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Sweet Potatoes in the Slow Cooker (Or Instant Pot!)

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If you like creamy, sweet potatoes with a buttery texture, then you’ll love how they turn out in the slow cooker or Instant Pot! Try this hands-off, foolproof method for perfectly cooked sweet potatoes.

Sweet Potatoes in the Slow Cooker. Creamiest potato ever!

Sometimes I feel like when I cook my sweet potatoes in the oven, they don’t quite get soft enough for my liking. Cooking them in the slow cooker or the Instant Pot is incredibly easy, and they turn out so good they literally almost melt in your mouth. And the best part is you don’t need to add anything to them!

Super Nutritious Sweet Potatoes

We love sweet potatoes because they are very versatile, tasty, and they can be cooked in a variety of ways.  But we also love them because they are SO good for you! Some of the major health benefits are these:

  • VITAMIN A  262% of the Daily Value in ONE small sweet potato!
  • VITAMIN C  29% of the Daily Value in ONE small sweet potato!
  • Beta – carotene 23,018 mcg
  • Fiber Twice as much fiber compared to regular potatoes
Sweet Potatoes in the Slow Cooker. Creamiest potato ever!

How to Make Sweet Potatoes in the Slow Cooker

First, rinse/scrub the outside of your sweet potatoes.  I like to scrub them well because we like to eat the skin. Don’t dry them; just put them right in your slow cooker. The liquid that clings to the outside of the potatoes after rinsing is the only liquid you need.

scrubbing sweet potatoes to prepare for cooking

Set your cooker to low and cook for 6-7 hours depending on how big your sweet potatoes are. I recommend cooking 4 at a time so they’re in a single layer on the bottom of the pot. This helps them cook evenly. They’ll produce a little bit of liquid during the cooking process. You’ll know they’re done because you will be able to stick a fork right through the potato.

fork-tender sweet potatoes in the slow cooker
Sweet Potatoes in the Slow Cooker. Creamiest potato ever!

How to Cook Sweet Potatoes in the Instant Pot

Cooking extra-tender sweet potatoes in the IP is just as easy as using your slow cooker. (And it’s faster, too!)

Rinse and scrub your sweet potatoes, and place them on top of the metal wire steaming rack that came with your IP. Like this:

Add one cup of water to the bottom of the IP, and lock the lid. Set the pressure cooker to cook for 15 minutes under pressure for medium-sized sweets, or 19 minutes for large sweets.

Let the pressure come down naturally for at least ten minutes. (You can let it come down naturally all the way if you like… but if you’re in a hurry to eat, you can go ahead and flip the valve after ten minutes.)

That’s all there is to it! With basically no effort yo’ll have perfectly cooked sweet potatoes: smooth, creamy and sweet. These are so good!

We like to eat them just like they are, as a side dish for dinner, or the main course. Cooking them in the slow cooker or Instant Pot is great, because you can cook a lot, save them in your fridge and then use them for all of these other yummy recipes!

More Sweet Potato Recipes

Eat MORE of this tasty and nutritious veggie! Try these recipes:

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3.9 from 101 votes

Sweet Potatoes in the Slow Cooker

If you like creamy, sweet potatoes with a buttery texture, then you’ll love how they turn out in the slow cooker or Instant Pot! Try this hands-off, foolproof method for perfectly cooked sweet potatoes.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time6 hours
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Servings: 4
Calories: 112kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Rinse sweet potatoes well. (Don't dry them off.)
  • Place sweet potatoes in a single layer on the bottom of the slow cooker.
  • Set the cooker on high 6-7 hours, or until potatoes pierce easily with a fork.
  • Serve hot, or cool and refrigerate up to 5 days.

Nutrition

Calories: 112kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 2g | Sodium: 72mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g
Keyword : Sweet Potatoes in the Slow Cooker

www.superhealthykids.com

Sweet Potatoes in the Slow Cooker or Instant Pot | Healthy Ideas and Recipes for Kids
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
5 from 4 votes

Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes

Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Servings: 1 8
Calories: 84kcal

Ingredients

  • 4 medium sweet potato

Instructions

  • Place the steel steamer rack inside the instant pot, and add one cup of water.
  • Rinse the sweet potatoes* and arrange them on top of the rack in a single layer, as many as you would like, and can fit.
  • Lock the lid and set the manual pressure: 15 minutes for small-medium sweet potatoes, and 19 minutes for large sweet potatoes.
  • At the end of cooking, let the pressure release naturally for at least 10 minutes, or until the button drops.

Nutrition

Calories: 84kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 2g | Sodium: 54mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g
Keyword : Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes

www.superhealthykids.com

 

Natalie Monson

I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.

Learn More about Natalie
3.88 from 101 votes (98 ratings without comment)

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71 Comments

hi. yes u need to add little water as steam in the cooker will cook them and keep them soft. hope it helps 😉

Set to low and cook for 6-7 hours depending on how big your sweet potatoes are. I would recommend cooking 4 at a time.

I can’t wait to try this. I’ve noticed that some sweet potatoes are sweeter than others…do you know whic variety is sweeter or how to choose the sweetest?

I love making a bit batch of sweet potatoes on Sunday and then having them for breakfast through the week but never thought to use the slow cooker (which is great since who wants to run the oven in this heat?). Quick question – do you need to poke holes in them first? Thanks!

Hi, i made them in my slow cooker and just had to wait for 2 minutes, no need to poke holes. just use any kind of slow cooker.these were amazing in taste too. i hope this helps.:)

I <3 sweet potatoes! What a great way to make them - I'm going to do it right now. When I make them in the oven, I add olive oil and pepper, and a little salt so the skins are all crunchy and delicious. Can I do that in the slow cooker as well? Thanks so much!

hi. yes u can make them in cooker. i dont add anything but just water in cooker. they are extremely delicious cooked this way.:)

hi kim. yes i made boiled potatoes like this way. they were also a great way to save time boiling the potatoes. as in cooker, it took just 2 minutes.

gonna have to explain to me how it only took 2 minutes in a slow cooker……..everyone else says 4-6 hours depending on heat setting

Hi Brei – yams and sweet potatoes are the same as far as i know – depends on what country you live in what they’re called

It says in the recipe all you need is to rinse the potatoes, but do not dry them. That is all the moisture you need. Potatoes have a lot of water in them, so liquid eeks out and the potatoes will steam in it.

These are Sweet Potatoes in the picture!
Yams are a version of cooked sweet potatoes.
Hence the term “candied yams” they are basically one and the same.

That is absolutely NOT true! Again Americans assuming what is ignorantly true in US applies to the global community. Ignorant US grocery folks may label, incorrectly, sweet potatoes as yams…doesn’t erase truth that in Africa and Polynesia they have yams. You can buy real yams in many int’l supermarkets in US.

Slow cooking in the crock pot will not produce a crunchy skin. This method steams the potatoes in their own juices.

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Popular in the American South, these yellow or orange tubers are elongated with ends that taper to a point and are of two dominant types. The paler-skinned sweet potato has a thin, light yellow skin with pale yellow flesh which is not sweet and has a dry, crumbly texture similar to a white baking potato. The darker-skinned variety (which is most often called “yam” in error) has a thicker, dark orange to reddish skin with a vivid orange, sweet flesh and a moist texture.

The paler-skinned sweet potato has a thin, light yellow skin with pale yellow flesh which is not sweet and has a dry, crumbly texture similar to a white baking potato. The darker-skinned variety (which is most often called “yam” in error) has a thicker, dark orange to reddish skin with a vivid orange, sweet flesh and a moist texture.

My crockpot has a High & Low setting. I can program it to cook for as long as as I want. Would it be 6 hours on High? Thank you!

I can tell, regarding the previous posters’ questions …
Natalie has an amazing calm of self control sprinkled with a sense of humor 😉

Sounds good but have you ever peeled the sweet potatoes, cut in 2inch cubes … Put in large
Baking pan drizzle Olive oil over the potatoes?
Sprinkle Seasalt .. bake
in 410 degree oven for 25 min or till golden brown & soft to eat…delicious!

I don’t like sweet potatoes too much. But my Granny got me to eat then this one way. She would clean and rub them in oil and bake them until the outside skin is crispy and the flesh was mush! Then she would smother them with real butter, salt and pepper and serve them with pork chops! I loved the butter in the sweet flesh with the pork! And the crispy skin was good with a little extra butter! 😉 I bet these would be good served the same way!

Imho, you don’t need to ‘scrub’ with any utensil…just wash off making sure all the dirt is gone. As far as the skin…yes it would cook but dry out and prob not be very nice and the outside would also be ruined, hard. The skin is nature’s wrapping…it allows the moisture to stay inside and steam it rather than bake it. If you can’t bear the skin once cooled you can scoop the meat out. Another yummy thing…once meat sccoped out, cut in strips, then you can butter the skin, a lil salt and fry it in a pan for yummy and mineral& vitamin rich crunchy treat! (Don’t forget much of the vitamins and minerals are in the skins of our veggies

My daughter cooks them in the crock pot without skins (she peels them) and they turn out just fine. Not dry at all, instead soft, sweet & delicious!.

The food products we get now is not good for health. But still we are forced to buy these things because of no other alternatives. The recipe you have shared here seems to be good. Anyways I’m going to try this. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe.

Sweet potatoes are a staple at my house. This is an old post, but wanted to share. Not only do we love them, my dogs love them too. They are a great diet food. We have boiled , baked. microwaved, but never slow cooked. I will try this. My daughter puts brown sugar and butter on hers. I sometimes cut them in rounds and caramelize with brown sugar and butter on the stove top in an iron skillet. Super food!

Always looking for new recipes and foods to cook. Am having a blast with my wife’s Ninja Slow Cooker/Oven. 82 yrs. old and just now getting into cooking!!

This morning was the first day of farmers market here in my home town of Longview, Tx. Its my favorite time of year because all the locals come out and you get the freshest produce that you can find year round. I bought a huge thing of sweet potatoes for 5 dollars and couldn’t wait to get busy eating them. I found your post through pintrest. I have a birthday party to go to at 3 so this was a no brainer to try out. In my other slow cooker I put in some bbq chicken thighs to go with it. When I get home I’ll make some fresh garlic green beans to round out this effortless dinner! I cant wait! Thanks for the post!!!

Thanks for the tip. I did this for a Japanese sweet potato which has a little thicker skin but it still was perfect! I did add a cup of water since the sweet potato didn’t produce any moisture on its own and started to look a little too dry. Really want to thank you again. You saved me from using the oven during the California summer.

Sorry, but when I tried this recipe,the potatoes tasted disgusting! Total waste. Could not eat. I fed it to my dogs.

I cook eight sweet potatoes at a time in the slow cooker. Then peel, mash, and add coconut oil, salt, and cinnamon. We eat them cold—as a creamy, pudding-like dessert! You can top your “pudding “ with toasted walnuts or pecans.

I have never thought of making baked sweet potato in a slow cooker or pressure cooker.

I got a pressure cooker yesterday, so will give this a go tonight – thanks. 🙂