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!)
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.
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 This Recipe
This 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, like Instant Pot hard boiled eggs or Instant Pot shredded chicken.
It’s 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 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!
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.
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 (I like topping them with a little cinnamon and butter) or try one of the ideas below.
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.
James Thornton says
Making now for my dogs and me lol
Rachel Gurk says
:) I hope you and your dogs love the sweet potatoes!
Karin says
I’m only cooking three large potatoes so what is the cooking time with a smaller amount? I’m new to instant pot.
Rachel Gurk says
Same cook time! :) I hope you love them!
Anna Page says
I’m new to IP. I followed directions with 3 medium sweet potatoes. They were perfect! Skins fell off, mashed with a fork. Added a little butter, drizzle of maple syrup and sprinkle of cinnamon. Delicious and so quick and easy. New go-to. Thanks Rachel!
Rachel Gurk says
I’m so glad to hear you liked this recipe! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment and review!
D says
Absolutley did not work using the specified time. I restarted and added 10 minutes and still slightly firm.
I couldn’t imagine doing less than 30 minutes unless you like crunchy sweet potatoes.
Rachel Gurk says
I just made these the other day as written in the recipe, with large sweet potatoes. They were very soft. Did you make sure the silicon ring was securely in place and the valve was turned to seal? Did you let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes?
MB Billington says
I just tried your way to cook sweet potatoes in the instant pot. I found that the sweet potatoes ended up too soft. They were way over done unless you wanted to mash them.
Rachel Gurk says
It definitely depends on the size of your sweet potatoes…they can come out soft, but they’re super creamy and delicious in my opinion. :)
Karen says
These Instant Pot sweet potatoes were delicious!! Best way to prepare them.
Rachel Gurk says
So glad you like them! I’m making them this week to use in my vanilla bean mashed sweet potatoes.
Judith says
Can cooking time be extended a bit and the pressure released rather than waiting for passive decompression?
Rachel Gurk says
I haven’t tried that method, but it might work. Let me know if you give it a go.
Patty in CO says
Thank you for the cooking times…I added 20% to my time because I am at high altitude and OMG!, these came out so silky smooth and yummy.. I wil never cook sweet potatoes any other way. If you haven’t tried virgin coconut oil and cinnamon/sugar (I used a sugar substitute) to top them with, you don’t know what you are missing….so velvety and sweet….I ate the skin and all.. ….absolutely lovely!
Rachel Gurk says
That combination sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing, and thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment. It means a lot to mw!
Madison says
Hi! I do not have the steamer thing anymore, do you think it will still work?
Rachel Gurk says
I haven’t tried this without the steamer. I think it would be worth buying an inexpensive steamer basket that will fit inside your Instant Pot.
Lilly says
Followed the instructions exactly and my potato was still hard in the middle and required being microwave to be done in time for dinner. Microwaved a total of 4 min in addition to time in Instapot.
Rachel Gurk says
Hi Lilly, I’m sorry you had that experience! Are you sure your rubber ring was all the way in? Sometimes if that’s not placed correctly, it can prevent the Instant Pot from sealing properly and that will cause the food to not cook as it should.
Dawn says
Is it possible to “keep warm” for a long time after natural release or do they need to be pulled out soon after the release?
Rachel Gurk says
I haven’t tested it, but it should be fine. They may get pretty soft, but I think they’d be alright. How long is a “long time?”
Megan says
This may be a dumb questions but do I need to poke holes in them with a fork using this method? Never cooked sweet potatoes in the instant pot. but whenever I cook regular potatoes this way I poke them.
Rachel Gurk says
I don’t poke holes in them when I cook them with this method.
Rocco says
What is the “Pot” c a pressure cooker?
Rachel Gurk says
This recipe is made in an Instant Pot which is a brand of electric pressure cooker. The recipe will work in any electric pressure cooker. I hope that helps!
Emily says
Made this recipe and the the potatoes were too firm.
Rachel Gurk says
Sorry to hear that, Emily! Did you have your valve turned to seal? Was your rubber ring in place? It could be that your potatoes were just extra large. As you can imagine, larger potatoes take longer to cook so this recipe is definitely a jumping off point more than anything else.
Supriya Kutty says
Looking very delicious and very healthy. I will definitely try this recipe and I will definitely let you know. Thank you for sharing this post.
Rachel Gurk says
Thanks! I hope you love them!
Jennifer says
I just found your recipe this evening as I bought a few sweet potatoes to make…for my dogs… :) One of them has chylothorax, and needs a low fat diet and sweet potatoes are a good addition for him. So… love my IP, in fact have used it today for boiled eggs and shredded chicken. I had a huge sweet potato, and put it in for 15 minutes. After it had started, I read the reviews and thought I wouldn’t have a good result because the potato was big and I didn’t think I gave it enough time. So I let it go for 35 minutes on natural release, and when I took it out, it was PERFECT! So.., one strategy is to go for the 15 minutes, and let it release longer the larger the sweet potato. This is a wonderful way to get creamy sweet potatoes with almost no effort.. thanks for the recipe!
Rachel Gurk says
Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave such a helpful comment, Jennifer! I’m glad you liked this recipe!