Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes are an easy side dish. Pressure cook whole, unpeeled Yukon gold potatoes for 15 minutes, then press them through a ricer or food mill to remove the skins and finely shred the potatoes. Mix them with some butter, milk, and my optional secret ingredient - French onion dip - and you have rich and creamy mashed potatoes.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• How to make Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
• Equipment
• Substitutions
• Make-ahead mashed potatoes
• Scaling
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
• Related Posts
• 💬 Comments

It's taken me a long time to post a straight-up mashed potatoes recipe. I don't know why. It is one of my go-to side dishes for holidays and parties, the perfect accompaniment to my Rotisserie Turkey Recipe, Instant Pot Pork Shoulder Chops with Apples and Onions, or Instant Pot Easy Beef Stew.

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 2- to 2½ pounds medium Yukon gold potatoes, unpeeled, each about 6 ounces (6-8 potatoes)
• 8 ounces (1 stick) butter, cut into 8 pieces
• ¼ cup French onion dip (or sour cream, or milk)
• ½ cup whole milk (plus more if the potatoes are still too thick)
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, optional
  

How to make Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

Clean the potatoes

Remove any eyes from the potatoes, then rinse the potatoes, scrubbing them if necessary to remove any dirt.

Pressure cook for 15 minutes with a Natural Release

Pour 1 cup of water into an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. Add the steaming rack, then set the (whole, unpeeled) potatoes on the rack. Lock the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 15 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric PC, or for 16 minutes in a stovetop PC. (Use Manual, Pressure Cook, or Pressure Cook - Custom mode in an Instant Pot.) Let the pressure come down naturally, about 15 more minutes. (You can quick release any remaining pressure after 10 minutes if you are in a hurry.)

Rice the potatoes

Move the cooked potatoes to a bowl, remove the rack from the Instant Pot, and dump out the water in the pot liner. Return the pot liner to the Instant Pot and set the pot for Sauté mode adjusted to low. Add the butter to the pot so it starts to melt. Rice the potatoes one at a time into the pot. (The ricer will peel the potato for you, pushing the potato flesh through and leaving the skin behind. Remove the skin from the ricer after each potato.)

Stir everything into the potatoes

Sprinkle the potatoes with the salt, then stir the salt and butter into the potatoes. (If the butter is not fully melted yet, keep stirring until it melts and completely combined with the potatoes.) Add the french onion dip (or sour cream, or milk) and mix completely into the potatoes. Add the milk and mix completely into the potatoes. (If the potatoes are too thick for your liking, stir in more milk, a little bit at a time, until they are the consistency you want.) Stir in the fresh ground black pepper. Transfer to a serving bowl, serve, and enjoy!

Equipment

• A 6 quart pressure cooker (or larger)
• Rack (or vegetable steamer) that fits in your pressure cooker
• Ricer or food mill to press the potatoes and strip off the skins

Substitutions

Richer potatoes

These potatoes are pretty rich, with the butter, sour cream, and whole milk. But, if you want to make them even richer, replace the milk with half and half or whole cream.

Less rich potatoes

If you want healthier mashed potatoes, cut back on the fat. Use 4 tablespoons of butter(½ stick), and use 2% milk or skim milk instead of whole milk. (I'd still add the French onion dip, because I like the extra flavor it adds to the recipe; I think it's worth the extra calories, and I've never seen a lowfat French Onion dip at the grocery store.

Make-ahead mashed potatoes

These potatoes can be made up to a day ahead of time. Let the potatoes cool to room temperature, then cover and put in the refrigerator. (I use my Instant Pot pot liner, and cover it with plastic wrap).

When you are ready to serve, put the potatoes back into the Instant Pot and set the pot to Sauté mode - Low. (Use medium-low heat with a stovetop PC.) Reheat the potatoes, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot so they don't stick and burn, about 20 minutes. If the potatoes are too thick, while you are reheating, stir in a more milk, a splash at a time, until you get the consistency you want.

Scaling

This recipe scales up and down easily. The only thing you shouldn't scale is the water - 1 cup of water is enough to pressure steam the potatoes, no matter how many there are. Also, the cooking time does not change; it will take the same amount of time to cook each potato through, no matter how many you have in the pot.

You can double this recipe in a 6-quart pressure cooker; more than that and you should be using an 8-quart pressure cooker. You can also fit this recipe in a 3-quart pressure cooker; it's a tight fit, but it will work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why cook whole potatoes in their skin? Why not dice the potatoes?

I have two reasons for cooking the potatoes whole in their skin:

1. Whole potatoes stand up better to pressure cooking. The skin helps protect the potato from the high pressure in the pot, so they cook evenly.
2. Whole potatoes are richer. Whole potatoes in their skin don't absorb water, so the resulting mashed potatoes have a thicker, richer potato flavor.
3. Whole potatoes are easier. Did I say two reasons? I have three reasons. Whole potatoes are easier, especially if you have a ricer. No peeling, no dicing - the ricer peels the potatoes as it rices them, separating the flesh from the skin.

What if I have larger potatoes? Smaller potatoes?

15 minutes is the right cooking time for medium-sized Yukon gold potatoes. If you have small potatoes, cook them for 10 minutes at high pressure. If you have large potatoes, cook them for 20 minutes at high pressure. (Everything else stays the same.) If you have baby potatoes, they cook in 7 minutes, but you should probably switch to my rustic Instant Pot Smashed Potatoes recipe, because it works better with smaller potatoes.

What if I don't have a ricer or food mill?

If you don't have a ricer, peel the potatoes after cooking - the skin will come off easily - and mash the potatoes in the pot with a potato masher. That said, if you have the time, buy a ricer. They're cheap and the best way to make smooth, fluffy mashed potatoes, because they break them up into thin threads of potato before you start mixing and mashing.

What if I have other potatoes?

This recipe works best with Yukon gold potatoes; because they are halfway between starchy russets and waxy boiling potatoes, they hold up better to pressure cooking, but also are fluffy enough for mashed potatoes.

Russet potatoes are an acceptable alternative, not quite as good as Yukon golds, but close. Try to find smaller to medium Russets; huge steakhouse sized baking potatoes need to be cooked for at least 30 minutes in the Instant Pot.

Red skin potatoes will work in this recipe; they taste good, but I think they work better as smashed red skin potatoes, rustic and a little lumpy with bits of skin in the mash.

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