How to Cook Potatoes in the Instant pot
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Potato is the most loved vegetable worldwide. Discover how to easily cook potatoes with this easy-to-follow tutorial for the Instant Pot.
Potatoes are life, and I’m pretty sure most of you would agree.
I can barely imagine a life without potatoes. How about you?
My husband often states “every dish needs a potato element”, and I actually ended up agreeing with him. Well, for most dishes, at least.
What I want to say is that we all seem to love them, in all shapes and form.
This is why nailing their cooking is one of the proudest things we can achieve.
Since buying an Instant Pot a couple of years back, I really can’t see myself not using it.
And the task that, hands down, used to be something I would dread upon it was indeed boiling or steaming potatoes.
I just couldn’t wrap my head around how long it would actually take in a traditional pan, not to mention the mess they would make on the stove, and how uneven the spuds ended up most of the times.
This is why I often use the microwave instead, like I showed in my world wide loved recipes for Courgette and Potato Cakes or to make these Skin-On Roasted Potatoes.
It is just so easy to achieve the perfectly cooked potatoes, that I wanted to share with you a couple of tips to do so with your Instant Pot friend.
Hope you’ll enjoy!
First things first: What Potatoes to Use
You’d be amazed to discover how many potato varieties there are out there.
The top 3 potato producer countries are Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, and the estimate of native varieties that are grown in the Andean highlands of are over 4,000. These are lots of siblings for our good old spuds.
Obviously, for the purpose of this post I will stick to the most common varieties available pretty much everywhere.
Since there are so many potatoes, it comes without saying that different types are most suitable for specific uses.
Overall this is a rough guide of the most common potatoes and the best way to use them.
Potatoes for Baking: New potatoes, Red potatoes, Russet Potatoes, Maris Piper, King Edward, Yukon Gold potatoes, Long White potatoes, Peruvian potatoes and obviously the “Baking Potatoes” type you would commonly find in UK shops.
Potatoes for Boiling: New potatoes, Red potatoes, King Edward, Red potatoes, White potatoes, Yellow potatoes.
Potatoes for Mash: Fried: Russets, King Edward, Maris Piper, Yukon Gold potatoes and White potatoes.
Potatoes to Deep Fry: King Edward, Russet, Maris Piper.
Potatoes for Salads: see potatoes for boiling.
Tips to Make the Best Potatoes
Tip 1: Pick the best potato variety for your recipe.
It might feel like potatoes are all the same, they sure can look very similar one to another. In reality they actually vary a lot texture wise, based on their starch concentration.
Feel free to use the guide at the top of this post to better understand what types of potato will give you the best result.
Tip 2: Select potatoes of the same size/weight.
Using potatoes of roughly the same size or weight will ensure they will all cook thoroughly and uniformly at about the same time.
Tip 3: Arrange potatoes in one layer.
There’s nothing wrong on filling the whole pot with spuds, but ideally you want to form only one layer to achieve best results.
Tip 4: Set the right cooking time.
It comes without saying that cooking times vary according to the size of the potatoes.
In the instant pot the best way to cook potatoes to perfection (or steam, if you prefer) is to use the mode: pressure cook.
Medium-sized potatoes take around 20 minutes* of cooking time, while baby or new potatoes can be ready in as little as 8 minutes*, and big ones up to 30 minutes*.
I own a Instant Pot 3 Mini, that is only 3 Liters, which is more than enough for my family of two.
If you’re not familiar with it, it is basically a smaller version of the standard 5.7L IP, which is the recommended size for a family of 4-6.
Here’s a small guide that can help you cook to perfection your potatoes in the IP:
Baby/Bite sized potatoes – less than 100 g/3oz: 3-4 minutes*
Small potatoes – up to 100 g/3.5oz each: 5-8 minutes*
Medium small potatoes – 110 to 150g/up to 5oz each: 10 minutes*
Medium potatoes –160g to 270g each/up to 7oz each: 12-15 minutes*
Large potatoes – 280g to 340g /8-10oz each: 18-23 minutes*
Extra large potatoes – over 350g/11+oz each: 25+ minutes*
*all cooking times are intended for the pressure cook mode of the IP (+ 10 minutes pressure release) and they’ll result in soft, ready to eat or mash potatoes.
If you’re planning to pre-boil the potatoes for baked potato wedges or roasties I recommend you to half the cooking times.
How to Cook Potatoes in the Instant Pot
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Ingredients:
4-5 medium sized potatoes (roughly of the same weight)
100-250 ml water
Method:
1. Wash the potatoes thoroughly and remove eventual sprouts/eyes.
2. Place the Instant Pot Steamer Rack on the bottom of the pan, then place the potatoes on top forming ideally one layer.
3. Pour the water and close the lid, making sure the valve is on “sealed”.
4. Select the pressure cook mode and set 20 minutes.
5. After the final beep, turn the valve to venting being careful of the steam release.
6. Allow the potatoes to cool to the touch and use in your favourite recipes.
Use this tutorial to make:
– Crispy & Fluffy Roast Potatoes
– Salt & Vinegar Smashed Potatoes
– Skin On Roasted Potatoes
Enjoy!
