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–+ servings
A sweet potato prepared in an Instant Pot and served with butter, bacon, and green onions.
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5 from 1 vote

Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes

Cooking sweet potatoes in an Instant Pot is a great time saver! They steam in about half the time it takes to bake them in the oven. This is my favorite method for preparing sweet potato puree for recipes.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Servings: 2 sweet potatoes
Calories: 194kcal
Author: Michelle Miller

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Wash your sweet potatoes. Clean them up by trimming the ends, cutting off any parts that have started to go bad, and poking a few holes in the skins.
  • Add 1 cup of water to the Instant Pot.
  • Add the trivet, and then place 2-4 sweet potatoes in the pot.
    Step 1 shows washing and cleaning the sweet potatoes, and step 2 shows adding the water, the trivet, and the sweet potatoes to the instant pot.
  • Set the Instant Pot to cook on manual. If your potatoes are small, cook them for 25 minutes. If they are medium sized, cook them for 35 minutes. Larger sweet potatoes will need 45 minutes to cook and fully soften. *see notes below for how to determine the size of your sweet potatoes.
  • When the time is done, allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then carefully release the remaining pressure.

Video

Notes

Note: For best results, use sweet potatoes that are close in size, so they cook evenly.

HOW TO STORE LEFTOVER SWEET POTATOES

Wrap up sweet potatoes in an air tight container, and refrigerate for up to a week. Reheat leftovers by baking or microwaving them until they are hot.

CAN I FREEZE SWEET POTATO PUREE?

Yes! If you find yourself making recipes with sweet potato puree often, peel the skins from your Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes, and freeze the puree in 1-cup portions. Then it’s easy to pull out in the portion needed for a recipe.

MY SWEET POTATO SKINS BURST! WHAT DID I DO WRONG?

This happens most of the time! Despite experimenting with cooking times and temperatures, sweet potatoes expand while steaming in an Instant Pot, and so the skins often crack open.
Fear not! Once you’ve cut open the sweet potatoes and topped them with butter, herbs, bacon, or whatever toppings you love, you won’t even notice.
I also most often use the Instant Pot to prepare sweet potato puree, so the skin will be pulled off and discarded anyway.

HOW TO USE INSTANT POT SWEET POTATOES

Baked Sweet Potatoes: Serve Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes exactly as you would a baked sweet potato, topped with butter, herbs, bacon, or whatever else you love.
Mashed Sweet Potatoes: Peel the skins off the sweet potatoes, and mash them with butter, salt and pepper. Thin the sweet potatoes with a little unsweetened almond milk or milk, if needed.
Sweet Potato Puree: Lots of recipes call for sweet potato puree, and cooking them in an Instant Pot is a great way to prepare it! Remove the skins from the sweet potatoes, and the flesh should be soft and creamy enough to scoop it into measuring cups. I don’t find a need to process the sweet potato flesh when I have prepared it in an Instant Pot.

RECIPES THAT USE SWEET POTATO PUREE

Nutrition

Calories: 194kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 0.1g | Saturated Fat: 0.04g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.03g | Sodium: 124mg | Potassium: 762mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 32063IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 1mg