Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes – Perfect Every Time!
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Instant Pot sweet potatoes come out silky smooth every time. Pressure cooking sweet potatoes may be the best way yet!
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Pressure cooking is a very easy way to cook sweet potatoes and there’s no need to turn on your oven. They turn out great!
How long it takes: 40 minutes total
Equipment you’ll need: Instant Pot/pressure cooker, wire trivet
Servings: make as many as you like (within reason!)
- 1 Recipe Overview
- 2 About Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
- 3 What You’ll Need
- 4 A Sweet Little Scrub Brush
- 5 How To Make Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
- 6 How To Use Cooked Sweet Potatoes
- 7 FAQs
- 8 Storage & Reheating Tips
- 9 More Instant Pot Basics
- 10 Get the Recipe: Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes – Perfect Every Time!
I eat a lot of sweet potatoes. I mean, A LOT. Roasted, in a hash, sweet potato toast, mashed, pureed, noodled, baked, turned into chips, basically any way I can. On special occasions, I love to make scalloped sweet potatoes with bacon and Gruyère. If you don’t believe me, take a look at my list of 25 easy sweet potato recipes!
When I have done a Whole30 diet in the past, sweet potatoes satisfied my carb cravings but I had to get creative to keep from getting bored. I also had to find quick and easy ways to prepare them so I didn’t have a reason to fall off the Whole30 wagon.
Enter the Instant Pot, one of my favorite Whole30 tools. It makes the most perfect sweet potatoes.
I’ll admit, I sometimes resort to the microwave to cook sweet potatoes. Stab them with a fork, wrap them in paper towel, and they’re ready in about 5 minutes. However, that method does tend to dry them out, whereas the Instant Pot will not.
This is definitely my new go-to method, and I think it’s going to be yours, too.
About Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
Instant Pot sweet potatoes are steamed. The flesh becomes velvety smooth and creamy; the skin is very soft. They differ somewhat from baked sweet potatoes which are a bit drier with a tougher skin.
This post is more of a how-to than an actual recipe. Once you’ve learned how to use your Instant Pot to cook sweet potatoes, it will be a cooking method you turn to over and over again.
Instant Pots can be a food prepper’s dream. Just get that Instant Pot working on food for the whole week. You can stock your fridge with boiled eggs, cooked shredded chicken, and now creamy cooked sweet potatoes. Dinner will be a snap! Prep Instant Pot white rice and freeze it in serving size bags. It’s so handy. Works for brown rice, too, or quinoa!
I’ll get you started here and give you helpful tips and information. As always, look for the recipe card near the end of the post for complete instructions and nutrition information.
What You’ll Need
- Sweet Potatoes: Look for medium-sized sweet potatoes that are about two inches in diameter. After testing this recipe several times, we came to the conclusion that larger potatoes just don’t cook as evenly. They tend to stay hard in the middle even if you increase the cooking time. The recipe is written for four sweet potatoes; you can cook fewer or more potatoes as you wish.
- Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker/Multicooker: I use a 6-quart Instant Pot.
- Water: Don’t forget to add the water! Water is necessary to create steam; the steam builds up, and pressurizes the cooker.
How To Make Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
Scrub the sweet potatoes well and trim if necessary. I usually trim the wrinkly ends off.
Pour one cup of water into the bottom of the pot. Put the wire trivet into the pot and arrange the sweet potatoes on the trivet.
Lock the lid in place and set the Instant Pot to Pressure Cook (or Manual – High Pressure, depending on your model). Set the cook time for 15 minutes. It will take approximately 10 minutes to pressurize.
After the 15 minute timer goes off, allow the pressure to release naturally. That means you don’t do anything for fifteen minutes. When fifteen minutes have passed, release any remaining pressure; carefully remove the lid.
The sweet potatoes should be perfectly well-done, silky smooth and delicious! The skin will be very soft and is totally edible.
Now that you know how to make perfect sweet potatoes, eat them just the way they are or top them with a nice-sized chunk of homemade garlic butter, or enhance their sweetness with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar.
How To Use Cooked Sweet Potatoes
Stuffed sweet potatoes
Cut a slit in the middle of the potato and open it up. Add any sort of filling you like: chili with all the toppings, scrambled eggs with avocado, black beans and tomato salsa, bacon, salmon, shredded chicken, whatever! Recently we’ve been loving these quick-cooking fried chicken bites.
Mashed sweet potatoes
Scoop the sweet potatoes out of the skins and mash it. Add seasonings like chili powder, curry powder, or taco seasoning. A drizzle of hot honey is so good! Top them with a sprinkle of savory granola, toasted pine nuts, or roasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas). Try vanilla bean mashed sweet potatoes.
More ideas
Try handheld sweet potato casserole, sweet potato bread pudding, or twice baked sweet potatoes.
I can’t wait to hear from you : What are you going to do with these Instant Pot sweet potatoes?
FAQs
According to NutritionFacts.org, the healthiest way to cook sweet potatoes is to boil them. It lowers the glycemic index by half and they undergo a cellular change which makes the nutrients more available.
However, sweet potatoes are a very healthy food, whether they are boiled, baked, or roasted. If you like them better baked or roasted, you’ll probably end up eating more sweet potatoes, and that’s going to be great for your health!
Yes, sweet potatoes can be frozen for up to twelve months. Raw sweet potatoes do need to be blanched first because of the high water content. For a good guide on how to freeze sweet potatoes, both cooked and raw, check out HomeCookBasics.
Yes, the peel of sweet potatoes is totally edible and has more antioxidants than the flesh (ten times more!).
Storage & Reheating Tips
Cooked sweet potatoes can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. They will keep in the freezer for up to 12 months in a freezer safe container. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
To reheat, microwave until heated through.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Ingredients
- 4 medium-sized sweet potatoes (10-12 oz. each), approximately 2 inches in diameter (see note)
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Scrub sweet potatoes and trim if necessary. Pour water into Instant Pot. Place wire trivet in the bottom of the Instant Pot and place sweet potatoes on top of the trivet.
- Secure the lid and turn valve to seal.
- Select Pressure Cook (or Manual on High) for 15 minutes. It will take about 10 minutes to come to pressure.
- Allow pressure to release naturally (do nothing after the timer goes off) for 15 minutes.
- Release remaining pressure, remove lid, and serve.
Notes
- Serving size: Half of 1 medium sweet potato.
- Sweet potatoes with a diameter much larger than 2 inches cook less evenly, even if you add extra time.
- You can add fewer sweet potatoes or add more. Cooking time is the same but it will take less/more time for the Instant Pot to come to pressure.
- Cooked sweet potatoes can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Amber says
I had 3 larger sized sweet potatoes and I used this recipe but increased the time to 18 minutes. They were cooked perfect. I took the skins off, added some maple syrup, cinnamon and butter and then blended them to smooth them out. My picky 7.5 year old twins both loved them! Love that we have leftovers too!
Rachel Gurk says
I’m so glad! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment! I’m craving sweet potatoes now…
Patti Roser says
Tried 2 sets of sweet potatoes in the instapot. The first one I used the egg tray. Cooked perfectly, although I forgot to take them out until they had been sitting for 30 minutes after cooking. 2nd set, a little bigger, used the steamer on top of the tray. This did not work well. Even more time and they were still hard on the inside. So, I think the egg tray is your best bet!
My sweet potatoes are going into sweet potato biscuits. YUM
Rachel Gurk says
Sweet potato biscuits sound fantastic!!! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment with your experience!
Keith Suderman says
Thanks for the recipe, Rachel. We just had them at Easter dinner. My Mom was impressed (and she thinks she might need a pressure cooker herself, now). Excellent and easy.
Rachel Gurk says
I love that! I’m so glad they were a hit. Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Elijah says
Everyone needs an instant pot.
Rachel Gurk says
I agree wholeheartedly!
Jon W says
I dont have the steamer basket. Is there an alternative way?
Rachel Gurk says
Do you have the trivet insert that the Instant Pot comes with? That’s what I use.
Emily says
This worked beautifully! I cooked four small sweet potatoes and two medium regular potatoes in my instant pot following your instructions and they came out perfect! Thank you!
Rachel Gurk says
So glad to hear that! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Tara says
I was ready to cook my sweet potatoes, pot of water ready, peeler in hand when I thought “I bet the IP would be great for these.” I searched the internet and found this recipe…..dumped out the water and put away the peeler. I cooked 6 of what I would call small sweet potatoes with 15 min at pressure and natural release and they turned out great. I had two sweet potatoes that were 2-3x the size of the ones I cooked Those are probably the size people are having problems with.
Rachel Gurk says
Hi Tara, I’m so glad this method worked for you! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
El Pie says
These came out great! I made 5 smallish potatoes, added a pinch of salt to a Tblsp of butter with a Tblsp of maple syrup and put under the broiler for 2-3 minutes. Talk about yummy! Next time I’ll add some cinnamon. Thanks for the recipe!
Rachel Gurk says
Love the broiler touch! Yum!
Charlotte says
I just bought an Instant Pot, and used the suggestion offered here for one very large sweet potato. I set it for 20 minutes and it took forever. I pressed “manual”, set time to 20 minutes, and it took longer than that???? Not sure I understand this pot.
Rachel Gurk says
It does take some time to come to pressure. The time starts counting down when the Instant Pot pressurizes. Once you get used to it, you’ll love it!
TJ Shaw says
I have two large ones. How long should I cook them?
Rachel Gurk says
It depends on how large they are, but I’d start with 18 minutes.
Adrienne says
I just got my instant pot and this is the first thing I made since we bake sweet potatoes a few times each week. I had two medium to large sweet potatoes and cooked them in my 3 quart IP on high pressure (with more setting) for 18 mins allowing natural pressure release. They were REALLY GOOD! My new go-to method for making sweet potatoes!
Rachel Gurk says
Awesome! I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship with your instant pot. ;) I have a lot of Instant Pot recipes here!
Brad jessee says
Very tasty and smooth coming out of the instant pot.
Rachel Gurk says
So glad you liked this method! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Amy says
Did exactly what the recipe says and my instant pot said “burn” on it because all the water reduced. Sweet potato’s we’re still hard on the inside.
Rachel Gurk says
Did you add water to the instant pot and use the steamer basket?
Michelle Rhodes says
Thank-you for the recipe. My new favorite way to make sweet potatoes!
Rachel Gurk says
So happy to hear you like these! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Frances says
Thank you for the sweet potato Instant Pot instruction. The 4 sweet potatoes cooked to perfection! Received the 6 quart Instant Pot for a Christmas gift and am impressed with the way it cooks!
The altitude here in Colorado doesn’t seem to change cooking times, which I thought would.
Rachel Gurk says
That’s great to know, thanks Frances! So glad this method of cooking sweet potatoes worked for you! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Kofi says
What if I peeled the Sweet Potatoes, would I still use the basket?
Rachel Gurk says
I’ve never used peeled sweet potatoes, so I’m not sure how they’d work. They might disintegrate a little using this method. I did a google search and it looks like there are recipes for using the steamer basket, and without…so it might work! Let me know if you try it!