Easy, delicious, from-scratch lemon curd made in an Instant Pot! Sweet, tart, and so much better than what you can find in a store!

I’ve always thought of lemon curd as something you buy from the store. I honestly had no idea how to make it at home until I stumbled upon a recipe in one of my trusty, fading cookbooks. While lemon curd isn’t difficult to make on the stovetop, it’s so much simpler to make in the Instant Pot!

What is an Instant Pot?

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This recipe was made in the Instant Pot 6qt Duo, so all of my instructions are based on that one. Instant Pot refers to the brand name of multi-use, programmable electric pressure cookers. The Instant Pot brand offers several different sizes and there are a number of other brands on the market as well with similar features. All of the pressure cookers brands and models are pretty similar; they just name things a bit differently, so refer to your manual if I reference a button that you don’t have on yours – or leave a comment in the notes and I’ll try to help you out!

How to Make Instant Pot Lemon Curd

Start by whisking together an egg, two egg yolks, granulated sugar, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, and lemon zest. I used to use lemon juice concentrate for everything as fresh-squeezing lemons sounded like way too much. That was until I found this citrus juicer – it makes such quick work of juicing any kind of citrus that I no longer have an excuse not to use fresh-squeezed juice in recipes.

Pour the egg and lemon mixture into a 16-oz glass canning jar (I used ones similar to these). I like to use canning jars here and not just a regular glass bowl since they’re made to stand up to pressure (we are using a pressure cooker after all). Place foil over the jar and cover tightly.

Then place the stainless steel insert into the Instant Pot, add the trivet that came with the pot, and place the jar with the egg mixture on top of the trivet. Pour water in until it’s halfway up the side of the jar.

Lock the Instant Pot lid in place and close the pressure release valve. Press the “Pressure Cook” button (or “Manual” on some models) until it’s on “Normal” for normal pressure and press the “Pressure Level” button until it’s on “High.” Then press the +/- buttons until it’s on “00:05” for five minutes. The Instant Pot will say “On” while it comes up to pressure and then will begin to count down from five.

When the Instant Pot is done, let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes. Basically, just leave the Instant Pot alone and it will begin to count up. After 10 minutes, quick release the rest of the pressure by opening the pressure release valve. Steer clear of the steam. Then press “Cancel” to turn off the Instant Pot. When all of the pressure is released and the float valve is down, open the lid.

Carefully remove the jar from the pot with an oven mitt or tongs. Place on a heat-proof surface (like your oven or a trivet) and add the butter. Mix in the butter right away with a fork until well combined. Allow the lemon curd to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate to thicken.

Uses for Lemon Curd

Stir into yogurt. I love it on this Instant Pot Greek Yogurt.
Use as a spread on pancakes, like these Buttermilk Pancakes.
Spread on English muffins, biscuits, or toast.
Use as a filling between cake layers.
Or, my favorite, eat it by the spoonful!

If you try this recipe for Instant Pot Lemon Curd, leave me a comment a review below and let me know how you liked it!

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5 from 5 votes