Mashed Potatoes made in the Instant Pot! they are so creamy, so fluffy, and SO GOOD. from start to finish in 30 minutes, all in one pot!
The Best Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
Hello favorite food season and favorite food item of said food season I SEE YOU INSTANT POT MASHED POTATOES!
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The best mashed potatoes I have ever made. This is going to be the recipe I use every thanksgiving. Rave reviews from all my guests.
Bree
If you love mashed potatoes, you are going to LOVE love love these in the Instant Pot. One pot, 30 minutes and done. Fluffy, creamy, perfect, and honestly just so low maintenance. They are infused with an herby butter, so they’re rich and interesting, but also: E-A-S-Y. You get both. Your mashed potato life will never be the same.
In This Post: Everything You Need To Know
- Ingredients For This Recipe
- How to make mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot
- Frequently asked questions about Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- The best potato for mashed potatotes in the Instant Pot
- Ways to use leftover mashed potatoes
- WATCH how to make Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients For This Recipe
Potatoes
This recipe works best with russet potatoes for the best mashed potato texture.
Garlic Herb Butter
This is not necessary, but I highly recommend. Sauté butter, garlic, and fresh herbs like sage, thyme, and/or rosemary to make a garlic herb butter.
Something Creamy
I like to use either cream cheese or sour cream to make things really creamy.
Cheese
Cheese is optional in this, but seriously… why not? Parmesan is a favorite for a little something extra!
Liquids
You can use broth or milk, just something for the potatoes to cook in!
Prefer To Watch Instead Of Read?
Reasons To Love These Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
There are so many! Here are the ones that make me jump up and down:
- You can use russet potatoes or yukon potatoes (some commenters have used red potatoes as well).
- You can peel your potatoes, or leave the peels.
- It’s ready to go in 30 minutes with very little fuss.
- It has amazing garlic herb flavor.
- But also, you can pick the herbs you like, and you can decide how much garlic, and basically it’s a choose your own adventure.
How To Make Mashed Potatoes In The Instant Pot
I am not kidding when I say that these will cut significant time out of your Thanksgiving prep time. While these cook away, you could be making the cranberry sauce, assembling the stuffing, chatting with your Aunt Nancy, whatever.
Here’s how easy it is:
- Add your potatoes to the Instant Pot with water and salt (that’s it!).
- Make a quick garlic herb butter if you wish (you do). Regular butter will work just fine too.
- Mash your potatoes right in the pot and add your butter, something creamy (like sour cream, Greek ogurt, or cream cheese), and salt and pepper.
And you’re done!
Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes: Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make mashed potatoes in the crockpot?
Yes, and there’s a recipe for you! Check out these Easiest Garlic Mashed Potatoes.
Can you leave the skin on the potatoes?
Totally! While I prefer a smooth, creamy texture, you can leave the skins on to make it even easier. One caveat: if you’re using russet potatoes, I’d opt to always peel to skin off since the texture isn’t as texturally appetizing as a red potato, golden potato, or Yukon potato.
What should I use to mash potatoes?
You can use a potato masher or wooden spoon for mashing. If you want really fluffy and smooth potatoes, you could use an electric hand mixer.
How can I keep these warm before serving?
The Instant Pot has a u0022Keep Warmu0022 setting that you can use. However, to avoid any potatoes sticking or burning at the bottom, I’d recommend giving them a stir and maybe adding a splash of milk every once in a while.
What Is The Best Potato For Mashed Potatoes In The Instant Pot?
I’ve had success with many types of potatoes:
- Russet potatoes
- Yukon potatoes
- Red potatoes
Besides some variations in taste and texture, the timing will be adjusted slightly for each type. Russet potatoes need a bit more time because they are larger, and red and yukon potatoes don’t need quite as long because they’re smaller.
Russet potatoes are the standard potatoes used for mashed potatoes but I love Yukon potatoes as well.
Ways To Use Leftover Mashed Potatoes
If you haven’t completely conquered this batch of mashed potatoes when all is said and done, thankfully there’s no shortage of ways to use them. Here are a few ideas:
- Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie (easy, yummy, cozy, SO GOOD)
- Leftover Mashed Potatoes Gnocchi from Life as a Strawberry
- Everything Cheesy Potato and Egg Casserole from Half Baked Harvest
- Loaded Mashed Potato Cakes from Spend with Pennies
- Mashed Potato Doughnuts from Dinner with Julie
- Potato Rolls from Spicy Southern Kitchen
Mashed potatoes forever. ❤️
The Best Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 1-cup servings 1x
Description
These Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes are so, so good! They are so creamy, so fluffy, and laced with garlic herb flavor. From start to finish in 30 minutes, all in one pot!
Ingredients
Scale
- 5 pounds of potatoes, peeled and halved (see notes)
- 4 teaspoons salt, divided
- 2 sticks butter (1 cup)
- 2–4 cloves garlic
- a few sprigs of herbs (sage, thyme, etc.)
- 1 cup cream cheese or sour cream
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
- 1/2 cup broth or milk (optional, for texture)
Instructions
- Potatoes: Put your potatoes in the Instant Pot and cover with about 6 cups of water – enough to be completely covered. Add 2 teaspoons of salt. Cook on the steam setting for 12 minutes. Release steam right away. Drain the potatoes. They should be fork tender.
- Garlic Herb Butter: Melt your butter in a large skillet. Add the garlic and herbs and let it just gently cook and infuse the butter with flavor for 10-15 minutes. Pull the herbs and garlic out, and reserve your flavored butter. YUM.
- Mash and Mix: Using a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon, mash the potatoes right in the Instant Pot. Add the garlic herb butter, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, and the rest of the salt. Stir to combine. Season with more salt to taste – be generous! Voila. Delicious mashed potatoes are yours!
Equipment
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Notes
If you want the potatoes to be a little thinner, add 1/4-1/2 cup milk or broth.
A few comments have noted that 12 minutes was not enough time to cook their potatoes. This is most likely because of the size variation of potatoes. I like to try to get evenly sized potato pieces without spending a lot of time cutting them up all (you’re just going to mash them anyway!) so I usually cut the big ones in half and leave the rest alone. But if you’re working with very large potatoes, you may want to cut them into quarters, or cook them for closer to 15 minutes.
To prevent lumpy potatoes, mash them right after they’re done cooking. Don’t let them sit around for too long. They’ll develop a skin and it will be harder to get them to mash smoothly and evenly.
This is the Instant Pot that we use. (affiliate link)
A previous version of this recipe was written for half of this amount.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Side
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: mashed potatoes, instant pot mashed potatoes, potato side dish, thanksgiving side dish, creamy mashed potatoes
Other Delicious Thanksgiving Recipes
- Sweet Potato Casserole (a Thanksgiving staple!)
- Bacon and Brussels Sprout Salad (the salad I bring to EVERY Thanksgiving)
- Baked Mac and Cheese (perfectly cheesy with a buttery crispy top)
- Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie (perfect use of leftover potatoes too!)
- Pumpkin Dessert Bars (let’s just say these include yellow cake mix – thank me later!)
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our coziest comfort food recipes page. Check it out!
Filed Under: 5 Ingredients All Recipes Dinner Fall Instant Pot Main Dishes Most Popular Recipes Sides Sugar-Free
November 20, 2020
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
Did you make a recipe? Tag @pinchofyum on Instagram so we can find you!
Delicious! And I agree, if your heart isn’t in it, don’t do it.
this recipe is awesome
My new favorite mashed potatoes recipe. I’ve made it twice, first time to try for family, second time for Thanksgiving. Perfect both times.
LOVE the video!
Totally making these potatoes.
Photography is stunning.
How did the shepherds pie turn out? Recipe?
lindsay! i LOVED the video – you had me smiling the entire time, which is no small feat considering it’s before 8 am on a monday morning 😜 no matter what you end up doing (writing, video), i hope you find some renewed energy – i’ve been feeling the same slump lately & it’s not the most fun. ALSO! these potatoes! i love that you make them in the IP – frees up other stove space for important things (such as gravy making) for holiday dinner – LOVE – can’t wait to share with my family!!! xo
I just like all the butter in those potatoes in that one photo. Because butter makes the world go round…or at least my butt. I mean, it does have the word butt right in there.
First of all, you’re adorable on video. Second, you don’t even have to chop the potatoes?! I mean… forget the cooking time, that alone is win, right?
Okay, first of all, I just adore you. Love your blog and every recipe I’ve made from your posts has been nothing short of amazing. I think it’s really great that you are trying new things to keep you inspired..loved the video, please keep them coming. I’ve had my Instant Pot for a year and I love it and am so thankful when I see recipes from trusted sources (there are some wildly disparate Instant Pot recipes online for even something as simple as chicken breasts). I’m a little bit crazy about mashed potatoes, so I can’t wait to try these.
Love it. The Instant Pot series, the recipe, and your cute video. You can do no wrong here on POY, Lindsay!
If you want, you can even borrow the name for the Instant Pot around my house: the Magic Pot! My husband is amazed how we put boring ingredients in, set the parameters, sit around, and deliciousness comes out. Like magic!
I have made these for thanksgiving the past few years and my large foodie family loves them! And the smell is heavenly while cooking the butter! I always double this recipe but my instant pot is not big enough for all those potatoes so I just do two batches in the instant pot. Is there another way to cook the potatoes? Just wondering if there was a faster way. Thank you!
Also, what is the best potato to use? I have only used gold
First PLEASE keep the Onstant Pot recipes coming!
Second- I have baked and then rives my mashed potatoes for years. This sounds easier but can I rice the potatoes after they are cooked in the IP?
Yup! Just riced 13 whole potatoes. Easy and delicious, beside great texture from ricing.
I just made these and they came out super soft (never made “mashed” potatoes with a wooden spoon before but all these needed was a quick stir). So if you want to rice them, you might find it easier to “bake” them in the Instant Pot. It’s just as fast: just clean them & put them on the trivet with a cup of water in the base but not touching the potatoes. Hard to tell them from oven baked but so much faster.
I love it! You be you – always!
And I just gave my niece an Insta Pot for her birthday and I’ve been following along on all your recipes and now I want one for myself.
Though I did make the pumpkin walnut chili on top of the stove and it was so freaking good. I’m pulling a container of it of the fridge today for dinner tonight.
Love the vid!
These look amazing. I just bought my Insta-pot and am figuring it out slowly.
Here’s my question: can you reduce a recipe by half and have the same results with an Insta-pot? This recipe makes a lot! I want to make it but I don’t want to be eating mashed pots for days! 🙂
Thanks for all your tasty work here, Lindsay. I really enjoy reading your blog.
Were you able to figure this out? I have the same question.
Yes, you can cut the ingredient amounts in half, and it will work just fine!
you did great! it was fun to see you ‘live’ for a change. thanks as always for the great recipes. and yes, you always have to end with a bite of food!
Get over the instant pot way overrated
Then why are you clicking on instant pot recipes…. Hmmm.
I agree Crystal! She must be a negative Nellie! Lol
Some of us don’t have stoves and instapot is allowing us to create full, healthy meals. Check your privelage.
If you are going to be negative, please keep your opinion to yourself.
What exactly was your motive for coming to a site with instant pot recipes and going through the effort to enter your name and email address just so you could leave a comment stating your negative opinion about using an instant pot? Your opinion is your own and it is protected by the 1st ammendment, but when it takes effort and time to leave such a comment as you did, why would you decide to comment at all when you could have just kept your negativity to yourself? It’s unfortunate to be uneducated about the increased nutrient preservation that pressure cooking achieves more efficiently than other cooking methods, but surely your time could have been spent in a way that actually had some sort of purpose rather than writing a comment that will permanently showcase to the world how much effort your willing to put in just to prove what a negative and antagonistic person you are. Life is too short already, surely there are better uses of your time.
Love your instapot recipes and your sweet video. Do you have a recommendation on any certain one out there? I am thinking of getting my single son one for the holidays. Thanks!
Can I just say how much I adore you?! I loved that video; it kind of felt like we actually were getting to hang out with you for a few minutes there. Thanks for always keeping it real. However you decide to communicate, we’ll be here! Also, I too din’t feel like mashed potatoes are “easy.” There’s a lot of (self-inflicted) pressure to get the classics right on Thanksgiving. Also I’m lazy and love having my IP do all the work for me 🤓
I thought the video was great! It was casual, personable and totally relatable! And P.S. – I’m dropping some heavy hints to my husband that I want an Instant Pot for xmas!
Oh my goodness, those look magical! And so easy! This year is going to be a two-person Thanksgiving for me, but I won’t be able to resist whipping these up 😉
I’m a mashed potato lover as well and use my Instant Pot for all my potato cooking. The addition of the fresh herbs and Parmesan is a great idea. Good stuff.
I love my potatoes mashed, I should try the herbs infuse version, never thought of it, so thank you very much.
I love the idea of the ,,video post-writing”. It’s more personal and very nice even though it must be hard to be in front of camera and be seen by others, kinda nervous thing for me. So, big thumbs up for making it and taking it to the next level Lindsay 😊 I enjoyed it and love it ❤
Steam or pressure cook? I’m new to Instant Pot cooking so want to make these yummy potatoes right.
So delish! Loving all these instant pot recipes, Lindsay!
Another good reason to buy Instant Pot )) I have a similar mashed potatoes version, but this seems easier with Instant Pot. I also like adding chopped dill for extra flavor.
What size are the potatoes? Do you cut them into chunks? Would the steam time change depending on the size?
I love me some mash potatoes! Thanks for the recipe! This is going to show up at Thanksgiving… 😀
Can I make these the day before thanksgiving? And just warm up on TG day? Will they taste just as good? Also would this be enough for 12 guests?
Hi, Gita! This should work to reheat them the next day. This makes eight 1/2 cup servings, so for 12 people, we’d suggest doubling the recipe. This way, you can have a bit extra too (or guests can have second helpings). 😉
Hi, um, Lindsay? Thanks so much for posting all the recipes that have slapped an Instant Pot at the top of my Christmas list. Keep ’em comin’!