Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot

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Just a few minutes of ingredient prep, then let your Instant Pot do the rest! These garlic mashed potatoes can be made creamy and smooth or textured and chunky. No matter how you like to eat them, you’re going to love how simple these mashed potatoes are to make.

Today is a SUPER FUN day on the blog, as I’m participating in a little blog hop called Freaky Friday! Michaela from An Affair From The Heart put together this event where one blogger makes a recipe from another assigned blogger’s blog.

What I love about these Freaky Friday events is that I get connected with food bloggers I had never “met” before, and just like the blogger I was paired with during my first Freaky Friday event, I found out that I had a lot in common with my assigned blogger, Kathleen from The Fresh Cooky.

I started by reading her “about me” section, where I legitimately LOLed when she described her two sons who fight a lot, and the fact that she knows they “love each other deep down, like core of the earth deep.” Her sons are 19 months apart, and much older than our sons who are 23 month apart and still single digit ages.

What really made me laugh, though, was realizing that right now, our dudes are BFF, and we are totally prepared for that to change in the future. Kathleen simply reminded me of what I already knew: children can and will surprise you, for better or worse, and your job as a parent is to love up on them as long as you can and give them memories worth remembering.

Like being in the kitchen together (at least in our house)!

Which is where these Instant Pot garlic mashed potatoes came in (believe it or not).

Since the beginning of my time as a recipe blogger, I have centered mostly around desserts. You can read about how I discovered my love for baking desserts on my “meet Lynn” page, and my pairing with Kathleen came at just the right time in my blogging career.

This year, I wanted to beef up my Thanksgiving content, which already houses traditional bread stuffing, spiced cranberry sauce, classic pumpkin pie, easy yeast rolls, and, since I have no business (nor the know-how to!) posting any kind of turkey recipe, my favorite baked turkey and cheese sliders for that leftover turkey!

While I do have roasted herbed red potatoes on my blog (a super popular recipe, actually), I have had a mashed potatoes recipe in the back of my mind all year while planning content. When I saw Kathleen’s Instant Pot mashed potatoes while perusing her recipe collection, it was decided immediately I was going to use it for this event!

Not only was I intrigued by the Instant Pot method (or other electric pressure cooker!) of making mashed potatoes, I also loved how simple it was to adapt to the slow cooker or the stovetop, if needed. And I knew that I could slice the potatoes and one of my kids would love to throw them into the pot for me (and he counted them while he did it, by the way).

Why you’ll love this Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes Recipe

If you’re looking for creamy mashed potatoes, this recipe is for you.
If you’re looking for easy garlic mashed potatoes with the skin on, this recipe is for you.
If you’re looking for chunky mashed potatoes, this recipe is for you.
If you’re looking for mashed potatoes without an ounce of skin included, this recipe is for you.
If you like your garlic mashed potatoes with sour cream and cream cheese, this recipe is for you.

But how can all of that be??

Because FOR REAL, this recipe for Instant Pot potatoes is exactly what you need as a base for creating whatever kind of mashed potatoes your potato-loving heart desires.

The potatoes (however you prepare them– skins, no skins, or partial skins!) are cooked perfectly, the seasonings are spot on, and the addition of the butter, sour cream, and heavy cream give you the perfect amount of creaminess that comes alongside whatever consistency you’d like to mash your potatoes into.

You have all of the wiggle room to choose whatever kind of potatoes you like. I typically prefer Yukon gold or red potatoes for my mashed potatoes, and you can use any and all of the potatoes you like. Just be sure you’re using the 3 pounds of potatoes total in the recipe, and you’re good to go.

As far as add-ins go after the potatoes are cooked, Kathleen offers up just the right amount of ingredients to make these easy Instant Pot mashed potatoes smooth, creamy, and flavorful.

I used butter, heavy cream, and sour cream as my “creamy” ingredients, but Kathleen makes notes for other ingredient swaps, which I have noted in the recipe, if you want those.

You’ll also little extra garlic powder (these are garlic mashed potatoes, after all), some salt and pepper, a little Italian seasoning, and some fresh chives or green onions for garnish and a little pop of flavor.

I used Yukon gold, which are on the small side. I halved most of them, but some of the larger ones went into quarters. Red potatoes, which are also on the smaller side, could probably be prepared the same.

If you’re using a larger variety like Russet potatoes, use your best judgment on size. Aim for pieces about an inch long/wide.

And now, for some goodies I found perusing Kathleen’s blog, because I think she has some really great stuff in her collection like a whole section dedicated to high altitude baking, this no-knead cranberry walnut bread that I was thisclose to making instead of these potatoes, and her family-famous cinnamon rolls (which is another story that had me laughing, because she talks about an almost-spoiled proposal from her husband, and we also had one of those thanks to a freak December flood!).

I love an easy side dish I can prepare mostly hands-off and this is recipe is now my favorite way to get hot potatoes on the table without turning on the oven (though I do love you, roasted potatoes).

Whatever you get from this page– whether it’s the pressure cooker garlic mashed potatoes or something from Kathleen– I hope you enjoy it, devour it, share it with your friends/family, and make some memories in your kitchen like we do, if that’s your thing!

Take a look at all of our 2021 Freaky Friday Fall Edition Recipes:

1. An Affair from the Heart – Pumpkin Pie Bars with Shortbread Crust
2. Aunt Bee’s Recipes – 30 Minute Skillet Lasagna
3. The Carefree Kitchen – Brazilian Cheese Bread
4. Devour Dinner – Instant Pot Applesauce
5. The Fresh Cooky – Air Fryer Ravioli
6. The Foodie Affair – Bacon Wrapped Green Bean Bundles
7. Hostess at Heart – Fudgy Chocolate Brownie Cookie Recipe
8. House of Nash Eats – Pumpkin Bundt Cake
9. Kathryn’s Kitchen Blog – Halloween Monster Cookie Recipe
10. Lemoine Family Kitchen – Creamy Vegetable Gnocchi Soup
11. Life Currents – Loaded Potato Skins
12. Life, Love & Good Food – Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
13. The Speckled Palate – Tortellini Butternut Squash Pasta with Pancetta and Spinach
14. Sue Bee Homemaker – Overnight Sourdough Bread
15. Take Two Tapas – Air Fryer Asparagus Fries