Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes–creamy, buttery buttermilk mashed potatoes with garlic. These mashed potatoes are so easy to make and FAST to cook!
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Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes with Garlic and Buttermilk
For mashed potatoes that are creamy and flavorful (thanks to the bay leaf and a couple of smashed garlic cloves) these are going to be your winner every single time. I’ve been making these mashed potatoes for years in the slow cooker and now if I need mashed potatoes in a hurry I’ll make them in my Instant Pot.
A few mashed potato tips
Potatoes like to soak up salt! Make sure to salt and pepper to taste at the end. How much salt I add is dependent upon if I’ve serving gravy with the potatoes or not. If I’m serving gravy then I don’t use as much salt.
I choose to use a hand masher* to mash my potatoes. I don’t like the gluey texture that sometimes results from using a hand mixer. If you are a hand mixer type of person just make sure to only mix for a few seconds.
How many potatoes do you need for each person to make mashed potatoes?
If I’ve making a normal dinner for my family of 4 I usually use about 6-8 small to medium size potatoes. Most of the time we have 1 or 2 servings of leftovers. If I was making a Thanksgiving dinner and wanted to have lots of mashed potatoes I’d probably plan for at least 2 potatoes per person. Now remember these are small to medium potatoes and not those huge baker potatoes. Each potato I used weighs about 5.5 ounces. So plan about 10-11 ounces of uncooked potatoes per person. Therefore a 5 pound bag of potatoes will feed about 7-8 people.
Can I make mashed potatoes ahead of time?
The starch in potatoes swell up when they are cooked. Then when the potatoes are mashed the fluffy starch granules get broken up and we have a nice, creamy mashed potato. However once the creamy potatoes cool down the starches firm up and the potatoes get clumpy which is the opposite of what we want!
So the best choice is to not mash the potatoes until you are ready to serve them.
You can cook the cubed potatoes in the Instant Pot and then just keep the lid on and the pot on warm until you’re ready to mash the potatoes and serve. This is the best way that I’ve found to make the potatoes somewhat ahead of time but still have good results.
I would not suggest making the mashed potatoes ahead of time and reheating.
More recipes you’ll love…
Instant Pot Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes
Slow Cooker Holiday Mashed Potatoes with Bacon and Ricotta
Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes Recipe from Add a Pinch
What Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Did You Use?
For this Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes recipe I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.
Other Equipment I Used:
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Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
Description
Creamy, buttery buttermilk mashed potatoes with garlic. These mashed potatoes are so easy to make and FAST to cook!
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 2 1/2 pounds potatoes (ideally you’d use half Russets and half Yukon gold, it is about 8 small to medium potatoes)
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 peeled garlic cloves
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup buttermilk (or you can use 1/4 cup milk and 1/4 cup sour cream)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Pour the water into your Instant Pot. If you have a steamer basket place it in your Instant Pot. Peel and wash the potatoes (most of the time I skip the peeling and keep the skins on, it’s totally up to you) and then cut them into quarters. Place them in your steamer basket (if you have one) or directly into the Instant Pot.
- Add in 1 tsp salt, bay leaf and garlic cloves.
- Cover the pot and turn the valve to “sealing.” Press manual button and set the timer to 10 minutes (see note below). Once the timer beeps let the pot sit for 5 more minutes. Release the rest of the pressure by turning valve to “venting.”
- Open the pot and carefully remove the bay leaf. Drain the liquid (I use a colander for this part). Add in the butter and use a potato masher to mash the potatoes and garlic cloves. Stir in the buttermilk. Salt and pepper to taste (I love using kosher salt and freshly ground pepper).
- Serve the mashed potatoes and enjoy!
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot for this recipe.
Get the slow cooker version of this recipe by clicking here.
How long to cook potatoes in the Instant Pot for mashed potatoes: Small diced potatoes (like the cubes for potato salad) — 4 minutes with a quick release; Quartered potatoes — 10 minutes with a quick release; Whole potatoes — 25 minutes with a quick or natural release
- Category: Potatoes
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/5 of recipe
- Calories: 231
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 582 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 37 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Cholesterol: 19 mg
Keywords: instant pot
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2/3/23 – Used this recipe for a family dinner. Used about 2.5 pounds peeled red potatoes. Pressure cooked for 10 minutes with a 10 min NPR. (I forgot to npr after 5 minutes). Excellent! I used 2 cups water and a tablespoon of Better than bullion chicken along with ½ teaspoon Kosar salt. Peeled, quartered potatoes and placed them on silicone trivet basket. After cooking, removed potatoes and poured starchy broth in measuring cup. Returned potatoes to IP and added about a cup of the reserved broth plus ½ stick of butter and ¼ teaspoon garlic powder along with about 3-4 tablespoons sour cream. Hand mashed. Very tasty and good texture. This will be my go to way to make mashed potatoes. Used some of the starchy broth to add to my juices from Sous vide brisket.
mmmmm! sounds so good!
I think I’m over-thinking your recipe, Karen, which I tend to do with any recipe I find. I’ve actually made this recipe many times and it’s my best mashed potato recipe. I’m feeling very stupid now after re-reading, I’ve always added the salt and bay leaf to the water (I use chicken broth) and then put the basket in. Am I doing it incorrectly by not adding salt, garlic and bay leaf on top of the potatoes? Thank you.
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You really could do it either way!
I Increase the recipe by 1 and 1/2 and kept the water the same per your reply from October, 2020.. However, the pot never came to pressure using the steamer basket. The potatoes still cooked (steamed) and turned out tasty. Any ideas why it did not come to pressure?
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Oh shoot! I am not sure. Was the sealing ring in there properly?
Yes, the sealing ring was in properly. Would increasing the water help?
Possibly?! Maybe increase by a half cup next time.
If you want to 1/2 the recipe to make fewer potatoes, do you change the amount of water used?
Use the same amount of water but halve all the other ingredients.
How would I make these using a 5lb bag of potatoes?
double all the ingredients except the water. Don’t use a steamer basket because there won’t be enough room. Keep the same cooking time.
Thanks so much for always responding! This is where I always get confused when it’s comes to doubling instant pot recipes, I read your post about doubling but I thought I would double the water?? I give up lol but thanks for always answering my many questions 😊
Karen, I wonder if you have ever tried making mashed potatoes and adding Boursin Garlic & Herb at the end instead of cream cheese. The flavors are awesome and have become my favorite way to finish mashed potatoes.
Yum I haven’t tried that! I will have to do that 🙂
If I use the smaller IP 3qt does that change any time in the recipe?
I’d use the same time.
What is the pressure at ? please oh please do not forget to list this !!!!
it’s always high for my recipes 🙂
I always make my potatoes ahead of time. Over 40 years to be exact! Same day just early. I put in butter, heavy cream, sour cream,garlic , pepper and salt. After being kept warm you might need to add more cream or milk if you are using that. My son loves his potatoes! We call him The Mash Potato Kid. He’s now 39!
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Nice!!! I like your ideas. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hello! I’m excited to make this recipe and save myself some time on Thanksgiving. For the “make ahead” instructions, do you drain the water out of the pot before letting the cubes sit? I saw that you said it’s best to wait and mash them until you’re ready to eat, but I don’t feel clear on what you should do with the potatoes before that step while they’re done and sitting.
Thank you!
No just keep the liquid in there and then when you’re ready to mash them you drain it off.
Love the idea of keeping the cooked potatoes on the ‘warm’ setting, Karen. What is your advice on how long to keep them on warm before mashing? I’m thinking of a 45-60 minutes time? Thank you, as always, for your great help!
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Yes that would be just fine!
By far it , was the fastest way I ever made mashed potatoes; everyone one at the table commented how good they were. They tasted so good!
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My absolute favorite, go to IP Mashed Potatoes recipe! And thanks for the “jump to recipe” link. When you use the recipe a lot it’s great to quickly get to the directions.
I have loved your crock pot recipes for years and your IP recipes aren’t disappointing me either! Thanks for all of your inspiration.
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thank you so much Erin!
Maybe give alternative directions for a larger IP in your recipes. I have an 8 QT and things can sometimes change (the amount of water, etc.).
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Do you have to peel them? I never peel my potatoes for making mashed potatoes.
Nope! You can totally leave the skins on.
Can you double this receipt in a 6 quart instant pot?
yep!
Made these tonight and my husband and I loved them! Super easy and tasty!
Look forward to your posts! Thanks!
So great to hear, Thanks Julie!