Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

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!

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!

How to Make Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot

Read on for the detailed step-by-step instructions, or scroll down for tips and the printable recipe card.

Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes Video Tutorial:

Ingredients for Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

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!

You Need:

• 2 lbs Russet potatoes peeled and cut into 1-2 inch pieces

• 1 cup water

• ½ cup whole milk

• 5 – 6 tablespoons butter

• ½ – 1 teaspoon salt

• ½ teaspoon black pepper

• A few pinches ground nutmeg

Ingredient Swaps

• 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

• you may use milk with a lower fat percentage, but the potatoes won’t turn out quite as rich and creamy

• 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 of the butter

• 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

Equipment Needed to Make Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

You need the following equipment ready (which is hardly anything, you don’t even need a bowl!)

• a vegetable peeler
• a knife and chopping board
• an electric pressure cooker
• a trivet for your pressure cooker
• a potato masher

If you don’t have a trivet, don’t worry! You can still make this mash by covering your potatoes with water. But you should get yourself one here:

Steps

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.

1 – Add the potatoes to the instant pot:

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).

Place the potatoes on the trivet, seal the lid and set the valve to the “sealing” position.

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.

2 – Pressure cook:

Choose “pressure cooking” (or “manual” on older models) and set the timer to 5 minutes.

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.

I like to place a tea towel over my instant pot and move the valve with a wooden spoon for added safety.

3 – Mash the potatoes:

You can mash the potatoes right in the instant pot!

Carefully remove the trivet (use potholders or a tea towel, it will be very hot!) and drain the water.

Add milk, butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg to the potatoes in the Instant Pot.

Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes to your desired consistency – we like ours mashed well until smooth.

Add more milk as needed, different potatoes have different needs for liquid. Start with one tablespoon extra and increase from there.

Check the mashed potatoes for seasoning and serve them with additional butter and chopped herbs on top, if you like.

Nora’s Tips for the Best Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes:

• 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

• for the quickest and creamiest mash, use your hand mixer with the beater attachment – just don’t overwhip the potatoes, or they’ll turn out sludgy

• the nutmeg adds a wonderfully warming hint, skip if you don’t like it – but it’s delicious!

• make sure you drain the potatoes well for the fluffiest mash

What to serve with mashed potatoes:

More Potato Recipes You’ll Love:

• Garlic Butter Smashed Potatoes
• Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
• Cheesy Campfire Potatoes
• Roasted Baby Potatoes
• Instant Pot Pork Chops and Rosemary Potatoes

Print the Recipe:

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