Ingredients For Instant Pot Boiled Potatoes
The quick and easy Instant Pot potato recipe requires two simple ingredients:
- Potatoes: Purchase 1 pound of russet, red, gold or baby, the choice is up to you.
- Water: The addition of water helps create steam and facilitate even cooking.
- Salt: I recommend adding salt to the liquid for baby potatoes only since they cook directly in the water. You ‘can’ add 1 teaspoon salt to the water for medium and large potatoes, but it is not necessary.
What Is The Difference Between A Natural And Manual Release On The Instant Pot
A natural release means to allow the Instant Pot to slowly lose pressure on its own. You dont have to touch any buttons or steam valves since the Instant Pot will automatically start naturally releasing pressure as soon as the timer hits zero and beeps.
A quick-release, or a manual release, is when you manually turn or press the vent valve to quickly release the pressure. The pressure is completely gone once the valve drops.
The Instant Pot will let out a lot of steam when being released manually, so its important to either use a wooden spoon, or my favorite is to use a long oven mitt to protect my hand and forearm from the hot steam.
Why Make Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
Sometimes you run out of room on the stove. Or sometimes you need to make them and take them somewhere. And sometimes its too darn hot to heat up the stove. In all of those cases, it makes sense to make Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes!
One of the NICE things about cooking in the Instant Pot? No boilovers, and no stirring down boilovers. Things JUST cook in the IP on pressure cooking without stirring. I like that!
I love making Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot is that when Im making a feast I just dont have space on the stovetop for all the things I need to do. When I use a pressure cooker, I can make the potatoes ahead of time, and leave them in the pot even once its off and theyll stay toasty warm for a bare minimum of 30 minutes.
OR I can turn the pot to Slow Cooker Low and keep them warm until I need them on the table. Using a pressure cooker is just a game-changer in so many ways!
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The most foolproof way to make baked potatoes! Fluffy, fork-tender insides with super golden, crisp skin in just half the time!
Sometimes I ask myself, what cant the Instant Pot do?
They can basically do anything and everything, making your life so much easier, especially when it can bake potatoes in just 15 minutes.
Im dead serious. All you have to do is pierce your potatoes 5-7 times with a fork, throw it into your IP and let it pressure cook for just 14 minutes to be exact.
Theres no babysitting, no rotating of pans, no fuss here.
Just let it release pressure naturally then slice open your potatoes and add on all your butter, salt and pepper. You can also load them up with cheese, bacon and chives.
Its completely up to you but you really cant go wrong either way. Because you just baked your potatoes in 15 minutes.
How To Make Baked Potatoes In The Instant Pot
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Pressure Cooker Mashed Potatoes For Thanksgiving
If you make just one pressure cooker Thanksgiving recipe this year, I definitely recommend it be mashed potatoes.
Check out my Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot Thanksgiving Guide for tips on how to use your pressure cooker this Thanksgiving! I even have two guides to walk you through a meal, including turkey, stuffing, cranberry, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie.
If you are just getting started with your Pressure Cooker or Instant Pot, check out our Getting Started Guideand our Easy Recipes for the Pressure Cooker.
Pressure Cooker Mashed Potatoes: Peeling And Cutting
Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes. If you want to prep the potatoes in advice, put them in a bowl of cold water to prevent the potatoes from browning.
Whenever I peel potatoes, I always peel them over a piece of newspaper. It makes cleaning up the peels easy. I mean, what is it with potato peels? They like to stick to the counter like theyve been glued down. To do this, you need to have a newspaper around. Let me step on a soapbox for a second. Subscribe to your local paper if you can. Those newspapers are important to the community and they really need our support.
Cook Fast Tip: Prep the potatoes up to 12 hours in advice. Place the cut potatoes into a bowl of water, cover, and refrigerate.
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A Basic Cooking Technique That Is Easy To Master
There is just something about potatoes that sings comfort and joy, whether it’s the starchy goodness of Russet, the creaminess of Yukon gold or the butteriness of baby potato.
I used to boil potatoes using a stove-top pressure cooker. Even though it was mostly hands-free, it needed some monitoring and heat adjustments during the process.
And when I boiled potatoes in a pot on the stovetop, I would have to monitor it, wondering when was the right moment to remove them from the heat so that they were cooked to my desired tenderness.
Well, all that is taken care of with the use of an Instant Pot, or any comparable electric pressure cooker. This boiled potato recipe is a set-it-and-forget it kind. All you have to do is push a button and you are on your way to boiled potato bliss.
Why You Need This Recipe
- Four-ingredient recipes like this one are are budget-friendly and efficient. Theyre easy to make and easy to remember. Carrots, potatoes, butter, and vegetable stock are pantry staples which means this ones easy to make on a whim, too.
- Carrots and potatoes both last a long time. This means you can plan to make this recipe at the end of the week or even an entire week out and the ingredients will still be fresh.
- It makes great leftovers. Just reheat in the microwave until warmed through and serve with a rotisserie chicken for an easy second day meal.
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Cooking Tips For Instant Pot Potatoes
- Dont forget to prick your potatoes a few times with a fork before cooking them. This allows steam and pressure to escape from the potatoes as they cook.
- Be sure to cook your baked potatoes on the metal trivet to keep them out of the water in the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- The cooking time for baked potatoes depends on their size. Cook the standard large size Russet potatoes that you find at the grocery store for 20 minutes at high pressure plus 10 minutes natural pressure release.
- If you want potatoes with more flavorful, crispy skins you can place them in your oven and broil for a few minutes after they have cooked in the Instant Pot. Rubbing the skins with olive oil and sprinkling them with salt and pepper helps them to crisp and adds flavor.
More Easy Instant Pot Recipes
Should You Peel Potatoes Before Or After Boiling
I actually peeled the potatoes before boiling them in the instant pot, only because I preferred it that way when I made these.
You can peel the potatoes before boiling the potatoes, or you can peel them after you boil them, as you like.
You may also keep the skin of the potatoes if you wish to leave it on for you to enjoy.
It is really not necessary to peel the potatoes, since we use them in many recipes with skins on.
However, to use in recipes like mashed potatoes where you do not want the peels of the potatoes, you can remove them .
Whether you want to peel the potatoes before or after boiling the potatoes, is really based on what is convenient to you.
If you decide to peel the potatoes before cooking, you can use a good quality potato peeler to remove the skin.
If theres a lot of dirt in the skin of the potato, it is actually a good idea to remove the peel before you boil them.
However, if you clean the skin of the potato, you can boil the potato with the skin itself.
Once boiled, allow the potatoes to completely cool down, then you can easily remove the skin with your hands if you dont have a potato peeler.
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Pressure Cooker Mashed Potatoes: Mashing
How do you like your mashed potatoes? Dense and creamy or light and fluffy? Im firmly in the light and creamy camp. This means that I whip my potatoes with a handheld mixer instead of mashing them with the traditional potato masher.
Here are the tools you can use for mashing potatoes
Masher
Results: Dense, thick mashed potatoes often dotted with small lumps.
Pros: Easy-to-use. Kid-friendly.
link: the potato masher that I use and love.
Ricer/ Food Mill
Results: Creamy, dense mashed potatoes
Pros: Makes mashed potatoes with a silky texture. No lumps here.
Cons: Pain to clean
link: the food mill that I have. Nothing fancy for me.
Note: You dont have to peel potatoes before putting them through a ricer. Ive found this to be somewhat true. Some of the peel always gets through and the holes tend to clog on me. Id rather spend a few minutes peeling the potatoes than futzing with a clogged ricer.
Handheld/Stand Mixer
Pros: Whips a batch of potatoes very quickly.
Cons: Dirties a second bowl.
Food processor
Pros: None
Cons: Turns potatoes into a dense, gluey puree. Avoid the food processor when youre making mashed potatoes.
So which should you use? Whichever one you like. Seriously. They all make great mashed potatoes.
How To Serve Your Mashed Potatoes
Adding additional ingredients to your mashed potatoes isn’t necessary, but it’s a great way to put a spin on this classic dish. Some of Lo’s favorite mix-ins for mashed potatoes include roasted garlic, grated aged cheddar, and crispy bacon bits.
She also likes to garnish her mashed potatoes with garden-grown chives to level them up. “For the ultimate side dish, add them all,” Lo says.
Her favorite dishes to serve alongside Instant Pot mashed potatoes include pork roast, beef pot roast, ribs, and barbecue sirloin steak. And, of course, it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without a fluffy mound of gravy-soaked mashed potatoes right next to the turkey and stuffing.
You can also top your mashed potatoes with gravy, cheese, sour cream, or extra butter to elevate the flavor profile even further.
Quick tip: For vegan mashed potatoes, use a vegan butter substitute and dairy-free milk or coconut milk instead of milk or cream. You can also reserve and use the potato cooking water to mash them with. Serve them with slabs of crispy marinated tofu or tempeh or a tasty bowl of Instant Pot cooked beans.
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Tricks For Smooth And Creamy Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
Use the right mashing tool For perfect, lump free mashed potatoes, I highly recommend using a ricer or a food mill instead of a traditional masher.
If youre in a hurry, you can use your KitchenAid mixer. But you need to be really carefuloverwhipping your potatoes can make them gluey and youll still be likely to have some lumps.
Butter first. Another tip is to stir in the room temperature butter before adding the warm liquids to the mashed potatoes.
When Im in a hurry, Ill warm the butter and milk together. However, if you add room temperature butter and stir them in before adding warm liquid, . This will prevent the mashed potatoes from absorbing as much liquid so theyll stay dry and fluffy.
Instant Pot Baked Potato Time Chart
In a 6 quart Instant Pot, you can cook 2 to 3 lbs of Russet Potatoes at a time. Us the time chart below depending on the size of your potatoes followed by a natural pressure release of about 15 minutes.
- Smaller Russet Potatoes 12 minutes on high pressure with a natural pressure release.
- Medium Russets 14 min + natural release
- Large Russets 16 min + natural release
- Extra Large Russets 18-20 min + natural release
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How Do You Steam Red Potatoes In The Instant Pot
Cut your potatoes into quarters, leaving the skin on. You can peel them first, but the skin will fall right off if you have picky eaters.
Place in your Instant pot or any electric pressure cooker.
Pour your water over the top. Season with salt and pepper and then add your butter to the top .
Place lid on top and set to sealing.
Allow it to cook and when finished manually remove the pressure.
Remove lid and stir the potatoes coating it in the delicious buttery sauce.
Enjoy!
How To Make Baked Potatoes In An Instant Pot
The only equipment you’ll need when making baked potatoes in your electric pressure cooker is the trivet that comes with the Instant Pot. Alternatively, you can use your own metal steamer basket.
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We Love To Serve It With Some Easy Grilling Food Here Are A Few Grilling Recipes To Try:
Combine this pressure cooker recipe with some grilling food and you have yourself an easy dinner idea! Potatoes go with just about anything.
You will love this buttered potato recipe in the electric pressure cooker. Feel free to use baby potatoes, red potatoes or anything you have on hand.
Potatoes in the instant pot take only a few minutes thanks to pressure cooking. We also love roasted potatoes with olive oil and mashed potatoes. Can you tell we love potatoes?
Recipe Tips For Instant Pot Boiled Potatoes:
- Make sure to pierce each medium/large potato 5-6 times with a fork before cooking. This helps the potatoes release steam while cooking. Since baby potatoes cook in a shorter amount of time, this step is not necessary.
- Because potatoes come in all different shapes and sizes, it is hard to test for doneness. For accuracy, you can use an instant-read thermometer. Simply insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the potato. The temperature should register around 208 degrees F.
- If they are much over that temperature, the insides will still be fluffy, but you may see more cracks on the skin.
- If they are under, simply place them back in the Instant Pot for another 1-2 minutes to finish cooking.
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Ready To Make This Easy Instant Pot Pot Roast
Step 1: Sear the RoastStep 2: Prepare the Instant Pot and deglazeStep 3: CookStep 4: Let pressure releaseStep 5: Enjoy!
How long does it take to cook a Roast in an Instant Pot?
It takes approximately 60 to 80 minutes.
Yes, you can. Since pressure cooking cooks meat quicker than in a slow cooker, its safe to do.
Why is my Instant Pot Roast still tough?
Usually if its still tough its because it still needs time to cook.
What is the best roast to use for a pot roast??
Hands down, a chuck roast. It shreds so much better.
