Trust your Instant Pot to do all the work for you! Call that Instant Pot-atotes!
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The Instant Pot has got to be one of America’s favorite countertop appliances for cooking! There’s no end to what you can make within that magic pot, from poached eggs to pork tenderloin and so much more! It feels limitless just how much you can do with one appliance – there are even whole cookbooks published by the makers of Instant Pot that outline on-pot meals made in our handy dandy countertop crock!
Be it complicated (like an Instant Pot tahini cashew curry!) or simple as can be (like our instructions for Instant Pot quinoa!), you can make delicious food with exceptional ease every day with the Instant Pot!
Baked potatoes are a prime example of something so simple made even easier in the Instant Pot! You can get fluffy and buttery goodness, the perfect textures and flavors, all out of a pot that does all the hard work for you! Just check out our recipe for Instant Pot baked potatoes for a delicious lunch so easy you’ll hardly have to lift a finger!
Is Baked Potato Healthy?
Baked potatoes are an excellent source of iron and can serve as a carrier for nutritious toppings like protein-packed bacon and cheese, capsaicin-spiced chili, and active-culture sour cream! Have yourself a delicious dish that’s good for you, too!
- Baked Potato with Bacon Crumble and Melted Cheddar – Get the minerals of everyone’s favorite tubers with a drizzling top of protein! Sprinkle some chives right on top for garnish and you’ve got a colorful, flavorful feast!
- Classic Chili-Topped Baked Potato – Capsaicin and other nutrients in spices are proven to help reduce blood pressure, meanwhile beans serve as an excellent vegan source of protein! Put them together on top of a freshly baked potato and you’ve got a classic worth digging into!
- Baked Potato and a Dollop of Sour Cream – Sour cream contains some protein (albeit not as much as our previous options of toppings) but also vitamin A which is good for our cell regeneration and youthfulness! Simple, delicious, and good for you – doesn’t get much better than that!
If you’re making your baked potatoes for a specific dietary need, look no further!
If you’re trying to make baked potatoes for a vegan palate, swap out our recommended butter for a vegan variant (such as olive oil or margarine)!
How does an instant pot work, exactly?
An Instant Pot, fundamentally, is a pressure cooker/slow cooker combo that you can set and leave to do its magical work on its own! By increasing the pressure inside the pot itself, the water added to the Instant Pot can boil at a temperature even higher than the standard 100°C. The hotter temperature steams the pot, which in turn increases the pressure further, and creates a positive feedback loop of increased temperature and hotter cooking!
But the Instant Pot serves as a slow cooker, too! By keeping the temperature low for a long period of time, you can get that low-and-slow cook you want for extra tender pulled pork or corned beef! Let your ingredients all get to know each other well by slow cooking them in your Instant Pot, their flavors permeating one another until your whole dish tastes delish!
Instant Pot doesn’t stop there, however! It also serves as the perfect one pot meal maker by getting hot all on its own! As such, you can sear and sauté just about anything that will fit in your magical Instant Pot! Next time you’re looking to make a complicated stew with sautéed onions and low-and-slow cooked meats, look no further than your kitchen counter!
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup water
- 5 medium russet potatoes
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Kosher salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare Pot
Fill your Instant Pot with water and set the trivet in place.
Pierce Potatoes
Make holes in your potatoes with a fork and place them on the trivet.
Cook
Seal the Instant Pot and cook the potatoes under high pressure.
Release Pressure
Let the pressure release naturally after cooking.
Open and Slice
Once safe, open the pot, slice the potatoes, and let them cool a bit.
Season and Serve
Add butter, salt, and pepper to your potatoes.
Devour!
FAQs & Tips
Because the Instant Pot takes care of everything you could possibly need when it comes to making baked potatoes, they’re super easy to make ahead of time! Once your baked potato is cooled, wrap it in aluminum foil and place it in the fridge to store for up to a week – if they even last that long! When you want to reheat them, pop the aluminum-wrapped spud in the oven for a spell and heat until hot throughout!
You won’t want to add any of your toppings to the Instant Pot while your potatoes are cooking (unless you want steamed bacon or a big cheesy mess to clean up), but that doesn’t mean you can’t season your spuds more than we recommended! Try tossing dried herbs like rosemary and thyme into your Instant Pot before cooking to give your potatoes a velvety depth!
Depending on what you’re making, yes; however, I suggest refraining from trying to cook separate dishes at the same time in the same Instant Pot. Because the potatoes take 14 minutes to cook (and because you can’t really open and shut the Instant Pot during the pressurization) you would only want to share room in the pot with anything else that needs to pressure cook for that same amount of time. Overall, The Instant Pot is a lot better for cooking unified, homogenous meals rather than distinctly different foods and flavors.
Serving Suggestions
Baked potatoes go with almost anything! but we understand if you’re trying to keep it simple with Instant Pot classics – so try some of these to pair with your Instant Pot potatoes!
Try a keto/paleo twist on a classic potato pairing with our no-bean Whole30 keto/paleo chili!
If you’re looking for that classic steak and potatoes dinner, look no further than Instant Pot steak to serve alongside your Instant Pot-atoes!
Lunch can be light and lackadaisical with a delicious Instant Pot Tomato Soup to couple with your perfectly cooked Instant Pot spuds!
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 5 medium russet potatoes
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Kosher salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pour 1 cup of water into a 6-quart Instant Pot. Insert the metal trivet into the pot.
- Thoroughly pierce the potatoes with a fork to allow steam to escape during cooking. Arrange the potatoes on the trivet inside the Instant Pot.
- Secure the lid of the Instant Pot and set the valve to the sealing position. Select the manual setting, adjust the pressure level to high, and set the timer for 14 minutes.
- Once the cooking cycle is complete, let the pressure release naturally according to the manufacturer’s instructions, which should take about 20-30 minutes.
- Carefully open the lid after the pressure has fully released. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, slice each one in half lengthwise.
- Top each potato half with a dollop of unsalted butter, and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to your liking.
- DEVOUR!
Nutrition Info:
Recipes written and produced on Food Faith Fitness are for informational purposes only.
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