The Secret To A Perfectly Cooked Instant Pot Sweet Potato

No more undercooked sweet potatoes, this one simple secret will produce a perfectly cooked Instant Pot sweet potato every time… Making sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot is a total game changer for meal prep or those doing a Whole30!

Instant Pot Sweet Potato

First off, I owe you all an apology… I’ve been promising to share how I make sweet potatoes in my Instant Pot since LAST JUNE — and I totally dropped the ball. But since my balsamic grilled chicken is going bonkers with you Whole30-ers right now, I’ve received several emails asking about the recipe.

So… thanks for calling me on it, and I’m sorry! Better late than never, right?

Here’s the thing, though — there’s kind of a reason behind why I haven’t shared it yet: I couldn’t get the timing right. Which was super frustrating!

As with cooking times and ovens, there’s also a bit of leeway in cooking times between all Instant Pots. So when I make a new recipe, I know it’s a given that I might need to play with the timing and adjust it a bit from the recipe as written.

But after trying several sweet potato recipes/methods, I had a hunch that it was more than just a timing issue. Even with using the same method and timing across several different batches, the texture varied from extra tender to still having a bit of chew. They were never inedible, but I wanted a bit more consistency in the outcome before sharing.

Perfect Sweet Potato

And then one day it hit me — all of the recipes for Instant Pot sweet potatoes I tried called for a medium sweet potato. Exactly what does a medium sweet potato look like? I typically buy the ginormous bags of sweet potatoes from Costco, which contain quite an array of sizes. Some could qualify as two servings, while others barely one.

I just knew this was the root of all of my consistency issues, but I didn’t know how to control it. So I turned to Google, of course… And buried in an obscure post on the Instant Pot website, I found the simplest of solutions.

You’re simply not going to believe it! I know, because I was stunned, too…

PIN IT NOW! CLICK HERE TO ADD THIS PERFECT INSTANT POT SWEET POTATOES RECIPE TO YOUR INSTANT POT RECIPES BOARD ON PINTEREST!

The Secret To A Perfect Instant Pot Sweet Potato

Are you ready for this? For perfect sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot, all you need to do is pick up an inexpensive sewing tape measure to measure the circumference of your sweet potatoes! Voila, a perfect sweet potato every time… Crazy, isn’t it?!

Once you’ve measured your sweet potatoes, you can group like sizes together and adjust your cooking time based on their size and your preference in texture. I’ve put together a little chart below that should help you calculate your cooking time.

Cooking Sweet Potatoes In Instant Pot

sweet potato circumference	fully cooked, some chew	fully cooked, tender
6 inches	15 minutes	20 minutes
8 inches	25 minutes	30 minutes
10 inches	35 minutes	40 minutes
12 inches	45 minutes	50 minutes

 
TIP: Toss one of these vegetable brushes in your cart, too. The amount of extra dirt they scrub off potatoes versus hand washing alone is shocking!

How To Make Pressure Cooker Sweet Potatoes

There’s really nothing to making perfect pressure cooker sweet potatoes once you have the cooking time ironed out! Scrub between two and four sweet potatoes of roughly the same size well under cold water, measure their circumference to calculate the cooking time, and then set them on the steamer insert inside the stainless steel insert pot.

Press the Manual button (Pressure Cook if you have the newest IP-DUO60), make sure your pressure is set to High, and set your cook time according to your earlier calculations.

Once the sweet potatoes are done cooking, allow the Instant Pot to release its pressure naturally, which should take roughly 10-11 minutes. Open the lid carefully, and enjoy!

Pressure cooker sweet potatoes last for up to 7 days in the fridge, making this method an ideal part of your meal prep routine. I happen to love them cold, but sometimes I also slice them up and fry them in avocado oil, then top them with guacamole. That’s one Whole30 breakfast I always look forward to!

Looking to turn IP sweet potatoes into a full-on meal? Try smothering them in this Instant Pot Dr Pepper Pulled Pork… SO GOOD!

PIN IT NOW, MAKE IT LATER! CLICK HERE TO PIN THIS RECIPE.
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6-Minute Instant Pot Hard-Boiled Eggs

If you love this sweet potatoes recipe, I think you’ll also adore this method for 6-minute Instant Pot hard-boiled eggs! They turn out amazing every time: easy to peel, perfectly cooked and never have those icky green yolks… I make a batch of both of these during my meal prep session each week!

I’d love to see how your sweet potatoes turn out… Tag me @Unsophisticook on Instagram or use the hashtag #Unsophisticook so I can check it out. Enjoy!