Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes

5 from 3 votes
2 Comments

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Instant Pot sweet potatoes are cooked to tender perfection in no time. No peeling, no pre-cooking, just fluffy, sweet potatoes!

Sweet Potatoes baked in the instant pot with butter on a plate.
Featured in this recipe
  1. Ingredients in Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
  2. How to Use Cooked Sweet Potatoes
  3. Recipe Tip
  4. FAQs
  5. More Simple Instant Pot Recipes
  6. How to Make Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
  7. Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes Recipe

These instant pot sweet potatoes are an easy side dish for any night of the week! Cooking them in the instant pot can also be a great way to free up oven space during Thanksgiving or Christmas cooking. Steaming potatoes in the instant pot produces soft skin and a tender bite. Use them anywhere you would use a baked sweet potato or canned sweet potato.

You can cook sweet potatoes of any size in the Instant Pot. However, the cooking time will vary depending on the size of the sweet potatoes. You can add other ingredients to the Instant Pot with the sweet potatoes, such as onions, carrots, or garlic. Once the sweet potatoes are cooked, you can use them in a variety of dishes, such as sweet potato fries, mashed sweet potatoes, or sweet potato soup.

Read More: Our 27+ Best Instant Pot Recipes

Ingredients in Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes

You can’t go wrong with a delicious sweet potato side dish! Instant pot sweet potatoes recipe is a great source of vitamin A and vitamin C as well as a good source of fiber. They can be eaten as a side dish, or you can use them in recipes like sweet potato pie or sweet potato fries.

  • Sweet Potatoes – There are a few different kinds of sweet potatoes including Japanese sweet potatoes and purple sweet potatoes. When picking out sweet potatoes, choose small to medium potatoes that have no holes or cracks. The size of your sweet potatoes will determine how long they need to cook to become tender.
  • Water – When you cook any vegetables in the Instant Pot, you use steam. To do this, you need water to create the steam. Place the sweet potatoes on a trivet, steamer basket, or steaming rack above the water for best results.
  • Toppings – When these sweet potatoes come out of the instant pot they are ready to be sliced open and topped with your favorite toppings. You can keep it simple with butter, salt, pepper, and parsley, or try some of our other favorite toppings like sour cream, chives, brown sugar, toasted pecans, mini marshmallows, chili, black beans, or avocado.
A forkful of baked sweet potato.


How to Use Cooked Sweet Potatoes

You can cook sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot with or without the skin. If you choose to leave the skin on, be sure to scrub it well before cooking. If you are cooking multiple sweet potatoes at the same time, you may need to increase the cooking time. No matter how you enjoy them, sweet potatoes are a delicious and nutritious way to add some extra flavor and color to your meal!

  • Savory – Eat them like baked russet potatoes with toppings like butter, sour cream, salt, pepper, bacon, and chives. They go great as a side dish with chicken or salmon!
  • Sweet – Make them sweet by adding marshmallows, brown sugar, maple syrup, sprinkle cinnamon, and/or toasted pecans.
  • Mash potatoes – Remove the skins and mash them to make a sweet potato casserole. If you want to make mashed sweet potatoes, simply mash them with a fork or potato masher after they’ve cooled. You can add butter, milk, honey, or other seasonings to taste.
  • Sweet potato cubes – Cut the sweet potato into small cubes and add them to salads, soups, or stews. Cubed sweet potatoes are great for roasting or snacking on too!
  • Substitute ingredient – Use mashed sweet potato as a substitute for pumpkin puree in pancakes, waffles, and muffins.

Recipe Tip

Three raw sweet potatoes with holes poked in them with a fork.

For the most even cooking, be sure to pick similarly sized sweet potatoes. If you are cooking a lot of sweet potatoes of differing sizes, then cook them in a larger size batch and a smaller size batch.

“OMG! Hard to explain how good this recipe is. So tender and delicious! Definitely making this again… and again… and again! Thanks a lot!”

-Camila

FAQs

Why do I need the trivet to cook sweet potatoes?

When you cook sweet potatoes in the instant pot, you are cooking with steam. Since there is standing water at the bottom of the pot to create steam, you need the trivet to hold the potatoes off the water. This helps the texture of the potatoes and also with even cooking.

What if my sweet potatoes aren’t done after the quick release?

If your sweet potatoes need a bit more time, you can reset the instant pot for 5 more minutes and cook them again. The pot will come to pressure much quicker since everything is heated up already.

Should I pour hot water or cold water in the instant pot?

Use cold water to make instant pot sweet potatoes. If you use hot water it will evaporate quicker and mess with the cooking times.

Sweet Potatoes baked in the instant pot with butter on a plate.

More Simple Instant Pot Recipes

Having an instant pot can help make recipes quicker, easier, and even more flavorful! Take your simple side dishes to amazing with these step-by-step instructions. Combine your ingredients to make some of the best instant pot recipes with these delicious side dishes!

How to Make Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes baked in the instant pot with butter on a plate

Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes

5 from 3 votes
Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes are cooked to tender perfection in no time. No peeling, no pre-cooking, just fluffy, sweet potatoes!
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Pressure Building and Release Time 25 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 3

Video

Equipment

  • Instant Pot (or Pressure Cooker)

Ingredients

  • 3 sweet potatoes of similar size
  • 1 cup water
  • toppings if desired butter, salt, pepper

Instructions

  • Wash sweet potatoes. Poke 10-12 holes in each potato with a fork.
    Three raw sweet potatoes with holes poked in them with a fork
  • Place a trivet in the instant pot and then pour in the water. Place sweet potatoes on the trivet.
    Three raw sweet potatoes on trivet in an instant pot
  • Cover the Instant Pot with the lid and turn the valve to sealing. Cook on the Manual setting on high pressure.
    Small sweet potatoes (6-8 ounces): 12 minutes
    Medium sweet potatoes (8-12 ounces): 18 minutes
    Large Sweet Potatoes (12 or more ounces): 25 minutes
    When the timer goes off, let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes, then do a quick release.
    Three cooked sweet potatoes on a trivet in an instant pot
  • Serve with desired toppings.
    Sweet Potatoes baked in the instant pot with butter on a plate

Nutrition Information

Calories: 194kcalCarbohydrates: 45gProtein: 4gFat: 0.1gSaturated Fat: 0.04gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.03gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.003gSodium: 128mgPotassium: 762mgFiber: 7gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 32063IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 70mgIron: 1mg

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About the author

Kelsey Crist

Kelsey lives in Washington with her husband, Alex, and two cats, Diana and Nova. Her happy place is in the kitchen listening to an audiobook and trying new recipes. When she's not in the kitchen you can find her hiking, shopping at Trader Joe's, or playing Animal Crossing. Her favorite food is pasta and Alex loves when she makes Homemade Oreos.

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  1. 5 stars
    OMG! Hard to explain how good this recipe is. So tender and delicious! Definitely making this again… and again… and again! Thanks a lot!