Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes are fluffy, creamy, perfectly tender, and unbelievably easy to make! This recipe for Instant Pot Baked Sweet Potatoes includes tried and true timing based on the size of the sweet potatoes, ensuring perfect results every time.
Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes, along with hard-boiled eggs, jasmine rice, and chicken stock, are one of the most repeated staples I use my Instant Pot for.
While not technically baked, the moist heat of the Instant Pot creates a perfect baked sweet potato, just as it does for Instant Pot Baked Potatoes! They are soft, velvety, and super creamy.
Seriously, Instant Pot Baked Sweet Potatoes are PERFECTION!
Why You Will Love Instant Pot Baked Sweet Potatoes
- Super Easy. Scrub, prick with a fork, and pressure cook! That's it! Instant Pot Baked Sweet Potatoes are one of the easiest recipes to make in the Instant Pot and the result is absolute perfection!
- Minimal Clean-Up. 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.
- Best Texture. Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes are fluffier, softer, and creamier than oven-baked sweet potatoes.
- Keeps the Heat Out of the Kitchen. When the temperatures rise, you may not want to turn your oven on to prepare baked sweet potatoes. With this recipe for Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes, the heat is sealed inside the pressure cooker, rather than permeating your kitchen.
How to Make Baked Sweet Potatoes in the Instant Pot
The following tips are provided to help you achieve perfect results. You will find the detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- To the inner pot, add cold tap water and place the trivet inside the inner pot. The trivet will keep the sweet potatoes elevated above the water, so they don't become waterlogged.
- Place anywhere from 1 to 8 scrubbed sweet potatoes on the trivet of your Instant Pot. It is okay if they are stacked on top of each other and will not affect the cooking time.
- Use the manual or pressure cook button to cook the sweet potatoes on High Pressure for 18 to 27 minutes depending on the size of your sweet potatoes.
- Once the cooking time has elapsed, allow pressure to release naturally for 5 to 10 minutes, and then turn the valve to release any remaining pressure.
- Remove your sweet potatoes from the pressure cooker and serve 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 so that the cooking time will be the same for all of your sweet potatoes. Secondly, determine the cooking time for sweet potatoes based on the diameter (the width) of the sweet potatoes.
- Small Sweet Potatoes (2 inches in width or diameter): 18 minutes on high pressure
- Medium Sweet Potatoes (3 inches in width or diameter): 22 minutes on high pressure
- Large Sweet Potatoes (4 inches in width or diameter): 27 minutes on high pressure
∗ important to remember ∗
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.
Serving Suggestions
Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes make the perfect side dish for a Steak, Baked Salmon, or Slow Cooker Pork Roast. You can 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 puree to use for Sweet Potato Casserole or Sweet Potato Oatmeal.
- Stuff the baked sweet potatoes with taco meat or pulled pork for a healthy main course.
More Sweet Potato Recipes
- Instant Pot Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potatoes
- Instant Pot Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- Instant Pot Sweet Potato Chili
- Tex-Mex Chicken and Sweet Potato Skillet
- Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos
- Sweet Potato Pancakes
If you tried out Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes, I would love for you to leave a comment below.
Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1-8 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 them several times with a fork or knife. Place the sweet potatoes on the rack, and place the lid on the Instant Pot.
- Cook on high pressure for 18 minutes for small potatoes, 22 for standard, and 27 for large. To set the cooking 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 5 to 10 minutes before releasing pressure manually.
Equipment Needed
Notes
-
- 18 minutes on high pressure for small sweet potatoes (2 inches in width or diameter)
- 22 minutes on high pressure for medium sweet potatoes (3 inches in width or diameter)
- 27 minutes for extra large sweet potatoes (4 inches in width or diameter)
Nutrition
This post was originally published in December 2017 and updated in 2023.
Louise
These are the best tasting sweet potatoes I've ever had - so light and fluffy!
Kristen Chidsey
And so easy to make 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, Louise.
Bev
After each use I scour/ scrub my stainless pot with powdered Comet or Ajax. Takes off all the microscopic food and film. Allows food to not burn or stick the next time I use it. Love your recipes and website! Blessings to your family and to each person reading this!
Kristen Chidsey
Thanks for sharing! I find steel wool works great too 🙂
Terri White
I’m so glad I found your site, when I googled “sweet potatoes in Instant Pot Duo Crisp”! I used your recipe yesterday, as the prep for sweet potato casserole. Once they were done, the skin peeled right off, without losing any of the super tender potato! They were so tender I easily mashed them with a fork. A fork! Thank you!
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad you found my site as well. I hope you find many more recipes to enjoy. Happy Thanksgiving
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.
Cheryl
Made these today and next I'm on to the sweet potato casserole. Or maybe I'll just top one with butter and cayenne pepper sauce? Sweet potato is extremely easy in the Instant Pot. I'll be making sweet potato more often. Thank you! I'll share the link to your page with my friends. Stay well!
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad you enjoyed so much Cheryl! I agree--super easy and so versatile. Either option sounds great to me. Thanks for sharing and for leaving a review.
Karen
Have you ever cut the sweet potatoes so they are similar in size? Sweet potatoes can be so large. Have you ever cooked potatoes and sweet potatoes at the same time?
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Karen! I never cut the potatoes when cooking, unless I am making mashed sweet potatoes. To do so, would allow the moisture to get inside the potatoes, changing the texture. You can cook with really large potatoes if desired, as the cook time is similar.
Lori A.
My sweet potatoes came out perfectly! Thank you. Whipped them up for an Easter sweet potato casserole.
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad you had success. Happy Easter Lori.
Lisa
Perfect sweet potatoes!
Kristen Chidsey
They really are 🙂 Glad you had the same results.