Recipes: How to Make Cannabutter in the Instant Pot

The legal cannabis industry is as popular as it's ever been. Some form of legal cannabis is available for consumers in 19 states recreationally and an additional 38 medically, meaning some form of legal weed is accessible throughout the United States. The industry is coming off of a record-breaking year. On top of that, the push for universal decriminalization and legalization is working. More than two-thirds of Americans, a record 68 percent, approve of some type of legal cannabis. This mainstream popularity and access to legal weed have led to a rise in homegrown cannabis, with 15 of the 19 states that have legalized recreational marijuana and nearly half of the states with medical marijuana programs having home-grow provisions. That means many people are growing weed in their homes and are looking for something to do with it. And that's where the homemade edibles come in! 

While edibles were already a decent-sized chunk of the overall legal industry, the pandemic supercharged their accent to mainstream popularity. Edibles sold like hotcakes during the lockdowns in 2020, with sales of adult-use and medical edibles growing by 60 percent across seven state markets - surging from $767 million in 2019 to $1.23 billion in 2020. The rise of DIY edibles rose as well, with people coming up with easy ways to make edibles. And as the experienced stoner chef knows, cooking with cannabutter is the way to go when it comes to making tasty edibles! And if you're looking for a quick cannabutter recipe, we here at Where's Weed have your back! 

This article will go in-depth on how to craft instant pot cannabutter step-by-step, breaking it down into what can easily be called the best cannabutter recipe on the web. We'll cover exactly what ingredients and supplies you'll need to make easy cannabutter and how to make cannabutter quickly and easily! Let's get right into it! 

Gather Your Ingredients

First things first. Just like any other recipe, you'll need to assemble a list of ingredients and equipment you'll need to make some instant pot cannabutter. Even though the process is super simple, you will still need a few things that aren't negotiable. We figure that instead of heading to your search engine of choice and punching in something like "cannabutter Instapot ingredients," we'd provide a comprehensive list of exactly what you'll need. We're all about taking the guesswork out of things and keeping them as simple as possible for our readers. 

The great thing about this recipe is that Instapots have gotten popularized to the point where they're pretty much household appliances. And if you happen to not have one lying around, you can easily pick one up at your local big-box store of choice for less than $100. 

So with that in mind, here's a list of stuff you'll need to make instant pot cannabutter: 

•  An instant pot (obviously)
• About a half-ounce of your favorite cannabis flower
• A cup of butter
• A grinder
• A large 16-ounce glass canning jar and two different lids
• Three cups of water
• Some cheesecloth

And that's pretty much it! As we mentioned before, this is a pretty simple recipe when you get right down to it. Now that you've assembled your ingredients, the next step is to combine them into some cannabutter! So let's get right into it. 

Step 1: Decarb Your Cannabis

This step should be familiar to the seasoned homemade edibles maker out there. However, for those novices out there who haven't tried it, let's quickly break down exactly what decarbing is and why it's so important. 

Decarbing your cannabis activates the cannabinoids and ends up getting you high. Without decarbing your weed first, your body wouldn't feel the effects of the edible. It would be like eating some hemp added into a brownie, just adding a little bit of a weedy flavor without the effects of the cannabinoids. 

To activate those cannabinoids, your cannabis flower needs to be exposed to low and slow heat for an extended period of time. Heat and time are key to getting the most active cannabinoids, leading to better edibles and a better high. Thankfully, a slow cooker is perfect for applying that steady heat for an extended period of time!  

So how exactly do you go about decarbing your weed with an Instapot? Well, it's pretty simple. Here's a step-by-step breakdown of how to decarb your cannabis in your Instapot:

• Grind your weed. You'll want the plant matter coming out of the grinder to be fine but not powdery. 
• Put the ground weed into your canning jar and loosely close the lid
• Add two cups of water into the Instapot. The water level should reach about the middle of the jar.
• Set the Instapot on high for 30-40 minutes and let the jar sit upright. 
• Once the time is up, remove the jar and let it rest.     

Step 2: Add Your Butter

While it's true that pretty much any fat can be subbed in and used at this step in the process. For this recipe, we're sticking with the butter! Once you have your cannabis decarbed and ready to go, you'll add some butter into the jar before popping it back into the Instapot. You'll want to melt the butter first. The fastest and easiest way would likely be in a microwave, then fill the jar halfway with melted butter. Give the ground decarbed cannabis mix and the butter a stir, put that second unused lid on the jar, and then put it back into the Instapot on high pressure for another 20 minutes. 

This cooking process might not take too long, but it's perhaps the most crucial part of the whole process. This will allow the cannabinoids to leave the cannabis itself and be absorbed by the butter, which will then be used in your delicious edibles! 

Step 3: Let Cool and Strain

For the final; step on our journey towards simple and easy cannabutter, we play a waiting game. After the 20-minute cook time in step two, allow your Instapot to naturally release the pressure via the "keep warm" setting. For most Instapots, this will take about 40 minutes or so. Once that pressure is released, carefully remove the jar as soon as it's not too hot to handle. Wait for it to cool down a bit more, then pour the contents of the jar through that cheesecloth and squeeze into another container. The more you squeeze the butter from the ground up left behind by the cheesecloth, the more potent your final product will be. Let the final result cool, and just like that, you have cannabutter!

It's as simple as that! 

What to Do With That Butter

So now that you've made yourself some tasty Instapot cannabutter, we here at Where's Weed wanted to provide a few examples of what types of products you can make with it! After all, what's the point of making cannabis-infused butter without using that butter in some recipes? 

So if you're feeling hungry and are looking for something cheesy, rich, and decadent, click here to check out our recipe for cannabis-infused macaroni and cheese. If you're looking for a sweet treat to satisfy your sweet tooth, check out our cannabis-infused apple pie and banana bread recipes.  

Even if you apply that cannabutter to some morning toast for a non-traditional wake-and-baked, that's fine with us! However you use your cannabis-infused cannabutter, you're sure to have a great time!