Hi Karen,
If you do not have an instapot, you will need to complete the sauteing or other modified items on the stove and add all items to the crock pot. Also, the time will be longer as most recipes with crockpots are 4 to 6 hours. If you want to try it, please let me know how it turns out in the crockpot. I have not tried these in a crockpot.
Thank you,
Alysen

I had the "way too salty" issue as well! I'm just going to play around with the liquids ratios and maybe add some water or something. It was good otherwise!

Hi Beth,
Thank you for leaving a comment, it truly is important :). I am sorry that your experience left you feeling meh. For some reason this recipe seems to be amazing for some and not super great for others. To be honest, we've made it several times, I've hired additional chef testers (2) to test and reteset to try to figure out where there could be problems and it turned out good for them, which doesn't help readers like you. I am sorry that it didn't work for you and you didn't have a good experience with it that is not my intention.

I find that the vegetables get too mushy if put in to cook with the pad thai noodles, so I like to add them after the noodles have already cooked. To let them steam and cook through, immediately after the noodles have finished cooking and the pressure is released, I open up the lid and add the vegetables. Immediately put the lid back on the Instant Pot, set the valve to sealing and set the timer for 0 minutes. Basically, the pressure will build up and then once it builds, the timer will go off. It takes just 4-5 minutes, which is enough for the vegetables to cook through. I also like to place my vegetables in the Instant Pot in the order they are listed in the ingredients list. Carrots go on the bottom since they are heartier and need a little extra heat to cook through. Zucchini goes on the way top, since it doesn’t need as much cooking time and tends to get mushy easily.

Alternatively, others have told me that they have done the veggies first with the sauce, then add some water, put the machine on saute, add noodles, stir, put lid on and check/stir every 3 minutes until noodles are done and soaked up the water. You do have to play with the water amount though, I do not have a measurement, the readers who shared that with me did not provide that.

Thank you again for your comment, I appreciate the time you took to make it and come back to leave feedback. I wish it has turned out better for you!

Hi Mallory, thank you for leaving a comment and I am sorry to hear that it didn't turn out. For some reason, this seems to be a recipe that works for some and not for others. I apologize you fit into that later category :(. For the sauce getting stuck it sounds like there was not enough liquid when you added the veggies to remedy that I would: add little extra liquid before you place the vegetables in the Instant Pot, just add an additional ¼ cup of water or vegetable broth and give it a quick stir. This will help ensure that the noodles and sauce don’t get stuck to the bottom of the pan while the vegetables steam. That extra liquid will make sure that the veggies steam.

I really do apologize it didn't work for you, I've made it several times and have had others test it since we've gotten some comments it didn't work for people. Good, but also bad it worked for the testers so that didn't give me any insight on what might be going wrong and how to problem solve it! :(.

I think in your case with the mushy noodles, you are correct it, you could have done a shorter initial time for pressure and an immediate release.

Alternatively, since you enjoyed the flavors, others have told me that they have done the veggies first with the sauce, then add some water, put the machine on saute, add noodles, stir, put lid on and check/stir every 3 minutes until noodles are done and soaked up the water. You do have to play with the water amount though, I do not have a measurement, the readers who shared that with me did not provide that.

I am with you! New to the Instant Pot, and this recipe didn’t work out super well for me first try...

I completely agree that the flavours are amazing on this one, but my noodles were really overdone and the veg was slightly underdone. The sauce got stuck to the bottom.

Perhaps I should have done a shorter initial pressure time or immediate manual pressure release?

Hello, it is correct. By doing that it brings the IP to pressure and that build of pressure and heat cooks the noodles without overcooking them. 🙂

Hi Rachel, I am honestly not sure. We actually recently sent this recipe out to a professional chef to tweak it and confirm the ingredients/steps for accuracy. We did this because others have had issues with it and others have had it turn out perfectly. Its certainly a bit of a mystery. The only thing we can come back with is perhaps it is a difference in the ingredient brands. The salty could be cut down by using no sodium added vegetable stock or using water and also cutting back on the soy sauce or using a coconut amino (like soy sauce but has less salt and a sweeter taste). For the burn notice, we haven't had that problem, but it could be for a variety of reasons. Essentially it means the food at the bottom or the pot is getting too hot. It could be a piece of food that is stuck at the bottom of the pot (starchy foods often stick) , it could be that the steam value wasn't set 100% to the sealing position or the silicone sealing ring isn't fitted 100% in place. Was there any noodles stuck to the bottom? There is more than enough liquid to not trigger it, generally if its less than 1 cup of liquid it can trigger it. I know that may not give you the answers that you are looking for, but those are my guesses to why the burn notice came and also a couple of suggestions to lessen the salt taste. I really appreciate you coming back to let me know and ask questions. I am so sorry that the experience wasn't great.