Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes are a total meal prep game changer for your week! Perfect for baked sweet potatoes, mashed or for stuffing with protein for a complete meal.
Originally published on October 29, 2018. Last updated on January 8, 2020.
Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
Maybe you’re thinking about starting that Whole30 thing you’ve been hearing friends talking about. Maybe you just have a goal to get more on top of your weekly meal prep for organized dinners. Either way roasted sweet potatoes are so amazing to have on hand for those days when time has escaped and you have a hangry child melting down on your leg….. not that I’ve ever experienced this but I hear it’s a thing….. 😉 For those times Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes come in clutch!
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How To Cook Sweet Potatoes In The Instant Pot
What could be easier than loading the steamer basket into your instant pot, pouring in 1 cup of water, tetrising in 4-6 medium-sized cleaned whole sweet potatoes, locking the lid, setting the valve to sealing and setting to high pressure or manual for 15 minutes?
A multitasking win for sure! Then you can go about more prep or getting the rest of your meal ready, or you know maybe attending to that child who’s still wrapped around your leg…. All good uses of your time.
Allow the instant pot to naturally de-pressurize for 10 minutes after cooking, manually release any remaining steam pressure and presto perfectly cooked whole baked sweet potatoes you can eat that night or cool and save for the week!
Sweet Potatoes In The Instant Pot
The size of sweet potatoes I use in this recipe are my preferred size for both cooking and portion sizes. But sweet Potatoes vary largely in size so I’ve listed out this handy guide to help you gage the cooking time of different sized sweet potatoes. Just note that for even cooking each sweet potato put in the Instant Pot at one time should be about the same size for even cooking.
- 2 inches or less in diameter at the widest part = 15 minutes on high pressure
- 2-3 inches in diameter at the widest part = 25-35 minutes on high pressure
- 3-4 inches in diameter at the widest part = 50-60 minutes on high pressure
After the cooking time finishes allow the Instant Pot to naturally release the pressure for 10 minutes before quick releasing all remaining pressure.
What To Do If Your Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes Aren’t Cooked Through
Using the cooking time guide listed above you shouldn’t have this problem but sometimes sweet potatoes are in funky shapes and hard to gage the size. If this happens to you, don’t worry. After checking the doneness of your sweet potatoes remove any that are done and leave the ones that aren’t in the Instant Pot, add another cup of fresh water to the bottom of the Instant Pot and lock the lid. Set the valve to sealing and cook on pressure cook or manual on high for another 5-10 minutes depending on how much more cooking your sweet potatoes need.
Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes For Meal Prep
Sweet Potatoes make the perfect meal prep! It’s so quick and easy to have them ready all at once for the week and there are countless ways you can use them to make new meals. I love sweet potatoes baked and topped with a little salt and butter or ghee as well as mashed along a side of protein. One of my favorite ways to have a Whole30 Sweet Potato meal is as pictured above stuffed with Apple Cider Pulled Pork, so delicious with all the apple cider and pork juices to cover the baked sweet potato!
More Easy Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash
- Instant Pot Hidden Veggie Pear Applesauce
- Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli
- Healthy Chicken Potato Soup
- Lentil Soup with Smoked Sausage
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Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 sweet potatoes 1x
- Category: Homemade Basics
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Description
Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes are a total meal prep game changer for your week! Perfect for baked sweet potatoes, mashed or for stuffing with protein for a complete meal.
Ingredients
- 4–6 medium sweet potatoes, cleaned
- 1 cup of water
Instructions
- Pour 1 cup of water into the bottom of your instant pot/pressure cooker. Then set the steamer rack into the pot.
- Place your cleaned sweet potatoes in a single layer onto the steamer rack (this is where your tetris skills really shine!).
- Secure the lid, turn the value to sealing and set to pressure cook or manual on high for 15 minutes.
- Once the cooking time has finished, allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes. Then manually release any remaining pressure.
- Once the pressure valve lowers, serve immediately or cool and store in an air-tight container in the frig for 3-4 days.
- Enjoy and pat yourself on the back for your meal prepping success!
Keywords: instant pot sweet potatoes, whole30 sweet potato, sweet potatoes meal prep,
30
Jennifer Rose says
I live in a one person household, so I’m only making two potatoes. How long would you recommend cooking them for? Thanks!
Nicole says
Hi Jennifer,
If you’re cooking two large sweet potatoes I’d still recommend the same 15 minute cook time at high pressure. If you cook two small ones you might be able to bump the time down a couple of minutes but I haven’t tried this to be sure. If you do, let me know how it goes!
Brian Baker says
Do you need to prick the skin with a fork prior to pressure cooking?
Nicole says
Great question Brian! No, you don’t. I don’t prick the skin at all, I just clean and pressure cook. Thanks for asking!
Deb says
I found that the time makes mashed sweet potatoes. I like them cooked so that I can add a little butter and brown sugar in a pan and caramelize them. 10 minutes is the max that I’d do them as texture is a big thing for me. That said, if you like them soft, even 12 minutes is plenty and they were delicious. Thanks.
Nicole says
Hi Deb! Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
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