Instant Pot Mashed Red Potatoes

Published: 08/09/2022 by Renae Gerhardstein Last Updated: 09/25/2024

Whip up fluffy mashed red potatoes in minutes with your Instant Pot! This versatile side dish pairs perfectly with your favorite proteins.

Jump to Recipe

Make the creamiest, richest, most delicious Instant Pot mashed red potatoes with only 4 ingredients. This easy recipe takes under 30 minutes to make, and no peeling is required! Simply pressure cook, drain, and mash with butter and cream cheese, for a perfectly delicious side dish.

A white bowl of red skin mashed potatoes next to slices of brisket on a wooden serving board with a striped napkin and gold fork and knife in the background.

Save This Recipe!

Enter your email below, and we'll send the recipe straight to your inbox.

Content Covered Here

Why We Love This Recipe

This fantastic dish combines two of our favorite pressure cooker potato recipes, but using red instead of white – Instant Pot mashed potatoes – no drain and smashed potatoes.

Quick and easy to make. You can cook this recipe in under 15 minutes, and unlike boiling potatoes on a stovetop, you don’t need to babysit. This recipe is pretty much hands-off!
Few ingredients – We only use butter and cream cheese, and the texture and flavor are amazing!
Can be made ahead. If you’d like, you can make this recipe up to 3 days ahead of when you plan to serve. It saves so much time, especially during the busy holidays!

Red potato side dish in a green serving bowl.

This recipe is a great side dish. But don’t be surprised if people think they are the best part of the meal!

New to Instant Pot Cooking? Read How to Use the Instant Pot 101 first! And, then cooking with an Instant Pot is terrific for new owners and seasoned IP-ers alike!

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

Labeled ingredient image for mashed red potato recipe.

Red potatoes – Because they will be cut into chunks, the size of the red potatoes doesn’t matter too much. That being said, smaller ones are easier to cut.

If you want to make this dish but don’t have any red-skin potatoes, you can use Yukon Gold. It’s what we use in the recipe for Instant Pot Smashed Potatoes. Oh, and if you have an air fryer, consider making air fryer red potatoes!
Broth or Stock – We use chicken broth for additional flavor, but vegetable broth or beef stock can be used instead. In a pinch, water will be fine.
Unsalted Butter – If all you have is salted butter, that’s fine. Just know that you may not need to add any additional salt to the dish. Always taste them first, just to be sure.
Cream cheese – For the best flavor and results, we recommend using full-fat cream cheese for this recipe. Low-fat cream cheese tends to be overly watery.

🎯 TFN Pro Tip for a lower calorie dish

To lower the calories in this potato side dish, use full-fat, plain Greek yogurt instead of cream cheese.

Recipe Variations

Cheesy: Add 1/4 cup of grated cheddar cheese to the mix. This will give them a delicious flavor.
Herbed: You can also mix in other herbs like chives, rosemary, or thyme.
Red potato salad: Make a cold potato salad by adding a 1/2 cup of mayonnaise, 1/4 cup of diced onion, and 2 tablespoons of diced celery.

Tips for Perfect Red Mashed Potatoes

Use a quick release of pressure to avoid overcooking.

Add the red potatoes to the pot and pressure cook them for 7 minutes. Use a quick-release method as soon as they’re done cooking.
Drain them well.

Be sure they are well-drained before mashing. We recommend using a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked potatoes to a bowl. This will help remove as much liquid as possible. Then, add broth back in while you mash to get just the right consistency.

Cut up no peel red potatoes in the instant pot.

Reserve some of the cooking liquid.

You won’t need a lot – just about 1/2 cup. The liquid will help loosen the consistency of the mashed red potatoes in the Instant Pot.

Cubes of red potatoes in the Instant Pot.

Don’t over-mash.

Keep in mind that red potatoes are starchy, so the longer you work them, the gummier the consistency will become. Use a light touch and mash just until they’re creamy.

🎯 TFN Pro Tip – avoid using electric mixers

We do not recommend using a hand mixer to make Instant Pot mashed red potatoes. The high speed and heat of the mixer will quickly turn your side dish into a gummy, pasty mess.

Stirring seasonings into Instant Pot red mashed potatoes.

Wait until the end to add seasonings.

To avoid oversalting the mashed red potatoes, wait until you’re finished mashing. Then, taste and add only as much salt and pepper as needed.

You can also garnish with parsley, chives, or grated parmesan before serving.

This recipe is made with red-skinned potatoes, which are lower in starch than Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes. Red potatoes tend to be less fluffy, but very creamy in texture.

If you’re looking for a dish that has a bit more flavor and a lot of fluffiness, make our garlic mashed potatoes from instant recipe.

A green bowl full of potatoes ready to serve.

Serving Suggestions

Red mashed potatoes pair well with so many different entrees! We serve them with everything from steak and pork chops to chicken tenderloin in oven recipe and turkey tenderloin.

They also pair well with roasted vegetables like caramelized brussels sprouts recipe, carrots, and Instant Pot green beans recipe.

This is also a perfect side dish for Thanksgiving or Christmas. You may top this with sour cream or parmesan cheese.

Recipe FAQs

Why did my mashed potatoes turn out gummy or pasty?

This happens when they are mixed too much. They can also happen when they absorb too much water. That’s why we like to use a pressure cooker. These cookers use less water and steam them instead.

How do I make vegetarian mashed potatoes?

If you want to make this recipe vegetarian, you can swap the chicken broth with vegetable broth.

More Quick and Easy Sides To Love…

If you tried this mashed red potato recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!