These smooth, fluffy, yet creamy Pressure Cooker Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes, are steamed to perfection and ready to eat in under 30 minutes.
Pressure Cooker Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
Pressure Cooker Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
Steaming the Potatoes, instead of boiling them in Water will take your ordinary Mashed Potatoes to a new level. No more standing over a stove with a fork, waiting until your boiled Potatoes are just right. No more water logged Potatoes! The days of boiling water, adding Potatoes and then poking with a fork to check for doneness are over! Steaming Potatoes in a Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot, Power Pressure Cooker, GoWise, are all Multi-cookers and are Pressure Cookers) yields a nice and dry Potato. The perfect base to make fluffy and creamy Mashed Potatoes or Smashed Potatoes or Whipped Potatoes! Baked Mashed too!
Cast of Ingredients for Pressure Cooker Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
Potatoes are one of my favorite foods to eat, in all forms. It is also one of the only types of food, where I add Salt to taste. I use Salt sparingly when I cook. Potatoes, Eggs and Rice, are the three types of food, where I do like to have a little bit of a salty taste.
If you would to make Pressure Cooker Garlic Mashed Potatoes, just add a couple cloves of peeled Garlic in with the Quartered Potatoes. If you have a picky kid or adult (as do I) and want to hide a vegetable, add in some raw Cauliflower and then mash it with the Steamed Potatoes.
For my favorite take on Pressure Cooker Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes, try my Healthy Pressure Cooker Potato Carrot Mash. The carrots add such a nice color, but best of all, vegetables! Half the calories of regular Mashed Potatoes and just as good, if not better taste (in my opinion). Even my picky eater, loves the Potato Carrot Mash! For special occasions and company, this Pressure Cooker Creamy Mashed Potatoes is oh my gosh, so friggin’ delicious.
Peel and Quarter the Potatoes
Depending on the size of your Potatoes, peel and quarter them. If the Potatoes are huge, you will need to give them another cut. They don’t need to be in small pieces, which is a big time saver! If you like skin on your Potatoes, leave it on, if you like.
As you are peeling and cutting the Potatoes, place them in a big bowl with cool water to prevent them from turning Purplish Brown. If you have the time and want to take your Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes up another notch, soak Raw Potatoes Chunks in the water for 30 minutes. That will remove some of the excess starch.
Remove the Raw Potato Chunks and place them into a Strainer Basket.
Add Basket of Quartered Potatoes to Cooking Pot
The Strainer Basket will be placed on a Trivet above the water and the Potatoes will steam. While the Potatoes are steaming, get your Milk/Cream and Butter out of the refrigerator, so they won’t be so cold.
Steamed Potatoes
Look closely at this photo. The Potatoes are nice and firm, yet nicely cooked. They are not falling apart or mushy. If this photo does not convince you that Steaming Potatoes in a Pressure Cooker is the way to go, I don’t know what will. Sure, you can steam Potatoes on the Stove, but you would have to hang out with them, until they are done. While they are steaming in the Pressure Cooker, you can go take a shower, wash the kid, set the dinner table, etc.
Mash the Fluffy Potatoes
You will notice that when you Mash the Steamed Potatoes, the Potatoes are dry and fluffy and not wet and mushed. The taste will be pure Potato, not watered down Potatoes! Use a Potato Masher or Fork to Mash the PLAIN Potatoes, while hot. Not everyone agrees with me, but in my opinion, order matters. If you have used Garlic Cloves, mash them up with the Potatoes
Milk, Half & Half, Cream, all Work Well
Pour in about half of the Milk and mash the Potatoes with the Milk. Amount of milk is a personal preference, as are the Butter and Salt. Remember, you can always add more Milk, Butter and Salt, but you can’t take away. Mix the Potatoes with the Milk until they are just a bit firmer than you like, as the Butter will further thin the Potatoes. Add more Milk as needed. Add in the Salt and mix through. Start with a little Butter and add more as needed. Once plated, people can add more Butter and Salt, so don’t go overboard. 🙂
The more you mix the Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes, the more smooth and Whipped they become. Turn Mashed Potatoes into Instant Pot Whipped Potatoes, just by hand whipping or using a Hand Held Mixer.
Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
Top with chopped Chives and a pat of Butter, if you like. Sprinkle some Grated Cheese for Cheesy Mashed Potatoes! Serve along side my Pressure Cooker Classic Pot Roast Dinner, Pressure Cooker Best Ever Meatloaf or any of my other delicious main courses.
Kitchen Equipment and Essentials
- Instant Pot DUO Plus 60
- J.A. Henckels Classic 7-inch Hollow Edge Santoku Knife
- Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
- Anchor Hocking Glass (Liquid) Measuring Cups
- Alpha Armour Salt Box with Spoon
- Alton Brown Salt Box
- John Boos Maple Cutting Board with Groove
- RSVP Stainless Steel Strainer Basket
- Stainless Steel Tall Legged Trivet
- 3.5 Quart Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl
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Here is the handy printable recipe:
These smooth, fluffy, yet creamy Pressure Cooker Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes, are steamed to perfection and ready to eat in under 30 minutes.
- 2 lbs/908g Idaho Russet Potatoes peeled and quartered
- 1.5 cups Water
- 2 tsp/10g Sea Salt or to taste
- 1 cup/240ml Milk or Cream
- 1/4 cup/56g Butter
- 2 cloves Fresh Garlic peeled
- Cauliflower (to sneak in veggies)
- Fresh or Dried Chives for garnish
Place Water and Trivet into Pressure Cooker cooking pot. Place basket of quartered potatoes on top of Trivet.
Lock on Lid and close Pressure Valve. Cook on High Pressure for 7 minutes. When Beep sounds, allow a 10 minute Natural Pressure Release.
Remove Potatoes from cooking pot and place into Mixing Bowl. Mash Potatoes and add milk, mashing/whipping as you go. Add Salt and mix. Add Butter and combine. Taste and adjust as needed. Top with Chives, if desired.
PIN this Pressure Cooker Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes!
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My pressure cooker takes a long time to pressurize (20+ minutes). Is that normal? I thought pressure cooking was supposed to be fast results.
I am new to this but from what I am reading, it is definitely not instantaneous. It takes some time also depending on amt of liquid, of liquid is cold etc. 20 min? I am not sure
Depends on a few factors: how much food do you have in the pot? did you put in the minimum amount of water (1 cup), is the food frozen?, did you use hot or cold water? is the pressure knob all the way in the cooking position?
Remember, that it’s not a microwave, you aren’t going to get instantaneous results, it’s going to cut your cooking time in half. For instance, I made 2 lbs of short ribs in less than 40 mins from start to end (saute, cook, release) if I were to make them in my slow cooker it would be at the very least 4 hours of cooking. (also, slow cooker recipes can be converted to the IP by cutting the water down to half, and the cooking time in half as well. BTW, it took about 10 mins for the ribs to come to pressure but it was also because I had sauted them first which made the pot preheated, you can preheat your pot on saute on low or medium if you want to help reduce the pressure time. Hope this helps. I am new to this as well but have spent a few hours watching youtube videos, reading blogs and joined a couple of groups on Facebook. Love my pot. I made steel oats this morning and it was wonderful and easy. Good luck.
I’ll be trying this mashed potato recipe next. Everyone recommends this old gal for instant pot recipes
If you will put it on “sauté” while you are adding in your ingredients, it will come to pressure MUCH faster after you put your lid on and lock into place.
I don’t recommend doing this on most recipes. JIll
Made these mashed potatoes last night and my husband loved them. Thought they had so much more flavor. I did take the time to soak the potatoes but without that step it really doesn’t take any longer than cooking on the stop and you don’t have to worry about them boiling over!
I am glad you enjoyed them, Virginia. Jill
I’m thinking about making these for Thanksgiving. I have 28 people coming (4 are kids, 2 are babies). How many multiples of this recipe would you recommend? How many would fit in the IP 6 quart? Can they be kept warm, and for how long? (thinking my Wonderbag ‘crock pot’). Thanks!
Karen, you can fill up the pressure cooker to the max line. You could probably get away with 4x the recipe. Jill
I want to make this for thanksgiving but need to cook at least 5 pounds potato. What changes do I need to make for my Instant pot? 6 qt.
No changes, Leslie. Jill
I’m not the best cook in the world… LOL Any tips on how long it would make to reheat them up tomorrow if I made them today?
Hi Jill. How are you planning on reheating? What quantity? If PIP for a single recipe, I would try 3 minutes. Jill
If I want to try this recipe with 6 lbs of potatoes, would you recommend putting the cut up potatoes directly on the trivet? Would you change the cooking time?
Thank you!!!
Leika, the cooking time stays the same. Jill
Is the cooking time the same for red potatoes?
Thanks!
Yes, Erin. Jill
I clicked link to strainer basket to purchase one. The stainer basket in pictures does not show handles but the strainer basket in the link has handles. Doesn’t look like it will fit into the IP?
Wiggle off the handles or use pliers. They come off easily. Jill
Can I use red potatoes with good results?
These turned out really good, I am a newbie Instant Pot user and was curious about making mashed potatoes. I made them for Christmas and let them stay warm in the instant pot for about an hour. I belong to a facebook beginners group and this recipe was posted, that is how I found your site. I reduced the amount of butter for a special diet and they were still delicious.
Welcome, Kat. Jill
We have made these three times now. The first two times they turned out wonderful, but tonight the potatoes came out severely undercooked and the batch was ruined. We did everything the same as usual and exactly how the recipe states….Any ideas?
Hi Kaity. How was the batch ruined? I am not sure I understand. If something is not quite cooked, add more time. Jill
They were no where near cooked and we didn’t think that we could go back in and cook them longer in the IP once it’s been opened….wouldn’t know how much longer to cook them for.
What we ended up doing was mashing them up the best we could and then finished them in the microwave, and did even more mashing.
Hoping they turn out better next time.
Do you qr the rest of the pressure after the NPR for 10min?
do you QR after the 10min NPR?
Please be aware that the link to the steamer basket in this post goes to one that does NOT fit in the Instant Pot. It has handles that stick out and do not fold. I didn’t realize the mistake until I received it. Ufortunately, it was an add-on item, so not worth it to return and pay return shipping.
The link is correct and the basket fits nicely in the 6 quart pressure cooker. The handles pop off easily with pliers. It is the exact one shown in the recipe photos. Jill
I did 10 lbs of mashed potatoes today for Easter dinner. Five pounds done following this recipe and five pounds boiled on cook top. All ten pounds came from the same bag, same amount of butter & cream in each batch. Everyone loved the instapot potatoes. They were gone with a quickness. Best. Potatoes. Ever!! No more boiled potatoes for this family!! Oh, and even with waiting for pressure to build & NR the insta pot potatoes were done 10 min before the boiled ones. Thanks so much for the recipe!!
What a wonderful comparison, Sharon! Jill
LOVED this recipe as well. I tripled the recipe and all ingredients. Was it necessary to triple the “boiling water” at the bottom of the pan or would 1.5 cups of water be enough to steam 6 pounds of potatoes? I cooked for the same 7 minutes as well. Thanks so much for all your great recipes.
Oh and I have an 8qt instant pot
Fantastic! I used whole milk and unsalted butter, sparing no calories. Served with your Pressure Cooker Salisbury Steak with Onion-Mushroom Gravy. Ultimate comfort food!
Hi Kathy. I am so glad you enjoyed both recipes. Thank you so much for letting me know. Jill
Hi Jill,
I don’t have a steamer basket yet. Can I cook these right on the trivet in my 8qt pot?
Thanks,
Lisa
Hi Lisa. Yes you can. Jill