The Instant Pot makes the BEST Baked Sweet Potatoes! Fluffy, creamy, and perfectly tender, Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes are the best!
After I perfected a perfectly baked potato in my Instant Pot, I could not wait to try making tender baked sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot.
I was extremely disappointed at first.
With russet potatoes, I can have baked potatoes in less than 15 minutes of cooking time using the Instant Pot. So I expected this to be true with sweet potatoes. After all, I can often bake a sweet potato in the oven quicker than a russet potato.
But in the Instant Pot, sweet potatoes take time to get their soft, velvety interior. DOUBLE the time a russet potato takes. In fact, it is almost the same amount of time it takes to make it in the oven.
However, after one bite of Instant Pot Baked Sweet Potatoes, I will NEVER prepare them any other way! They are fluffier, softer, and creamier than oven-baked and the clean-up is almost non-existent. No more scraping off caramelized juices from the sweet potatoes on baking sheets or worse yet, the bottom of the oven.
Seriously, sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot are PERFECTION!
Key Tips for Instant Pot Baked Sweet Potatoes
The process of baking sweet potatoes in the pressure cooker is SUPER simple, but there are a few key tips to keep in mind!
- Select sweet potatoes that are similar in size. This way they will pressure cook in the same amount of time.
- Pierce sweet potatoes several times before cooking--this will prevent the rare occurrence of a sweet potato bursting in the Instant Pot.
- Always add cold water to the inner pot. You will need 1 cup of cold water for a 3 or 6-quart Instant pot and 1.5 cups of cold water for an 8-quart Instant pot. NEVER use warm water as this will change the amount of time it takes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure, which will change the cooking time!
- Always use the trivet to keep the sweet potatoes from sitting in the water--this will keep the sweet potatoes from becoming soggy.
How to "Bake" Sweet Potatoes in the Instant Pot
- Pour water over the bottom of the pot, and then place in your trivet that came with your instant pot. Remember to use cold/room temperature water and to adjust the amount of water according to the size of your pressure cooker.
- Place anywhere from 2-8 scrubbed sweet potatoes on the trivet of your Instant Pot. It is okay if they are stacked on top of each other--this will not affect the cooking time.
To make perfect sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot, you will need to cook on high pressure.
- Hit the Manual or Pressure Cooker button on your Instant Pot and be sure high pressure is lit up, if not hit pressure level to adjust until high pressure is lit up.
- Then use the plus or minus buttons to adjust the cooking time accordingly.
- Once cook time has elapsed, allow pressure to release naturally for 8-10 minutes, and then turn the valve to release any remaining pressure.
- And then serve baked sweet potatoes as desired.
Determining Cook Time
Just like regular potatoes, sweet potatoes come in all different shapes and sizes. And the sizes will determine the cooking time. First, be sure to select potatoes similar in size. Secondly, determine the cooking time for sweet potatoes based on the diameter (the width) of the sweet potatoes.
- 18 minutes on high pressure for small sweet potatoes (2 inches in width or diameter)
- 22 minutes on high pressure for medium sweet potatoes (2-3 inches in width or diameter)
- 27 minutes for extra-large sweet potatoes (3-4 inches in width or diameter)
Serving Suggestions
Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes make the perfect side dish for a Steak, Baked Salmon, or Slow Cooker Pork Roast, whether you simply top the sweet potatoes with butter and a bit of salt and pepper or with cinnamon sugar for a steakhouse version of a baked sweet potato.
Besides using it as a simple, healthy side dish, there are a lot of different ways to serve Instant Pot sweet potatoes.
- Top with yogurt and nuts for a delicious Breakfast Sweet Potato.
- Use the flesh of the baked sweet potato to make Sweet Potato Casserole or Sweet Potato Oatmeal.
- Stuff the baked sweet potatoes with taco meat or pulled pork for a healthy main course.
If you tried out Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes, I would love for you to leave a comment below.
Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4-8 sweet potatoes scrubbed clean
Instructions
- For a 3 or 6-quart pressure cooker, pour 1 cup of cold/room temperature water into the inner pot. For an 8-quart Instant Pot, pour 1.5 cups of cold/room temperature water into the inner pot. Add trivet to pot.
- Scrub sweet potatoes and pierce several times with a fork or knife. Place potatoes on the rack and seal the Instant Pot.
- Cook on high pressure for 18 minutes for small potatoes, 22 for standard, 27 for large. To set cook time, hit manual or pressure cook and then adjust the time using the +/- buttons for the right amount of cook time. (Be sure the Instant Pot is set to high pressure, not low pressure. If low pressure is lit up, hit pressure or pressure level to change to high pressure.)
- Allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes before releasing pressure manaually.
Equipment Needed
Notes
- Cook time is determined by diameter or width of sweet potatoes. Select sweet potatoes that are similar in size. This way they will pressure cook in the same amount of time.
- 18 minutes on high pressure for small sweet potatoes (2 inches in width or diameter)
- 22 minutes on high pressure for medium sweet potatoes (2-3 inches in width or diameter)
- 27 minutes for extra large sweet potatoes (3-4 inches in width or diameter)
- Pierce sweet potatoes several times before cooking--this will prevent the rare occurrence of a sweet potato bursting in the Instant Pot.
- NEVER use warm water as this will change the amount of time it takes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure, which will change the cook time!
- Always use the trivet to keep the sweet potatoes from sitting in the water--this will keep the sweet potatoes from becoming soggy.
Nutrition
This post was originally published in December 2017 but has been updated with a new video in January 2020.
Claudia E Dorsey
With your recipe for regular potatoes in the Instant Pot you gave weights. That would be helpful for the sweet potatoes, too. Thanks. I'm trying this recipe today.
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Claudia! That is a great suggestion, however, the length and width are much more important for sweet potatoes, as their diameter varies greatly. A 1-pound sweet potato can be either wide (which would need a longer cooking time) or narrow (which would need less cooking time). And that will change the cooking time even though they are the same weight. I hope that explains it. Russet potatoes don't vary quite as much in width.
Essie
My husband and I love them with sausage gravy. It sounds strange, but it is delicious. Thank you for another great recipe!
Kristen Chidsey
I love sweet potato biscuits with sausage gravy, so that actually makes sense to me. I will have to try it. Thanks for sharing.
Lauren
Great recipe, I had to pop them back in for 3 more minutes but that probably has more to do with my estimation skills than your cooking times...
I paired it with leftover chili from another instant pot recipe and it was amazing! I love the combination of sweet and spicy!
Kristen Chidsey
I LOVE chili with sweet potatoes--such a great combo! In the future, I would recommend noting you cooked for 3 more minutes so you can plan accordingly next time 🙂
Dawn
2”diameter is 6” circumference, so the directions are a bit confusing, and leave me to trial and error on timing.
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Dawn! I think you are getting radius and diameter confused and there is absolutely NO need to worry about complicated Math for this recipe! 😊 There was no mention of circumference and nor do you need to find the circumference of potatoes to determine cooking time. Diameter is the measurement of the width of the potato. You don't need to get out a measuring tape, simply estimate the width and use the suggested cook times.
Ramona
I needed that cleared up because I
forgot the definitions. It’s been a while. Thanks. I appreciate it.
Ramona
Dawn, Thank you!
June Carlson
Haven’t tried it yet but plan to. Looks AWSOME
Brian
Made these tonight for dinner paired with another recipe i had to put over top soooo yummy! Thank you Kristen for all your great recipes!
Kristen Chidsey
You are so welcome Brian! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review.
LettyCrocker
I accidentally dropped and broke one of my sweet potatoes. Could I put that one back together and wrap it in foil and then cook in the instant pot with the other potatoes?
Kristen Chidsey
I would so that if I were you...it may not be pretty, but still tasty.
Nancy
I never tried this method before but I just tried it and I love love love it. I wouldn't try it any other way.
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad you gave this recipe a try! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review.