Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes are the creamiest, easiest, no-fuss Mashed Potato Recipe you’ll find! Making Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot takes minutes to make and you don’t even have to babysit a pot of boiling water! You’ll never make Mashed Potatoes any other way!
Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot for one or a crowd (Up to 5 pounds at once!)
One of my favorite things about the Instant Pot is the fact that time doesn’t change when cooking larger quantities. So you can follow this ‘recipe’ as a guideline for 1 potato or an entire 5 lb bag of potatoes!
Sometimes I just get a hankering for a big ol’ bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy. If you haven’t made some sort of protein to go along with your mashed potatoes, you can actually easily make your own chicken gravy from scratch without drippings.
No matter what you put on it, this will be your go to mashed potato recipe from here on out! Love sweet potatoes? Try this Instant Pot Mashed Sweet Potatoes recipe!
Mashed Potatoes Instant Pot Ingredients
- 5 lbs russet potatoes (washed, peeled and cut)
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 3 tbsp cream (or milk)
How to make Mashed Potatoes in Instant Pot
- Wash, peel and cut the potatoes. To cut the potatoes, cut each potato in half and then quarter each half. You will end up with 8 similar sized potato cubes.
- Add the water to the Instant Pot liner, add in the cut potatoes.
- Secure lid, set the vent to sealing. Cook on Manual (pressure cook) HIGH for 6 minutes. Quick Release the pressure.
- Drain any remaining water.
- Add in the butter, salt, pepper and cream. Mash until no longer lumpy.
Use either a potato masher or an electric hand mixer to mash the potatoes until they are no longer lumpy.
Be careful to insure you do not over mash/mix the potatoes. Over mashed potatoes will turn gluey. Only mash or mix just until it is no longer lumpy.
Reheating Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot
Reheating mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot is such an easy thing to do. Place your mashed potatoes in the liner of your Instant Pot a few hours before you want to serve them. Turn your Instant Pot onto the highest slow cook setting. Let your mashed potatoes sit and warm up, giving them a stir every 30 minutes or so until the mashed potatoes have heated through. Mashed potatoes do tend to dry out while reheating, so you may need to add a splash of milk to fluff them back up.
Instant Pot Mashed Potato Recipe Variations
You can doctor up your mashed potatoes any way you like- here are some of my favorite ways:
- Buttermilk and garlic
- cream cheese and chives,
- bbq sauce and bacon (with lots of cheese, of course)
- and you just can’t go wrong with the classic butter, cream, salt and pepper.
What to serve with this Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes Recipe
Mashed potatoes are a great side for a number of main dishes, really you can’t go wrong! I love to serve Instant Pot mashed potatoes as a side to pot roast, French dip sandwiches, grilled chicken, Philly cheesesteaks, or even crock pot ham!
These mashed potatoes are great as a side to some BBQ Chicken or doused with gravy.
Mashed Potatoes in Instant Pot FAQs
Why are my instant mashed potatoes rubbery?
When mashed potatoes go rubbery or gluey, that means they have been worked too much and too much liquid has been added.
What is the trick to good mashed potatoes?
The trick to good mashed potatoes is cooking. your potatoes thoroughly, adding butter first, mashing by hand and then slowly adding in a little liquid of your choice at a time, mixing until the liquid is just mixed in. Do not over mix and you should be golden!
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Check out my other Easy Instant Pot Recipes!
- Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash
- Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo
- Instant Pot Pot Roast
- Instant Pot Twice Baked Potatoes
- Instant Pot Creamy Ziti
- Instant Pot Chicken Lo Mein
- Instant Pot Shepherd’s Pie
- Instant Pot Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup
- Instant Pot Applesauce
- Instant Pot Broccoli
Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 lbs russet potatoes washed, peeled and cut
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 3 tbsp cream or milk
Instructions
- Wash, peel and cut the potatoes. To cut the potatoes, cut each potato in half and then quarter each half. You will end up with 8 similar sized potato cubes.
- Add the water to the Instant Pot liner, add in the cut potatoes.
- Secure lid, set the vent to sealing. Cook on Manual (pressure cook) HIGH for 6 minutes. Quick Release the pressure.
- Drain any remaining water.
- Add in the butter, salt, pepper and cream. Mash until no longer lumpy.
SandyToes says
Enjoy your break from social media, Karli. I gave up Facebook earlier this year and feel better for it, more present in the moment at home. I know your online presence is critical for your brand, but I hope the respite will be helpful to you.
Instant Pot mashed potatoes are so good, so much more potato-y, that I haven’t made stovetop mashed potatoes in almost 4 years. In fact, the only time I’ve wished I owned an 8qt model was last Thanksgiving, when the animals I invited for dinner devoured the entire 5 pounds (along with all of the ah-maay-zing turkey gravy I made in my other IP, leaving me with only leftover turkey, cranberry sauce and dinner rolls. Good stuff, no question, but seriously? Mashed potatoes and gravy are the best leftovers!
karlibitner says
Hey there, Sandy! I am excited for my little break! It’s only been one day and I’m already feeling refreshed! I agree with you- mashed potatoes and gravy are the best leftovers ever!!
Debbie says
I may have missed it but are you using a 6 quart IP? Thanks!
karlibitner says
Yes! I use a 6 qt. ?
Jeanne says
Do you put the potatoes on the wire insert or just into the pot, so they are sitting in the water?
karlibitner says
I put the potatoes right in the water. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Jeanne says
Thank you for responding so quickly. We will be using your recipe for our Thanksgiving mashed potatoes.
karlibitner says
Hope you love them!
Katy says
We serve a LOT of people for Thanksgiving and I was hoping to be able to make the mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot this year. If I have a 8 qt IP and wanted to do 10 pounds of potatoes (or whatever fits inside) would the time change for the cooking? Reading your blog at the top it doesn’t sound like it, but I wanted to make sure before I screw up Thanksgiving potatoes, LOL!
Thanks!!
karlibitner says
Haha we don’t wan that, Katy! ? you are totally correct, the cooking time won’t change. It will take a bit more time to come to pressure but all should be well! ?
Michelle says
If I make 10lbs of potatoes how much water do I use?
karlibitner says
Hi Michelle, I’m not sure 10 lbs will fit in the 6 qt, but if you have an 8 qt it should work. I would up the amount of water by about 1 cup. Happy Thanksgiving! ?
Jenni says
Can you leave the finished mashed potatoes in the pot to keep warm?
Kathy Williams says
Hope you see this before Thanksgiving. I would prefer red potatoes with skins left on. Would the same cooking time apply? Thank you.
karlibitner says
Yes! Same cook time! With the smaller, red potatoes I would cut them into fourths. If they are larger, cut them into eighths like the recipe states. Happy Thanksgiving!
karlibitner says
Yes! This works great!
Traci says
Made these tonight to reheat for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving dinner. Tasted them when done and they were seriously the BEST mashed potatoes I’ve ever made!! Can’t wait to serve them tomorrow!
karlibitner says
Hope they were a HIT!! Thanks for using my recipe, Traci! 🙂
Linda Rosa says
THANK YOU so much for this recipe that encouraged me to try cooking my potatoes and making mashed potatoes in our IP…they turned out perfect just like you said they would and everyone raved about them! I even used my old fashioned hand masher rather than the electric mixer and they were so easy to mash!
karlibitner says
I am so happy to hear this, Linda!! You’ll be an Instant Pot PRO in no time! ? Thanks for commenting!