual energy consumption is roughly 0.5-0.7 kWh. Compare that to a gas range running for 2-3 hours for the same dish at significantly higher energy cost.

My rough estimates based on three months of cooking 5-6 meals per week:

The time savings are the real story. Cutting my weekly cooking time roughly in half means I gained back about 3 hours per week. Over six months, that is roughly 78 hours, or more than three full days. The energy savings are a nice bonus, but the time savings are what make the Instant Pot genuinely life-improving.

The sealed design also means your kitchen stays cooler in summer. No hot oven radiating heat for an hour while roasting a chicken. This was an unexpected benefit I did not appreciate until July hit.

Who Should Buy the Instant Pot Duo Plus

Buy it if:

• You cook for a family of 4-6 and want faster weeknight dinners
• You regularly make soups, stews, beans, or braises that normally take hours
• You want to replace your slow cooker and rice cooker with one device
• You are interested in making homemade yogurt (the savings add up fast)
• You want the LCD display upgrade from the basic Duo without paying Pro prices
• You cook from frozen regularly (the Instant Pot handles frozen meat without thawing)

Skip it if:

• You mostly cook for 1-2 people (consider the 3-quart Mini instead)
• You want a serious sous vide solution (get a dedicated immersion circulator)
• Your cooking is primarily stir-fries, grilled food, or baked goods (the Instant Pot cannot replicate high dry heat)
• You have limited counter space and no room for a 13-inch cube
• You already own the basic Duo and are happy with it (the upgrade is not dramatic enough to justify buying a second unit)

Pros and Cons

Final Verdict

After 180+ dinners, the Instant Pot Duo Plus has earned its permanent counter space in my kitchen. It is not perfect — the sous vide is a gimmick, the slow cooker runs hot, and the sealing ring still smells like last Tuesday’s chili. But for $89 (or less on sale), you get a pressure cooker that genuinely delivers on its promise of faster, easier home cooking, plus a surprisingly capable rice cooker and yogurt maker as bonuses.

The Duo Plus sits in the ideal middle ground. It has enough upgrades over the basic Duo (LCD display, better yogurt temp control, two extra functions) to justify the $10 premium, without the price creep of the Pro. For most families, this is the Instant Pot to buy.

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