How To Use An Instant Pot To Steam Potatoes

Instant cookers have revolutionized the way we cook food. Whether you are a professional or a novice home chef, instant pots will arguably provide you with more value than any other utensil in the kitchen.

These pots are designed to cook food quickly using high temperatures and with the help of pressure cooking!

They can render meat within a fraction of the time it takes to cook it using a normal pot and can easily tenderize dense, starchy vegetables like potatoes too.

How do you use an instant pot to steam potatoes? To cook potatoes in an instant pot, all you need to do is add the potatoes (whole) to the pot along with 1-2 cups of water and set the instant pot to the “high” setting. Cook for 5-15 minutes, depending on how large the potatoes are, and you’re done!

Read below to learn more about how to use instant pots, how they cook food, and how to properly cook different-sized potatoes in them!

How Instant Pots Work

Instant pots are the modern version of typical pressure cookers. 

These pots are electronically controlled rather than being mechanically or manually adjusted.

This means that they have an intricate system of electronics embedded within the pot to control the time, temperature, and other settings during the cooking process.

But before you understand how instant pots work, it is better if we start with how pressure cookers cook food, as both share the same technique. 

Pressure cookers were invented back in the mid-1600s. That’s right, mankind has been exploiting the laws of physics for a very long time! 

Here’s a quick refresher: the higher the pressure, the more energy (heat/temperature) it takes to excite water molecules and produce steam.

Think about a typical pot of boiling water. Water starts to boil at a temperature of 212°F. Now, the important thing to remember is that water doesn’t boil at the same temperature everywhere.

It depends on air pressure (or elevation). For example, water will boil at 212°F in Boston but in Denver, Colorado it will boil at a temperature of 203°F!

This happens because both locations have differences in elevation compared to the sea level. 

In other words, the water molecules will not need to “fight” the atmospheric pressure to escape via the added energy or heat. 

The closer you are to sea level, the more heat you will need to boil water and create enough energy to cook food, and vice versa!

This concept is important because it explains how pressure cookers can bring down the cooking time of even stubborn pot roasts to just 45-minutes rather than 3-4 hours. 

Instant pots have an airtight seal around the lid that creates a sort of vacuum.

When you heat the water inside a pressure cooker/instant pot, it will require a whopping 230-250°F just to bring the water to a boil, something that wouldn’t be possible to achieve using a non-pressure pot at sea level.

The higher the temperature, the faster the food will cook!

How To Use An Instant Pot

Much like pressure cookers, instant pots work the same way but have a few key differences.

The biggest difference is that instant pots use electricity to generate and control heat via sensors and internal electronics.

They are also much easier to use than typical pressure cookers as they are usually large, clunky, and not user-friendly.

Instant pots were designed to cater to a large demographic. This includes both professionals and beginners as with just a press of a button, you can cook food without worry!

However, there are a few things that you need to check before you use the pot:

Top Seal And Lid

The first thing is to check the rubber seal under the lid of the instant pot. This seal is the backbone of the cooker as, without it, you won’t be able to lock or seal in the steam to create pressure. 

Make sure that the seal sits snug with the base of the lid. If it is uneven or not properly seated with the ring of the lid, then you won’t be able to close the lid and cook the potatoes/food properly. 

To make the seal fit inside, just run your fingers around the seal while pushing downward. The seal should be uniform and any ejected section of the rubber must be pushed down to fit the base of the lid. 

Sealing And Venting Valve 

The next step is to add water and food to the pot and seal the lid. To seal it, just put the lid over the pot and turn it counterclockwise or as stated in the manual of the instant pot. 

Next, set the steam release valve to either “sealing” or “venting”. 

For cooking purposes, it is always recommended to leave the valve at the “sealing” setting. This will keep the steam inside and create pressure. 

When the food has been cooked, you will have the option to release the excess steam using the vent valve.

Please keep in mind that the pot will not open (due to the vacuum) until all of the steam has been released and the internal pressure of the cooker has normalized.  

Be extremely careful when venting the steam because everything will be extremely hot! We’ll discuss more on this below when we demonstrate how you can cook potatoes using an instant pot!

Timer And Settings

When everything is set, all you have to do is set the timer and let the cooker work its magic!

There are two ways you can do this: you could either set the timer and pressure manually or you can select from one of the many available presets. 

For example, there is a preset for rice, a preset for soups, and you can also make yogurt in the instant pot too (Duo model only)! 

If you don’t want to meddle with the settings then we suggest that you leave everything on high and just adjust the timer as per your preference. 

If you have any experience using a typical pressure cooker, then you can apply that same knowledge here as well.

The high setting is what most normal pressure cookers operate at while the low or medium pressure setting will generate less heat inside the pot. 

Now that you know how to operate an instant pot, let’s look at how you can cook potatoes using them!

Steaming Potatoes In An Instant Pot

Potatoes may look innocuous but are a nightmare to cook, especially for beginners. 

Perfectly cooked potatoes are incredibly tender and maintain their structure unless you apply some force to them. 

Achieving these characteristics can be troubling when using typical pots but with the instant pot, all you would need to do is press a button and wait! The potatoes can take anywhere from 5-20 minutes to cook as per their size.

Here is an easy chart to help you cook different-sized potatoes the right way:

Edit

Aspect	Tiny Baby Potatoes	Small Potatoes	Medium Potatoes	Large Potatoes
Steam Time (minutes)	5	10 – 12	13-15	18-20
Natural Release (minutes)	10	10	10	10

The natural release time is when you don’t manually vent the steam and allow the potatoes to sit inside the steam while the instant pot is off.

Remember, each potato will boil as per its size. So, you can add as many of the same-sized potatoes in the instant pot to cook them together. 

If you add different-sized potatoes then you might have to deal with either uncooked or overcooked potatoes. This is why you must keep everything as consistent as possible. 

Here is how to cook a typical serving of potatoes in the instant pot:

1. Clean the potatoes so that they are clear of any dirt or debris. 
2. Pour in 2 cups of water at the base of the pot.
3. Add the potatoes either in a steamer basket or directly into the inner removable container of the instant pot.
4. Close the lid and securely lock it in place. Next, set the release valve to “sealing” to accumulate pressure and steam.
5. Set the timer of the pot as per the size of the potatoes and let it process until done! The pot will beep when it is done so you can leave the potatoes inside for an additional 10 minutes while the cooker is off.
6. After 10 minutes, set the release valve to “venting” to release any excess steam. Please be careful when releasing steam from the pot as it will be extremely hot! Always use a spoon or gloves to operate the valve after using the pot. 
7. Take the potatoes out of the pot and using a fork, pierce every potato at the center to see if they are done. The fork should go through without resistance.
8. Place the potatoes in water or over the counter until they reach room temperature. This should take no more than 10-15 minutes.
9. Once they are easy to work with, peel them and use the potatoes as per your needs!

Tips And Tricks

• The best way to use the instant pot (like with every other appliance) is to not rely on the presets and to just use the manual settings. The reason for this is that the presets don’t always work correctly in multi-purpose appliances unless the appliance has a dedicated job to perform, like in the case of rice cookers. Always follow the specifics given in the recipe for a more precise cooking experience. 
• If you have doubts about the doneness of any food, specifically potatoes, then you can halt the cooking process by quickly turning off the instant pot and then venting the steam. Once the steam is released, you can quickly check the doneness using the fork method described above and then adjust the remaining cooking time accordingly.
• Some people believe that cutting the potatoes in half will cook them efficiently in the instant pot. This is not true because the instant pot will equally cook all the potatoes even if they have the skin on. Steaming or boiling the potatoes without the skin may give them a crumbly texture. 
• The inner container of the instant pot will have water-level markings to indicate how much water you should add to the pot to cook the food appropriately. Adding more water may result in leakage from the release valve and adding too little may burn the food. In the case of steaming potatoes, you might only need 1-2 cups to generate steam. 

Related Questions

Instant Pots are a huge time saver when it comes to cooking food quickly and thoroughly.

Cooking potatoes in an instant pot will provide you with convenience and peace of mind since all of the potatoes will be cooked equally and you won’t have to spend time near an open pot!

Here are a few related questions regarding the usage of instant pots with potatoes!

Can you pressure-boil the potatoes instead of steaming them in the instant pot?

Yes, you can easily boil potatoes in the instant pot too.

To do this, first, add the potatoes and then simply add enough water to reach the inner water-marking inside the pot. 

You will need to add the potatoes first as putting them in the pot after adding water may cause the water to spill. Seal the lid and let the timer run for about 5-10 minutes or as per the size of the potatoes (refer to the chart above).

Can you blanch potatoes in an instant pot?

Yes, you can blanch potatoes in an instant pot.

If you are preparing French fries, then we suggest blanching the potatoes at the highest pressure setting or you can also use the chart above to figure out the exact cooking time of the potatoes. 

Just divide the respective time by half and you will have perfectly blanched potatoes every time! 

How do you steam potatoes in the instant pot if you don’t have a steamer?

If you don’t have the appropriate steamer basket for your instant pot then there is a clever hack that you can use to make a makeshift basket for the potatoes. 

Take a large sheet of foil and form it into a baseball-sized ball. You will need at least 3-4 of these balls.

Add 1-2 cups of water to the pot and place in the foil balls. Now you will need to put in a foil plate that has a slightly smaller diameter than the size of the instant pot. 

Rest the plate over the balls so that it floats and then simply place in the potatoes and steam until done! 

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