Side dish

Instant Pot Mashed Potato recipe

Name: Instant Pot Mashed Potato
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 1½kg Maris Piper potatoes (or any potatoes suitable for mashing); 70g butter (plus more to finish); 100ml full fat milk; salt and black pepper (to taste)

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Creamy, buttery mashed potatoes, pressure cooked in an Instant Pot. Make a big batch and freeze any leftovers. Don't miss the tip in the notes about using the leftover potato peel to make (ugly but tasty) ready salted crisps.

Prep15m
Cook15m
Total30m

instant-pot vegetarian

I’m not sure that making mashed potato in an Instant Pot is any easier than boiling potatoes in a pan - I mean, you still need to peel the potatoes - but I’d choose the Instant Pot version every time. It somehow feels more fun.

I use 1½ kilos of Maris Piper potatoes, sitting them on top of the trivet that came with the Instant Pot so they’re pretty much above the water line. The potatoes turn out perfectly tender after just 8 minutes of pressure cooking (plus the time for the pot to come up to pressure).

1½ kilos of potatoes yields a lot of mashed potato. My last batch topped two fish pies and four more portions are sitting in my freezer. Another portion ended up in my stomach while I was testing the taste and texture of the mash (both are very good). I should say that I’m not fussy about ultra smooth mash and I don’t own a potato ricer. I use a bog standard masher to mix in the milk and butter and I’m happy with the result.

I sometimes feel like recipes are shoehorned to work in an Instant Pot but mashed potato is a really good fit. My freezer mash is now earmarked to go with Irish Stew after someone posted a photo in the slowcooking subreddit that stopped me in my tracks (look at the mashed potato peeking out!). The stew recipe comes from RecipeTin Eats, probably my all-time favourite food blog. I can’t recommend it enough. Every recipe I’ve made has not only been staggeringly good (I’m on a 100% success rate) but also comes with a highly anticipated and much appreciated Dozer update.

Notes

I haven’t specified an amount of salt as it varies depending on the salt you have and your personal taste. I either use sea salt or kosher salt (sea salt is saltier). Regardless of the type of salt, I end up adding more to the mash than I feel comfortable with and tell myself that I'm not eating it all in one go.

The leftover potato peelings make lovely crisps - tip them onto a well oiled baking tray, season generously and bake for around 10 minutes until they just start to colour.

Recipe

Instant Pot Mashed Potato

Prep15m
Cook15m
Total30m

Serves: 8

Ingredients

1½kg Maris Piper potatoes (or any potatoes suitable for mashing)
70g butter (plus more to finish)
100ml full fat milk
salt and black pepper (to taste)

Method

Peel 1½kg of potatoes and halve them (quarter any large potatoes).
Put the metal trivet (or steamer rack if you have one) into the Instant Pot’s inner pot and pour in 250ml of cold water (1 cup).
Place the potatoes on top of the trivet (it doesn't matter if some are sitting in the water), put the Instant Pot lid on and select Pressure Cook, High for 8 minutes.
While the potatoes are cooking, warm up 100ml of full fat milk in a microwave or on a hob, to the point where it steams (it doesn’t need to boil).
Once the pressure cooking has completed, Quick Release the pressure and open the lid.
Drain the potatoes into a colander and return them to the inner pot (you don’t need to put the inner pot back into the Instant Pot).
Add 70g of butter, the warmed milk, salt (start with 1 teaspoon) and black pepper. Mash well and taste. Keep salting and mashing until you’re happy with the taste and texture then serve immediately, topping the mash with an extra pat of butter. Store any leftovers for up to 2 days in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer.