Easy Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes (of any size!)

Sweet potatoes are chockful of health benefits – and they are so delicious! Here is an easy method for cooking sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot.

Sweet Potatoes in Instant Pot

I read recently that sweet potatoes are the new cauliflower for 2020.

While I admit I didn’t really jump on the cauliflower bandwagon (because I really feel like mashed cauliflower, cauliflower rice, and cauliflower pizza all just taste like cauliflower), I absolutely LOVE sweet potatoes.

So in my mind – the more trendy sweet potatoes are, the better.

I’ve shared a couple of different sweet potato recipes here on Simply Side Dishes already:

But I realized I didn’t share how to cook the perfect Instant Pot sweet potato!

There are many ways to cook a sweet potato to perfection, but today, I’m going to focus specifically on cooking it in the Instant Pot!

How Long to Cook Sweet Potatoes in Instant Pot

This will actually vary depending on how large your sweet potatoes are and if you cut them up before you put them in.

If you are going to be cooking a whole sweet potato, the cooking time will depend on the width.

Less than 2 inches in width: 15 minutes
2-3 inches in width: 25 minutes
3-4 inches in width: 45 minutes (if you have one this big, I would suggest cubing it to lower the cooking time).

If you dice up or cube your sweet potato beforehand, I would do about 12-15 minutes, depending on how much you dice them up.

You will need to do a 10-minute natural pressure release for your sweet potatoes.

Serving Suggestions

A sweet potato is really a diverse food. It can be used as a side dish or even part of the main dish. I know some people love to put pulled pork on top of sweet potatoes.

I usually eat mine in one of two ways – one is savory, and the other is sweet.

First, a loaded sweet potato – this is a great savory side dish! I love to add sour cream (or Greek Yogurt), bacon bits, and even some cheese sometimes. It’s very hearty and yummy.

The other way we enjoy sweet potatoes is with some cinnamon brown sugar and marshmallows. So delicious!

Of course, you can use a sweet potato as a base for another recipe, a substitute for mashed potatoes, or on its own as a side dish (with some butter!).

It’s a great “steakhouse” side dish – so with steak, chicken, pork chops, etc.

Sweet Potato Nutrition

200 grams of sweet potato contain (including the skin):

180 calories
41.4 grams of carbs
4 grams of protein
.3 grams of Fat
6.6 grams of fiber

And they are full of Vitamin A (769% of your daily recommended value!), Vitamin C, Manganese, Vitamin B6, and Potassium. They are very popular in healthy recipes and as a substitute for white or russet potatoes.

Although they are a starchy, root vegetable, the nutritional content is excellent.

What Color Sweet Potato?

Sweet potatoes come in different varieties – orange, purple, white, and a light brown.

So which one should you choose? Really, it’s up to you! This article from Livestrong goes over the different varieties and any differences you may find in them.

According to the same article, the purple kind has the most antioxidants, while the white ones have the least. If you can’t find the purple ones, you may want to get the orange ones, as they contain beta-carotene, which the body turns into vitamin A.

Sweet Potato Benefits

Sweeet are also high in antioxidants that can fight the body against free radicals, which are linked to cancer, heart disease, aging, and other chronic illness.

They contain both soluble and insoluble fiber, which are advantageous to gut health.

Sweet potatoes are rich in beta-carotene. This is an antioxidant responsible that cause some sweet potatoes to be orange, and it is also can help support healthy vision.

Purple sweet potatoes, in particular, are linked to better brain function.

How to Cook Sweet Potatoes in Instant Pot

Ideally, you will want to cook 4 sweet potatoes at a time for best results – however, you can do less! I did two when taking these pictures, and they turned out great.

If you dice them up, you will need to just cook them for about 12- 15 minutes.