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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.
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!
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!
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!)
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!
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.
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!)
It worked! Such a nice time saver. They did kind of bust apart a little but maybe they needed to be poked more. Thanks!
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 🙂
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.
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!
I put 3 medium Idaho potatoes in under high pressure for 25 min with 10 min NR and they were hard. I had tried doing these before on another similar recipe and had the same result. I put them in my convection oven to finish. I don’t get it. Maybe I’ll try 45 min next time. This should be easy peasy.
Hi Pam. I am sorry you are having issues with your pressure cooker. A couple things to consider---if you are using a 6 quart or 8 quart pressure cooker, this recipe works best with 4-8 potatoes. Also, be sure you have a full cup of water underneath your rack and that your pressure is on HIGH not low. My mom had many issues herself and then found out it was that her pressure was set to low. Now she has success at 12 minutes every time. Hope that helps Pam!
Bought my Instant Pot yesterday...started googling today and found your blog. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! Baked potatoes were my maiden voyage and they worked perfectly!! I’m so grateful!