Make Classic Potato Salad in a fraction of the time in the Instant Pot! This Instant Pot Potato Salad is every bit as good as old fashioned potato salad.
Serve up Instant Pot Potato Salad with Chicken Kabobs, Italian Pasta Salad, Old Fashioned Baked Beans, and Creamy Cucumber Salad for a perfect summer feast!
I have been making potato salad for decades.
The old fashioned way. Boiling potatoes, hard boiling eggs, and then chopping it all up and tossing with a creamy mayonnaise-based dressing.
It was a labor of love.
Until I mastered making Potato Salad in my pressure cooker.
What used to take hours, take minutes of hands-on prep–and tastes EVERY bit as delicious as the classic.
By cooking the potatoes and eggs together in the Instant Pot, potato salad can be whipped up quickly and easily!
Ingredients for Potato Salad
The ingredients for this potato salad are simple. No mustard. No pickles. Just classic old fashioned flavors.
- Russet Potatoes–peeled and cubed into 1-inch chunks
- Eggs
- Mayonnaise–real mayonnaise, like Hellman’s is best
- Vinegar–distilled white vinegar or white wine vinegar
- Celery–to add texture and crunch
- Onions–for flavor
- Salt
How To Make Instant Pot Potato Salad
Step One: Cook Potatoes and Eggs
- Pour 1 1/2 cups of water into the inner pot of the pressure cooker.
- Add in a steamer basket.
- Place cubed potatoes in the steamer basket.
- Gently nestle the eggs on top of the potatoes.
- Close the pressure cooker and be sure to check to see if the vent knob is sealed.
- Cook on HIGH pressure for 4 minutes (yes, I normally hard boil eggs in Instant Pot for 5 minutes, but this takes longer to get to pressure with the potatoes, so 1 minute needs subtracted from the total time).
- Once cook time has elapsed, allow pressure to release naturally for 4-5 minutes. Then do a quick release of pressure.
- Remove eggs and place them into ice water.
- Remove steamer basket with potatoes from Instant Pot and let cool slightly while you prepare the potato salad dressing.
Pro-Tips:
- Let your eggs come to room temperature before pressure cooking, this helps to prevent cracks.
- Hard-boil 4-6 eggs with the potatoes. The recipe only calls for 2 hard-boiled eggs, but you can use the extra for breakfast, egg salad, or just in case one does crack.
Step Two: Make Potato Salad
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together mayonnaise, salt, vinegar, onions, and celery until well combined.
- Peel two of the hard-boiled eggs, and cube.
- Add eggs to mayonnaise mixture and gently combine.
- Add in potatoes and gently fold the potatoes into the mayonnaise mixture, until the dressing is evenly distributed through the potatoes.
- Refrigerate for at least 60 minutes before serving, best after 2-3 hours.
Store and Serve Potato Salad Safely
Because this potato salad is mayonnaise based, it is not safe to keep at room temperature for extended periods of time–I recommend no longer than 60 minutes at room temperature and no longer than 30 minutes in temperatures that exceed 80 degrees.
You can read more about food safety tips from the FDA.
To Store Potato Salad
- Immediately refrigerate after preparing.
- Store in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
To Serve Potato Salad
- Place a large bowl of ice underneath the serving bowl that contains the potato salad. Change out the ice as it melts. This helps keep the potato salad safe for about 2 hours.
- Be sure if you are transporting potato salad, you transport in a cooler.
Instant Pot Potato Recipes
- Instant Pot Baked Potatoes
- Instant Pot Potato Soup
- Instant Pot Crispy Potatoes
- Instant Pot Baked Sweet Potatoes
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
Instant Pot Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups russet potatoes- peeled and cubed into 1 inch chunks
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon distilled vinegar
- 1/2 cup celery finely diced
- 1/4 cup onion finely minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Add in a steamer basket. Place cubed potatoes in steamer basket. Gently nestle the eggs on top of the potatoes. (I typically make 4 eggs instead of 2 in case any crack.)
- Close pressure cooker and be sure to check to see if the vent knob is sealed.
- Cook on HIGH pressure for 4 minutes.
- Once cook time has elapsed, allow pressure to release naturally for 4-5 minutes. Then do a quick release of pressure.
- Remove eggs and place into ice water.
- Remove potatoes from Instant Pot and let cool slightly while you prepare the potato salad dressing.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together mayonnaise, salt, vinegar, onions, and celery until well combined.
- Peel two of the hard boiled eggs, and cube. Add eggs to mayonnaise mixture and gently combine.
- Add in potatoes and gently fold the potatoes into the mayonnaise mixture, until the dressing is evenly distributed through the potatoes.
- Refrigerate for at least 60 minutes before serving, best after 2-3 hours.
Notes
- Let your eggs come to room temperature before pressure cooking, this helps to prevent cracks.
- The recipe only calls for 2 hard boiled eggs, but I like to make 4 in case one egg cracks or just to use for a snack.
- You may need to add an additional 1/2 teaspoon of salt, taste and season as desired.
- See Instant Pot High Altitude Conversion if cooking 2500+ feet above sea level.
This is a version of my husband’s very favorite, egg and potato salad. He doesn’t like any additions other than the smallest amount of Hellmann’s mayo, though. I’m AMAZED at how well this turned out! I took four (very large) Russet potatoes, and NINE large eggs, added those to my IP steamer and followed the cooking directions exactly, but omitted the celery and onion, and just served ALL of the eggs and the potatoes together with salt and mayo (to his preference). He was really amazed at how little time this took, using our IP!! I’ll never make this any other way again. The egg shells just FELL off, too! Best recipe ever—The potatoes were the EXACT texture for potato salad (no easy feat!!) Usually they can be either too undercooked, or ready to mash. This was perfect, and made our day! Thank you for an excellent recipe! 😊👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
YAY! I am so glad you had such success with this recipe Jenne!
This looks like such a time saver. If I doubled the recipe would the times change?
Hi Arlene, the cook time will remain the same 🙂
Thank you for this wonderful recipe. Best i’ve found in 55 years of marriage. My husband loves it and so do I and it’s so easy!
This makes me so happy to hear Susan! So glad you and your husband enjoy! Take care!
Love how it all comes together in one pot. A time saver in the kitchen… from someone who really enjoys time in the kitchen. I usually only make homemade potato salad for the core summer holidays. With this recipe I’ve amped it up to every other week. A hit! I usually don’t comment on recipes either.
I am honored you took the time to leave a comment, thank you! I love hearing you make this often and find it easy and enjoyable.
So Quick ! Thank you Instant Pot !!!So different than other Potato Salad recipes I have tried – and it is amazing! Believe me, I will definitely be using this recipe again and again !
I love hearing how much you enjoyed Marion! Thanks for sharing!
I made this yesterday. I didn’t have vinegar on hand so I used bread and butter pickle juice. Also, I cooked my eggs in silicone egg cups with the potatoes. Added about 1/4 cup bacon bits . Just delicious. This recipe is a keeper.
Oh, I love the substitutions! Way to make do in a bind. So glad you enjoyed as well.
Super easy, potatoes and eggs came out perfect! Saved time, less heat in the kitchen on an 85 degree day and less pots to clean up. That’s a winner!
I agree JB, anytime you can keep the heat out of the kitchen and dishes to a minimal–it is a winner! Glad you enjoyed the flavor as well!
I am new to the instant pot world so I am looking for recipes that are easy. This recipe was so simple and a hit for the whole family everyone had seconds or maybe thirds. I did add bacon and leave out the celery and onion but that’s just my taste preference. I also didn’t have distilled vinegar but after a bit of Google research decided to go with the plain white vinegar I had but just a tiny drop but will grab the right type next time I’m shopping. It was so good I will be making it for all of my Christmas season functions.
I am so glad you and your family enjoyed Louise! And it sounds you made great substitutions (white vinegar is a great substitute for distilled)
Love how easy this is! And it ends up so tasty every time!
Always looking for different ways to use my instant pot! Definitely giving this recipe a try. Yum!