I have a habit of being the last person to jump on trends: I didn’t get a smartphone until well into college and I still don’t have a TikTok account. This lack of enthusiasm for adopting new trends into my life transcends into the kitchen, where for the past several years I’ve taken a firm anti–Instant Pot stance—I just didn’t think it warranted the shelf space. But there is one recipe that made me change my mind about the futuresque appliance and eat my words: mashed potatoes. The first time I tried cooking them in an Instant Pot was a revelation; a true a-ha moment. Never had I seen mashed potatoes so lush and creamy—like a cloud of buttery starch begging to be showered in chives. And ever since this culinary epiphany I’ve been an Instant Pot convert.
But why does the Instant Pot give mashed potatoes such a fluffy texture? And how did this one recipe have the power to draw me into the IP universe? It all comes down to pressure cooking.
Put simply, the Instant Pot’s pressure function works by using both steam and pressure to cook foods quickly. During the cooking process, steam is trapped inside the vessel, creating a pressure chamber that speeds up the process. This makes quick work of tough cuts of meat that cook for several hours (like pork shoulder) but is also great for mashed potatoes. This is because you can cook the potatoes into tender submission without the risk of them falling apart. And potatoes that are cooked up until this stage (i.e., barely holding together) make the creamiest, lump-free mash.
And I know what you might be thinking: Why can’t you just boil potatoes on the stovetop for a long time to achieve a similar texture? Well, you can, but there is one major problem: Potatoes that are cooked into oblivion in boiling water have a tendency to fall apart. And once the potatoes start to lose their shape like this, they often become waterlogged as those broken bits boil away. This results in watery mashed potatoes that can’t hold on to as much butter and cream, hampering their richness and diluting their flavor. Not great.
So to get the best of both worlds (cooked-into-oblivion potatoes without any water retention), use the pressure cook function on your Instant Pot. Cooking your potatoes this way takes only about 30 minutes total (about 15 of them spent waiting for the Instant Pot to come to pressure).
After the potatoes are cooked, you can take advantage of the Instant Pot yet again: Add the potatoes to the still-warm Instant Pot insert, mash until mostly smooth, then add all your other ingredients, like butter, milk, and sour cream, until the potatoes are as smooth as a cloud. Because the Instant Pot insert is still so hot, you don’t need to worry about the ingredients being cold and cooling down your potatoes; you just throw them in. Mash until the potatoes are completely smooth, season, and serve. The potatoes will put up no fight when being smashed, falling apart to create the smoothest mash imaginable.
So for anyone looking to free up some stove space this holiday season—or for anyone in search of the creamiest, smoothest, lump-free mashed potatoes—bust out your Instant Pot. Mashed potatoes is the one recipe that changed my mind about the appliance and has made me a convert ever since.
