These Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes are the easiest and most delicious mashed potatoes I’ve ever made. They’re fluffy, smooth, creamy, and perfect every time!
Mashed potatoes are one of the most popular side dishes at any time of the year, and they’re a must-have for any holiday dinner. They go with just about everything.
If you want the most delicious fluffy mashed potatoes and an easier way to cook them, using the Instant Pot is the way to go!
I LOVE potatoes! They’re right up there at the top of my list of favorite things to eat.
I’ll take them any way – baked, fried, roasted, scalloped, hash browns, home fries, tater tots, you name it – but mashed potatoes are so yummy and comforting, I prefer them over all the others!
Now, making mashed potatoes on the stove top is definitely not hard. Until recently, that’s how I always made them. BUT using the Instant Pot pressure cooker makes it even easier.
There’s no waiting around for the water to boil and no boil-overs that end up all over your stove. Just throw everything in the Instant Pot and go about doing other stuff for few minutes, and then come back to perfectly-cooked potatoes.
Most importantly, the mashed potatoes that I make in my Instant Pot are the best-tasting mashed potatoes I’ve ever had. Ev-er. Seriously!
The potatoes taste like potatoes but even more like potatoes! The fluffy texture is awesome. I don’t know why they are better. They just are…and that’s all I really need to know!
An extra-added bonus of using the Instant Pot is that you can use the Keep Warm function to hold the finished mashed potatoes without worrying about them burning while you finish up making the rest of your dinner.
This has become a life-saver for me, especially on holidays when I’m trying to cook so many things all at once!
Are you convinced yet?
If you’re new to the Instant Pot, this is a great recipe to get started with. If you’ve had an Instant Pot for a while but have never made mashed potatoes in it, this is definitely a recipe you need to try!
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED:
- Potatoes (Russets or Yukon Gold)
- Water
- Salt (I use kosher salt)
- Butter
- Milk
HERE’S A QUICK LOOK AT HOW TO MAKE INSTANT POT MASHED POTATOES:
TIPS & TIDBITS:
- The potato you use matters. Starchy Russets are what I usually use because they always come out nice and fluffy, but Yukon Golds also work really well. Waxy potatoes like regular white and red potatoes just don’t give you the same results, and I don’t recommend using them.
- Size matters. Make sure that, when you cut the potatoes, they are all pretty much the same size. For an average-sized Russet, quartering them will do. If you have some smaller ones, you may only need to halve them. Keeping the size consistent will ensure they all cook evenly.
- Salt the cooking water. Potatoes need salt to taste good. Without it, they will be bland and tasteless. The best time to get the salt in is during cooking rather waiting until after they’ve cooked, so don’t be afraid to salt that cooking water well. Salting the potatoes after the fact just isn’t the same.
- Dry the potatoes. After you drain the potatoes, put them back in the hot pot and let them sit uncovered for a few minutes, gently stir them a time or two, and allow the excess water to evaporate out. You can also put the pot back in the Instant Pot on Keep Warm for a few minutes with the lid off. If your potatoes are wet, they will not be nice and fluffy and creamy. They will just be…wet.
- Don’t over-mash the potatoes. Over-mashed potatoes will be pasty and gummy rather than fluffy and creamy. Mash them just until they are no longer lumpy or mostly no longer lumpy (a few little lumps never hurt anyone). I prefer to mash my potatoes by hand. If you pull out the electric mixer, just be careful of over-mixing!
- Warm the milk. Not only will doing this not cool off your mashed potatoes like adding cold milk would, but the potatoes will more easily absorb the warm milk.
I like to keep my mashed potatoes simple, so I just add butter and milk, but you can also add in whatever you like in your mashed potatoes – sour cream, cream cheese, cheese, garlic, herbs, etc.
If you’d like to make your mashed potatoes a little more indulgent, you can add more butter and use half and half or cream in place of some or all of the milk. Super YUM!
Eat your mashed potatoes as is, top them with butter, or pour on some gravy. When I make my Instant Pot Beef Stew, I put mashed potatoes in a bowl and pour my stew on top. It’s so good!
I hope you try this recipe for Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes and love it as much as I do. Thanks for visiting today!
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Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, about 4 medium potatoes (8 ounces each)
- 4 to 5 cups water
- ½ tablespoon kosher salt, or more to taste
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup milk, or more to taste
Instructions
- Peel the potatoes and quarter them (halve any smaller potatoes – you want all the pieces to be about the same size for even cooking). Place the cut potatoes in the Instant Pot.
- Add enough water to just cover the potatoes. In my 6-quart Instant Pot, 4 cups of water does the trick. Add the salt and give everything a quick stir.
- Put the lid on the Instant Pot and turn the steam release valve to SEALING. Cook at HIGH pressure for 10 minutes. Note: It will take about 15 minutes for the Instant Pot to come up to pressure before the cooking time begins to count down.
- While the potatoes are cooking, gently warm the milk; set aside. You can do this on the stove top or in the microwave.
- When the cooking time has finished, immediately and carefully quick-release the pressure.
- Drain the potatoes in a colander and return them to the hot pot. Allow them to sit for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring once or twice, or until the excess water has evaporated out and the potatoes are dry. Dry potatoes = fluffy mashed potatoes. You can put the pot back in the Instant Pot on Keep Warm with the lid off for a few minutes to help speed up the drying time.
- Add the butter and mash the potatoes until most of the lumps are gone. Be careful not to over-mash/over-mix your potatoes so they don't become pasty and gummy.
- Add the warm milk; continue mashing and stirring until the potatoes have reached the consistency you like, adding more milk if desired. Taste and add more salt if needed.
Notes
- In my own kitchen, I actually use 1 tablespoon of kosher salt in the cooking water. I opted to put ½ tablespoon in the recipe since some people may be sensitive to using salt. Salting the cooking water is important for flavorful potatoes, but adjust the amount of salt to suit your own taste.
- If you’d like to hold the potatoes for a bit before serving, put them back in the Instant Pot with the lid on using the Keep Warm function. I have successfully done this for about an hour, and you can probably go even longer. Depending on how long you let them sit, you may need to stir in just a bit more milk before serving.
- This recipe was tested using a 6-quart Instant Pot, and it will also work in an 8-quart Instant Pot or the 3-quart mini (you may not need as much water to cover the potatoes in the mini).
- If you would like to double the recipe, it will fit in either the 6 or 8-quart Instant Pot. The 10-minute cook time will remain the same. Increase all other ingredients accordingly.
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