These truly are the best Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes you'll ever have. They're so easy to make – you can even make them with the skin on! This dairy-free recipe is perfect for a crowd, and can be made with red, russet, sweet, yukon gold potatoes. These fast Whole30 Mashed Potatoes cooked in the Instant Pot couldn't be better!
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You might be wondering, “Are Instant Pot mashed potatoes actually good?”
To which I'd reply, “What could be better?!”
Well, since you're asking… how about quick and easy Instant Pot mashed potatoes that are also dairy-free and Whole30 potatoes?
Yep, that's better!
How to make Instant Pot Whole30 Mashed Potatoes – step-by-step
- Start by prepping your potatoes (yes, potatoes are Whole30!) Leave the skin on if you'd like, but you'll want to scrub them well before if you do. If you'd rather not have the skins in your mashed potatoes, you'll peel them before the next step.
- Cut the potatoes into cubes that are roughly the same size. Or just quarter them with no regard to size… you can't mess this up! Put the cut potatoes into the Instant Pot and almost cover with water and coconut oil (the secret ingredient!)
- Set your Instant Pot to manual, and set it to run for 10 minutes. Be sure the valve is set to “sealed”. When your timer is up, hit “cancel” and turn the valve to “quick release”.
- Open the Instant Pot, and drain the excess water. Do not rinse.
- Add your coconut cream and sea salt (plus any additional seasonings you'd like). Of course you could use heavy cream here in place of the coconut cream, but trust me, this is a dairy-free recipe that will fool any coconut-haters in your life! Plus, the coconut add a fun health benefit (ahem… low carb).
- Use a potato masher or a fork to mash, and you're done!
The big question: peeled or no peel?
Honestly, this is a personal preference and is entirely up to you. I love keeping the peel on to get all the added nutrients and the change in texture, but my husband prefers his mashed potatoes peeled.
However, we both concur that if the peel stays on, the potato needs to be scrubbed well before cutting and cooking.
What kind of potatoes are best in these Whole30 mashed potatoes?
My favorite is yukon gold, as these tend to yield the creamiest mashed potatoes. That being said, I don't discriminate! I'll make this recipe with any potato I have on hand. I've personally tried red potatoes, russet, potatoes, and even sweet potatoes for an AIP option. They all turned out perfectly with no modifications.
Ingredients in these easy Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
There are plenty of additional ingredients you can add into these potatoes, but we keep them pretty simple with just salt and garlic. It ‘spice' it up, I recommend adding the ranch spice blend I used in this Ranch Mashed Cauliflower recipe!
If you'd rather stick to the basics for these Whole30 potatoes, below I've included the non-negotiable ingredients.
Potatoes
Yukon gold potatoes yield the best texture and flavor, but you can also make these with red potatoes or russet potatoes, and you can use Japanese sweet potatoes or jewel yams for an AIP version.
Coconut Cream
I use a whole can of coconut cream. It's super simple, just open the can, dump the coconut cream into the Instant Pot and mashed with your potatoes. That's it!
This is the brand I use, and the can is not the typical size of a can of coconut milk. It's just 5.4 ounces, so if the brand you're using is a larger can, be sure to portion out the correct amount. This would be about 1/2 cup + 2-3 tablespoons.
Please note that I have not tried this recipe with coconut milk instead of coconut cream.
Sea Salt
Everyone has their own personal preference for the amount of sea salt in their recipe. We tend to go a little light on the sea salt, and then provide some at the table for our guests to season to their liking.
That's it! Super simple. Keep reading for the recipe!
Garlic
This is a pretty key ingredient as the garlic helps to mask the flavor of the coconut milk. I've served these Instant Pot, Whole30 mashed potatoes to plenty of dairy-loving, coconut milk-hating folks and they all are dumbfounded when they hear these were made with coconut milk.
How do these mashed potatoes have 50% fewer carbs and calories?
NEWS FLASH: you can reduce the net carbs in mashed potatoes by nearly half with two simple tricks.
All you need to do is boil your potatoes with coconut oil, and make those ‘taters ahead of time so you can cool them (and then reheat) before eating.
When you cook potatoes with coconut oil, the oil convert the starch from glucose to resistant starch. Once the potatoes cool, the glucose decreases by another 10-15%.
Not only does this lower the net carb and calories of the dish, but it also turns the food into a pre-biotic, which feeds the good bacteria in your gut. Win win!
If you love this Whole30 Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes recipe, you'll also love:
- Mashed Cauliflower Breakfast Bowls (low carb, Whole 30, AIP)
- Ranch Mashed Cauliflower (low carb, Whole 30, AIP)
- Braised Red Cabbage (Whole30)
- Instant Pot Shredded Beef (Paleo, Whole30)
Easy Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes (Dairy Free!)
Ingredients
- 3 pounds of potatoes my favorite is yukon gold, but this recipe also works with red, russet, or even sweet potatoes. Use jewel yam or white sweet potato if you are following AIP
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil optional, but encouraged
- 1 can coconut cream we use this brand which is only 5.4 ounces - see notes below for alternate options
- 1-2 teaspoons sea salt to taste
- 1-2 teaspoons granulated garlic to taste
Instructions
- If you prefer have mashed potatoes with the skin on, be sure to scrub them really well. If you prefer skinless mashed potatoes, scrub and peel your potatoes.
- Chop into roughly 1" chunks and add to your Instant Pot along with your coconut oil.
- Add water to your Instant Pot. Your potatoes should be almost covered, but not fully. This isn't necessary to be precise here, it's okay to have a little more or a little less.
- Set your Instant Pot to manual, and set it to run for 10 minutes.
- When your timer is up, hit "cancel" and then do the quick release valve.
- Open the Instant Pot, and drain the excess water. Do not rinse.
- Add your coconut cream, sea salt, and garlic (plus any additional seasonings you'd like).
- Use a potato masher or a fork to mash, and you're done!
Notes
- If you don't have a 5.4 ounce can of coconut cream, you can measure out 1/2 cup with 2-3 tablespoons of coconut cream.
- If you'd like to use butter instead of coconut cream, use about 1/3 cup of butter with 1/4 cup milk of choice.
- If you'd like to use ghee instead of coconut cream, use about 1/2 cup of ghee with 2-3 Tbsp milk of choice.
- Did you know you can reduce the net carbs in mashed potatoes by nearly half with two simple tricks? Yep, it's a way to take a favorite side dish from Carb Town to Superfood-ville.All you have to do is boil your potatoes with some coconut oil, and make those mashed potatoes ahead of time so you can cool them (and reheat) before eating.When you cook potatoes (and white rice for that matter) with coconut oil, the oil convert the starch from glucose to resistant starch. Once the potatoes cool, the glucose decreases by another 10-15%. Not only does this lower the net carb and calories of the dish, but it also turns the food into a pre-biotic, which feeds the good bacteria in your gut. Win win!
Leslie
Super easy and super yummy! 🙂 My only complaint probably has nothing to do with the recipe, but when I quick released the valve, it was not only letting out steam but also spewing some water. It got all over the lid, the counter, etc. and made a bigger mess to clean up. Is that normal? I did make 5 lbs. of potatoes instead of just 3 lbs., but I don’t think that would cause all that?
Katja
Tis the season for creamy mashed taters. YUM! Your version looks so good!!
STACEY CRAWFORD
I haven’t made mash potatoes in the IP yet but will be trying it out for Turkey day!
Sara
Cannot wait to try! That’s a fun fact 🙂 is it any oil that does the trick of reduction or any oil?
Anne Marie
Nope, it needs to be coconut oil for this trick to work.
ChihYu Smith
YUM! Mashed potatoes are the best and instant pot made it so easy!
Melissa @Real Nutritious Living
There seems to be nothing the Instant Pot cannot do! Yum!