A recipe for enough rich, buttery, mashed sweet potatoes to feed a crowd, made and kept warm in an Instant Pot. Just enough added sweetness to enhance the potatoes’ natural flavor without making them taste like a dessert food. No marshmallows!

Social Learning

The “short” trivet is the one that probably came with your Instant Pot. It’s less than an inch tall. I call it the short one, because as I’ve gotten more into Instant Pot cooking, I’ve purchased more trivets of various heights.

As you’re peeling the potatoes, inspect each one to make sure that it doesn’t include any obvious, stringy fibers. You might find these close to the skin, or at the stem end. I don’t come across this commonly, but I do come across it. Those fibers will not mash smoothly; make sure to discard them along with the peels. The fibers don’t ruin the flavor, only the texture – and only the texture because you’re mashing them.

Everyone seems to think that sweet potatoes need to be sweetened. I’ve read recipes that recommend anywhere between 2 Tbs and 1/4-cup of anything from sugar to syrup. I think that sweet potatoes are sweet enough on their own, although I don’t mind enhancing their sweetness just a touch. So, I’ve kept the honey very much on the light side. You might even experiment with cutting the amount I’ve recommended in half, or cutting it out completely.

I prefer to mash potatoes by hand, because I like the rustic texture. Even so, I go easy on the mashing. If I feel I’m making too much progress too quickly with a potato masher, I switch to a flexible spatula, and fold them if they still need more mixing.

When it comes to serving, you can keep the potatoes in the pot, with the lid on and the KEEP WARM setting activated. You can also make them ahead: let them cool, refrigerate them, reheat them in batches in the microwave, and keep them warm in the Instant Pot. You will almost certainly need to add a splash of milk – maybe more than a splash – to loosen them up.

The number of servings depends on a few factors. Is this the only side? One of only a few sides? One of many sides? A half-cup serving seems like a good default, in which case this serves a solid sixteen. However, when feeding a crowd, if you try to calculate the amount of food to the number, it will never look like enough.You have to factor in “opulence,” which means you have to overshoot. Your choices are only two: wind up with leftovers, or run out of food. And you never want to run out of food. Serve ten-to-twelve with this recipe, and you’ll feed them lavishly and wind up with leftovers – which is exactly what you’re after.

The Backstory

I like to make this for a big holiday meal when I feel like mashed potatoes might be a touch “automatic.” But I also like to make this recipe on the weekend, as meal prep for the week. I’ll freeze half the batch and use the other half for something like the simple burgers that I photographed for this post, or I might just reheat a cupful for a mid-afternoon snack.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes for a Crowd, in an Instant Pot

Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! unless otherwise credited. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. Thank you, Kesor. Thank you, ⌘+C. References: Ina Garten (OJ, brown sugar), Martha Stewart (steamed, brown sugar), Serious Eats (roasted, sous-vide reheated, maple syrup), Rachel Cooks. Make It Like a Man! is ranked by Feedspot as #13 in the Top 30 Men’s Cooking Blogs.

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