Instant Pot Baked Potatoes are the easiest way to enjoy a fluffy, tender baked potato in record time!
Regardless of the size of your potato, this recipe for Instant Pot Baked Potatoes will walk you through the step-by-step process that will guarantee you have fork-tender, creamy baked potatoes--without the need to turn on the oven!
Instant Pot Baked Potatoes
Don't you agree that a baked potato is one of the most perfect side dishes? From London Broil, Apple Pork Roast, to pan-seared steak, a baked potato 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 roast potatoes.
The Instant Pot solves BOTH those issues by making baked potatoes in record time without heating up the kitchen.
How to Make Potatoes in the Instant Pot
Step 1: The first thing you need to do is prepare your Instant Pot by pouring water into the inner pot and then placing a metal trivet or rack in the inner pot. This will keep the potatoes from being submerged in the water as they cook.
- Use 1 cup of cold water for a 6-quart model
- Use 1.5 cups of cold water for an 8-quart model
Be sure to use COLD water, as using warm water will change the time it takes the Instant Pot takes to get to pressure, which will change the actual cook times and your results.
Step Two: 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. Place the prepared potatoes onto the rack inside the inner pot.
Step Three: 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.
- 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)
Step Four: Once the cooking time has elapsed, allow the pressure to release naturally for 8-10 minutes. This just means to DO NOTHING and leave your instant pot alone. It is important to allow the pressure to release naturally to keep the potatoes intact and finish cooking. If after 10 minutes the pressure has not released fully, you can turn the valve to the venting position to release any remaining pressure.
Step Five (optional) If you like crispy skin on your baked potatoes, you can achieve this by finishing them in the oven or under a broiler. Simply place the cooked potatoes onto a sheet pan and brush them with olive oil or melted butter and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake at 400-degrees F for 10 minutes or broil for 2-3 minutes per side.
Storage & Reheating
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 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 for 1 to 2 minutes or heat in a 400 degree F oven for 15-30 minutes until warmed through.
Serving Suggestions
Baked potatoes are great served classically with butter and sour cream, 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.
- Dice up cooled baked potatoes and use to make a quick breakfast hash or as the base for a Oven Baked 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."
Recipe FAQs
Fluffy and creamy--just like an oven-baked potato. This method is SO much better than the texture of a microwave-baked potato.
YES!! The trivet prevents the potatoes from getting watery. If you don't have a trivet or a metal rack, you can use crumpled-up pieces of foil in a bind. But I highly recommend investing in a $10 rack, as they are useful in MANY recipes.
Yes, that moisture allows the pressure to build up 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.
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.
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 Instant Pot Basic Recipes
- Instant Pot Baked Sweet Potatoes
- Instant Pot Quinoa
- Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs
- Instant Pot Chicken Breast
- Instant Pot Chicken Stock
If you enjoyed this method for making Instant Pot Baked Potatoes, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.
Instant Pot Baked Potatoes
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.
Equipment Needed
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)
Dana Hulse
Have you ever tried this with Red potatoes?
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Dana! If you are looking for a baked red potato, this recipe will work, but red potatoes never get quite as creamy as a russet potato. I would instead use this recipe for crispy, yet creamy red potatoes: https://amindfullmom.com/instant-pot-crispy-potatoes/ Enjoy!
Patricia Stone
My instant pot nova plus says a minimum of 18 oz of water should be used when pressure cooking anything. Your recipe for baked potatoes calls for 1 cup (8 oz) water. How will using 18 oz of water affect this recipe?
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Patricia, the recipe will remain the same..it may just take slightly longer to come to pressure.
Mike Allison
I was wondering if you could "bake" a mixture of Russets and Sweet Potatoes in the same batch in an Instant Pot?
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Mike! I really like my sweet potatoes cooked until SUPER soft, which take longer than russets. However, if you would like to do both together, use smaller sweet potatoes and medium russet potatoes and cook for 15 minutes on high pressure.
alicia purple
I’ve made this few times and I am currently making this and I plan on straining it to make the baked potatoes. This Recipe is very good and Thanks for your help!
Kristen Chidsey
I LOVE using baked potatoes for mashed potatoes, they turn out perfectly! Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving.
Cassy
Loving the idea of doing potatoes in the electric pressure cooker. I have a rival brand which works amazing. Anyhow, I have popped over here from your mashed potato recipe. Can I use Yukon Gold Potatoes in place of the russets?
Thanks so much.
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Cassy! Absolutely, yukon gold potatoes are delicious as baked and mashed (directions will remain the same) Enjoy!
Kim Pierce
I am a newbie I did my water test, I have boiled eggs, and tonight I followed your recipe for baked potatoes. I’m not sure where I went wrong but they were still hard/firm not light and fluffy like I expected. What could I have done differently to fix this? I did 4 potatoes on manual for 12 mins and NPR for 10 mins. (All the steam was already out by then anyway). Thanks!
Kristen Chidsey
Hey Kim! I am sorry you had an issue. There are a couple thins to check.
--Make sure you use cold water.
--Make sure you poke your potatoes
--If your potatoes are large, increase time by 5-6 minutes.
--Be sure pressure is set to high (not low) I say this because I have seen people struggle by hitting rice for 12 minutes or thinking pressure cooker was on high and it was on low pressure.
Hope that helps!
Emily
Thanks for this recipe!
We made 5 potatoes (from a 10lb bag) at high pressure for 14min and they came out slightly underdone. Not inedible, just not as cooked as I would have preferred.
We are assuming this may be a result of living at altitude...
And thoughts?
Kristen Chidsey
I am so sorry you had issues Emily! And yes, it must have had to do with altitude. I need to post about altitude adjustments. But this should help:
3000 ft--5% increase
4000 ft--10% increase
5,000 ft--15% increase
Keep adding 5% additional time per 1000 ft of altitude.
BlueKarma
I successfully cooked 5 potatoes last night using your method. They were from Costco, and I picked through the bag to find 5 of similar size (and not the gigantic ones). I stabbed each one almost through with my paring knife (only one poke). My only alteration was to cook them for 24 minutes, as we live at 5,600 feet elevation.
I didn't do the oil/salt step as we were eating two as broccoli cheese potatoes for dinner, and the others were saved to be used at a later time. The interior was fluffy and delicious, fully cooked.
Thanks for your research and sharing!
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad you enjoyed!! I love serving my potatoes with broccoli and cheese as well.
Lisa Patrick
These are great. The inside is cooked just the way I like them. I had no idea that you could make these in an instant pot. I am eating a lot more baked potatoes now that I've found this recipe. Thanks!
Kristen Chidsey
Lisa, I am right there with you! We eat so many more baked potatoes now that they can be ready so quickly! And they taste just as good as Oven Baked.
Vicki Nelson
I forgot to put water in my instant pot while I was cooking potatoes and when I realized I added it. It never sealed but I had it on. My question is did I mess up my pot because I have turned on my potatoes 3 times already and it hasn’t cooked them all the way did I mess up something please help. My email is vnelson7626@gmail.com
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Vicki!
I don't think you ruined your Instant Pot. However, it can be hard to seal the instant pot after opening it up. First of all, let it cool down. Then retry by adding 1 cup of water and then recooking your potatoes with your lid fully sealed. Because your instant pot was not sealed when cooking, water will evaporate, pressure will not be reached and your potatoes (or anything) can't cook properly. You can find more about why your IP won't seal here: https://amindfullmom.com/instant-pot-not-sealing/
I really think all will be okay. Keep me posted.
Leslie
thanks for the instructions. I cooked 8 chicken drumsticks below 2 backed potatoes - used a trivet under the chicken and 2nd one under the potatoes - 20 min for all - was perfect.
Kristen Chidsey
Awesome!! I am so glad you were able to enjoy both potatoes and chicken together. I love pot in pot (or rack on rack) cooking 🙂
Melodi Lyerly
Trying baked potatoes in the Instant Pot for the first time... Googled instructions and yours was the first to pop up. They're in there right now, fingers crossed, I only did two, for 12 minutes, I hadn't read through the comments to see about changing the time for less than four. But I want to know about your plates! They look like my Mikasa Stanton pattern, which I love!
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Melodi! I sure hope you enjoyed your potatoes last night 🙂 We use this method almost weekly at my house.
As for my plates, they are from Kohls (the Food Network Brand) I just love how basic they are and go with everything!
Rebecca Karstetter
Got home pretty late after my son’s baseball game, and needed to get dinner on the table quick. Occurred to me that maybe I could cook baked potatoes in my IP. I found your recipe, and it worked like a charm. They were so fluffy. Just perfect. Thank you so much! (I forgot to poke them with a fork, and just about had a heart attack, but they were fine. Whew!)
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Rebecca! I am so glad you found my recipe and that it was a success!! I am also glad your potatoes did not explode--WHEW!!! Have a great day!
Werra Watson
I finally got around to trying to make Bake Potatoes in the Instant Pot. I had some left over potatoes today that really needed to get used. I was completely skeptical about making them in the IP as I was afraid they would be mushy. I followed your directions exactly. They were PERFECT. Finishing them in the oven with the Olive Oil and Kosher Salt put them over the top. Great texture and not mushy at all. 12 minutes was perfect for the size of Potatoes I had. Thank you for your detailed recipe down to sizes of Potatoes and time.
Kristen Chidsey
Oh thank you so much Werra for sharing your success with all of us! I am SO SO glad you found this recipe successful--it will make your life easier (and your house cooler in the summer!)
Brittany
It worked! Such a nice time saver. They did kind of bust apart a little but maybe they needed to be poked more. Thanks!
Kristen Chidsey
Instant Pot baked potatoes are SUCH a time saver!! And yes, if they burst open a bit, poke them a few more times in the future. I hope you use this recipe again and again Brittany 🙂
Stacy
I heard if you use hot water that it will come to pressure quicker. Sounds like we might be trying to cook potatoes in the instant pot for the first time tonight. Just like Carl, we also have a 2nd pot that is a 3qt. And was thinking about using that since we will only be doing 2 potatoes.
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Stacy! Please don't use hot water in your pressure cooker. You are right it will come to pressure quicker, but that DRASTICALLY changes the cooking time. So you don't want to mess with that 🙂 And for your 3 quart, 2 potatoes is PERFECT--just be sure to still use 1 cup water. Enjoy!