Easy Instant Pot Baked Potatoes (Perfect Texture)
Here’s how to make whole Instant Pot Baked Potatoes that are cooked through with the perfect texture. This recipe is so easy and great for busy weeknights. Serve your baked potatoes as a side dish or even as a main dish.
Baked potatoes are a favorite comfort food. They are starchy and satisfying and you can top them with just about anything.
For a traditional baked potato, top with regular shredded cheese or dairy-free shredded cheese. Add a dollop of sour cream or coconut yogurt and you’re good to go. You can also add green onions and real or vegan bacon bits.
If you want to transform a simple baked potato into a full meal, you can add a cooked protein or crumbled tempeh on top. Include some taco seasoning and salsa and you’ve got yourself a Mexican flavored baked potato.
The toppings for baked potatoes are endless. Not only that, but Russet potatoes are budget-friendly and generally available throughout the year.
Instant Pot Baked Potato Benefits
- Don’t worry about heating up your oven to cook baked potatoes. Just pop your Russet potatoes into your electric pressure cooker instead.
- A baked potato made in an Instant Pot tastes exactly the same as an oven-cooked potato. But, it’s so much simpler to make baked potatoes in a pressure cooker and they’ll be done in a fraction of the time.
- You don’t have to worry about pricking the potatoes with a fork. You literally just plop the potatoes in the pot and set it to cook at high pressure.
Ingredients
Russet potatoes are the preferred kind of potatoes for making baked potatoes. They are high in starch which helps them have a lighter texture. Russet potatoes have a thin, brown skin that should be free from blemishes.
Look for potatoes in the produce aisle of your local grocery store. You can also use Yukon gold, but my preference is Russet for the best potato recipe.
If you have other types of potatoes on hand, then you can make them too. See my recipes for Instant Pot Red Potatoes, Instant Pot Baby Potatoes, and Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes.
Water is necessary to cook your potatoes in the electric pressure cooker. If you are new to using the Instant Pot, don’t miss my guide on How to Use the Instant Pot Duo.
See the recipe card below for the full recipe!
Recipe Steps
Let me show you how easy it is to make baked potatoes in the Instant Pot.
Step One
The first step is to grab a few Russet potatoes to bake. You can fit about 4-6 large potatoes in a 6-quart Instant Pot without worrying about overfilling the pot.
Be sure to wash the potatoes well, especially if you plan to eat the skin.
Step Two
Next, place your trivet in the bottom of the pot (you can also use a steamer basket), along with one cup of water, and then place the potatoes on top of the trivet.
Please see the recipe card at the end of this post for the exact ingredients and measurements.
Step Three
The last step is to lock on the lid, make sure the sealing pressure valve is set to sealed, and set the cook time to 20 minutes on high pressure.
Once the cooking time is complete, just let the pressure come down naturally for at least 10 minutes using the natural pressure release, and then release any remaining pressure using the quick release and remove the lid.
Step Four
Use tongs to carefully remove the potatoes and serve.
I hope you agree that this easy baked potatoes recipe is the best way to cook them. You’ll get a perfect baked potato every single time.
A good baked potato is one of my most favorite things and it’s just so easy to make them this way.
Potato Pressure Cooker Time Chart
Here is a handy chart with cooking times for different sizes of Russet potatoes:
- baby potatoes: 7 minutes
- small potatoes: 10 minutes
- medium potatoes: 15 minutes
- large potatoes (the most common size): 20 minutes
- extra-large potatoes: 25 minutes
Just for comparison’s sake, a large potato is about the length of a ballpoint pen.
How to Serve Baked Potatoes
Baked potatoes are a staple in my household. I serve them as a side dish to protein dishes, or even as the main dish, topped with sautéed vegetables and a little bit of ghee.
Other favorite toppings include sour cream, chives, bacon bits, and cheddar cheese (for dairy-free diets, choose dairy-free versions of these). Make a baked potato bar and let everyone top their own potatoes.
I’m sure you know this, but baked potatoes are very neutral in flavor and are incredibly versatile. I use them as the base of my Vegan Potato Leek Soup and my Vegan Broccoli Potato Soup.
Recipe FAQs
No, you don’t. You can just scrub them and pat them dry and place them on the trivet to cook.
Yes, potatoes are naturally gluten-free.
For most people, white potatoes are part of an overall balanced diet. You can reduce the glycemic load of baked white potatoes by serving them with ingredients that have protein, fat, and fiber.
After they are done cooking, you can feel free to spray them with some olive oil cooking spray and put under the broiler for a few minutes on a baking sheet. You’ll get crispy skins this way!
More Instant Pot Recipes You Might Like
- Instant Pot Artichokes
- Instant Pot Baby Potatoes
- Instant Pot Beets
- Instant Pot Whole Butternut Squash
- Instant Pot Cabbage
- Instant Pot Carrots
- Instant Pot Whole Red Potatoes
Or, check out my entire index of healthy Instant Pot recipes.
Don’t Miss These Instant Pot Resources!
Easy Instant Pot Baked Potatoes (Perfect Texture)
Here’s how to make Instant Pot Baked Potatoes that are cooked through with the perfect texture. This recipe is so easy and great for busy weeknights. Serve your baked potatoes as a side dish or even as a main dish.
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 4–8 large Russet potatoes, scrubbed and patted dry
Instructions
- Place the trivet inside of a 6-quart or 8-quart Instant Pot.
- Pour in the water and add the potatoes on top.
- Lock on the lid and set the time to 20 minutes at high pressure.
- Once the cooking time is complete, let the pressure come down naturally for 10 minutes. Then, release the remaining pressure and remove the lid.
- Use tongs to remove the potatoes. Serve warm.
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
- Store any leftovers in a tightly-sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Here are cooking times for other sizes of Russet potatoes (baby: 7 minutes; small: 10 minutes; medium: 15 minutes; large (the most common size): 20 minutes; extra-large: 25 minutes)
- You don’t need to worry about pricking holes in your potatoes before cooking.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Side dish
- Method: pressure cooker
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 potato
- Calories: 146
- Sugar: 1.1 g
- Sodium: 9.2 mg
- Fat: 0.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 33.3 g
- Fiber: 2.4 g
- Protein: 3.9 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
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About the Author: Carrie Forrest is the author of the best-selling Instant Pot-authorized cookbook, The Healthy Meal Prep Instant Pot Cookbook. She has a master’s degree in public health with a specialty in nutrition and receives nearly 10 million annual visitors to her site. Send Carrie a message through her contact form.
Can you cook the potatoes at the same time you’re cooking baby back ribs in the instant pot? I cook the ribs for around 30 minutes and you say to cook the potatoes for 20…
Yes but the potatoes might be a bit overcooked.
Tried this evening, and they are just steamed potatoes, not baked. Even though the potatoes came good, the texture and taste are different than oven baked ones.
They are so damn good! I had no idea you could make potatoes in the instant pot. Incredibly fluffy.
Woo-hoo! I’m glad you liked them!
One of the easiest ways to make potatoes I’ve ever tried.