Amazing Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
These Instant Pot mashed potatoes are the best potatoes on the planet! The most amazing part: the mashed potatoes can stay warm for HOURS before serving.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I made them for the first time. I will never again make mashed potatoes any other way! My family raved about them even the grandchild who never eats mashed potatoes. -Kathy
Why These are Literally the Best Mashed Potatoes Ever
I’m not even kidding, I haven’t made mashed potatoes any other way for the last ten years because these potatoes are phenomenal. Here are just a few of the reasons you should ditch your go-to mashed potato recipe and make these:
- The recipe has the perfect ratio of potatoes to liquid so that the potatoes are thick and creamy without being glumpy and gluey. The garlic powder and sour cream give the perfect depth of flavor and hint of tang.
- Using a pressure cooker is brilliant because not only do the potatoes cook in just eight minutes, but you don’t need to stand over a boiling pot or clean up that irritating starchy water that inevitably always boils over.
- This might be the best reason to make these potatoes! The mashed potatoes can stay warm in the Instant Pot for HOURS without drying out. This is life-changing for holidays and big dinners when timing everything is tricky.
- You can use your favorite variety of potatoes. This recipe works well with Yukon gold potatoes or russet potatoes.
➡️ Most importantly, these mashed potatoes are type of potatoes that people rave about. Trust me, it happens every time I serve these best-ever potatoes to anyone.
How to Make Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
These potatoes are so easy to make! They can be cooked, mashed, and kept warm in the Instant Pot hours before you want to serve them.
- Add the potatoes and salt to the Instant Pot.
- Add 1 1/2 cups water or enough to cover the potatoes (either way is fine). Don’t exceed the max fill line.
- Secure the lid and cook on high pressure for 8 minutes.
- When the potatoes are done cooking, let the pressure naturally release for 10 to 15 minutes and then quick release the remaining pressure.
- Warm the milk, butter and garlic powder in a saucepan or in the microwave until the butter is melted and the mixture is warm.
- Drain the potatoes.
- Return the potatoes to the insert of the Instant Pot, add the milk mixture and sour cream, and mash to your preferred consistency.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve immediately OR return the insert to the Instant Pot, secure the lid, and select Keep Warm. The potatoes can stay on this setting for several hours.
A Few Important Additional Notes
- What type of potatoes to use: my favorite variety of potatoes for mashed potatoes are Yukon gold/yellow potatoes. However, red potatoes or russet potatoes can also be used without any alterations to the recipe.
- Amount of potatoes to use: This recipe calls for 4 pounds of potatoes. I buy potatoes in bulk (I do live in Idaho after all), so I always weigh out the 4 pounds (or 8 pounds if using my 8-quart Instant Pot) for this recipe, but you can use a 5-pound bag of potatoes in a 6-quart Instant Pot as long as the max fill line isn’t exceeded after water is added. Increase the milk/butter/sour cream/garlic powder o account for the extra pound.
- Pressure cooker alternative: If you don’t have an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker, you can make the potatoes on the stovetop by boiling the potatoes in salted water, draining, and following the recipe for the liquid/seasonings. Serve them right away.
These Instant Pot mashed potatoes have ruined us on any other mashed potatoes forevermore. They are the only potatoes we make for Thanksgiving, when I make pot roast, or basically any time we want mashed potatoes.
They are fantastic smothered in gravy…but they are also incredibly tasty eaten without anything on top. Not many recipes truly fall into the “life-changing category,” but these potatoes are solidly at the top of that list.
Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into 1- or 2-inch cubes (see note)
- 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
- 1 cup milk, preferably not skim milk
- 4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ cup sour cream
Instructions
- Combine the potatoes, water, and sal tin a 6-quart Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker. Don't exceed the max fill line.
- Secure the lid and ensure the valve is set to seal (and not vent).
- Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes. Let the pressure naturally release for 10 to 15 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure.
- If liquid bubbles from the valve, close the valve, wait a few minutes and try again.
- Drain the potatoes and return them to the pressure cooker.
- Warm the milk, butter and garlic powder in a saucepan or in the microwave until the butter is mostly melted.
- Add the milk mixture and sour cream to the potatoes and use a potato masher to mash to your desired consistency.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve immediately OR place the lid on the Instant Pot and select Keep Warm. The potatoes can stay on this setting for up to 5 hours.
- When ready to serve, give the potatoes a good stir and a drizzle of warm milk, if needed.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted a little from a recipe/method a reader, Beth T., sent me (thanks, Beth!)
Recipe originally published March 2017; updated August 2026 with new photos, recipe notes, etc.
Another fabulous Thanksgiving hack! This is how we will be doing the potatoes from now on. Thanks for another winner!
You are spot on by saying these mashed potatoes are the best on the planet!! They’re so easy to make and taste heavenly!!!
These always turn out so delicious. And it’s incredibly handy to make potatoes earlier in the day to free up the stove top. Plus, the kitchen doesn’t get hot from the boiling pot. Life changing indeed!
If you use red or baby potatoes you won’t even have to peel and cut!
My new favorite way to make mashed potatoes! Not only was it easy and tasty, but I was able to make them ahead of time and keep them warm in the IP. We were having company for dinner, and this saved so much last-minute time and stress. Thanks, Mel!
I will confirm I’ve made these potatoes three years I’m a row now. This is the first time I let them warm for almost 5 hours. Added a little milk and a little more bitter and they were still perfect!
Tried these last night for our belated Christmas dinner. I ended up keeping them warm for almost 4 hours and everyone raved about them. I don’t think anyone has ever even mentioned the mashed potatoes before. I only ended up using about 1/2 the amount of milk/cream. Won’t ever do them any other way again.
Made recipe for the first time today. Followed exactly and was delish. Today is Thanksgiving & I’m grateful for you Melanie. I come to your website many times and your recipes never disappoint. I appreciate the step by step pics included with recipes. Thank you for all your hard work.
Do you think I could sub in Greek Yogurt for the sour cream?
If you like the flavor of Greek yogurt, it should work fine!
Mel, do you have any advice for this recipe and other instant pot recipes when converting them from a 6 or 8 quart to a 3 quart? My son is heading off to college and I am getting him a smaller instant pot. I am finding that it is difficult to convert my well-loved instant pot recipes! Any tips??
Hi Marne, I don’t have a small 3-quart instant pot, so I’m not sure how they need to be converted. Is it not as easy as cutting all the ingredients in half? I’m sorry I’m not more help!
So, if I wanted to go ahead and make these for a church dinner tomorrow could I? Like put them in the fridge and them warm them
Back up in the morning? Maybe adding a little milk?
I’ve never made them a day ahead of time and reheated them after being refrigerated, but you could definitely experiment!
My kids hate potatoes if they’re not in french fry or hashbrown form. Well, until today!! I made this today with a roast and for once they not only didn’t complain about the potatoes, but they had seconds and thirds! WOOO HOOOO!! I didn’t have any yukon gold so I did five pounds of red and they were AWESOME!! And so easy. Thanks for saving the day again, Mel!
I bought a basket from QVC and it holds 5 pounds of cut up potatoes. Add water to insert then basket… set pressure for 3 minutes for potato salad and 4 minutes for mashed potatoes and do a quick release. When making potato salad I spread cooked potatoes on parchment paper to cool then make my potato salad. For mashed potatoes I just add them to a bowl and mash them with salt, butter, and milk.
Do you prefer a potato masher over an electric mixer? I always use an electric hand mixer, and haven’t been happy with the results lately.
Yes, I always use a potato masher.
Mel, have you ever tried steaming instead of boiling the potatoes? I made your recipe once and liked it, but felt it was too much work and took too long. I now quarter my potatoes, put them on the rack, add a couple cups of water, then cook. After, the skins will fall right off and all you have to do is dump the water out (not drain). They turn out amazing. I’d highly recommend.
You can do that on the instant pot?
Also, let me add that this was much cleaner than my typical mashed potatoes on the stove top. When I boil potatoes on the stove top, starchy pops get all over the range surface, which is yet another thing to have to handle and I appreciated the easier clean up from this method. Yet another perk. 😉
I just got an Instant Pot today and this is the *first* recipe I made! Keeping mashed potatoes warm and being able to make them a bit ahead seems like a game changer and I wanted to test that. Followed the recipe exactly (which was easy, even for a first time IP user). They’ve been holding on warm for two hours… I just checked them (I was curious… would they stick? Get crusty?) The moisture trapped in the pot seems to have kept them perfect… I used a rubber spatula to check the bottom for sticking or hot spots, but all I have are perfect potatoes with no issue! All that to say, I’m a huge fan already! Thanks Mel.
We’re trying some of your steel cut oats in the morning for breakfast and the kids are hyped!
This is my most favorite mashed potato recipe ever. I make mine with unpeeled potatoes, and I love the flavors as well as the ability to better control the final texture.
I don’t care whether using the instant pot takes more or less time than stove top cooking—I adore that I can set the potatoes cooking while my turkey is cooking and then sit down for a rest until it’s time to drain and mash. I also love that I can put the final product back in the instant pot to keep warm it‘a time to eat. Tonight, it hung out for a bit over an hour, and it was one less thing to stress about in the rush between the oven coming out of the oven and dinner time.
I run out of energy quickly these days, and today this recipe made it so I could have mashed potatoes without totally wiping myself out!
Do you cut the potatoes or leave them whole?
Decided to roll the dice and try this recipe for Thanksgiving 2020, and let me just say that I am never, ever, ever ever ever boiling potatoes again! These were incredible and so simple! Easy to mash to a perfect consistency. Turned out absolutely delicious! How will I ever repay you?
For my take, I used 3 lbs of Yukon Gold potatoes, omitted the garlic and sour cream, and added copious amounts of unsalted butter and black pepper. I replaced 1/4 cup of milk with cream, as I always do when making mashed potatoes the old-fashioned way. FYI for first-timers, these took almost 20 minutes to come up to pressure before the 8 minute cook time, so don’t start these at the last minute! I made them about an hour before serving and they kept perfectly on the “keep warm” setting.
These were delish!! The first time I made them with sour cream and didn’t like the taste, the second time I just omitted the sour cream and thought they were perfect. Easy, and yummy!
Do you know that you can cook garlic, and onion, with the potatoes? They will mash right in – then do the rest of the recipe as is — absolutely use the sour cream!!!!
Awesome, will try this!
If you use less than 4 lbs of potatoes would you have to adjust the cooking time?
No, cooking time is the same.
These are the best mashed potatoes! I don’t like sour cream so I omit it, and they’re perfect even without it. I make a brown onion gravy from scratch to drizzle on these. Yum.
Hi, Mel! These sound great! Can I cut all the ingredients in half to make a smaller batch? Does the cooking time need to change? Thanks!
Yes, for sure! I’d keep the cooking time the same (maybe take a minute off but that’s it).
So my I love these mashed potatoes! However, when I turn my IP to vent the potatoes (when they’re done) a whole lot of water comes gushing out getting a lot of my kitchen wet! What do I need to do differently so this doesn’t happen? I don’t fill past the max line with water.
Try waiting another 10 minutes OR add less water (you can get away with adding less as long as there is 1-2 cups liquid total).
I have had this issue before and I usually wet a kitchen wash cloth and set it over the valve when venting and it takes away the risk of water, etc. shooting out all over the place.
When I don’t have time for natural release, I take my IP outside and open the vent, then it can steam/spew all it wants. It’s especially nice for things that seem to take forever to depressurize.
Make it even easier and use a cup of chicken broth instead of water. It pressurizes really quick and you don’t have to drain. Mash right in the pot with the broth.
Very yummy and the potatoes were nice and hot when served. Great recipe
I have one more life changing tip to add to this. I love making mashed potatoes with small creamer potatoes and I always leave the skins on for texture and taste. So I throw the well washed potatoes in water and cook them whole on high pressure for 25 minutes. Yes it takes longer to cook, but it saves me time because I do not have to chop up the potatoes. I have made them this way several times and they are beyond delicious. I may never prechop potatoes again.
Can I make these the day before? If yes directions for reheat. Thank you
Yes – just don’t put in the milk, butter, etc. until you are ready to serve. So you’re just cooking the potatoes.
I made these for a school Thanksgiving feast. They turned out delicious with great flavor and a nice smooth consistency. The instant pot kept them warm until serving, and clean up was so easy. This recipe is now a go-to for an easy crowd pleaser mashed potato recipe. Thanks for sharing!!
I make mashed potatoes for Christmas dinner every year. But this year, I moved and couldn’t find my go to recipe, plus I needed a make ahead version – so I stumbled upon your recipe. I followed it to the T – it was super easy to make – which is great BUT the best part is that it was the best mashed potatoes any of us had ever had. SOOOOO good. The kids have already asked me to make them again! Thanks!!
For planning purposestotall time was over an hour. I doubled this recipe in my 8qt IP. It took over 45 minutes to come to pressure, and probably close to 10 min to quick release all the pressure. I started my IP, then peeled, cut, and started another batch on the stove. The one on the stove was still done first. The IP is nice for set and forget, but just know it takes a long time.
Monica (or Mel) how long did you cook them when they were doubled?
I cook a double batch for the same amount of time.
I was exvited to use this recipe. I followed the directions and cooked the for 8 min, yello potatoes cubed. They came out very watery. I don’t understand why. They were so soft, that the water looked like soup. I could not get all the pieces out- too soft. For next batch, I cut the pieces bigger. Dissapointed. Could there be a diference in the type of instapot? I have the SV duo.
Hello,
I can now see why it is a great recipe. Once i added the butter and buttermilk, it came together beautifully. So i am changing my rating. (Used buttermilk- 1 cup to 15 lbs of organic yellow potatoes because most of the sour cream brands, locally have corn starch- and i don’t have time to track down suplliers to confirm gluten free cornstarch was used). I also only used half the butter, and added 4 garlic cloves to the cooking pot to replace garlic powder, later. Cutting the potatoes into 4 helped make them less soupy. Event at 7 min cooking time, still very soft, but that helped me get lump free mashed potatoes. This is why i changed my rating. thanks Mel! My instapot took 25 min for the valve to go up and another 3 min for the countdown to begin.
Please see my detailed comment earlier. I just forgot to give it the stars it deserves! 🙂
So, these are wonderful and have liberated me from last-minute mashed potato madness meal prep! I have adjusted the seasonings a bit to suit our more lively taste buds. Hope you enjoy the tweaks, which show the ratios I found to be best for 8 lbs. in the 8 qt. IP and 5 lbs. in the 6qt. IP. I also found that it helps to “saute” the potatoes a bit after draining them to remove some of the extra moisture and dry them out some to prevent them from being soggy (it takes a bit for the pressure to release after the cooking is done).
THANK YOU, MEL!
Ingredients: Don’t double ingr. for 8 lbs.
8 lbs. 5 pounds Yukon yellow gold potatoes, peeled & in 1” cubes
1 Tbs. 2 tsp. coarse, kosher salt
1-1/2 C. 1/2 to 1 cup milk, not skim
6 Tbs. 4 Tbs. butter, in Tbs.-size pieces
3/4 tsp. 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbs. 2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. 1/3 tsp. pepper
3/4 cup 1/2 cup cream cheese
Did you know that you can cook potatoes in “0” min when you use this much liquid? In the time it takes to bring them up to pressure it cooks them.
Having never used my Instapot since I got it, I made this recipe for Thanksgiving, and they were PERFECT! My family, who loves potatoes, loved them! Now, I might just be brave enough to try another Instapot recipe!
Just made these with my 8qt Instant Pot and OXO potato masher, and they are fantastic.
The potatoes came out so tender, I barely even needed to mash them. Plus, no lumps!
I’ll never make mashed potatoes in a regular pan again.
Thank you for posting this recipe and making my Thanksgiving cooking a little easier.
Do I need to add to the cooking time if I am doubling the recipe?
No.
This sounds terrific, but can I double the recipe? I would be making these in the 8qt Instantpot. Thanks!
Yes, you can double for an 8-quart instant pot!
Can you still do the same quantities for this recipe as is when using an 8 quart instant pot? Newbie here.
Yep!
I do not have a manual button what should I use then?
On keep warm do I vent or seal the lid
It doesn’t really matter either way.
I’m a mashed potato snob too and this recipe was awesome. I also put them into freezer bags and vacuum seal them with my FoodSaver and they stay good in the freezer for a couple months quick and easy potatoes.buy potatoes in bulk when they’re on sale and your set for potatoes any time
Do you know if you can leave the skin on the potatoes?
If you like the taste of mashed potatoes with the skins then yes, you could leave them on for sure!
I’ll admit I was hesitant about this recipe, especially after reading some of the comments. I make potatoes for potato salad in my instant pot, and they sit in the steamer basket with a cup of water underneath. And, they only come to pressure for 4 minutes, so this calls for the time to be doubled. I was also making these for the very first time for part of a meal to take to a friend who just had surgery and requested rotisserie chicken and potatoes. The stakes were high!
But then I took a breath and thought… Mel has NEVER let me down. Ever. So, I dove in and gave it a shot! I used Yukon gold potatoes ( Trader Joe’s sells a 4 lb bag… score!), and don’t think I’ll use russet again for mashed potatoes because the color of the gold potatoes makes them look even more buttery!
I sliced the potatoes larger than one inch; more like 2-3 inches. And yes, I covered the potatoes all the way and then some with water, set my IP to 8 minutes on manual, and said a Hail Mary.
Result: these are the BEST mashed potatoes I have ever made, and possibly ever eaten! And, I didn’t even add the sour cream because I was tying to keep things a little bland for my recovering friend. My daughter LOVES mashed potatoes… she was my taste tester, and after tasting them was so mad at me that I was taking them to someone else! She’s extremely picky so that’s a huge compliment.
Another recipe to make me love my instant pot even more! Thanks Mel, I shouldn’t have doubted you, even for a second! ; )
I am sorry, but I made these potatoes for easter and they were horrible. After 8 minutes, the potatoes were visibly over cooked so that while I was mashing, I could see they were turning into paste! I followed the directions to the tee and the only difference wasI used white potatoes. I only ended up using less than half the buttered milk. Just a disaster for Easter no less!
I have to cut the recipe in half, seeing there’s only me, and while I really like-like potatoes in many different recipes, can only eat reheats just so often…
I’m new to the electric pressure cooker, and have made only two recipes so far, so will make the potatoes next, and am hoping that I won’t mess them up by having just half the recipe in the pot.
I followed the recipe exactly and while the taste was great, the potatoes came out soupy. Very disappointing. I think I’ll reduce the cooking time and of liquid on my second try.
Made this recipe tonight and want to say that my Husband almost ate so much it hurt him…:) I fixed mashed potatoes & corn (his fav) and I will be making this version from now on. I have my own Beef Noodle recipe that I make on the stove top or slow cooker but this IP recipe is awesome! The only change I made was I only used 1/2 pack of onion soup and we didn’t use any sour cream. After the 10 minute rest, I put on saute and made a roux of 1 TBsp corn starch and about 4 TBsp of water, mixed it and put it in and thickened the sauce a bit…. Soo very yummy!!! Thank you for sharing your recipe!!!
This is a comment regarding a different post, where the comments are closed. The Instant Pot post, where it says only one sentence along the lines of, “This is the pot I have and I love it.” But there’s no picture or link or info to tell us about that Instant Pot (or the other products in that “series” of This Is What I Have type posts… so they don’t actually help us poor souls trying to read your product reviews.
My emojis didn’t show up when I published that comment! So it doesn’t read nearly as friendly as it did with the faces! :o( Ooops, sorry!
Hey Laurie – that’s odd – I don’t think I’ve closed comments on any post so I’m not sure what post/page you are referring to. Darn. I have the 6-quart 7-in-1 Instant Pot. 🙂
If I use buttermilk should I reduce the amount of butter?
I haven’t tried that, but no, I’d leave the butter amount the same.
Is it possible to use a hand mixer instead of a potato masher?
Probably! Just don’t overmix them – they can take on a gluey consistency.
I heard from another blogger, Oh, Sweet Basil- that if you add the butter first it prevents the gluey texture. I just tried it (because I love how smooth and easy the hand mixer works) and I added 1 stick butter, half a stick cream cheese and salt, and then beat that. I added some milk after and stirred in with a spatula. It gluey at all, great taste and texture!