After you try this Instant Pot Sweet Potato Mash, you'll never go back to spending time over the stove making it again! So simple, and done in minutes!

I bet that right at this moment, you could name one food that you absolutely loathed as a child.

 

I can. And for me, it was sweet potatoes. I hated them. They smelt so delicious, but man they tasted so terrible. I think it was something do with those dreadful ones they served at school during Thanksgiving. 

The overload of cinnamon, a spice I'm still not very fond of, was overwhelming to my little taste buds.

Yams, Sweet Potato Casserole, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Sweet Potato Fries, Sweet Potato Dumplings; none of it. I didn't like it AT.ALL.

And then a few years ago, I went semi-keto and it was like my sweet potato hate turned to sweet potato love overnight. And I absolutely LOVE them.

Maybe it's just me, but I think sweet potatoes can be so finicky. To be such an ugly vegetable, you'd think they wouldn't be so high maintenance.

Instant Pot Sweet Potato Mash

Too often I've cooked sweet potatoes only for them to have that "hairy" consistency and it grosses me out. Maybe it's just a mind thing, but I always end up trashing them. 

So before I perfected my Instant Pot Sweet Potato Mash, I set out to find out exactly what makes a sweet potato "hairy" after cooking and how to stop it. 

Honestly, I hadn't exactly fool-proofed it, but there are a few things that can help to ensure that you DON'T have the same issue. We've tested it, and these simple steps seem to work well.

The first thing for a non-hairy Instant Pot Sweet Potato Mash, make sure you have fresh sweet potatoes. It's even better if you have local, fresh sourced. An older potato has an opportunity to ferment and cause this mystery to happen.

The next thing, when you're peeling your potato, make sure that you don't leave any remnants of skin on the potato. This causes it to remain stiff and not cook properly, causing "strings". 

Finally, be sure to cut the ends off of the potato. I told you back in my Instant Pot Sticky Chicken recipe (when I tossed the chicken skin) that I'm not a wasteful person- totally true. It killed me to have to throw out those end bits of potato. 

But, I've learned, just don't chance it. Chopping the ends helps the potato to not want to remain together and cook more evenly, leading to a less chance that you'll end up with strings or hairy mash.

Other than testing for non-stringy, or hairy, potatoes, I also tested cooking methods. 

What's the difference between tossing the potatoes directly into the water, versus steaming them? 

Well, the steaming always lent a more fluffy potato. Cooking them in liquid, as we like to do in our Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes and Sausage, gave a heavier potato that didn't really cream or fluff when mashed. 

So, you can absolutely cook them in the "juice" if you don't have a basket or trivet, but they won't be as fluffed.

Next, we have toppings, or spices, or ingredients? 

This always comes down to preference in my opinion. 

I can seriously eat these potatoes right from the whisk after whipping- and often do. 

But if you're one that likes the extra flavor, then you can add or take away as you see fit. Some people like maple syrup or molasses. Some add in cinnamon (ew.), or sub heavy cream for milk.

If you prefer a more savory mash, go with cream cheese and chicken broth! I even like to add a little cayenne for a little extra sumn'-sumn'. 

Here at The Fervent Mama, we like to give you yummy southern recipes that are family-friendly and have simple ingredients. But, we also like to give you a canvas that you can adapt and use as artfully as you wish!

Meaning that we love to see how you've taken our recipes and made them your own! You can always come back and tell us how you changed or made our recipes a better fit for your family- and we like to laugh with your fails too! 

We've all been there, folks. 

If you're looking for more ideas, a place to ask questions or be around more Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Fans, join our Facebook Group! Pressure Cooker Family Recipes.