You’re going to love my pressure cooker/instant mash potato recipe! Pressure cooker is the best way to cook mashed potatoes! No boiling, no pots, no steaming cooking, and no soaked potatoes!
Use your Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or other brand of electric pressure cooker to prepare your
Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or other brand of electric pressure cooker to prepare your Instant Pot meal Thank you! Over the next two weeks, I’ll walk you through all my favorite pressure cooker Thanksgiving recipes, including mashed potatoes, stuffing, blueberries, sweet potatoes, turkey, and pumpkin pie. It’s going to be great!
* *
* Several
years ago, Frieda from
Frieda Loves Bread convinced me to make mashed potatoes in pressure cooker, and I have never looked back! In the pressure cooker
, you just have to wait for 1 cup of water to
reach the pressure, so the potatoes cook much faster. I love not having to wait for a big pot of water to boil! And you don’t have to take care of the pot to prevent it from boiling, so you can prepare other meals while the potatoes are cooking.
But don’t just take my word for it!
“These were the easiest mashed potatoes I’ve ever made. I will never do them any other way.” Ana
You really have to try them for yourself!
How to Cook Mashed Potatoes in Instant Pot/Electric Pressure Cooker
This instant mashed potato recipe will work on any brand of electric pressure cooker, including Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Mealthy MultiPot. Pressure cookers are perfect for steaming potatoes until tender. (See more of my favorite pressure cooker/instant cooker Thanksgiving recipes here.)
Homemade mashed potatoes has never been easier!
The best potatoes for mashed potatoes
You can make this recipe with Yukon golden potatoes or reddish potatoes: they have the same cooking time in the pressure cooker
. Russet potatoes (also known as Idaho potatoes) are high in starch
and make
fluffy and wonderful mashed potatoes. The official Idaho Potato website recommends Idaho Russet Burbank potatoes.
Yukon golds are said to have a butterier flavor than reddish-white potatoes. They are not so fluffy.
Lately, when I cook mashed potatoes, I like to use a mixture of russets and Yukon golds to get the best of both worlds: taste of Yukon and swelling of russets.
How many potatoes can I pressure cook at once?
This recipe, as written, is for about 2 pounds of potatoes, which is about six servings of side dishes.
However, about 5 pounds of potatoes can usually fit in a 6-quart pressure cooker.
Whether you use 2 pounds or 5 pounds, the cooking time remains the same. Just make sure the potatoes are diced evenly and below the maximum filling line in your pressure cooker.
If you are cooking the maximum amount of potatoes, you will need to take care that the exhaust valve does not come out foam or spit. If this happens, close the switch for a few seconds and open it again in an intermittent pressure release.
If you are using an 8-quart pressure cooker, you can place 7 to 8 pounds of potatoes. Also, with this larger size, be sure to use 2 cups of water under the vaporizer basket.
Do I have to peel my potatoes before cooking? I
prefer the texture of mashed potatoes without the skins, but you can leave them if you want. Whether you skin them or not, be sure to give them a good scrub in cold water to remove all the dirt before cutting them.
(Also, keep in mind that you don’t have to eat the skin to get all the nutrients from the potato.)
Cut into evenly
sized pieces Since the thickness of food makes the biggest difference in pressure cooking, try to keep your potatoes uniform in size so that they cook evenly.
Cut potatoes into quarters if they are medium potatoes. Make more cuts if they are bigger potatoes.
When cooking vegetables, it is always better to cook them little, if the potatoes need more time, simply steam them with the lid on to prevent them from overcooking.
<img src="https://i2.wp.com/pressurecookingtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Pressure_Cooking_Today_Instant_Pot_Creamy-Mashed-Potatoes_PCT-5435.jpg" alt="You can tell when potatoes are made when a fork can easily pierce the potato. Step 3 of instant
mashed potatoes” />
Do I have to use a steam basket
?
By using steam to cook your potatoes, you will cook them with a lower water content. This makes it more likely that you have light and fluffy mashed potatoes!
The easiest way to cook them is in a steam basket. However, if you don’t have one, I recommend you do your best to stack them on the trivet that came with your pressure cooker.
You can cook them directly at the bottom of the pressure cooker, but they will not cook as evenly and will have a higher water content.
Check out more of our favorite Instant Cooker/Pressure Cooker accessories here.
Tricks for
instant soft and creamy mashed potatoes
Use the right maceration tool For a perfect, lump-free mashed potato, I highly recommend using a ricer or food grinder instead of a traditional masher.
If you’re in a hurry, you can use your KitchenAid mixer. But you need to be very careful: beating your potatoes too much can make them sticky and you’ll still be likely to have some lumps.
Butter first. Another tip is to stir the butter at room temperature before adding the hot liquids to the mashed potatoes.
When I am in a hurry, I will heat the butter and milk together. However, if you add butter at room temperature and stir it before adding warm liquid, . This will prevent the mashed potatoes from absorbing so much liquid so that they remain dry and fluffy.
How to puree
flavored
potatoes
This instant mashed potatoes recipe is a perfect accompaniment to any meat and sauce meal. (For great meat and gravy meals, try my pressure cooker Pork chops and mushroom sauce or my pressure cooker beef stroganoff.)
However, you can still serve mashed potatoes even if your main course doesn’t have sauce!
For mashed potatoes with garlic, place a clove or two of chopped garlic on top of the potatoes before steaming? Or simply infuse the flavor by placing several crushed garlic cloves in the water under the steam basket.
To supplement a chicken dish, use chicken or turkey broth under potatoes or instead of some or all of the milk.
If you want your potatoes to cook extra rich and creamy, replace the milk with heavy cream. Or add 1 cup of ricotta cheese or cream cheese to your potatoes. (For best results, make sure all dairy products are heated to room temperature before adding them.)
In my cookbook, I also have recipes for mashed potatoes with caramelized onions (page 252), twice-baked potatoes (page 250), and “baked” loaded potatoes (page 249).
Prepare mashed potatoes with your instant pot
I think
potatoes cook best the day you want to serve them.
However, to simplify things, you can cook them a few hours before you want to eat them. After crushing, return them to their pot in the keep warm setting, or transfer them to a clay pot at the lowest setting.
Be sure to spray the pot with nonstick cooking spray or rub some oil to prevent it from sticking.
If they are going to heat up for a few hours, add a little more milk on top of the potatoes in the pot to make sure the top doesn’t dry out.
How to
reheat instant mashed potatoes The pot pot method is the perfect way to
reheat mashed potatoes
in the Instant Pot without drying it out. Place 1 to 2 cups of water and a trivet at the bottom of your pot.
The time to set the cooking time depends on how much mashed potatoes you are reheating.
A single serving will take very little time; It would start with 1 minute. If you’re reheating enough to feed a large family, it will take longer. I would try 6 minutes, but it may take longer depending on the type and thickness of the inner pot.
Also, since
reheated potatoes tend to dry out a bit, you’ll likely need to mix more milk and butter to restore the potatoes to their smooth, creamy texture.
What to do with leftover mashed potatoes?
I really love having leftover mashed potatoes! We often make a double batch and eat mashed potatoes and sauce the first night.
The next night, I will cover my Instant Pot Cheesy Potatoes Au Gratin. Heat the leftover potatoes, cover with the cheese and breadcrumbs topping, and place under the grill until the cheese melts and the breadcrumbs are crispy.
Pressure cooker Mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving
If you make just one Thanksgiving pressure cooker recipe this year, I definitely recommend it be mashed potatoes.
Check out my Pressure Cooker/Instant Cooker Thanksgiving Guide for tips on how to use your pressure cooker this Thanksgiving! I even have two guides to guide you through a meal, including turkey, stuffing, blueberry, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie. 
If you’re just getting started with your pressure cooker or instant cooker, check out our Getting Started Guide and our Easy Pressure Cooker Recipes
.
Have you tried mashing potatoes in pressure cookers? What’s your favorite way to cook them?
<img src="https://i2.wp.com/pressurecookingtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Pressure_Cooking_Today_Instant_Pot_Creamy-Mashed-Potates_PCT-7770.jpg" alt="
Aerial view of instant mashed potatoes with an instant pot and turkey sauce in the background
” />
More pressure cooker / Instant potato recipes you’ll love
Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole pressure cooker is known in Utah as Funeral Potatoes. Hot, creamy, with cheese, hash brown potatoes topped with a crispy topping of breadcrumbs. It’s the perfect comfort food and is quick and easy to make in the pressure cooker/Instant Pot.
<img src="https://i2.wp.com/pressurecookingtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Cheesy-Potatoes-Au-Gratin-Pressure-Cooking-Today-500×333.jpg" alt="Instant Pot Cheesy Potatoes Au
Gratin” /> Instant Pot Cheesy
Potatoes Au Gratin are made with thinly sliced potatoes topped with a rich, creamy cheese sauce and topped with a crispy panko topping. They are the perfect accompaniment to a Christmas dinner, but they also make any meal of the week special.
<img src="https://i2.wp.com/pressurecookingtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/IMG_0068-500×355.jpg" alt="A tray
with roasted red potatoes with garlic Instant Pot” />
Pressure cooker / Instant Pot Garlic Roasted red potatoes are topped in melted butter, garlic and herbs, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and crispy to perfection in an oven. This simple, flavorful side dish will steal the show at your next meal!
¡
This
fast pressure cooker potato salad is the best Instant Pot potato salad recipe! You cook eggs and potatoes together in the InstaPot and get quick, perfectly cooked eggs and potatoes every time.
Instant Pot Chunky Potato Cheese Soup is loaded with thick potatoes, bacon, corn, and two types of cheese. A hearty potato soup recipe ready in a matter of minutes in a pressure cooker/Instant Pot.
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