Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe:
My Instant Pot is truly a miracle worker. And I think you’ll feel the same way after you make these Instant Pot baked potatoes with crispy skin.
The Instant Pot produces soft and fluffy baked potatoes, just like the oven-baked version, but in less time and without heating up your house. Even better, I discovered the secret to golden, crisp skin, and it only takes about 3 minutes to achieve!
- Texture – Fluffy and fork-tender on the inside, and irresistibly crisp on the outside.
- Ease – No turning or checking of the potatoes is needed. Simply pop them in the Instant Pot, set the time, and leave. You’ll have creamy baked potatoes ready in minutes!
- Versatile – Make an Instant Pot baked potato for lunch, dinner, as a side dish, or as the main meal!
Serve Instant Pot baked potatoes alongside a pan-seared steak for the ultimate meat and potatoes dinner!
Key Ingredient Notes:
- Russet potatoes – You’ll need 6-8 medium-sized russet potatoes, also sometimes referred to as baking potatoes or Idaho potatoes. A medium-sized potato weighs 8-10 ounces and is about 2.5 inches wide.
- Water – Not really an ingredient, but crucial for success when making baked potatoes in Instant Pot.
- Olive oil – Optional, but I wouldn’t skip it! Olive oil adds flavor and helps achieve the golden, crispy skin we’re looking for in this recipe.
- Optional toppings for serving – Load up your Instant Pot baked potato with kosher salt, garlic powder, chives, butter, sour cream, and grated cheddar cheese.
What type of potatoes are best?
While any type of potato will work for this recipe, Russet potatoes are the best choice! You know the large, fluffy baked potato served at steak and seafood restaurants? They’re using russet potatoes, and for good reason!
Russet potatoes have a high starch content, allowing them to absorb water while cooking, resulting in light and fluffy insides. Additionally, they have thick skin that gets nice and crispy under high heat.
How to make baked potatoes in Instant Pot:
1. Prepare the potatoes
- Wash and scrub the potatoes well.
- Poke several holes in the potato using a fork or small paring knife. This allows steam to escape while the potatoes cook, preventing them from exploding!
- Pour 1 cup of water into the inner pot of your Instant Pot.
- Place the trivet (or steamer rack) into your Instant Pot and arrange the potatoes on top of it.
Tip: Make sure your potatoes aren’t touching the water because they’ll end up mushy! We can’t have crispy skin if we let our potatoes cook into a mushy mess!
2. Pressure cook the potatoes
- Close the lid, and make sure the pressure valve is set to sealing. Then, set your Instant Pot on manual/pressure cook.
- Pressure cook the potatoes for 15 minutes.
- Allow for a natural pressure release for at least 5 minutes. Then, do a quick pressure release by turning the pressure valve to venting.
- Carefully open the lid, and remove the potatoes using kitchen tongs.
Tip: You’ll only need 15 minutes for most medium-large potatoes. However, if you’re cooking a pot full of extra large potatoes, I’d recommend setting your Instant Pot to pressure cook for 18-20 minutes. Small potatoes might only need 12 minutes to cook through!
3. Crisp the skin
- Preheat your oven broiler to 500°F.
- Arrange the potatoes on a baking sheet, lightly drizzle them with olive oil, and sprinkle with kosher salt.
- Broil for 2-3 minutes or until nice and crispy, flipping halfway through. Be sure to keep an eye on them so they don’t burn!
- Serve immediately with any of your favorite toppings!
The secret to crispy skin:
In my opinion, a baked potato is only a good baked potato if it has crispy skin! The irresistible texture contrast between the crisp skin and fluffy, creamy inside is unbeatable. Once it’s topped with warm butter, sour cream, and fresh herbs I simply can’t get enough!
Here are 2 simple tips to keep in mind for achieving crispy skin:
- Don’t let the potatoes touch the water in the Instant Pot. The potatoes have to be placed on a trivet or steamer to stay far above water level. If they touch the water they’ll absorb too much moisture and become mushy.
- Broil the potatoes after cooking. This is the most important step for crispy skin! Make sure your oven has reached 500°F and broil under high heat.
Tips for cooking Instant Pot baked potatoes:
- The more potatoes you cook, the better they turn out. When I fill my Instant Pot with 6-8 medium to large-sized potatoes and pressure cook them for 15 minutes, they all come out evenly cooked. However, if I only cook 4 potatoes of various sizes for the same amount of time, the larger ones are often undercooked.
- Place bigger potatoes at the bottom. If you have potatoes that don’t match in size, place larger potatoes at the bottom of the instant pot. They are closer to the heat and will cook more evenly throughout.
- Determine the size of your potatoes before you get started. Small potatoes weigh 6-8 ounces and are about 2 inches wide. Medium potatoes weigh 8-10 ounces and are about 2.5 inches wide. Large potatoes are 10-12 ounces and about 3 inches wide.
What to serve with Instant Pot baked potatoes:
While a loaded baked potato is a meal all on its own, serving it on the side of a mouth-watering main dish certainly won’t hurt!
Here are a few of my favorite ways to serve Instant Pot baked potatoes:
- Instant Pot Ribs – Make your entire dinner in the Instant Pot so cleanup is a breeze!
- Beef Brisket or Grilled Chicken Breast – Fire up the grill while the potatoes cook in the Instant Pot.
- Easy Baked Salmon – For a quick and easy weeknight dinner!
- Pan Fried Steak – A classic combination!
Repurpose Leftover Baked Potatoes:
I like to make extra baked potatoes to re-purpose them into different meals. For example, I shred the leftover cooled baked potatoes to make quick and easy hash browns.
You can also cube the baked potatoes and pan-fry (or air fry) them for a quick side dish.
Oh, the leftover baked potatoes make a delicious Instant Pot Broccoli and Potato Soup as well!
PRO TIP: If you plan on peeling your cooked potatoes, or would like to repurpose them for another dish, cut a large X into one end of the potato. The X makes the potatoes much easier to peel!
Make-Ahead Tips:
- Fully cook the potatoes in the Instant Pot, but don’t transfer them to the oven just yet.
- Allow the potatoes to cool completely. Then, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 day.
- When you’re ready to serve the potatoes, slather them in olive oil and warm them in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 350°F.
- Crisp the skin under the broiler during the last few minutes of reheating.
Storing Tips:
- Allow the potatoes to cool completely. Then, store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
- Reheat leftovers in the oven at 350° for 15-20 minutes, or in the microwave in 1-minute intervals until heated through.
FAQs:
Can I cook baked potatoes in a pressure cooker without a trivet or rack?
The short answer is no, you cannot. If your potatoes touch the water while they are pressure cooking they will absorb too much moisture and become mushy. A trivet keeps the food away from the water, cooking the potatoes with a small amount of steam. If you don’t have the Instant Pot trivet or rack, try using a metal or silicone item that is heat resistant and can hold the potatoes above the water line.
What can I make with leftover baked potatoes?
Repurpose leftover Instant Pot baked potatoes into hash browns, an easy skillet hash, or potato soup. Slice them up for a quick side dish like home fries or potato salad. Or, transform leftover potatoes into one of my favorite dishes, cheesy twice-baked potatoes!
How long does it take for potatoes to soften in an Instant Pot?
This will largely depend on the size of your potatoes. I find that most medium-large potatoes take just 15 minutes to become fork-tender. Extra-large potatoes may need up to 20 minutes and small potatoes will likely only need about 12 minutes.
Instant Pot Baked Potatoes
5 (12 ratings)
Created by Shinee D.
Servings 6 -8 servings
Prep: 5 minutes mins
Cook: 15 minutes mins
Total: 40 minutes mins
Enjoy creamy and fluffy Instant Pot baked potatoes without sacrificing crispy skin and all. Useful tips and tricks are included!
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Ingredients
- 6-8 medium russet potatoes Note 1
- 1-1.5 cups water
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil optional
For serving:
- coarse kosher salt
- garlic powder
- chives/scallions
- butter
- sour cream
- grated cheddar cheese
Instructions
Wash and scrub the potatoes well. Poke the potatoes with a fork (or a small pairing knife) in 5-6 places. (Rumor has it that the potatoes may explode if not pricked, as steam needs to escape.) (TIP:If you’d like to peel and repurpose the baked potatoes for another dish, cut an X on one end of the potato for easy peeling. See it in action in the post below.)
Pour 1 cup (or 1.5 cups if you have 8qt Instant Pot) in inner pot of Instant Pot. Place the trivet (or a steamer rack) and arrange the potatoes on it. (TIP:Make sure potatoes are not touching the water, or they’ll come out mushy.)
Close the lid and make sure the pressure valve is set to sealing. Set the Instant Pot on Manual/Pressure Cook for 15 minutes. (If you’re cooking large potatoes, set it to 18 minutes. See Note 2 for more details about size of potatoes.)
When time is up, do NPR (natural pressure release) for at least 5 minutes, and then do a quick pressure release by turning the pressure valve to venting.
Carefully open the lid and remove the potatoes using a pair of kitchen tongs.
For crispy skin, preheat the oven to 500°F (broiler).Arrange the potatoes on a baking sheet, lightly oil them and sprinkle some salt. Place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes, or until nice and crispy, flipping half through. Keep a close eye on them to prevent them from burning.
Remove from oven and serve with your favorite toppings.
Notes
This recipe has been tested in my favorite Instant Pot DUO 6qt.
Note 1:Pick similar sized potatoes, if you can. But if you have potatoes of various sizes, place the bigger ones on the bottom and smaller ones on top. And if needed, cook the bigger ones for an additional 2 minutes, after you remove the cooked smaller potatoes.
Testing notes:In my experience, the fuller the pot, better the potatoes cooked. Meaning, if you fill the pot with potatoes of various sizes and cook for 15 minutes with 5min NPR, all the potatoes cooked perfectly. Whereas when I cooked only 4 potatoes (2 large and 2 medium) for 15 minutes with 5min NPR, the large ones would still be a little hard.
Note 2:For the most part, 15 minutes is sufficient time to cook medium to large potatoes. However, if you’re cooking pot full of large to extra large potatoes, then I’d cook them for 18-20 minutes. For small potatoes, cook for 12 minutes. Read the post below to determine what size is your potato.
Nutrition
Serving: 1potatoCalories: 189kcalCarbohydrates: 38gProtein: 5gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 13mgPotassium: 888mgFiber: 3gSugar: 1gVitamin C: 12mgCalcium: 28mgIron: 2mg
* Disclaimer: All nutrition information are estimates only. Read full nutrition disclosure.
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Reader Interactions
Fran M Becker says
I followed the instructions with one small exception. Instead of broiling, I put the potatoes in the oven on 500 for 15 minutes. Perfection! A real time saver on a workday, and there are always some kind of leftovers to stuff the potatoes with- everyone can take what they want!Reply
Kathy says
I love baked sweet potatoes, would the same instructions work for these or what modifications are needed?
Reply
Stephen Clapper says
Need to write a BUT to my comments.
I marked the stars 5) before I have written down some concerns.1. I did not have a ‘size chart’ for potatoes. Your chart with sixes really will help me next time.
2. In my reading, it was recommended to err on the side of (adding several more minutes…ie: 20 min…i haded 3-5 minutes.
Seems DUMB…..Why not change the times to the ‘err on adding more time)QUESTION: Know one talked about cooking at higher altitudes.
I live about one mile High.Should I adjust to higher altitude cooking?
Thank you
Reply
Shinee says
Hi, Stephen. Thanks for your feedback. I’m not experienced with high altitude cooking, but I found this article pretty helpful.
Reply
Debra says
If you use the extra potatoes for hash browns for another meal….how do you keep until ready, do you keep as is until ready to use and then shred right before using, or shred and freeze until ready to use….? Thank you for the recipe. I am a new Instant Pot user.
Reply
Shinee says
Hi, Debra. You can do either way. Both ways work just fine. If you’re planning to make hashbrowns soon, like in a day, then I’d store the whole potato in the fridge and shred right before using. If you’re not planning to make hashbrowns any time soon, then shred and freeze for longer. Hope this helps.
Reply
Robin says
High pressure or low pressure?
Reply
