Mashed Potatoes

Life-changing Instant Pot mashed potatoes: potatoes pressure-cooked, then mashed with warm milk, butter, garlic powder and sour cream.

🍳 Cook: 8 min

Ingredients

4 pounds	1.8 kg	potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (see note about type of potatoes)
2 teaspoons	10 ml	coarse, kosher salt
1 cup	240 ml	milk, preferably not skim
4 tablespoons	60 ml	butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces
0.5 teaspoon	2.5 ml	garlic powder
0.5 cup	120 ml	sour cream

Add the potatoes and salt to the Instant Pot insert (6-quart). Add cold water to cover the potatoes by an inch or so. Don't exceed the max fill line.
Secure the lid on the Instant Pot, making sure the valve is set to "seal" and not "vent."
Select Manual and then dial up or down to 8 minutes. The IP will start on its own.
While the potatoes cook, warm the milk, butter and garlic powder in a saucepan or microwave-safe container until the butter is melted and the mixture is warm.
When the potatoes are done cooking, quick release the pressure. If liquid bubbles and spurts from the valve, cover loosely with a damp dishcloth while the pressure releases.
Drain the potatoes in a colander over the sink, discarding the cooking liquid.
Return the potatoes to the insert of the Instant Pot and coarsely mash.
Add the 2/3 of the butter/milk mixture along with the sour cream, and mash until the potatoes are the desired texture, as smooth or as chunky as you like, adding more of the remaining milk/butter mixture if you want creamier, less stiff mashed potatoes (I usually add it all).
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve immediately OR return the insert to the Instant Pot, secure the lid, and select Keep Warm. The potatoes can stay on this setting for up to three hours.
When ready to serve, give the potatoes a good stir and a drizzle of warm milk, if needed.

Notes

My favorite type(s) of potatoes to use for mashing are a combination of red potatoes and Yukon gold potatoes. But you can definitely vary the type of potato used in this recipe without altering cooking time.
I buy potatoes in bulk (I do live in Idaho after all), so I always weigh out the 4 pounds (or 8 pounds if using my 8-quart Instant Pot) for this recipe, but you should be able to fit in a commonly sold 5-pound bag of potatoes into the 6-quart Instant Pot, as long as the max fill line isn't exceeded after water is added. Just increase the milk/butter/sour cream/garlic powder a smudge to account for the extra pound.