Cooking Petite Potatoes Made Easy

Petite potatoes, baby potatoes, pearlers…whatever you call them, they are delicious and can be such a fun part of a meal. Here are a few tips on how to cook petite potatoes in the Instant Pot, oven, and stove top, as well as a couple of recipes.

How to Cook Baby Potatoes

Sometimes I get caught up in making fun recipes, that I forget to focus on the basics, too.

Because so many recipes are just a buildup of different techniques, right?

Later this week, I will be sharing a FANTASTIC recipe for mini twice-baked potatoes. Seriously, they are to die for.

But they started out by me making petite potatoes in the Instant Pot. I’m no stranger to cooking potatoes in the Instant Pot – my Instant Pot mashed potatoes go wild anytime I post them!

It honestly isn’t that much different from cooking regular potatoes, but I think it’s worth sharing.

What are Petite Potatoes?

So first off…what are petite potatoes!

They actually don’t taste that much different than regular russets, but they are smaller. You can use them in a variety of ways, and they are kind of fun. They cook quickly and are perfectly bite-sized.

The flavor is more concentrated because of their size, so a lot of people do find these tastier than larger potatoes.

They come in various colors, which can add a real pop to any recipe. When I buy them at the store, there are usually different bags – often, they are bags in the same color, but for this post, I bought the variety pack.

I think the purple ones are especially fun. The colors usually taste all the same.

This is a fun video about petite potatoes:

What Can I use Petite Potatoes for?

There are plenty of ways to use these fun little potatoes. As mentioned in the video above, they are perfect for a potato salad – especially if you want something more colorful.

I can hardly wait to share my mini twice-baked potatoes with you later this week because I think it’s a super fun and unique way to use these potatoes. Here are a few other ways to use them:

• Roasted potatoes
• Potato Salad
• Tossed in olive oil and seasonings
• Mashed Potatoes
• Smah them up and add seasonings, cheese, and maybe even some sour cream

They can be served whole because of how small they are, so there’s no need to usually slice or cut them up. Petite potatoes also tend to cook faster, because they are so much faster.

Recipes for Petite Potatoes

Here are a few recipes I’ve found that use Petite Potatoes:

• Garlic Parmesan Roasted Potatoes
• Brown Butter Potatoes
• Crispy Smashed Potatoes
• Baby Potato Salad

How to Cook Petite Potatoes

Here are three different methods to make petite or baby potatoes. These are all the very basic ways to make these – feel free to add butter, oil, and any variety of seasonings to make them taste even better!

Instant Pot Instructions

These instructions are so simple – I’m sure a lot of people can figure it out just fine.

But in case you are wanting a little more instructions, this post is for you!

First off, you can cook these directly in the Instant Pot or with a steamer basket. Clearly, I just threw them in. However, they would be easier to remove if you used a steamer basket.

You need 1 cup of liquid, which is pretty typical for most pressure cooker recipes. I used water, but if you are looking for a different flavor profile, you could easily use some kind of broth.

And finally – how long do you cook these? That will depend on how firm you want them! For my twice-baked potatoes, I didn’t want them to be fall-apart soft. I needed the skins to still be on the potatoes – so I went with five minutes.

They were pretty soft on the inside, but not soft enough that everything was falling apart. If you want it that soft, I would go with eight minutes – the skins should just fall off then (if you want that. I do think it would be hard to peel these beforehand).

1. Place one cup of water in the bottom of your Instant Pot
2. Put petite potatoes in the pot or in a steamer basket that you will place in the pot.
3. Put the lid and set to sealing.
4. Set the Instant Pot for 5-8 minutes.
5. Once the timer reaches zero, let the pressure release naturally for five minutes and then quick pressure release the rest.
6. If you want to add any seasonings or butter/oil, dump out the water and put the butter/oil in the Instant Pot with the different seasonings. Turn to low/medium saute until warmed and melted and toss the potatoes in it.

Boiling Instructions

When boiling, it’s good to put seasonings in with the potatoes while they boil.

1. Place the potatoes in a large sauce pan and cover with water (about an inch over the top of that potatoes).
2. Bring water to a boil, then lower the heat and let them potatoes simmer until tender. This will take under 10 minutes (smaller ones will take less time)

Roasting Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Cut potatoes in half and place on a baking sheet.
3. Cover potatoes in cooking oil of choice and season generously.
4. Place in oven to roast for about 20 minutes.