Name: Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1-8 sweet potatoes (scrubbed clean)

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes are fluffy, creamy, perfectly tender, and unbelievably easy to make! This recipe for Instant Pot Baked Potatoes includes tried and true timing based on the size of sweet potatoes, ensuring perfect results every time.

Just like Instant Pot Baked Potatoes, Instant Pot Baked Sweet Potatoes are one of the easiest recipes to make in the instant pot and the result is absolute perfection!

Baked Sweet Potato on white plate topped with butter and cinnamon.

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! 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!
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 "Bake" Sweet Potatoes in the Instant Pot

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.

Using 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.

Tender sweet potatoes cooked up in Instant Pot.

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 Casserole or Sweet Potato Oatmeal.
Stuff the baked sweet potatoes with taco meat or pulled pork for a healthy main course.

More Instant Pot Recipes Using Sweet Potatoes

If you tried out Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes, I would love for you to leave a comment below.

Baked Instant Pot Sweet Potato on white plate topped with pat of butter.

Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes

This recipe for Instant Pot Baked Potatoes includes tried and true timing based on size, ensuring perfect creamy, tender sweet potatoes.

4.89 from 42 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Pressure Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings:

Calories: 127kcal

Author: Kristen Chidsey

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

Electric Pressure Cooker (6 or 8 quart)

Notes

Determining Cooking Time: Cook time is determined by the 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 (3 inches in width or diameter)
- 27 minutes for extra large sweet potatoes (4 inches in width or diameter)

Temperature of Water: 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!

Storage: Store leftover instant pot sweet potatoes in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the refrigerator. Reheat as desired.

Nutrition

Liked this Recipe? Tag me Today!Snap a picture and tag #amindfullmom on Instagram - I would love to see!

This post was originally published in December 2017 and updated in 2023.