Instant Pot Potato Salad

Name: Instant Pot Potato Salad
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 4 min
Total time: 28 min
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

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Instant Pot Potato Salad is every bit as good as old-fashioned, classic potato salad--just made with much less effort!

Serve this easy Instant Pot Potato Salad alongside Burgers, Italian Pasta Salad, Old Fashioned Baked Beans, and Creamy Cucumber Salad for a perfect summer feast!

Bowl of Potato Salad next to pressure cooker

Faster Without Sacrificing Flavor

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 instant pot.

What used to take hours, take minutes of hands-on prep--and tastes EVERY bit as delicious as the classic.

This Instant Pot Potato Salad makes making classic potato salad so much faster! By cooking the eggs and potatoes together perfectly in the pressure cooker, the prep time on potato salad has been cut drastically. Then the potatoes and eggs are tossed together with a classic mayonnaise-based dressing for an out-of-this-world, creamy potato salad.

Ingredients for Potato Salad

The ingredients for this potato salad are simple. No mustard. No pickles. Just classic old-fashioned flavors.

Russet Potatoes--For classic potato salad, only russet potatoes will do! This is not the recipe to use red or gold potatoes.
Eggs: Use standard large eggs and allow them to come to room temperature for fewer chances of craking when cooked.
Mayonnaise--Use real mayonnaise, like Hellman's or Dukes, not Miracle Whip. Reduced-Fat Mayo is fine, but don't use fat-free, as the flavor will change drastically.
Vinegar--distilled white vinegar or white wine vinegar
Celery--The celery will add texture and crunch.
Onions--Use standard yellow onions, not a red or sweet onion.

How To Make Instant Pot Potato Salad

Pour 1 ½ cups of cold tap 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. Set to 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 to be 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 to stop the cooking process.
Remove steamer basket with 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 the mayonnaise mixture and gently combine.

side by side photo showing dressing for potato salad before and after mixing.

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.

White Bowl filled with Instant Pot Potato Salad

Storage Instructions

To store potato salad, prepare as directed and place in an airtight container or a serving bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate immediately and store in store in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

How to 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 safely serve for a party, 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 to a gathering, you transport it in a cooler that has been packed with ice.

Recipe FAQs

How can you prevent the eggs from cracking?

Let your eggs come to room temperature before pressure cooking, this helps to prevent cracks.

Why should you prepare more eggs than recipe calls for?

I always suggest hard-boiling 4-6 eggs, even though this recipe only calls for 2 hard-boiled eggs. Even with room temperature eggs, sometimes cracks happen. And it never hurts to have extrafor breakfast, a snack, or to make egg salad.

Can this recipe be doubled?

Yes! You can easily double this recipe to fit in a 6 or 8-quart instant pot.

Is the steamer basket necessary?

Yes! To keep the cubed potatoes from falling through the rack or sitting directly in the water and becoming water-logged, I do strongly suggest using a steamer basket.

More Instant Pot Potato Recipes

If you tried this Instant Pot Potato Salad, I would love for you to leave a comment and rating below.