These savory Instant Pot Mashed Sweet Potatoes are so easy and the perfect healthy side dish mixed with herbs, butter and sour cream.
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Ingredients in this recipe
Here’s what you need for this recipe – full ingredient amounts and instructions are at the bottom of this page in the recipe card.
- 1 cup water
- 3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and halved
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley or chives
How do you steam sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot?
- Add trivet and water to Instant Pot
- Add halved sweet potatoes, then pressure cook for 5 minutes.
- Do a quick release of the pressure.
- Drain water from sweet potatoes, then place back in inner pot and mash them with butter, sour cream, salt & pepper.
- Garnish with chives.
- Serve and enjoy!
Ingredient substitutions
- Sweet potatoes – Garnet sweet potatoes make the best mashed potatoes because they stay moist and are very sweet. Other varieties work as well, but they won’t have the same bright orange flesh or the same texture.
- Butter –If you want to make the potatoes without the butter, you can use olive oil, ghee, coconut oil or coconut butter, or your favorite vegan butter substitute.
- Sour cream – If you don’t have sour cream and can have dairy, Greek yogurt makes a great substitute in these potatoes. It will add tang to the potatoes, but they will be just as creamy.If you prefer to keep the potatoes vegan, you can use a plant-based sour cream or even use the cream on top of a can of coconut milk – the flavour will be slightly different with the coconut cream but this will make them creamy.
- Parsley – You can also garnish your sweet potatoes with chopped cilantro or green onions. Cilantro would be good if you are serving a main dish with cumin in it.
Making sweet mashed sweet potatoes
It is easy to change some of the ingredients in the recipe below and turn this from savory to sweet. Simply follow steps 1-3 in the recipe below.
After you drain the sweet potatoes and return them to the inner pot, mash them with 2 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons brown sugar or maple syrup, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Add a little extra to the dish after you mash the sweet potatoes to make it by topping it with a dash of cinnamon and chopped candied pecans.
If you want to turn this into the classic sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, spoon the sweetened mashed sweet potatoes into a casserole dish. Spread 2 cups miniature marshmallows into an even layer over the mixture. Bake in the oven until the marshmallows just begin to brown.
If you make this ahead of time to serve with your holiday meals, don’t add the toppings until you are ready to reheat or serve.
What to serve with sweet potatoes
Why let regular mashed potatoes take the spotlight when this dish is so easy to prepare? Serve them with any of these recipes to make your meal memorable.
Storing and reheating
You can make this recipe ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Reheat any leftovers on the stovetop for 5 minutes, or in the microwave for 2-3 minutes.
If the sweet potatoes get a little dry while you are reheating them, add a little more milk or some vegetable broth. If you want to reheat them in the oven, place them in a covered oven-safe dish and bake at 350°F. in the oven for 20-30 minutes.
After cooking, the sweet potatoes can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Freezing the leftovers
Pack the sweet potatoes into freezer safe bags or containers after they have cooled completely so they don’t build up condensation. Freeze the bags flat so they will thaw out easily.
The mashed sweet potatoes will last in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight for the best reheating results, then follow the reheating instructions above.
More Instant Pot sweet potato recipes
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on storing the leftovers
- Freeze this recipe in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 4 months
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Learn how to use your Instant Pot to meal prep by subscribing to our newsletter!
Instant Pot Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 3 large sweet potatoes peeled and halved
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley or chives
Instructions
- Add trivet and water, then halved sweet potatoes to Instant Pot. Place lid on Instant Pot and make sure valve is set to seal.
- Press the pressure cook button and set to high, then cook for 5 minutes. Instant Pot will take about 5-10 minutes to come to pressure then pressure cook for 5 minutes.
- Do a quick release of the pressure on the Instant Pot by flicking the switch at the top with a spoon. Open the lid when pressure gauge has dropped and the lid opens easily.
- Drain water from potatoes, then place back in inner pot without trivet. Mash potatoes with butter, sour cream, salt & pepper. Garnish with parsley or chives, then serve and enjoy!
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