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Cooking sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot is the easiest way to enjoy fluffy, creamy, perfectly tender sweet potatoes! Just like my recipe for Instant Pot Baked Potatoes, this Instant Pot Baked Sweet Potato recipe includes tried and true timing based on the size of the sweet potatoes, ensuring perfect results every time.
Kristen's Keys for Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
The process of making baked sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot is SUPER simple, but there are a few key tips I want to share with you before we break the recipe down in detail to help ensure perfect results.
- Select sweet potatoes that are similar in size. This way they will pressure cook in the same amount of time.
- Always add cold water to the inner 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
Whether you are learning how to use your Instant Pot or a seasoned pro, this section will guide you through the process of how to make fluffy, creamy sweet potatoes using the Instant Pot.
- Prepare Instant Pot. Pour 1½ cups of cold tap water into the inner pot and insert the trivet.
- Prepare Sweet Potatoes. Scrub the sweet potatoes well and prick with a fork or knife to allow steam and pressure to escape as they pressure cook--trust me, this is important!
- Pile the sweet potatoes on trivet. Place the prepared potatoes onto the rack inside the inner pot. It will not impact the cooking time if you are cooking 1 or 8 sweet 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 sweet potatoes (see chart below).
- 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 sweet potato open, dollop with butter and season with and salt and pepper or cinnamon sugar and serve.
Determining Cook Times
Sweet potatoes vary in weight, length, and width. Use the width of the sweet potato for the most accurate timing. In other words, ask yourself, Is my sweet potato fat or skinny? While that sounds silly--it works! Fatter sweet potatoes need longer to cook, while skinnier sweet potatoes need less time--regardless of their length or weight.
- Skinny Sweet Potatoes (Less than 2 inches in width): 16 minutes on high pressure
- Average Sweet Potatoes (2-2.5 inches in width): 22 minutes on high pressure
- Large Sweet Potatoes (2.5-3 inches in width): 26 minutes on high pressure
- Extra Large Sweet Potatoes (3.5 to 4 inches in width) 35 minutes on high pressure
Serving Suggestions
- As a Side Dish: Serve Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes alongside steaks, baked salmon, or bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin, etc.
- For Breakfast: Top a warm sweet potato with yogurt, granola, and/or nut butter for a delicious breakfast sweet potato.
- Stuff Away: Ditch the bun or tortilla and top the sweet potatoes with taco meat, Instant Pot BBQ chicken, or pulled pork.
- Make Sweet Potato Puree: Use the flesh of the baked sweet potato to make sweet potato puree and then use that puree to make sweet potato oatmeal, sweet potato pancakes, or sweet potato casserole.
More Favorite Instant Pot Recipes
Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
Video
Ingredients
- 1-8 sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean
Instructions
- Pour 1-½ cups cold tap water into the inner pot. Place a trivet or metal rack inside the inner pot.
- Scrub sweet potatoes and pierce them several times with a fork or knife. Place the sweet potatoes on the trivet, stacking on top of each other if needed.
- Hit the manual or pressure cook button and be sure HIGH pressure is selected. Adjust cook time to 16 minutes for skinny sweet potatoes, 22 for average sweet potatoes, 26 minutes for large sweet potatoes, and 35 for extra large sweet potatoes (see notes for more details on determining size).
- Allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes before releasing pressure manually. Then serve
Notes
- Skinny Sweet Potatoes (Less than 2 inches in width): 16 minutes on high pressure
- Average Sweet Potatoes (2-2.5 inches in width): 22 minutes on high pressure
- Large Sweet Potatoes (2.5-3 inches in width): 26 minutes on high pressure
- Extra Large Sweet Potatoes (3.5 to 4 inches in width) 35 minutes on high pressure
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This post was originally published in December 2017 and updated in 2025.
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