Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes

Wondering how to make sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot? It’s so easy. I love to meal prep several Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes at once so I can eat them all week.

The electric pressure cooker is my favorite way to make steamed sweet potatoes. I love that I can “set it and forget it.”

Where is the recipe?

Here at My Crazy Good Life, we write our recipes so that anyone can easily make them. In the article below, you’ll find lots of cooking tips, details that are helpful to those who are new to the Instant Pot, and even special diet information for the 21 Day Fix, Weight Watchers, and 2B Mindset.

If you don’t need all of the extra information, simply scroll down to the bottom of the post to view the ingredient amounts and instructions for these Perfect Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes.

How long does it take for potatoes to soften in the Instant Pot?

Your cooking time will depend on the size of your sweet potatoes. Try to find potatoes that are roughly the same size so that your cooking time is the same for all of the potatoes. You’ll also want to allow a 10 minute natural pressure release at the end of cooking.

These cook times work for one sweet potato or however many you can safely fit inside your pressure cooker.

• For small sweet potatoes (less than 2 inches wide) I recommend cooking on high pressure for 15 minutes to 18 minutes of cook time (not counting the natural pressure release)
• For medium sweet potatoes (2-3 inches wide) I recommend cooking on high pressure for 30 minutes of cook time (not counting the natural pressure release)
• For large sweet potatoes (wider than 3 inches) I recommend cooking on high pressure for 60 minutes of cook time (not counting the natural pressure release)

It’s always best to cook for less time when you’re getting used to cooking with your Instant Pot. You can always cook the food for longer, but once it’s over cooked it can’t be undone.

I like to cook the sweet potatoes, open the pot and test for doneness, and then cook for longer if necessary. Did you know that you can even cook something for 0 (that’s zero) minutes if it just needs a little more time? It will cook as it comes to pressure, then it will immediately begin releasing pressure, continuing to cook.

My potatoes are medium sized and took 30 minutes to cook with a 10 minute NPR.

Ingredients in Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes:

• Sweet Potatoes: A powerhouse of vitamins and minerals sweet potatoes contain 400% of your daily recommended Vitamin A alone. Sweet potatoes are slow burning carbs, which help level blood sugar, and have tons of beta-carotene which studies show helps with vision.

How to cook whole sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot

1. Wash your raw sweet potatoes. Scrub sweet potatoes with a clean brush or sponge.
2. Add one cup of water to the Instant Pot to the bottom of your Instant Pot. Place your trivet or steamer basket in the bottom of the pot. Place your potatoes on top of the trivet.
3. Close and lock the lid and turn your pressure valve to sealing. Cook on high pressure for 15-60 minutes depending on the size of your potatoes (specific cooking times can be found above).
4. Once the cook time is complete, allow the pot to release naturally for 10 minutes before quick releasing the remaining pressure. This means that when it’s done cooking, don’t touch the pot or release valve. Set a time for 10 minutes (or watch your pot count up to 10 minutes) before moving the release valve from Sealing to Venting with the end of a wooden to spoon. When you do this, hot steam will come out of the pot.
5. Remove the lid and use the handles of your trivet to carefully remove your perfectly tender cooked sweet potatoes. Serve immediately or allow to cool and transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge up to 5 days.

Recipe Tips:

• Find potatoes that are the same size so that they all cook in the same amount of time.
• I used my 6 quart Instant Pot, but cooking times should stay the same for the 3 or 8 quart.
• I love this recipe during the holidays. It saves so much time making sweet potato casserole!
• For the natural release, I recommend allowing the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes. If after 10 minutes there is still pressure in your pot, you can go ahead and manually release (also called quick release) it by moving the Valve over to the venting position.

Once you make Instant Pot sweet potatoes once, you’ll find the perfect time and it’ll be easier to cook them from here on out. This is actually the way it works with almost all recipes – each pot and elevation cook a tad different, and you’ll get to know your pot in no time.

I love that the potatoes cook evenly, and this is such an easy recipe to use to get healthy food on the table (or in meal prep containers).

Top your cooked Instant Pot Sweet Potato with:

• butter
• maple syrup and peanut butter for a perfect breakfast
• brown sugar and honey
• sour cream and green onions
• veggies – I love adding broccoli

Healthy Eating Plans:

21 Day Fix/Ultimate Portion Fix:

Potato sizes can vary drastically, so for the most accurate container counts, count each 1/2 cup serving as 1 Yellow Container.

Weight Watchers:

Points were figured using the WW recipe creator with the serving size figured as 1/2 cup. 2 Points on the 2023 Plan | 3 Blue Plan Points | 3 Green Plan Points | 0 Purple Plan Points

2B Mindset:

These are great for breakfast or lunch when following 2B Mindset. For breakfast add 50% protein for a complete meal. For lunch, add 50% vegetables and 25% protein for a complete meal.

More healthy Sweet Potato recipes

• Oven Roasted Sweet Potatoes
• Sweet Potato Hash
• Healthy Crab Cake Recipe with Sweet Potatoes
• Sweet Potato Chili

More basic Instant Pot recipes:

• Instant Pot Meatballs
• Instant Pot Frozen Ground Beef
• Instant Pot Turkey Breast
• Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash