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Home / Recipes / Side Dishes / Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

25 mins
| 7 Comments |
5 from 7 votes
Jump to Recipe 06/09/21 | Updated: 06/09/21 | by Nora
Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes Image Pin 2

These creamy Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes turn out absolutely perfect in the pressure cooker. This recipe is way quicker and easier than making them the classic way!

close up photo of mashed potatoes with butter in instant pot with wooden cooking spoon

I’m beyond excited to be sharing my grandma’s mashed potato recipe! These are the mashed potatoes I grew up with. She would make them in her ancient stovetop pressure cooker (that was probably missing a few parts, ahem…) over her wood-fired stove.

My brother still claims hers are the best ever mashed potatoes and nobody else’s can ever get close to them – but I’d say my recipe is pretty darn close! Her secret is to steam the potatoes on a trivet rather than pressure cooking them covered in water, for the fluffiest and richest mash. I still make my Classic Mashed Potatoes sometimes, or my Mashed Sweet Potatoes! But grandma’s pressure cooker version? My number 1 favorite – especially when I make my family’s favorite Shepherd’s Pie.

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!

If you’ve never made mashed potatoes from scratch, you’re going to be surprised just how little you need and how easy they are to make:

ingredients for instant pot mashed potatoes with text labels
Ingredients for Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes: Russet potatoes, milk, butter, salt, pepper, garlic powder and ground nutmeg.

Ingredient notes

  • Potatoes: Yukon Gold potatoes are a great alternative to the russet potatoes – these are the two best kinds of potatoes to make mash for their starchiness and the way they cook
  • Milk: I love this recipe with whole milk. You may use milk with a lower fat percentage, but the potatoes won’t turn out quite as rich and creamy
  • Butter: Feel free to cut back on the butter for a lighter mash, but the potatoes won’t turn out quite as rich and creamy. Add a few tablespoons of cream cheese or sour cream in place of some or all of the butter, if you prefer!
  • Nutmeg: The nutmeg adds a wonderfully warming hint, skip if you don’t like it – but it’s delicious!

How to make mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot

Making mashed potatoes in the instant pot is a great recipe for beginners and pro-pressure-cookers alike, it only has a few simple steps and is ready in no time at all.

  • female hand pouring water into instant pot filled with curt up potatoes
    place potatoes on trivet and pour in water
  • wooden stick moving valve on instant pot lid
    pressure cook
  • cooked potatoes in instant pot with milk, butter and seasoning
    drain & remove trivet, add remaining ingredients
  • close up photo blue plastic potato masher stuck in mashed potatoes
    mash until creamy
  1. Place a trivet in your instant pot and add 1 cup of water. The water level should be right below the trivet (you don’t want your potatoes to touch the water, they’ll steam on top of the trivet).
  2. Place the potatoes on the trivet, seal the lid and set the valve to the “sealing” position. Choose “pressure cooking” (or “manual” on older models) and set the timer to 5 minutes.
  3. Once cooking time is up, allow the pressure to release naturally for 2 minutes (this is to avoid huge splatters), then release the remaining pressure manually according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Carefully remove the trivet (use potholders or a tea towel, it will be very hot!) and drain the water.
  4. Add milk, butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg to the potatoes in the Instant Pot (yes, you can mash the potatoes right in the instant pot for less dishes used). Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes to your desired consistency – we like ours mashed well until smooth.

Note: Your potatoes really will cook through, even if they don’t touch the water! That’s exactly what a pressure cooker is for, the steam cooks the potatoes very well under pressure.

Doing it this way has two huge advantages: Firstly, your potatoes will not get water but stay starchy, dry and fluffy – EXACTLY what you want for the perfect mash.

And secondly, the pressure cooker comes to full pressure a LOT faster than when you’d cover your potatoes with water! A huge win when it comes to saving time in the kitchen.

close up photo of instant pot mashed potatoes with pat of butter on top

Recipe tips

  • Consistency: Add more milk as needed, different potatoes have different needs for liquid. Start with one tablespoon extra and increase from there.
  • Seasoning: Check the mashed potatoes for seasoning and adjust to your taste before serving. Top them with additional butter and chopped herbs, if you like.
  • Potato skin: Feel free to leave the skin on your potatoes if that’s what you prefer – we get our potatoes from the organic farm down the road and they’re bumpy and covered in soil, so I always peel them.
  • Timing: If your potatoes aren’t cooked after 5 minutes (they really should be, but just in case!), close the instant pot and cook for 1 more minute on high pressure.
  • Draining: Make sure you drain the potatoes well for the fluffiest mash.

Mashed potato FAQs

What causes gluey mashed potatoes?

One cause can be overworking the potatoes when mashing them – don’t overdo it.

The other cause can be using the wrong potatoes. You should be using starchy potatoes, not waxy ones.

What kind of potatoes are best for mashed potatoes?

Russets or Yukon Golds are generally thought to work best for mashing.

Is milk or cream better for mashed potatoes?

Cream or half-and-half will obviously make your mashed potatoes richer and creamier. I do find they can get a little heavy when made with all cream, so I prefer using whole milk.

Serving ideas

Mashed potatoes go well with all things gravy – it’s a match made in heaven! Here are my family’s favorite mains to have with a side of steaming mash:

  • Easy Swedish Meatballs
  • Meatballs and Gravy
  • Sausages and Onion Gravy: Bangers and Mash!
  • Crockpot Beef Tips and Mushroom Gravy

Alternatively, mashed potatoes are also a delicious classic to serve with oven fried chicken (or buttermilk oven fried chicken), meatloaf or with a fish recipe like lemon garlic baked cod or lemon garlic butter baked salmon.

Recipe video

More potato recipes

  • Crispy Garlic Smashed Potatoes
  • Crispy Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
  • Cheesy Campfire Potatoes
  • Roasted Baby Potatoes
  • Loaded Instant Pot Potato Soup
  • Easy Scalloped Potatoes
  • Air Fryer Baked Potatoes
  • Baked Potato Wedges

And if you have leftovers from your mashed potatoes, try my leftover mashed potato pancakes!

PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram. Sign up for my email list, too!

Printable Recipe Card
overhead view of mashed potatoes in instant pot with butter and wooden spoon stuck inside
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Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

These creamy Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes have an easy secret that makes this the BEST recipe. You won't make your mash any other way from now on!
Recipe by Nora from Savory Nothings
made it? tap the stars to add your rating!
5 from 7 votes
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Recipe details

Prep 10 mins
Cook 5 mins
Total 25 mins
Servings 6 servings
Difficulty Easy

Ingredients
 

  • 2 lbs potatoes peeled and cut into 1-2 inch pieces (Russet or Yukon Gold work best)
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup whole milk
  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • ½ teaspoon salt or more to taste
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg optional

Instructions
 

  • Add potatoes to instant pot: Place trivet in instant pot and add 1 cup of water. Place potatoes on top, close lid and set valve to "sealing" position.
  • Pressure cook: Choose "pressure cooking" (or "manual" on older models) and set timer to 5 minutes. Once cooking time is up, wait for 2 minutes, then release pressure manually according to manufacturer's instructions.
  • Mash potatoes: Remove trivet (hot!) and fully drain water. Add milk, butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg to potatoes in Instant Pot. Use a potato masher to mash potatoes to desired consistency. Add more milk as needed. Check for seasoning and serve with additional butter and chopped herbs, if you like.
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Notes

  • Butter: Feel free to cut back on the butter for a lighter mash, but the potatoes won’t turn out quite as rich and creamy. Add a few tablespoons of cream cheese or sour cream in place of some or all of the butter, if you prefer!
  • Consistency: Add more milk as needed, different potatoes have different needs for liquid. Start with one tablespoon extra and increase from there.
  • Timing: If your potatoes aren’t cooked after 5 minutes (they really should be, but just in case!), close the instant pot and cook for 1 more minute on high pressure
  • Potato skin: Feel free to leave the skin on your potatoes if that’s what you prefer.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 233kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 4gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 700mgPotassium: 657mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 383IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 46mgIron: 1mg
Nutrition is an estimate.

More recipe information

Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American

Recipe first published on 10/02/2019. Updated with new photos, better text and streamlined recipe on 06/09/2021.

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Nora Rusev from Savory Nothings
About Nora 
When I got married to my professional chef husband, I realized I had to step up my game in the kitchen. Now I share my favorite foolproof family recipes here on Savory Nothings: Chef-approved, kid-vetted and easy enough for everyday home cooks like you and me!   Learn more.

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Comments

  1. Jennifer says

    April 09, 2021 at 9:38 pm

    Excited to make these! I noticed the ingredients lists 1 cup of water but the recipe says 1/2 cup water – can you clarify which it is? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Nora says

      April 10, 2021 at 2:43 pm

      Jennifer, thank you for catching this! It’s a typo in the instructions, use the 1 cup as indicated in the ingredient list.

      Reply
  2. Lisa says

    February 12, 2020 at 1:20 am

    These potatoes sound delicious! I also use my instapot to make mash. However, I was taught 2.5 lbs of potatoes and one cup of chicken broth. No trivet the potatoes sit right with the broth for 10 mins. Quick release and your potatoes are ready to be mashed in the broth. Add 1 stick of butter some milk and your seasoning. I am definitely going to try yours. I’m constantly buying broth to have on hand. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
    • Nora Rusev says

      February 13, 2020 at 10:04 am

      That’s interesting! I will have to try your method. I like to steam the potatoes on the trivet vs adding them to liquid, because I find it gets the fluffiest results.

      Reply
  3. Diana says

    January 15, 2020 at 6:48 pm

    Hey Nora thank you for the great recipe I am trying to also make your shepherds pie tonight however for the mash potatoes I only have one pound and only a crockpot to use could you possibly tell me how to make them in there?

    TIA❤

    Reply
    • Nora Rusev says

      January 15, 2020 at 7:41 pm

      Diana, for the potatoes I would peel them and cut them into 1 inch pieces, then put them in a small crockpot with 1/2-1 cup broth, salt, pepper and maybe some nutmeg. Then cook on high for 4 hours, drain and mash with milk and butter. Hope that helps!

      Reply
  4. Jessica Kirk says

    October 10, 2019 at 8:00 pm

    5 stars
    Great recipe to add to my Instant Pot file. Thanks.

    Reply

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Nora Rusev from Savory Nothings

Hi, I'm Nora! I wasn't always a good cook, but then I fell in love with a professional chef and learned my way around the kitchen. Now I share all my secrets to effortlessly great food here on my blog, bite-sized for home cooks just like me and you.

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