Instant Pot Strawberry Compote Recipe

First things first: What is compote, anyway? Well, it's similar to a jam — fruit cooked with syrup. Simple enough, right? People have been enjoying this sweet, fruity mashed treat for a long time, and if you haven't had it yet, you need to give it a try.

Whereas in centuries past you would have had to slowly cook your fruit compote over a fire, and in generations past you would have slowly simmered it on the stove, today you can create a fresh batch of compote in mere minutes thanks to that wonderful device called an Instant Pot.

Once you have a batch of this fresh strawberry compote, how best to enjoy it? However you'd like, says chef and recipe developer Susan Olayinka of The Flexible Fridge. You can spread it on scones, add it into porridge or oatmeal, put it on waffles or pancakes, "or eat it by the spoon," she says. And once you have made your compote, it will keep well for at least a week, so there will be plenty of time to experiment and enjoy.

It's probably not a major surprise that the major player here is the strawberry. Or a lot of strawberries, to be precise. Olayinka's recipe calls for about a pound and a half of fresh strawberries, in fact (she used 26 ounces, to be precise), so make sure you have a big batch of berries before you get to work.

Aside from that, all you need is the juice from half of a lemon and three quarters of a cup of sugar. "It is super sweet because of the sugar," Olayinka says, "but one could replace the sugar with a sweetener or honey or maple syrup for sure."

Start the process off by washing the strawberries, then trimming off their stems and cutting each berry in half or even into a quarter or smaller if any of the pieces of fruit are quite large. Next, slice the lemon in two and juice half of it — and don't be afraid to get some of the juice from the other half if it's not a particularly juicy lemon. Now measure out the sugar.

Next, place the cut berries into the Instant Pot, pour in the juice, then pour in the sugar, and then wait. Just let everything sit there melding together for five minutes.

After five minutes sitting in the sugar and lemon juice, the berries should be breaking down a bit and with juices starting to come out of the fruit. Now it's time to speed the process along with some heat and pressure. Close and seal the lid of the Instant Pot, and then cook the strawberries for one minute on high pressure.

After that one minute, leave the Instant Pot to naturally release for 10 minutes, and then manually release all the remaining pressure. "Do not try to immediately release the pressure," cautions Olayinka, adding: "Wait the 10 minutes for it to naturally release. I'm speaking from experience here — I immediately released the pressure, and all the strawberry juice came flying from my Instant Pot!"

Once the pressure is all released (and safely and cleanly so!), put the Instant Pot on sauté mode and sauté the strawberry, juice, and sugar blend for five minutes, constantly stirring. This cooking and kinetic motion is what finally and fully breaks the fruit down into the smooth, even consistency you want in a good compote.

After those five minutes of stirring and cooking, your work will be done. Spoon the finished compote into an airtight container and consume it whenever you want and however you'd like, remembering that it will keep for seven to 10 days. And if you'll eat it in just a day or two, no refrigeration is even needed.