Make these perfect Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes for a casserole, mashed potatoes, hash, soup, baby food – you name it. It’s an easy way to meal prep for the week! Fluffy baked sweet potatoes make a perfect side dish or vegetarian main dish. Use this no-fuss recipe for the best sweet potatoes in under 30 minutes!
I wasn’t sure if I would like the Instant Pot, but I now use it on a weekly basis!
Anytime I have a huge list of dishes to make and desserts to bake (hello Thanksgiving!), I turn to my Instant Pot to help make things a little easier, starting with Instant Pot sweet potatoes!
For me, cooking sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot (or an electric pressure cooker) means:
- my hands are available for other dishes that require stirring (like homemade cream of mushroom soup)
- freeing up a burner for this caramelized onions and Swiss chard recipe
- being able to lower the temperature of the oven to make a big batch of cranberry orange granola for breakfast
But it also means…
- having one less pot to wash
- not having to clean up spilled sweet potato juices from the bottom of the oven
- no repeatedly opening the hot oven to check on potatoes
- not having to poke the sweet potato with a fork over and over to see if it’s done yet
- being able to get dinner on the table without having to work so hard!
I’m pretty sure all my fellow mama’s just high-fived themselves, am I right?
Perfect Instant Pot Sweet Potato
You’ll absolutely love this IP sweet potatoes recipe because:
- IP sweet potatoes cook more quickly than oven baked sweet potatoes.
- They turn out deliciously tender, sweet and creamy.
- It’s SO easy! Just set the timer and walk away!
Ingredients for Sweet Potatoes in the Instant Pot
You only need two ingredients:
- Sweet potatoes
- Water
How many sweet potatoes can I cook at one time?
You can add as many sweet potatoes that fit in your Instant Pot and the cooking time stays the same! Just be sure to measure by your largest sweet potato. This is called batch cooking, and here’s a tutorial on how to plan for your next batch cooking session.
Can I cook other types of potatoes at the same time?
Yes! There are times my kids prefer russet potatoes over sweet potatoes so I’ll throw in a couple ‘regular potatoes’ for them. I pick similarly sized potatoes and have no problems with them coming out just as tender.
Do I need extra tools for this Instant Pot Sweet Potato recipe?
You don’t need a steamer basket. The trivet that comes with the Instant Pot is all you really need. Additionally, a vegetable scrubber (I like this one) and sturdy oven mitts or silicone tongs are helpful!
How to Make Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
Generally speaking, making fork-tender sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot is pretty simple and straightforward:
- Add water and trivet
- Wash and dry sweet potatoes
- Put the potatoes on top of the trivet
- Hit “high pressure” and pressure cook according to the time listed below!
The only tough part with making Instant Pot sweet potatoes is the cooking time – sweet potatoes come in all different sizes!
Have no fear though, because I have cook times regardless of how big or small your sweet potato is!
The Secret on How to Make Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
The key is NOT in how long the sweet potato is, but how WIDE your sweet potato is.
Take a ruler and measure the width of the sweet potato. Then cook according to these temperatures:
- 2 inches or less: 15 minutes to 20 minutes
- 2-3 inches: 25 minutes to 30 minutes
- 3-4 inches: 35 minutes to 40 minutes
- 4 inches or more: 45 minutes to 50 minutes
Tip: Cut large sweet potatoes in half lengthwise to reduce the cooking time. The same works for smaller or medium sweet potatoes to make kids size or snack size portions!
My son loves sweet potatoes a little firm, but you can cook them softer. If your sweet potato isn’t cooked through completely, add one cup of water and continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes. That’s it!
How to Freeze Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
There are a few ways you can freeze Instant Pot sweet potatoes:
- Freeze in Chunks. Great for smoothies! Use the method for how to freeze blueberries to flash freeze for at least two hours. Move the chunks to a freezer-safe container (I use gallon-sized plastic bags). Then, pull out just what you need for the recipe.
- Freeze Mashed Sweet Potatoes. Line a cupcake pan with silicone muffin liners. Scoop ¼ cup into each muffin cup and freeze for 2 hours. Peel off the silicone liners and move the frozen mashed sweet potato to a freezer-safe container. (This is basically sweet potato puree, perfect for this sweet potato biscuit recipe!)
With either method, make sure you label and date the outside of the container. I promise you won’t recognize what’s in the bag in a month or two!
Instant Pot FAQs for Baked Sweet Potatoes
- What Instant Pot do you have? I have this 8 quart Instant Pot. I’m feeding four people and think the size is PERFECT to make dinner and have enough for leftovers. Read more about why I picked this model in my article 20+ Things to Know Before You Buy an Instant Pot.
- Will adding another appliance to the kitchen help me save money? Absolutely yes! Here’s how the Instant Pot saves money.
- I’m new to the Instant Pot – have any tips to share? You know it! Here are 14 common Instant Pot mistakes and how you can fix them.
- How do you convert a slow cooker recipe to an Instant Pot recipe? Every recipe is different, but use this guide to turn slow cooker recipes to Instant Pot recipes.
- Can I puree Instant pot sweet potatoes for baby food? Certainly! Just peel the sweet potatoes, add some water to create the consistency you like for your baby’s food, and blend (I recommend the Blendtec blender).
How to Serve Instant Pot Baked Sweet Potatoes
My personal favorite topping on fluffy baked sweet potatoes is butter. Plain and simple. The rest of my family likes a little cinnamon added too. And we’ve been known to add some brown sugar or maple syrup.
Other toppings include:
- Instant Pot BBQ Chicken
- Spicy Citrus Black Beans
- Cilantro Lime Coleslaw
- Lightly sautéed veggies with Magic Thai Peanut Sauce
What else can you make in an Instant Pot?
I love to use my IP for making the basics, and here are my favorite Instant Pot recipes:
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Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
Make these perfect Instant Pot sweet potatoes for a casserole, mashed potatoes, hash, soup, baby food – you name it. It’s an easy way to meal prep for the week! Fluffy baked sweet potatoes make a perfect side dish or vegetarian main dish. Use this no-fuss recipe for the best sweet potatoes in under 30 minutes!
- Prep Time: 1 min
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 16 mins
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Sides
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 cup of water
- 1–4 sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean
Instructions
- Put the trivet inside the Instant Pot. Pour the water inside.
- Use a fork to poke each sweet potato twice, to allow steam to escape from the inside as it cooks.
- Place the sweet potatoes on the trivet.
- Lock the Instant Pot, seal the valve and cook on “high” as follows:
• 2 inches or less: 15-20 minutes
• 2-3 inches: 25-30 minutes
• 3-4 inches: 35-40 minutes
• 4 inches or more: 45-50 minutes - When the cooking timer beeps, set the kitchen timer for 10 minutes to allow natural pressure release.
- When the kitchen timer beeps, turn the sealing valve to “open” to immediately release the remaining pressure.
- Remove the sweet potatoes from the Instant Pot carefully as they will be hot!
So, on the recipe card the total time says 16 minutes, but the pressure cooker has to come up to pressure and then do a 10 minute natural release, so what would you say the actual total cooking time is if your potato is 1-2 inches wide? One frustration that I have had in trying to use my instant pot consistently is that the time to come up to pressure is not included in the instructions of recipes that I’ve found on the internet which makes it a bit hard if I want to have dinner ready and hot at a certain time. With that in mind, would it actually take less time for more potatoes to come up to pressure than less potatoes?
Thanks,
Debbie
Hi Debbie! The total time it takes to come to pressure depends on the size of your IP and how full it is, so it’s hard to give an accurate time. Plus more often than not, I personally hit “go” and walk away to do something else, so I’m not there standing and waiting to see how long it takes to come to pressure! Generally speaking, the bigger the IP and the more full it is, the more time it takes to come to pressure. This is very noticeable when you make thick things, like soups and beans. It’s not as drastic though when you make things that have plenty of air circulation, like potatoes. Here’s my rough estimate of the time it takes to come to pressure:
1/4 – 1/3 full = 10 min
1/2 full = 15 min
2/3 – 3/4 full = 20 min
That’s not exact of course, but I hope it helps a little bit!
I thought I might mention something about pot stirrers here as you mentioned having to stir the pot for mushroom soup. I have the SAKI stirrer (Amazon) and it is quite wonderful. They also have the Stirmate on there although I have not tried it.
I do have the little Robo Stir for use in smaller 1 quart pans. The reviews on the Robo Stir aren’t very good but I’ve had no real problem with it. Sometimes it gets stuck in one place and won’t move around the saucepan but I just tap it and it goes back to stirring. For what it is and the low cost its fine for making tapioca pudding in a small batch. And I have a little induction cooker I put on the counter and use the Robo Stir while I am doing something else in the same area and can watch it.
You made me laugh about labeling things that go into the freezer. I also make everything I eat from scratch and often cook large IP batches (including soybeans). I have five IP’s of all sizes. But I still from time to time forget to label something and I can remember distinctly often thinking as I put them unlabeled in one of my freezers “Oh, I’ll know what that is” only to find NOT – LOL.
I cannot count the times I’ve had to thaw a package inside the bigger package to find out what it is.
But back to sweet potatoes. They have these little skinny plastics bags with measurements on them at Walmart. I let the sweet potatoes cool, them scoop them out and mash them. I then freeze up bags with 1/4 cup all the way up to 1 cup….that way I have what I need for recipes or just for eating.
When you take a bag out of the freezer, you can just cut the bag off, making one slit and the sweet potato easily slides out.
I’ve had those exact same thoughts Davilyn!! LOL! Thanks for the tip on the bags – that saves a step of measuring first and then putting into bags. Genius!
Thank you so much for posting! i have tried and tried sweet potatoes in the instant pot and failed every time. I love using the width of the potato to determine cooking time. Thank you!
You’re very welcome Robin! IP sweet potatoes isn’t an exact science, but I hope this helps!