I’m currently sitting in the Nashville airport waiting to board my delayed flight and thinking about my Thanksgiving menu. With Thanksgiving only two weeks away, it’s time to start planning.

In the past, we’ve made pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, butternut squash mashed potatoes, sweet potato biscuits, plain ol’ fluffy biscuits, and stuffing. Over the next couple of weeks, I want to add more recipes to the current options here on the blog. To start, we’re going to make mashed potatoes.

Super easy, one-pot, no-drain Instant Pot mashed potatoes. The easiest potatoes you'll ever make.

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Later this week, we’ll make a real food version of green bean casserole (no condensed soup or ingredients you can’t pronounce). And next week we’re going to make a real food version of sweet potato casserole that relies on roasting the potatoes to enhance the naturally sweet flavor.

Super easy, one-pot, no-drain Instant Pot mashed potatoes. The easiest potatoes you'll ever make.

Let’s talk about today’s mashed potatoes. These aren’t your normal potatoes. This recipe relies on the Instant Pot to simplify the entire cooking process.

Why make mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot?

Super easy, one-pot, no-drain Instant Pot mashed potatoes. The easiest potatoes you'll ever make.

Making mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot is a fast and easy experience. How fast? 6 minutes! That’s not a typo. I was skeptical of this 6-minute magic when Helen first sent me her testing notes and recipe. Being skeptical comes too easy for me. And let me just tell you, 6 minutes is legit. It’s a game-changer.

Super easy, one-pot, no-drain Instant Pot mashed potatoes. The easiest potatoes you'll ever make.

How easy? Well, the answer can be summed up with two words: no drain. When you cook potatoes in the Instant Pot, you don’t have to drain any water from the potatoes. Once the potatoes are done cooking, simply add the remaining ingredients–butter, salt, and cream–and you’re done. That’s it.

Making mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot is an easy and hands-off process, for the most part.

Super easy, one-pot, no-drain Instant Pot mashed potatoes. The easiest potatoes you'll ever make.

Just like I said about hard and soft boiled eggs and dry beans, I don’t think I can go back to making mashed potatoes on the stove-top. And once again, my love for the pressure cooker deepens.

As I’ve mentioned before, the electric pressure cooker is a tool that simplifies real food cooking. That’s why I’m such a big advocate for this appliance. I believe everyone should consider purchasing and using an electric pressure cooker.

Super easy, one-pot, no-drain Instant Pot mashed potatoes. The easiest potatoes you'll ever make.

This Thanksgiving, and throughout the mashed potato season (fall and winter), try making your potatoes in the Instant Pot. I think you’ll be impressed with the simplicity and ease of the pressure cooker method.

Healthy Dinner Recipes to Make This Winter

4-Ingredient Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
5 from 7 votes

4-Ingredient Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes (No-Drain, One-Pot Method)

Super easy, one-pot, no-drain Instant Pot mashed potatoes. The easiest potatoes you'll ever make.
Kristin Marr
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time6 minutes
Total Time21 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 6 servings
Calories 208 kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 cup water or vegetable or chicken broth/stock
  • 3 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes
  • 4 TB unsalted butter cut into tablespoon-size pieces*
  • 1-4 TB heavy cream depending on consistency desired
  • 1-2 tsp salt to taste

Special Equipment:

Instructions

  • Add one cup of water or broth/stock to the Instant Pot. 
  • Wash and peel the potatoes. Cut the potatoes into 1-inch chunks and add to the Instant Pot. 
  • Place the lid on the Instant Pot and set the valve to Sealing.
  • Press the Manual or Pressure Cook button (depending on model), High Pressure, and set the cook time (using the +/- buttons) to 6 minutes.
  • When the cooking time is up, perform a quick release using a hold pad holder or towel. Steam will shoot out from the valve so make sure your Instant Pot isn't sitting under kitchen cabinets or shelves. 
  • Add the butter (cut into tablespoon-size pieces) and 1 teaspoon of salt to the cooked potatoes. 
  • Use a hand-mixer or potato masher (my preference) to mash the potatoes with the butter and salt, until you've reached the desired texture.
  • Add as much cream as needed to reach your desired texture. Taste the potatoes and season with more salt, if needed. Serve warm. I like to drizzle extra melted butter or olive oil over the potatoes before serving. 

Notes

*I've used 8 tablespoons of butter in the past and love the results. Using this much butter means I can skip the cream. If you don't want to add cream, you can definitely up the amount of butter used to achieve great results. You could also use milk or half-n-half (just watch those ingredients) in place of the cream.
**This recipe was tested and perfected in a 6-quart Instant Pot. If you have a larger Instant Pot (8-quart) you may need to use 1 1/2 cups of water. The 8-quart requires more water to come to pressure.
It's very important to go by weight (3lbs) when it comes to the potatoes versus a certain number of potatoes. Potatoes can vary in size, so sticking with 3lbs will ensure success with this method.
Keep in mind, the cooking time is 6 minutes. The Instant Pot will take more time to come to pressure. 

Nutrition

Calories: 208kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 5gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 414mgPotassium: 936mgFiber: 5gVitamin A: 275IUVitamin C: 25.8mgCalcium: 70mgIron: 7.3mg
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!

Super easy, one-pot, no-drain Instant Pot mashed potatoes. The easiest potatoes you'll ever make.

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32 Comments

  1. This is the PERFECT instant pot, no drain method for yummy mashed potatoes! They are perfect and I love how I was able to customize the amount I made too by using the toggle for how many servings. Made these with your mini meatloaves for tonight! Can’t wait to try it all together.

  2. If I were to halve the recipe, should I reduce the water to 1/2 cup? I tried it using just 1 1/2 lbs of potatoes and ended up with lots of water left over. Despite then having to drain them, everyone said they were THE best mashed potatoes ever!

    1. Hey Brooke, I’m glad everyone enjoyed them! Technically, according to Instant Pot, you need at least 1 cup of water for the Instant Pot to work properly. So I’d be hesitant to reduce the amount of water.

  3. 5 stars
    From now on, this is the ONLY Instant Pot mashed potato recipe I will use! They were absolutely perfect. The tip about weighing the potatoes was helpful- it made a huge difference. Also, using a potato ricer makes them lump free!
    Thank you for a fabulous recipe!

  4. 5 stars
    This works great! I used half water and half milk, When you open the instant pot after 6 minutes, the liquid has basically evaporated, so no soggy water logged potatoes. Added butter and creme fraiche. Simple and delicious. Thank you!

    1. Hi Gail,

      Potatoes and cauliflower have two different cook times. So I wouldn’t recommend adding them together. Cauliflower only needs about 3 mins adding it together could make it mush.

      LS Team.

  5. For some reason … always has worked perfectly before but my exact Instant Pot wouldn’t come up to 6 minutes on my Pressure Cooking setting no matter how many times I tried. I just winged it all and got something that seemed like mashed potatoes but most strange. Can’t imagine what I did wrong … but my Instant Pot is working perfectly this next time for just some steaming of Cabbage Soup. Anyone have any ideas?

    1. Are you getting an actual error message? Is it not coming to pressure before counting down? What exactly is going wrong…?

  6. By far the best mashed potatoes (in my humble opinion) 🙂 I like to add a clove of garlic in while its cooking so when you beat it all up at the end, its garlic mashed potatoes :))

    1. Hey Anne, The servings are listed in the recipe (near the cook, prep times). Every recipe contains a serving size. For this, we say 6 people/servings. Although if you’re serving these for Thanksgiving, when you have a ton of other sides, I think you can definitely serve 8 people with this recipe. For Instant Pot recipes, we don’t recommend doubling or tripling recipes which is why it isn’t mentioned in the recipe. My thought is you could try doubling this recipe, as long as the potatoes don’t reach the max line in the liner.

    1. The creamy part of canned coconut milk works well as a heavy cream sub, or you can use lactose free sour cream or lactose free whole milk

    2. You can buy coconut cream in a can at most stores, but it can be hard to find. If you take a can of coconut milk and leave it upside down in your fridge, the cream will separate from the watery coconut milk and you can scoop it out and use that. I add a little extra pepper to anything I use coconut cream in to balance out any residual coconut flavor. my friends also saw that cashew milk is a tasty, thicker milk substitute