Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes Recipe – Cooking sweet potatoes in an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker makes cooking sweet potatoes so quick and easy! Perfect for enjoying as baked sweet potatoes as a side dish or for cooking to use in sweet potato casserole and so many other dishes!
I’ve had my Instant Pot for sometime now and am always discovering a few essential ways that I like to use it. From cooking chicken quickly to make Bart’s chicken salad throughout the week to steaming these sweet potatoes to serve like I would baked sweet potatoes or even to use in my sweet potato casserole. I make it again and again throughout the week!
Making them really couldn’t be simpler either!
I just add my steamer basket to my Instant Pot, scrub medium sweet potatoes clean and place them on top of the steamer basket, add my water and let the Instant Pot do all the work for me. When they are done, just let the Instant Pot release on the slow release setting and in minutes, you have the most tender and delicious sweet potatoes!
I know I’ve shared how I also like to prepare them in my slow cooker. That method works wonderfully and is great for popping them into the slow cooker before you head out the door in the mornings so that they are ready for supper when you walk back in the door in the evenings. But you know, there are also those days that I forget to get them into my slow cooker and the Instant Pot has saved supper for sure! I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ll whip up a sweet potato like this for lunch. They are perfect every time!
Here’s my Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes Recipe. I topped them with my homemade cinnamon honey butter in case you want to give that a try, too! I hope you love them as much as we do! They are a weeknight classic around here now!
- 1 cup water
- 4 medium sweet potatoes
- Place steamer basket in Instant Pot and add 1 cup water.
- Scrub sweet potatoes until skins are clean. Place on top of the steamer basket.
- Cover and place vent on lid to "Sealed".
- Set on "Steam" program and set time for 10 minutes.
- When finished cooking, don't open lid. Allow pressure to reduce naturally, about 25 minutes.
- Remove lid and serve.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
Can you use the Quick Release instead of the Natural Release, thereby cutting out some time?
Hi Christie,
I’ve tried it and didn’t like the results as much. I thought the potatoes were more tender when I used the natural release. Of course, it could depend on the size of your sweet potatoes. Let me know how they turn out for you if you try it. xo
Do you need to pierce sweet potatoes at all?
I do not, but of course, you can.
Okay, I like the sound of that, although, what is the sauce you have on those sweet potatoes? It looks great!
This was not enough time, I cooked two sweet potatoes exactly as you said and they were still pretty hard in the middle. Would recommend an additional five minutes in the instant pot.
You need to adjust time by the size of the sweet potato I would guess . . .
Followed this recipe exactly for cooking one sweet potato. Unfortunately potato was not cooked all the way and I had to throw the majority of it away 😕
I’m sorry your potato didn’t get done. I haven’t had this problem and cook sweet potatoes like this very often, so I can’t be sure what happened. Thanks!
Maybe the problem is altitude? I’ve heard you should add cooking time if you are at a higher altitude. (There are charts that show the percentage you should add depending on how high your altitude is)
Cannot find how to use the: “SLOW COOKER” version, using your recipe: INSTANT POT SWEET POTATOES..
Need to know water & sweet potato amount’s, temp & tength of time to use.. Would appreciate this info, thank you for your time..
Mmm this was great and so easy!
I tried this today and my sweet potatoes were not cooked through…ended up microwaving to finish the job.
I’m sorry about that Melissa! It sounds like it could possibly be a problem with a setting or release method.
Did you use the slow release method after cooking? Mine takes about 25 minutes or so for all the steam to release and then the potatoes are just perfect. I am sorry they weren’t done for you, but hope that this helps.
Thanks so much!
I was wondering what you put on those sweet potatoes. It looks really yummy.
Hi Kristen!
I’ve topped them with Cinnamon Honey Butter. It is delicious and is also great on pancakes, oatmeal and more! Thanks! xo
The instructions were spot on for me. I read several comments saying the sweet potatoes were too hard when completed, . Not so here. Much appreciated!
Hi Dave,
I appreciate you taking the time to tell me – and I’m so glad they turned out well for you! They always turn out great for me and save so much time – I love to cook them this way and I’m so glad it helped you as well.
I think the issue some have could be with the pressure settings of their appliance or how fast it is released…can’t be certain, but may be what it is.
Thanks again! I’m thrilled this worked great for you!
This recipe didn’t work and I followed the directions. I even added 2 minutes to the cooking time and left it sit for over 30 minutes before the steam released naturally. I use daily four potatoes small enough to fit on the steamer rack. I microwaved for two minutes and they still weren’t done. Currently in the microwave for an additional 3 minutes.
Hi Eric,
I’m sorry this didn’t work for you. I’ve never had that issue with this recipe – it definitely should not have taken that long to cook those potatoes. I can’t be certain, but I’m wondering if something could be wrong with the release or a setting or something on your cooker. I use this recipe all the time and it makes the most perfect sweet potatoes.
Thanks!
I think the different machines require different cooking times. It seems like you have to get to know your machine. If the potato isn’t cooked, add more time and/or increase the pressure.
So yummy your dish is! Do you think that using Aluminum Foil for these potatoes in instant pot can seed up the cooking time?
I just got my Instant Pot today (yea!), and this was the first thing I made after doing the initial water test. The potatoes turned out PERFECT! I’m enjoying one now. My potatoes were medium-to-large sized. Thank you, thank you, Robyn!
Wonderful, Judy! I make potatoes in mine all the time – it’s just so simple and easy! I’m so happy it worked well for you and that you are enjoying them! Great to hear from you! Thanks so much! xo
I tried this recipe with 3 very large sweet potatoes and only cooked for 8 minutes because I had one less potato. They did not cook through all the way. I even restarted them for an additional 5 minutes and still had to microwave them for 5 mintues after. Not sure what happened, so bummed!!
Hi Erin,
I’m sorry they didn’t get done, but I’ve not had that happen when I’ve cooked according to the recipe instructions. Even though you had 3 potatoes, you say they were very large. They probably should have cooked the amount of time in the recipe and allowed the pressure to reduce naturally. Hope this helps. Thanks!
Started making this weekly in my apartment! So easy to do, thanks for sharing!
I make them all the time too, Julian! I’m so glad this works out well for you and that you enjoy them. Thanks so much for letting me know!
Delicious! Will be making these again. I cooked 1 fairly large one and added 3 minutes to the cooking time. Was not quite done and allowed to naturally release pressure for 30 minutes. Cut in half and put back in pressure cooker for another 4 minutes and it was perfect! I am in a higher altitude though, so that could have been why. Thanks for sharing. Definitely a keeper and will be a go to way of making sweet potatoes.
So glad you like this method and enjoyed the sweet potatoes! I make sweet potatoes like this so often and just love how they taste and how easy it is! Thanks so much, Cindy! xo
Hi ! I use a pressure cooker (6 qt.). What’s so different about an INSTANT POT ?? Marketing??
You may e-mail your answer, if you like. Thank you..
You can steam in it, saute meat, cook the meat and make gravy in the same pot. Make hard boiled eggs, with a spring pan make cheese cakes and lasagna, incubate to make yogurt. It has safeguards to prevent opening when pressure is high and will not explode like the old fashioned ones. I’ve never owned a non electric, non digital pressure because I too afraid of accidents. I’m sure that’s why the instant pot and other electric pressure cookers (I own a GoWise 8 Quart) are so popular now.
Thank you for the recipe. I’m sorry that so many are not observant enough to compare the size of your sweet potatoes to the standard Collapsible Steamer Basket shown here. I’ve never seen such small sweet potatoes. I’m going to wash mine up right now and one is equal to three of yours, adjusting time accordingly!
Robyn, I am a new Instant Pot owner and I am loving it. I have made baked sweet potatoes a few times with success you describe. I looked at several online recipes/methods with considerable variations in time. In reading all the comments of people who did not have the outcome of your delicious looking photos I am wondering if people are getting confused by your recipe card stating a “total time” of 15 minutes. Real life time from start to eatable finish is about 40 minutes when allowing the pressure cooker to release naturally. You do mention that but only in the instructions near the end. The quick reference at the top of the card is a bit misleading when you add on the additional 25 minutes. Seems total time should include the pressure release time. If you try to open and eat prior to that they would not be done. In a hurry people skim and I myself glance at the time reference on recipes and on yours I thought how does she get them done in 15 minutes when I knew every time I have made them in takes about 40 minutes. This is still so much quicker than in the oven. I hope this might bring some clarification to others.