Instant Pot Baked Potatoes: Make fluffy, fork tender potatoes in the pressure cooker every singe time! Directions on how to cook potatoes in Instant Pot with troubleshooting tips.
Don’t you agree that a baked potato is one of the most perfect side dishes?
Baked potatoes compliment just about every main course perfectly. My family loves a good baked potato with Chicken Cordon Bleu, Apple Pork Roast, and of course a steak.
But on busy nights, I don’t have a lot of time to roast potatoes. But I always have time if I use my Instant Pot to make Baked Potatoes.
And after learning how to perfectly cook fresh and frozen chicken, cook dried beans without soaking, and cooking frozen ground beef in the Instant Pot–you all wanted to know—How do you make a potato in the Instant Pot?
And I am going to walk you through my tips and help you learn from my failed experiments (I have finally PERFECTED a Pressure Cooker Baked Potatoes!)
How to Perfectly Cook Baked Potatoes in the Instant Pot
Growing up, potatoes were always served up as a side dish. My family was a meat and potato kind of family when I was a child.
I will never forget going to my aunt’s house one night for dinner (she was watching up for my parents to go on a date) and she served up Baked Potatoes as the main course. I thought it was BRILLIANT!
I was not much of a fun of meat myself, so the fact that I could top my potato with broccoli and cheese and call it dinner sounded like heaven to me. 30 years later, I still like to call baked potatoes dinner.
Step By Step Directions for Making Baked Potatoes in the Instant Pot
Step 1: Pour 1 cup cold water over the bottom of the pot, and then place in your trivet that came with your instant pot.
- Be sure to use COLD water, as using warm water will change how the time the Instant Pot takes to get to pressure, which will change cook times and your results.
Step Two: Place anywhere from 4-8 scrubbed potatoes into your Pressure Cooker.
Important Tips to Remember when Cooking Potatoes in Instant Pot
- Be sure to prick your potatoes with a knife or fork to allow steam and pressure to exit or your potatoes could explode while cooking.
- Make sure your potatoes are resting on rack and not touching the water–if they cook in water, they will get mushy instead of perfectly fluffy (I know this from experience!)
- For reasons I can not adequately explain, I have found cooking less than 4 potatoes in a 6 or 8 quart instant pot takes LONGER to cook. I always prepare at least 4 and if not using, save potatoes for leftover hash, etc. You can easily cook 1-2 potatoes in the mini pressure cooker.
Step Three: Set to high pressure and cook
- 10 minutes on high pressure for small potatoes.
- 12 minutes on high pressure for medium potatoes (standard potatoes that you find in most bulk bags from grocery store)
- 20 minutes for extra large potatoes (like the ones you get at Costco)
Step Four: Allow pressure to release naturally for 8-10 minutes and then turn valve to release to release any remaining pressure.
Step Five (optional) Brush potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and crisp in 400 degree oven for 10 minutes–this is NOT necessary!
Step Six: Serve plain with butter and sour cream or stuff with Pulled Pork and shredded cheese for a great meal!
Now a few things you may be wondering about Cooking Potatoes in the Instant Pot
- What is the texture like of potatoes cooked in Instant Pot? Fluffy and creamy–just like an oven baked potato. This method is SO much better than the texture of a microwave baked potato.
- Do you have to use your trivet? YES!! The trivet prevents the potatoes from getting watery;
- Do you have to add water to bottom of Instant Pot? Yes, that moisture allows the pressure to build up in your instant pot.
- Do you have to use cold water in your Instant Pot? Yes! If you start with warm water, the cooking time will vary and that may result in under or over-cooked potatoes.
Tips and Troubleshooting Cooking Potatoes in the Instant Pot
- I have tested this recipe out with 4, 6, 8, and 10 potatoes. At 10 potatoes, my 6 quart instant pot needed longer than 12 minutes to perfectly cook the potatoes, but at 4, 6 and 8 the 12 minutes was a perfect time.
- I would not recommend cooking more than 8 potatoes at a time. Doing so, would overcrowd your Instant Pot and therefore would cause it to take forever to reach pressure.
- If you are using giant potatoes, I would not use more than 6 at at time.
- In all my tests, it has never taken longer than 8 minutes to reach pressure for this recipe. So from heating up to releasing pressure these potatoes are ready in less than 30 minutes.
- Looking to cook Sweet Potatoes in Instant Pot? Check out my recipe for Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes (spoiler alert–it is NOT the same!)
- Be sure to check out all my Easy Healthy Instant Pot Recipes.
- If you are a new Instant Pot user, be sure to read my Instant Pot 101, where I walk you through important must knows when using an electric pressure cooker.
Instant Pot Basic Recipes
- Instant Pot Baked Sweet Potatoes
- Instant Pot Quinoa
- Perfect Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs
- Instant Pot Chicken Breasts (Fresh or Frozen)
- How to Make Chicken Stock in In the Instant Pot
Instant Pot Baked Potato Recipe
Instant Pot Baked Potatoes
Ingredients
- 6 medium potatoes scrubbed clean
Instructions
- Place 1 cup cold water in Pressure cooker pan and place trivet in instant pot.
- Pierce potatoes 5-6 times with a fork to allow pressure to release while cooking.
- Add potatoes carefully on trivet (stacking on top of each other if needed). Place lid on instant pot and seal the valve.
- Set to high pressure for 12 minutes.
- Once cook time has elapsed, allow pressure to naturally release for 8-10 minutes, do a quick release. Remove potatoes from Instant Pot and serve up with whatever toppings you like.
Notes
- 10 minutes for small potatoes (about 2 inches in diameter or 3-4 ounces)
- 12 minutes for medium potatoes (between 2.5-3 inches in diameter or 5-7 ounces)
- 16 minutes for large potatoes (between 3.5-4.5 inches in diameter or 8-10 ounces)
- 20 minutes for extra large potatoes (between 5-6 inches in diameter or 11-13 ounces)
My Must Have Instant Pot Accessories
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Kristen Chidsey
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OUTSTANDING. I am surprised I had not previously left a review. Thank you for the excellent recipe on making truly perfect Instant Pot Baked Potatoes. They really are the best. I love just finishing them in the oven with the Olive Oil and Sea Salt per your suggestion. That just takes it to another level.
These were the best baked potatoes I ever made, and the easiest.
Thanks John for letting me know the success you had with this recipe 🙂
Hi! Can I cook foil wrapped potatoes in the instant pot? I like coating mine in olive oil, salt and pepper prior to cooking. Or should I save that for the last step you mentioned, crisping in the oven? Thank you!! Love how well you explained everything.
Hi Lori! You can certainly wrap the potatoes in foil, just keep in mind that when you wrap anything in foil you need to add about 10 minutes to the total cook time. So the oven or extra cook time is up to you 🙂 Enjoy!
I’m not positive about this, but the reason it may take longer to cook when there’s less potatoes is because there is more empty space that has to be pressurized when there’s less food. That’s been my experience. Thanks for the great instructions!!! You saved our chili dinner!
Would the timing be the same to make 1-2 potatoes in the Mini InstantPot?
Thank you
Hi Peg! I would use 1 cup cold water and use the time suggested for the 3 quart IP.:)
Tried to do 4, of what I would call medium potatoes for 12m and they weren’t all the way done in the middle, guess they were closer to large potatoes. Would be helpful to add photos or size guides for potato sizes
Hi Kelli! That is a great suggestion. Sometimes I feel a picture can still be vague at times unless a ruler next to each potato, that is why I included the dimensions to help 🙂
Thanks for sharing all these tips! Worked perfectly for us, 5 medium potatoes at 12 mins on high pressure.
YAY! I am so happy to here that you were able to enjoy baked potatoes so easily Julianne!
I love your website thanks for the information on cooking a whole chicken and making broth at the same time it turned out great. I added a some little potatoes and used them in my soup they were a bit soft and I will try bigger potatoes next time I cooked it at 22 minutes. (I did discard all the other stock veggies I was just trying to save time). Should I try to put in a couple Costco sized potatoes with the chicken next time?
Hi Christina! I have never tried to make potatoes at the same time. You certainly can add in whole potatoes, but because that amount of liquid will take a long time to heat up, the potatoes still may overcook. But worth a try!
Perfecto! I just made six potatoes using your recommendations and they turned out perfect. I only needed two so put the other four in the fridge individually wrapped with aluminum foil. Ready to heat later! Thank you!
It is so great to have potatoes without heating up the kitchen….and leftovers 😊 Thanks for taking the time to let us know how it went.
Excellent instructions and we cooked 8 med potatoes to perfection. We didn’t crisp the potato skins in the oven with oil and salt but that would be a nice touch. I just loved that i didn’t heat my oven to make baked potatoes with our grilled steaks. Thank you
I am so glad you enjoyed the potatoes Lynn–sounds like a great meal for sure. Have a great week!
Followed your guidelines, and six perfect baked Costco potatoes!! Thank you so much for your advice for my first time to not only use a pressure cooker, but an 8 qt Instant Pot. Appreciate your experience and insight.
I am so happy you had such a great experience using your Instant Pot for the first time! I hope you find many more recipes here to enjoy–and ask questions any time!
Thank you for the tip on COSTCO huge potatoes. I have walked past them for years and never once noticed them. I need to cook no more than two at a time. In view of your experience with fewer than four could you suggest a starting point for attempts at cooking two? Love your blog.
Hi Ed! Thank you so much for your kind words! As for Costco baked potatoes, those are so large you can just do 2 🙂 For smaller potatoes, 4 seems to be key. Enjoy!
Perfect potatoes and I didn’t have to heat up my house! Thank you!
YAY! So glad you enjoyed Melanie! And it is a great way to keep out the heat for sure!
I’m trying to plan timing for dinner and already have a dish I wanted to finish in my (one) instant pot before serving. I’m guessing that the potato texture will be compromised if I cook them hours before and reheat them in the oven? I could start them at 325 to slowly warm them through and then up it to 400 to crisp them. But I think the cooling process after cooking would make them all wrinkly. Have you tried it? Your thoughts? Thx.
Hi Nola! I often make large batches of baked potatoes and reheat as needed. You can do either 325 to slowly reheat or heat them quickly at 400…but low and slow is best to keep skin from getting too dried out.