Whole Instant Pot Red Potatoes

How to cook Instant Pot red potatoes whole to fluffy and ready to stuff with our 5 ingredient chili or serve as a healthy gluten free side dish. You will never use your oven after baking them in your Ninja Foodi pressure cooker again.

We love red potatoes in Instant Pot. If you typically only buy russets this is a nice change with a better flavor and firmer texture to them. Slice, cube or stuff them whole with dinner tonight and let us know what you think of this easy InstaPot recipe. (post may contain affiliate links present)

Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker Red Potatoes

You can make this as a Ninja Foodi recipe or in a Crockpot Express machine too. We’re going to use the pressure cook high function for these but if you do have the ability to air fry you could use that too. You can either just use that or just at the end with a bit of olive oil spray to crisp the skins, both are great options.

Diced our air fryer red potatoes are amazing with chicken too. Just depends on your desire for texture and whether you’re using them as a vessel to hold fixings for an entire meal. Both are great, cheap, and always a family favorite dish made in one pot.

How Long to Cook Whole Red Potatoes in Instant Pot

To cook them this way, all you need is a trivet or steamer basket to keep them off the bottom. Left whole will take the longest, at 35 minutes total including steam release time, but still not too bad. It is important that you allow for a natural release at the end to continue to heat them to the very center. If you quick release at the end it won’t get all the way done.

Why do potatoes cook faster in a pressure cooker?

Potatoes cook faster in a pressure cooker because the high-pressure environment raises the boiling point of water, allowing food to cook at a higher temperature than it would on a stovetop or oven.

Do you need to poke potatoes before pressure cooking?

Just like in a microwave or oven, an important thing to remember when “baking” pressure cooker baked potatoes is you want to poke holes in them all the way around. Use a fork or sharp knife to do so. You also want to try to cook the same sizes so they are all done at the same time. If some are way small and others are large some will be too soft and others will be firm.

There isn’t much of a difference whether you cook russets, sweet, Yukon Gold, baby potatoes or fingerlings other than the difference in cook times. The smaller they are the faster they will cook.

How to Cook Pressure Cooker Red Potatoes

• Use a sharp knife and poke holes all the way around each one
  • about 6 in each for the steam to release.
• Add potatoes into electric pressure cooker on top of a trivet with 1.5 cups of water.
• Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes
• Then let pressure release naturally for 20 minutes when done. Do not quick pressure release or they won’t cook all the way thru to the center.
• Release remaining steam by opening steam valve.
• Use tongs to lift out, slice on top and fluff insides with a fork.

with baby red potatoes

If you buy those bags of baby potatoes they are much smaller so those typically take 10 minutes cook time. Other than that follow the same instructions below.

with diced potatoes

Typically I will slice small ones in half or I have cubed larger ones if I am going to toss it with seasonings or top with goodies like our Instant Pot cheesy bacon ranch potatoes.

to make potato salad

Something else you might want to make would be Instant Pot potato salad. Once again diced is best for this. You wouldn’t smash the pieces when done for this one rather cool them, toss with mayo, mustard salt and pepper and you’re set.

Butter is a given as far as adding moisture and flavor. Chili is a must if we are serving these as our main meal, and cinnamon and sugar with some butter works for pressure cooker sweet potatoes cooked in this baby.

Can you eat the skin of red potatoes?

Yep, they are actually better than brown if you ask me. If you want to crisp them at the end you can preheat air fryer to 400 F, dry outsides and rub with avocado oil or olive with a sprinkle of sea salt / Italian seasoning too. Give it 4-5 minutes or until they get as browned as you’d like.

What are red potatoes best for?

We love these as a tweak to pressure cooker mashed potatoes I would suggest peeling half of the red skin off, or all of it if you are totally opposed to any. I like just a bit for it’s health benefits and a bit of added texture too. You don’t need a trivet for this because it is easier if you cut each one into 8-12 pieces.

What to fill them with is up to you but steamed broccoli with a cheese sauce, beans, etc.. If you want to make potato skins when done you just slice, scoop out the center, mix with your fixings, fill them back up and then air fry or broil until crisped.

The basic instructions are below for you to print recipe and keep handy or just come back each time you need them. A lot faster than How to Cook Baked Red Potatoes and handy to understand the basics.