Vegan Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

Name: Vegan Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 2 ½ pounds potatoes ((peeled, then halved or quartered)); 2 tbsp vegan butter; 1 cup nondairy milk; 1 tsp dijon mustard; 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil; 6 cloves garlic ((crushed)); 2 tbsp sage or rosemary ((chopped)); Salt and ground black pepper to taste

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These easy and quick vegan Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes are creamy, fluffy, buttery AND foolproof. Sage and garlic-infused olive oil adds huge flavor. A vegan, soy-free, nut-free and gluten-free recipe.

An Instant Pot liner with buttery mashed potatoes infused with sage and garlic olive oil with a ladle on a black background.

I make a lot of mashed potatoes for the resident spud gourmet, my son Jay, and discovering how to make them in the Instant Pot has been truly lifechanging.

Making mashed potatoes on the stovetop or even in the microwave is by no means difficult, and I have already shared a great recipe for vegan mashed potatoes on the blog. But the Instant Pot just makes boiling them to perfection, without waterlogging them, that much easier, and that much more hands-off.

To infuse these with flavor I make a heavenly, three-ingredient garlic and sage infused olive oil that I could add to everything I eat. You might even want to scoop it up with a spoon! Seriously, it's that good.

Does it matter what potatoes you use?

To some extent, but not really, no. Let me explain that.
I make mashed potatoes with nearly any potato I have on hand--russets, yukon golds and reds--and they all work very well. The only difference you will get is in the texture. Russets make fluffier, dryer mashed potatoes, while the mashed potatoes made with golds and reds are creamier.
So use either, based on your preference, or you can even go half and half -- 50% red or gold and 50% russets for the best of both worlds.

Should you peel the potatoes?

Again, this is a personal preference. It is good to keep in mind that in a potato, as in most vegetables, a lot of the nutrition lies just under the skin, so leaving the skin on is always preferable.
For mashed potatoes, I like leaving the peel on when I am using yellow or gold potatoes because the peel is softer. It cooks up easily and melts in with the mashed potatoes.
When I use russets I usually peel the potatoes, because the skin tends to be thicker.
One more deciding factor could be whether or not the potatoes you are using are organic. If they are, you can leave the peel on without any worries. If they aren't, you might be better off peeling them.

How to cut the potatoes

When I make the potatoes in the microwave or stovetop, I cut them in a dice. For the Instant Pot, you can just halve or quarter them. The potatoes I used this time were smallish russets, about 3 inches long. I halved them. Had I used larger potatoes, I would have cut them in quarters.

Steps and tips for making Vegan Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

Begin by washing and then peeling (if you want to) the potatoes. Halve or quarter them, depending on the size, and place in the Instant Pot liner.
Cover the potatoes with water. I needed 4 cups for 2 ½ pounds of potatoes.
Click on the lid of the IP and set it to cook at manual pressure for 8 minutes. The Instant Pot will take a few minutes to come up to pressure and then start counting down the 8 minutes.
Once cooking is done, let the pressure release naturally or force-release it after 10 minutes.
While the potatoes are cooking, make the sage and garlic infused olive oil. Place ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil in a small skillet on low heat with 6 crushed cloves of garlic and 2 tablespoon chopped sage or rosemary. Let the oil continue to heat 10-15 minutes so the flavors infuse it. Stir occasionally. The garlic should be lightly brown when you turn the heat off, it should not burn.
Drain the water in the IP liner and return the potatoes to it. Add 2 tablespoon vegan butter, 1 teaspoon dijon mustard, 1 cup nondairy milk, salt and pepper to the potatoes and use a potato masher or a heavy wooden spoon to mash them. You can also use a potato ricer.
This is an additional step you don't have to take, but I really like doing this. Once you've finished mashing the potatoes, take a hand mixer and whisk the potatoes over medium speed for a couple of minutes. This beats air into the potatoes making them even lighter and fluffier.
Stir the sage-garlic olive oil into the potatoes.
Serve. These are amazing on their own, but a bit of vegan mushroom gravy on top doesn't hurt.

Uses for leftover mashed potatoes

Vegan Breakfast Shepherd's Pie
Vegan Colcannon (stir in some cabbage and sauerkraut)
Vegan Irish Shepherd's Pie
Creamy Asparagus and Potato Tart