Perfect Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
Whether serving sweet potatoes as a delicious side dish, or using them for another recipe, this recipe for Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes makes perfect sweet potatoes every time!
Sweet potatoes are such a delicious vegetable and a great side dish to add to any dinner. This is one of those easy recipes to keep in your back pocket when you need something fast, simple, and delicious!
There are lots of different cooking methods when it comes to making sweet potatoes. Depending on the recipe, you can make them in the air fryer, in the oven, or on the stovetop. This is the best way to make sweet potatoes if you ask me!
These Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes are great because you don't need any other ingredients besides water and sweet potatoes. All the sweet potatoes are cooked in the Instant Pot at once, so there's no messy cleanup.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- The sweet potatoes come out perfectly every time! Because we are steaming the potatoes, they are moist and delicious every time we cook them. You get perfect sweet potatoes every time!
- They are versatile! You can use these potatoes as they are, served with butter. You can also use these potatoes for other recipes, such as a sweet potato casserole, or you can mash them up with butter and milk for a change on the traditional mashed potato.
- No need to turn on the oven! The Instant Pot does all the hard work for you. No need to heat your house or break out the baking sheets.
- They are great for meal prep! Make a big batch of these potatoes on the weekend and use them for lunch or dinners as an easy side throughout the week.
Ingredients You'll Need
- Whole Sweet Potatoes- I found that 5 medium sweet potatoes fit nicely in my 6-quart Instant Pot. Try to keep them in a single layer, but if one or two overlap, that will be ok. If you can, try to find similar size potatoes at your local grocery store. That will ensure that the cooking time is the same for all the potatoes.
- Water- To add to the bottom of the Instant Pot to steam them.
Equipment To Make Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
You simply need your Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker, and a trivet insert or a steamer basket. The steamer basket or trivet is important because you do not want the potatoes to be sitting in the water. That would cause the potatoes to boil instead of steam.
Size Matters
This recipe uses medium sized potatoes, about the size of a hand. For those, I found 12 minutes was the perfect amount of time to cook them for.
If you are using large potatoes, up the cooking time to 17 minutes. Sometimes you can find really huge potatoes, and if you are using those, up the cooking time to 25 minutes.
The good thing about the Instant Pot is that if you find the potatoes aren't cooked completely when you open the lid, you can simply seal the lid again and add 5-10 minutes of cook time.
How To Make Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
Wash and scrub your sweet potatoes well to remove any excess dirt or grim that may be on them.
Place the steamer rack or trivet insert into the Instant Pot. Add a cup of water to the bottom of the pot. You want enough water so the potatoes will steam, but not too much water that the potatoes are cooking in the water.
Place the sweet potatoes on the top of the trivet in the Instant Pot and seal the lid. Set the cooking time to 12 minutes on high pressure.
After 12 minutes, allow the Instant Pot to naturally release for 10 minutes. Quick release any remaining pressure that may still be built up.
Carefully remove the sweet potatoes from the Instant Pot and enjoy!
How To Tell If The Sweet Potatoes Are Cooked
Once the pressure is manually released, open the Instant Pot lid. Using a fork or a knife, insert the knife into the sweet potato. If it comes out easily and there is no resistance, the sweet potato is done.
If it is difficult to get the knife in or out of the sweet potato, close the lid again and set the pressure to high for another 5 minutes.
Another way to tell if the sweet potato is cooked is to carefully pick up the sweet potato and try to remove the skin. The skin should peel off easily without any resistance.
What To Serve With Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
- Butter! The obvious choice! Melt some of your favorite butter on a warm sweet potato.
- Sour cream! Change it up and add a dollop of sour cream to your sweet potato.
- Cinnamon and sugar! Growing up we LOVED putting cinnamon and sugar on sweet potatoes. No butter necessary! Simply mix a tablespoon of white sugar or brown sugar with 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and sprinkle on top of the sweet potatoes.
- On their own! Serve them as a simple side dish to recipes like an onion casserole.
- Fried Pork Chops! These would be a delicious side dish to fried pork chops!
- Chili! Top these sweet potatoes with your favorite chili recipe.
- Mash them up! Once the sweet potatoes are cooked, you can peel them and mash them up with butter and milk. If you like garlic mashed potatoes, you'll love sweet potatoes mashed!
- Use them in other recipes! This is a great way to cook sweet potatoes to then mash up and add to sweet potato cornbread or 2 ingredient sweet potato rolls.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! You can peel and cube the sweet potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Place the cubes of sweet potato on the steamer basket or trivet insert and pressure cook them on high pressure for 8 minutes. Allow the pressure to manually release for 10 minutes. Check for doneness.
Yes! In moderation they are healthy for you. They are full of vitamin A and vitamin C. They have healthy fiber since they aren't actually potatoes, they are part of the root family.
You can, but you don't have to. The skins of the potatoes come off much easier if you cook them in the Instant Pot first. Peeling them while raw can be a challenge and it is much easier to peel them once cooked.
Other Recipes To Try!
Did you love this Instant Pot Sweet Potato Recipe? If you did, don't forget to tag me on social media here on Instagram or Facebook and share this recipe on Pinterest! Thanks for sharing this journey with me and enjoy these delicious recipes!
- Italian Stuffed Mushrooms
- Instant Pot German Potato Salad
- All in One Apple Cake
- Sourdough Stuffing
- Rice Dressing with Bacon
- Bacon Brussel Sprouts
📖 Recipe
Perfect Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 Sweet Potatoes Medium Sized
- 1 cup Water For the Instant Pot
Instructions
- Wash and scrub your sweet potatoes well to remove any excess dirt or grim that may be on them.
- Place the steamer rack or trivet insert into the Instant Pot. Add a cup of water to the bottom of the pot. You want enough water so the potatoes will steam, but not too much water that the potatoes are cooking in the water.
- Place the sweet potatoes on the top of the trivet in the Instant Pot and seal the lid. Set the cooking time to 12 minutes on high pressure.
- After 12 minutes, allow the Instant Pot to naturally release for 10 minutes. Quick release any remaining pressure that may still be built up.
- Carefully remove the sweet potatoes from the Instant Pot and enjoy!
Notes
- If you are using large potatoes, up the cooking time to 17 minutes. Sometimes you can find really huge potatoes, and if you are using those, up the cooking time to 25 minutes.
- The steamer basket or trivet is important because you do not want the potatoes to be sitting in the water. That would cause the potatoes to boil instead of steam.
There is something about sweet potatoes that just makes me want more! I made your Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes as a quick side dish to go along with my Blackstone Griddle steaks. My sweet potatoes tasted amazing and were so fluffy and tender.
These turned out perfectly! They were so fluffy and tender - so much easier than taking an hour in the oven!
I am glad I have found this new method of making sweet potatoes. Using the Instant Pot is so easy thanks to this recipe, I can't wait to spread the good word.
I love sweet potatoes and had no idea they were so easy to make in my instant pot - thank you!