How to Make our Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How to make your own instant mashed potatoes? ›

Once boiling turn off the heat and add 1/3 cup of milk then 1 cup of your dried potato flakes to the pot and fluff with a fork. Let stand for 3-5 minutes. Add more milk or butter as needed. Everyone's preference of mashed potato consistency is different.

Then, prepare the potatoes: Bring 1¼ cups water to boil in a small saucepan. Once bubbling away, remove from heat, add 1 cup instant mashed potatoes (2 oz.), and gently fluff with a fork.

Most instant potato varieties call for you to combine the potatoes with water, but if you want your potatoes to taste a bit more indulgent, use milk instead. Whole milk will yield delightfully rich potatoes, but 2 percent milk works well too.

Water — Use enough to cover all your potatoes but also make sure you use enough to get the Instant Pot to pressure. You only need 1 cup of water for the 3-quart and 6-quart to get to pressure and 2 cups for the 8-quart.

Bring water, salt, and butter to a boil on the stove top, then remove the pot from the heat and stir in the instant mashed potato mix. Heat water, milk, salt, and butter in the microwave for 3 minutes, then stir in the instant mashed potato mix. Substitute the water with chicken or vegetable stock for a richer flavor.

You can slightly improve the taste by adding seasoning like a pinch of salt or nutmeg, chopped herbs like chives, a knob of butter, a spoonful or two of crème fraîche or sour cream, use half milk instead of all-water, or maybe some grated cheese depending on the dish, but the texture still won't compare to homemade ...

Ingredients. IDAHO® POTATOES, VEGETABLE OIL (COCONUT, SUNFLOWER), MALTODEXTRIN, SALT, SUGAR, BUTTERMILK POWDER, NONFAT DRY MILK, BUTTER (CREAM, SALT), MONOGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, NATURAL FLAVORS. FRESHNESS PRESERVED BY SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, SODIUM BISULFITE, CITRIC ACID, AND MIXED TOCOPHEROLS.

Add a Thickening Agent

This is the most common way to thicken mashed potatoes. You can use what you have on hand: Flour, cornstarch, or powdered milk are all solid options that are probably already in your pantry.

Nutritionally speaking, instant mashed potatoes offer roughly the same vitamins and minerals as the real mashed potatoes with the exception of Vitamin C. To please palates, they tend to be higher in sodium, significantly higher than the amount of salt home cooks would add when making them at home from scratch.

Swap Out the Water

Instantly add flavor by replacing half or all of the water with an equal amount of chicken broth. Rest assured—your potatoes won't end up tasting like chicken! In fact, when you mix the potato flakes with the warm broth, the result is a creamier, more buttery-tasting bowl of spuds.

How to improve mashed potatoes? ›

Infusing milk or cream with herbs and garlic is a simple but effective way to make a potent flavor difference in mashed potatoes. Combine your preferred dairy with butter in a small saucepan. Add five or six cloves of garlic, cut in half, along with a dozen sprigs of fresh thyme or rosemary.

Too much liquid: This is the most common reason. In the mashing process you may have added too much milk or broth. Boiled too long: Boiling your potatoes for too long can make them water-logged, which (you guessed it) can contribute to runny mashed potatoes.

In general small or cubed potatoes will take about 10 to 15 minutes to boil, while larger, whole potatoes will take between 20 to 25 minutes. To check potatoes for doneness, insert a knife into one. If it slides in without much effort, you're good to go!

Boiled Potatoes Time Guide

Peeled, cubed potatoes cut into small, one-inch pieces should cook in 10 to 12 minutes, once the water reaches a boil. Larger pieces (about 2 inches across) may need longer, around 15 minutes. Medium whole potatoes should boil 20 minutes before they'll be tender.

The potatoes need to be processed in a weighted pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for 35 minutes for pint jars and 40 minutes of quart jars if you live at an altitude of 1,000 feet above sea level or less (Image 3).