Instant Pot Baked Sweet Potatoes: How to make fluffy, fork-tender sweet potatoes in the pressure cooker. Directions on how to cook potatoes in Instant Pot with troubleshooting tips.
By now most you know I am slightly obsessed with Sweet Potatoes. You can check out all my healthy sweet potato recipes to get an idea of my serious love!
Sweet potatoes and sweet potato puree are just always something I have on hand at my house so that I can make things like Sweet Potato Hash, Sweet Potato Burritos, or Sweet Potato Nachos.
After I perfected a perfectly baked potato in my Instant Pot, I decided it was time to perfect a tender Instant Pot Sweet Potato.
Instant Pot Sweet Potato
In full disclosure, I am not as impressed with the process of making Sweet Potatoes in the Instant Pot as I am with making Baked Potatoes in the Instant Pot.
With russet potatoes, I can have baked potatoes in less than 15 minutes cook time (and in less than 30 minutes total time.)
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.
Step By Step Directions for Making Baked Potatoes in the Instant Pot:
Step 1: Pour 1 cup water over the bottom of the pot, and then place in your trivet that came with your instant pot.
Important Tips to Remember when Cooking Sweet Potatoes in Instant Pot:
- Be sure to prick your sweet potatoes with a knife or fork to allow steam and pressure to exit or your sweet potatoes could explode while cooking.
- Make sure your sweet 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!)
Step Two: Place anywhere from 4-8 scrubbed sweet potatoes into your Pressure Cooker.
Step Three: Set to high pressure and cook:
- 18 minutes on high pressure for small sweet potatoes.
- 22 minutes on high pressure for medium sweet potatoes (standard potatoes that you find in most bulk bins from grocery store)
- 27 minutes for extra large sweet potatoes
Step Four: Allow pressure to release naturally for 8-10 minutes and then turn valve to release to release any remaining pressure.
Step Five: Serve.
I like to serve my sweet potatoes with a bit of butter and salt and pepper. My husband prefers his sweet potato with a bit of honey and cinnamon.
How to Make Sweet Potato Puree
- Cook Sweet Potatoes in Instant Pot as directed
- After sweet potatoes have cooked, allow to cool until cool enough to handle.
- Remove skin from sweet potatoes by peeling with hands or peeler. Another option would be to cut sweet potatoes in half and scoop out inside.
- Mash cooked sweet potato with fork, potato masher, or in a blender or food processor for extra smooth puree.
- Use in recipes like Sweet Potato Casserole or Sweet Potato Burritos.
How to Freeze Sweet Potato Puree:
- Follow steps on how to make sweet potato puree.
- Let cool and then place by 1-2 cup amounts into freezer safe bags or containers.
- Thaw in refrigerator for 12-24 hours before using.
Notes on Cooking Sweet Potatoes in the Instant Pot:
- Is it time saving to cook your Sweet Potatoes in Instant Pot? Not as much as you would think. To reach pressure you are looking at about 12 minutes, to cook about 22 minutes, and to release pressure another 10 minutes. Total time is therefore just about 45 minutes. However, if you were to cook a sweet potato in the oven it would take about 45 minutes to cook properly at 400 degrees and it does take about 10-15 minutes to reach oven temperature to 400 degrees.
- So when is it worth making Sweet Potatoes in Instant Pot over Oven? I think it is a smart idea to use your Instant Pot to cook sweet potatoes when you need oven space or when it is hot outside and you don’t want to heat your house. Otherwise, plan to bake sweet potatoes when you are baking something else in your oven.
- What is the texture like of sweet potatoes cooked in Instant Pot? Fluffy and creamy–the sweet potatoes almost melt in your mouth.
- 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 sweet potatoes.
Tips and Troubleshooting Cooking Sweet Potatoes in the Instant Pot:
- I have tested this recipe out with 4, 6, and 8 sweet potatoes. All cooking times remained the same.
- 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.
- In all my tests, it has never taken longer than 12 minutes to reach pressure for this recipe.
More Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Salsa Verde Chicken
- Instant Pot Chicken Thighs
- How to Make a Whole Chicken in the Instant Pot
- Instant Pot Orange Chicken
Recipe for Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4-8 sweet potatoes scrubbed clean
Instructions
- Place 1 cup of water in bottom of Instant Pot Pan. Add trivet to pot.
- Place potatoes on trivet and seal the Instant Pot.
- Cook for 18 minutes for small potatoes, 22 for standard, 27 for large.
- Allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes before releasing pressure manaually.
Notes
My Must Have Instant Pot Accessories
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Kristen Chidsey
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Thank you. I really appreciated your insight. I like my sweet potato casserole to be creamy.
I think 22 minutes is too long. I had 5 larger sweet potatoes and they came out almost mush. I had even considered bumping them up to the extra large size time, but I’m glad I didn’t. We were rushing to get dinner on we could leave so I didn’t even have time to NPR. They got about 2 minutes of NPR and the rest was IPR.
They were completely soft, the ones on top had molded to the ones underneath. And the ones on the trivet had sorta oozed into the slats. I remembered last time I tried them in the instant pot it wasn’t long enough, and that was probably 15 minutes, so next time I’ll try something between 15-22.
I am sorry these did not turn out perfect for you Gina. I do like my sweet potatoes really soft, but not oozing out. Maybe try 19 minutes next time.
Hello! What is the serving size for the 447 calories in the nutrition facts? That seems high for a plain sweet potato. Thank you for sharing your cooking method. I’m going to try this out tonight.
That is really high! I think that my nutrition calculator was off on that–or was doing the largest sweet potato ever. According to USDA, 1 5 inch sweet potato is 112 calories. I need to change that. Enjoy!
I’m making hasselback sweet potatoes for dinner, but didn’t want to use my stove that long so I popped 6 in my IP and halved your small time so I could slice and finish them in the oven. 9 minutes was more than enough and they were too soft to fan so I did lengthwise slits instead! Were your sweets organic? Mine are and I think they just seem to have a much thinner skin than non-organic.
They’re in the oven now, I’ll update on the finished product later. 😁
Hi Erica! I hope these turned out delicious! So, yes, it may have been that the skin was thinner on your potatoes–and that makes them hard to slice regardless. Maybe next time, try 5 minutes. I am going to experiment with cutting these BEFORE putting in IP to see if that works. I will keep you posted on that, as well.
This works for me and is my new favorite way to cook sweet potatoes! Cuts cooking time in half! Thank you!
YAY!! Thank you Dana for sharing your success.
I would never have thought of making potatoes in the instant pot!!!
This would be perfect for the warmer months when using the oven is the last thing you want to do 😀
Absolutely Claire! Especially when it is 100 degrees out.
There were so easy to make in the Instant Pot! It’s my new go-to recipe.
YAY!!! That makes me so happy Christina
Such a great idea to cook sweet potatoes this way, especially in those hot summer months!
YES Amanda perfect for the hot months for sure–or when I am using my oven for other items