The Instant Pot makes the BEST Baked Sweet Potatoes! Fluffy, creamy, and perfectly tender, these Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes may not be much faster than oven-baked, but they are SO MUCH better with much less clean up!
Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes make the perfect side dish for entrees like steak, baked salmon, or Instant Pot rotisserie chicken.
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 cook 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. 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 cook 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 cook 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
I love serving baked potatoes plain with a bit of salt and pepper and my kids love sweet potatoes with a bit of butter and cinnamon sugar.
But get creative with uses for baked sweet potatoes with the following ideas.
- 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.
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.
John
This looks great! I saw below that you can also cook 1 or 2 sweets. Do you have to adjust the time at all?
Thanks!
John
Kristen Chidsey
Hi John! I have not needed to adjust the timing for just 1 or 2 potatoes. Ironically enough, I have to add time when cooking just 1 or 2 russet potatoes.
Kelly
I just tried this with 6 medium sweet potatoes, so I cooked them for 20 minutes, and let the pressure release for 20 minutes. Oh my gosh! They are so creamy! Thank you! I am eating a lot of sweet potatoes on this diet I am on. I will never use the microwave to cool them again. And the skin just slid off!
Kristen Chidsey
IP sweet potatoes are the BEST! So glad you gave them a try Kelly!
Jeanette
Delicious! Soft and fully cooked as promised. Thank you so much.
Kristen Chidsey
You are so welcome Jeanette! I am so glad you enjoyed!
Sherry
The best sweet potato!! I love sweet potatoes ... hot, cold, breakfast, dessert... doesn’t matter. The instant pot makes it impossibly easy and perfect. I just got an instant pot a couple of months ago and hardly a day goes by without using it. I refer to your webpage often. Thank you for sharing your recipes and knowledge. It is most appreciated.
Kristen Chidsey
Thank you so much Sherry for taking the time to let me know how much your enjoy these recipes---it makes my heart so happy!
CJ Black
Super easy and very little cleanup. They cook very well and have a great texture. I was skeptical and expected them to be mushy, but they came out just like baked.
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad you enjoyed CJ! Thanks for leaving a review!
Carol
Delicious and very moist. Great game easy recipe. 😊👍
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad you enjoyed the sweet potatoes Carol!
Teri
Love the detail you give!!! Thank you so much for making this easy!!!!
Kristen Chidsey
You are so welcome Teri! I am so glad my tips made this easy for you to understand--that is my goal!!