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Instant Pot Baked Potatoes is the easiest way to enjoy a fluffy, tender baked potato in record time! Regardless of the size of your potato, this recipe will walk you through the step-by-step process to guarantee fork-tender, creamy baked potatoes--without the need to turn on the oven!
Looking for more Instant Pot potato recipes? Don't miss my recipes for Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes, Instant Pot Potato Soup, Instant Pot Potato Corn Chowder, and Instant Pot Potato Salad.
My Favorite Way to "Bake" Potatoes
Don't you agree that a classic baked potato is one of the most perfect side dishes? From my London broil recipe to blackened chicken to a pan-seared ribeye steak, baked potatoes complements just about any main course.
But on busy nights, I don't have a lot of time to bake potatoes. And on hot summer nights, the last thing I want to do is turn on the oven to make baked potatoes.
The Instant Pot solves those issues by making perfect baked potatoes in record time without heating up the kitchen.
Kristen's Tips for Perfect Potatoes
- Russet potatoes make the BEST baked potatoes. Their high starch content yields a pillowy, fluffy interior.
- Always start with cold water. Use cold tap water, not warm or hot water, as the temperature of the water will change the time it takes the Instant Pot takes to come to pressure, which impacts the cook time.
- Use a trivet to keep the potatoes from being submerged in the water as they cook. No trivet? Ball up some tin foil and place it right into the water in the inner pot and lay your potatoes on top of the foil.
- Size Matters! Cook time is based on size of potatoes, so be sure to select potatoes similar in size and follow the guidelines provided to ensure accurate cooking time.
How to Make Baked Potatoes in the Instant Pot
The following tips are provided to help you achieve perfect results. You will find the ingredient quantities and detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Prepare Instant Pot. Pour 1-½ cups of cold tap water into the inner pot and insert the trivet.
- Prepare Potatoes. Scrub the potatoes well and prick the potatoes several times with a fork or knife to allow steam and pressure to escape the potatoes as they cook.
- Stack the potatoes on trivet. Place the prepared potatoes onto the rack inside the inner pot. It will not impact the cooking time if you make 1 or 6 baked potatoes.
- Pressure Cook. Place the lid on the inner pot and be sure the vent knob is sealed. Set the cooking time to HIGH pressure and adjust the time according to the size of your potatoes.
- Let the Pressure Release Naturally. Allow the pressure to release naturally for at least 10 minutes. This just means to DO NOTHING and leave your instant pot alone. If after 10 minutes the pressure has not released fully, you can turn the valve to the venting position to release any remaining pressure.
- Serve. Cut the potato open, season with salt and pepper and serve with toppings of choice.
How to Determine Cook Time
While I have provided timings based on the diameter and/or weight of your potato, don't stress over being exact. Most potatoes sold in bulk bags at the grocery store are medium-sized. Those sold in bulk bins are typically large, and those sold at warehouses (like Costco) are extra large.
- Small Potatoes: 12 minutes (2-3 inches in diameter/5-7 ounces)
- Medium Potatoes:16 minutes (3-4 inches in diameter/8-10 ounces)
- Large Potatoes: 22 minutes (4-4.5 inches in diameter/11-13 ounces
- Extra Large Potatoes: 26 minutes (5 inches in diameter/15-16 ounces)
Serving Suggestions
Baked potatoes are great served classically with butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese, chives and/or crumbled baked bacon but there are so many more delicious ways to use Instant Pot Baked Potatoes.
- Stuff the Instant Pot Baked Potatoes with leftover Instant Pot pulled pork, taco meat, or Instant Pot chili and shredded cheese for an easy meal that transforms leftovers into something spectacular.
- Use these baked potatoes to make speed up the process of making twice baked potatoes or Potatoes Romanoff
- Dice up cooled baked potatoes and use to make a quick breakfast hash or as the base for a potato frittata.
- Allow the potatoes to cool fully then cut into wedges. Brush with olive oil and season with seasoned salt and bake the potato wedges at 450 degrees F for 10-15 minutes until crispy and golden for easy "fries."
- Transform the leftover potato skins into crispy, cheesy potato Skins using my recipe for baked potato skins or air fryer potato skins.
Storage Instructions
- Store: Allow the Instant Pot Baked Potatoes to cool fully and then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Reheat: Reheat the potatoes by placing them on a rack in the instant pot over 1.5 cups of cold water and cook on high for 3 minutes. Alternatively, microwave one potato at a time on a heat-safe plate for 1 to 2 minutes or reheat the potatoes in a 400 degree F oven for 15-30 minutes until warmed through.
Recipe FAQs
Just like ovens, the way an instant pot cooks can vary. If your potatoes are not fully cooked after the suggested cook time, place the lid back on the inner pot and cook for 2-5 minutes longer on high pressure. Take note of that added time so you can adjust the cooking time in the future.
You can cook as few as 1 potato or up to 8 potatoes in a 6-quart instant pot, and up to 8 potatoes in an 8-quart instant pot. However, if you are working with extra large potatoes, I would not cook more than 6 potatoes at a time.
While Instant Pot Baked Potatoes, have the same texture of oven baked potatoes, they don't have the same crispy exterior as an oven-baked potato. You can achieve that texture by broiling or quickly baking the potatoes. Simply place the pressure-cooked potatoes onto a rimmed baking pan, brush with olive oil or melted butter, sprinkle with kosher salt, and bake at 400-degrees F for 10 minutes or place under broiler on high for 2-3 minutes per side.
If you are cooking at a higher altitude, you will need to adjust the cooking time. Refer to my Instant Pot Altitude Guide for guidance.
More Staple Instant Pot Recipes
If you enjoyed this easy method for making Instant Pot Baked Potatoes, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.
Instant Pot Baked Potatoes
Video
Ingredients
- 1-8 medium potatoes, scrubbed clean
Instructions
- Place 1 cup cold water in the inner pot of pressure cooker pan and place trivet in instant pot. Note: Use 1.5 cups of cold water in an 8-quart Instant Pot.
- Scrub the potatoes well and then pierce potatoes 5-6 times with a fork to allow pressure to release while cooking.
- Add the potatoes carefully on trivet (stacking on top of each other if needed). Place the lid on the instant pot and seal the valve.
- Hit the manual or pressure cook button and be sure HIGH pressure is selected. Adjust cook time to 12 minutes for medium potatoes, 16 for average/larger potatoes, and 22 minutes for really large potatoes. See notes on sizes.
- Once cook time has elapsed, allow pressure to naturally release for at least 10 minutes before doing a quick release of pressure. Remove potatoes from Instant Pot and serve up with whatever toppings you like.
- If desiring crispy skin, brush the pressure-cooked potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, and place onto a baking sheet. Bake at 400-degree F for 10 minutes or broil for 2-3 minutes per side until crispy.
Notes
- 10 minutes for small potatoes (less than 2 inches in diameter or 4-5 ounces)
- 12 minutes for medium potatoes (between 2-3 inches in diameter or 5-7 ounces)
- 16 minutes for large potatoes (between 3-4 inches in diameter or 8-10 ounces)
- 20 minutes for extra-large potatoes (4-4.5 inches in diameter or 11-13 ounces)
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This post was originally shared in 2017 but updated in 2024.
These turned out absolutely perfect--much better than a microwave. Thanks for the clear directions.
Yay Marcia! So glad you enjoyed!
Oh my goodness, these look AMAZING!! You take beautiful photos! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe/tricks, it makes cooking so much more manageable. Can’t wait to try these out with dinner tomorrow!
Oh Alice, you are SO welcome. Thank you for the compliments! I absolutely LOVE helping to make cooking more manageable and enjoyable for people. Enjoy!
Hi I have bought the mini lux and the 6 oz instant pot. I have only used the 6 oz one so far, once. Roast came out GREAT!! My question is where can I find recipes for the mini? I cook for only myself so they are small meals. I really would like to know how long to cook one baked potato in the mini please. Thank you.
Hi Brenda! So the mini instant pot can be used just like a regular pressure cooker. In my experience, the timing is the same (just the amount of cook is less) you should be able to cook your one potato (with at least 1/2 cup to 3/4 cups water) for same time I direct in recipe based on size of your potato. Enjoy 🙂
Late to the game here but I just got this same result, the outsides were cooked beautifully but when I tried to open them up the core was hard. I noticed on my IP on manual it auto set to the low pressure setting, I’m going to try high pressure for 10 minutes and see if that fixes the problem!
Hi Sally! Yes, this exact thing happens to a lot of people. If your potatoes are not cooked at 12 minutes--it is typically because your pressure was on low, not high. Always best to double check the pressure setting 😉
I hope that you have perfect instant pot potatoes from here on out!
I used 3 very large potatoes with 1 cup water... poked them with fork and put kosher salt on them. Did 19 minutes and they were raw on the inside and mushy on the outside. All the water was gone an pot was dry when I opened it up. Are we supposed to close the valve or leave it open? I am very new at this and my pot is a faberware pressure cooker which looks and has settings just like the instant pot. Mine is a six quart also. So far my microwave potato bag works best for quick baked potatoes.
Hi Mish! Well a couple things, first...you need to be sure your valve is SEALED. If not the pressure will not be reached and the water will evaporate. Also for very large potatoes you need 2o minutes on high pressure. Hope that helps!
So I had 2 jumbo potato’s that were so big, I cut them in half to make 4 large potatoes. This filled up the bottom of my 6qt IP. Following a different website, I put them in for 16 minutes, sealed valve, natural vent for 4 minutes. When I released the valve, it definitely had some pressure and spewed water for a second and steam for a few more seconds. They were not done so I did another 8 minutes plus 6 minutes natural vent. Same thing when I released the valve, spray and steam. Not done yet.
I search the internet again and this time find this site. It says 20 minutes for large, well I’ve already done 16 plus 8 of cook time so that should be equal to 24 minutes. I ask my wife, she says check the seal. Seal looks good to me but I take it off and put it back on anyways. This time I do 10 minutes plus 6 minutes natural vent. It releases the same amount of steam as before when I release it. The smallest potato is starting to be a little softer but still pretty firm.
Right now they are in there for another 12 I think. So maybe the 4th time is a charm.
Do you think these potatoes are just that big? Or is my IP not dealing correctly? I mean the potatoes are the biggest I’ve evwr seen, which is why I cut them in half. Also I used just a tad over a cup of water and it never evaporated. I mean it might have gone down a little bit not a lot.
Thanks.
Hmmm, John. That does sound like something was up with your pressure cooker--you are up to 36 minutes and 4 quick releases with the same amount of liquid? You are right that you should have lost liquid AND that 36 minutes is way too long for your potatoes not to be cooked. A few things I would check--that you had pressure set to high not low (my mom made this mistake and called me frustrated her potatoes were not cooked in the time I stated either--now it is fool proof for her) and did you prick your potatoes? That is likely NOT the cause, but still wanted to check as I do think it changes how the potatoes cook a tiny bit. Also, tell me how big in diameter each potato is--just in case these really are that large. Also, if your valve floated up, pressure was reached, which means your Instant Pot was sealed correctly.
Thanks for providing these instructions and cooking times. Why is it the cooking times in the recipe books that come with the instant pots are always so off?!
LOL!!! Isn't that the truth Amber?! I use those as guides and then I test and test and test some more 🙂
Just my 2 cents, but, I believe altitude may be an issue and I'm pleased you added altitude information :
3000 ft–5% increase
4000 ft–10% increase
5,000 ft–15% increase
Keep adding 5% additional time per 1000 ft of altitude
What if you don't have a trivet in your instapot? Can you just bake the potatoes without the water?
Hey Jennifer. Unfortunately, NO you can not cook anything in your pressure cooker without water. The water (or liquid) of some type is needed to create pressure. I STRONGLY recommend getting a trivet or metal rack. I have links to amazon on this post you can check out. You don't want to sumburge the potatoes either as that would create soggy potatoes. Sorry.
You don’t need to wrap potatoes in foil? Also...I have 4 really good sized potatoes. 20 minutes will be enough??
Hi Pat! No need for foil 🙂 Just be sure to prick with a fork. If you feel your potatoes are over 4 inches in diameter (width wise) I would do 22 minutes. Hope you enjoy!
I have heard you can roll up foil to use as a makeshift trivet.
YES!!! It is really easy to do as well. Just be sure to not to use tin foil when cooking something acidic--as it will react to the acids and ruin your dish. But it will work with potatoes well. And add in the 1 cup liquid!
I used tin foil and did 2 medium potatoe and it works fine.
Thanks for sharing your success Beth 🙂