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Best Instant Pot deals: Be ready for game day with a $40 multicooker

It is definitely Instant Pot season. We found some excellent deals on the popular appliance.

David Watsky Senior Editor / Home and Kitchen
David lives in Brooklyn where he's spent more than a decade covering all things edible, including meal kit services, food subscriptions, kitchen tools and cooking tips. Since earning a BA in English from Northeastern in Boston, he's toiled in nearly every aspect of the food business, including as a line cook in Rhode Island where he once made a steak sandwich for Lamar Odom. Right now, he's likely somewhere stress-testing a blender or researching the best way to make bacon. Anything with sesame is his all-time favorite food this week.
Expertise Kitchen tools, appliances, food science, subscriptions and meal kits.
David Watsky
3 min read
$180 at Amazon
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Instant Pot electric Dutch oven: $180
Save $50
$70 at Williams Sonoma
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Instant Pot air fryer lid (fits the 6-quart): $70
You save $20
$100 at Amazon
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Instant Pot Pro 6-quart multicooker: $100
Save $30
$108 at Target
Instant Pot Duo with Air Fryer attachment and food on plates
Instant Pot Duo Crisp multicooker and air fryer: $108
Save $31

If you're looking for an Instant Pot, there are serious deals on the popular multicookers today. We found Instant Pots and Instant Pot accessories that are way down from their normal sticker prices. Amazon is running a mini Instant Pot sale that not only includes the brand's signature pressure cooker and slow cooker, but also an electric Dutch ovens, air fryers and more handy kitchen gear. 

If you're starting from scratch with multicookers, the Instant Pot is a popular small appliance that functions as a pressure cooker, slow cooker, steamer and warmer, with a sauté mode so you can make tender meats like brisket, beef stew, shredded chicken and pulled pork from start to finish. An Instant Pot keeps all the food securely inside the pot with a safe-locking lid. It'll deliver easy meals that taste like they've taken hours to make -- but in reality require a fraction of the time. 

Wondering how to spot a multicooker deal? Instant Pots come in more variations than laptops, it seems, and pricing is often all over the map. The main rule: $60 to $80 is the sweet spot for a standard 6-quart Instant Pot (without the air fryer attachment) and anything lower than that means we're venturing into all-time low territory. Newer models with more bells and whistles aren't likely to go that low. For instance, the souped-up Instant Pro is down to $100 today which is a full $30 off the normal price. 

For a 3-quart model -- perfect for one to three people -- anything under $60 is a solid deal. Most Instant Pots come in 3-, 6- and 8-quart sizes, with the 6-quart models being the most popular for families. For a single person or even a couple, you could easily get away with a 3-quart.

We'll continue to update this post with the best Instant Pot deals for the holiday shopping season, so check back often.

Editor's note: On Oct. 26, 2023, Best Buy brand Insignia issued a recall of four of its multicooker models due to potential burn risk resulting from incorrect volume markings on the inner cooking chamber. One of the recalled models appeared on this list (model No. NS-MC60SS9) but has since been removed.

This interesting hybrid cooker is less well known than Instant Pot's pressure cookers, but if you're in the market for either a Dutch oven or a slow cooker -- or if you need both -- this might be an ideal small appliance.

CNET has yet to test this one but it's essentially an enameled cast-iron Dutch oven (which we love) with its own heating base so you can precisely control the temperature of the food inside. Great for braising, stewing and warming food. And the Dutch oven can be removed and placed gracefully on the table for serving.

We've seen this handy air fryer lid drop lower during Black Friday and other sales but this is still a nice $20 drop from the normal price. It'll turn any 6-quart Instant Pot into a powerful air fryer for making much healthier versions of your favorite fried snacks. It works great and doesn't take up much space in the cupboard either.

This might be Instant Pot's sleekest model and it's $30 off right now. The jet black paint job fits a modern aesthetic, and the multicooker boasts 28 cooking programs and 10 modes: pressure cook, slow cook, sous vide, sauté, sterilizer, yogurt maker, food warmer, cake baker and steamer.

If you need the whole kit and kaboodle (Instant Pot and air fryer lid) this is a solid price for the bundle. It acts as a pressure cooker, air fryer, slow cooker, steamer, sauté pan, food warmer, sous vide, roaster, broiler and dehydrator. 

Wondering how the air fryer lid works? Check out the air-fried chicken I made in this exact Duo Crisp model a few weeks back. It's hard to fathom a kitchen appliance that does more than this one and you likely won't find the 6-quart version for cheaper than it is right now. For reference, the air fryer lid alone usually sells for $89.

Note, Target doesn't list this as "on sale" but it's a full $31 cheaper than you'll find it elsewhere including Amazon