Something amazing happened this week.
Because I’m teaching my kids to cook, dinner got on the table on time when it never would have otherwise – including the easiest homemade mashed potatoes ever!
Tuesday was a crazy day, with one meeting stacked upon another and school conferences at 4:30 p.m. I neglected my own meal planning tips and advice, and didn’t decide what we were having until over halfway through the day!
I barely had time to throw a pork tenderloin into the Instant Pot – like literally throw it in, drizzle some olive oil on, haphazardly shake in some Italian seasoning and ask Google, “How long to cook a pork tenderloin in the Instant Pot?” and then stab at the buttons.
Pro tip: 30 minutes with a natural pressure release will do it for 2 pounds of meat, if you need to know.
However, a hunk of meat doth not a meal make, especially when there are in-laws coming over and 4 hungry children!
My original plan was to get mashed potatoes started in our other Instant Pot – yes, we have two of them – before I left for conferences, but it just didn’t happen. I had 3 minutes, exactly. Guess what you can do in 3 minutes?
- You can remind your 12-year-old boy about how he and his sister made a video of Instant Pot mashed potatoes a few months ago and ask him if he can do it tonight.
- You can skim through the recipe with him and make sure the deer-in-the-headlights look is out of his eyes since you sprung this on him with no warning – Yes, son, don’t worry, you do know how to make mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot.
- You can show him where the red potatoes are and remind him his sister likes lots of butter in her mashed potatoes.
And then you can rush out the door, feeling grateful that dinner is in good hands and amazed at how teaching kids to cook is paying back!!!
Related: More recipes kids can make!
Teaching Kids to Cook
It’s my hope for YOU that your kids can save dinner sometime, too! BUT if you’re going to ask your kids to do this, they need some kitchen skills first. We’d love to help you out with our Kids Cook Real Food eCourse, teaching 30 basic cooking skills to kids ages 2-12 in organized, FUN video lessons.
The key is to teach the kitchen skills in advance, when there’s NOT time pressure for dinner. Then you can reap the rewards when you’ve made all the bad planning choices in the world one day. 
Also Read: Teaching kids to cook leads to healthier adults!
Make your Instant Pot work for you!
The Instant Pot has gotten a lot of hype over the last couple years – for good reason. It really can do just about anything.
Although it can seem a bit daunting to use at first, it really becomes quite simple once you give it a try.
Use the techniques, tips and simple recipes from the Instant Pot Guidebook to get started, and before you know it, your Instant Pot will become indispensable!
Instant Pot Kids Recipes
I’ll show you how to make the easy no drain mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot too. But, since you don’t have to drain the water off, it’s a perfect recipe for kids – no heavy lifting that usually comes with draining mashed potatoes!!
Also, boiling potatoes in the Instant Pot means no boiling over.
I may have a bit of a boiling-over complex myself, because I’m always trying to cook as fast as I can and multi-task, which means at least 75% of the mashed potatoes I’ve made in my life created more work for me later, cleaning off the stovetop – at least I know how to do it naturally and effectively, right? #smallwins
This Instant Pot potato salad is another recipe that kids can tackle without having to deal with boiling potatoes on the stovetop. Or you can give this kid-friendly golden rice recipe a try!
The holidays are a tough time for healthy eating, especially when kids really just want to bake fun foods!
(If they want to get into the kitchen at all!)
Maybe…just this once…we should do something I don’t normally recommend.
What if we give them what they want?
If you’re ready for your kids to gain baking independence without sacrificing all the healthy standards you value, join the Holiday Baking Challenge! Now on sale for just $19, you get professionally filmed videos of me and my kids teaching you to make baking favorites with healthier ingredients.
Actually, let’s let the kids show you how easy it is to make Instant Pot mashed potatoes – they’re 6, 9, and 12 in this video. Didn’t they do great?
VIDEO: Instant Pot Kids Recipes – No-Drain Mashed Potatoes
Recipe: How to Make Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes – No Drain!
In case you didn’t catch all the amounts in the video, here’s the written recipe:
Print
Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes – No Drain!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: side dish
Description
These mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot are so easy, kids can make them. No draining, no heavy pots, no babysitting the stove.
Ingredients
- 2–3 pounds potatoes (no more than 8 cups for a 6-quart Instant Pot) *red, Yukon, Idaho – whatever you have
- 1 1/2 c. water OR chicken broth (for added nutrition)
- 1 tsp. Real Salt
- optional: fresh garlic, 1-2 whole cloves
- 1/2 c. milk
- 4 Tbs. butter (or to taste)
Instructions
- Cut the potatoes into large chunks. Quarters is fine for red potatoes; big bakers will need to be more pieces.
- No need to peel if you don’t want to, although you may.
- Put the potatoes and liquid into a 6-quart or larger Instant Pot.
- Add salt (Use the code kitchenstewardship for 15% off of your first purchase) and optional garlic.
- Check the seal and lock in the lid. Turn the valve to “Sealing.”
- Set the Instant Pot for 10 minutes on high pressure (usually this is the “Manual” button).
- It will take 5-10 minutes to get up to pressure. When the 10-minute cooking time is up, use a long wooden spoon to safely open the valve and release the pressure.
- Open the lid carefully. Most of the water will be absorbed, but if it still looks a little liquid-y, don’t worry – mashing will solve the problem.
- Add milk and butter (to taste) and any other seasonings you enjoy.
- Mash the potatoes right in the pot (or do as my Grandma does and use a KitchenAid mixer paddle, but that’s not as safe for kids, moving hot potatoes around).
- The Instant Pot will automatically be on “keep warm” so you can close the lid again and serve the potatoes any time in the next few hours!
Notes
* Other seasonings like Herbs de Provence can make your smashed potatoes step up a notch in elegance!
* Non-dairy milk works fine as well and olive or avocado oil.
* A huge thank you to Bethany at Woodhaven Place for the basic no-drain technique!
- Need a little help getting healthy food on the table every day? Real Plans takes the stress out of meal planning and puts the nourishing food BACK on your table. There’s a plan for every diet type, including GAPS, Paleo, AIP, Whole30, vegetarian and more! You remain totally in control: use your own recipes, accept theirs, and teach the system what your family likes…Check out how powerful it is here!
That’s it!
And on conferences day, to finish up that story, thank goodness Paul was on the task. I didn’t get home until nearly 6! I was able to quickly saute some frozen veggies and boom – dinner, on the table. Instant Pot + kids who can cook = miracle! Now that’s my kind of math!
RELATED: Recipes for leftover mashed potatoes.
Instant Pot Tutorials:
Where to Buy an Instant Pot
This is the 6-quart Instant Pot I started out with. After a few years, we added an 8-quart partly because I knew I would use two at the same time often enough, partly because it was the Prime Day sale, and also because I wanted more space for certain recipes. Both are a pretty basic model and you don’t need more bells and whistles than that!
If you’re deciding on size, most people say it’s better to get a deal on the 6-quart and just have 2 rather than go big, BUT if your family has 5 or more people or you really like to batch cook or do more than a pound of beans, the 8-quart may be the best choice. My full Instant Pot review and buying guide for features, size, and model.
If you’d like to shop directly at Instant Pot’s website instead of Amazon (or just compare prices), check them out here.
You can even get a carrying case to travel with it! See my review of the Instant Pot carrying case we have.
If you’re still on the fence about adding an Instant Pot to your kitchen appliance arsenal here are my Instant Pot pros and cons.
My dear friend Wardee at Traditional Cooking School can do just about anything with her Instant Pot – cakes, bread, main dishes, veggies, even “stacking” multiple kinds of food at once!
She’s offering a free sourdough cornbread Instant Pot recipe!
This cornbread is delicious, nutritious, super easy to make, and it only needs 12 minutes of cook time.
My go-to mashed potatoes recipe! Love this recipe so much. Ridiculously easy, flavorful and delicious!
★★★★★
Glad you enjoy it! Thanks for the review Elizabeth!
We don’t have a Instant Pot. Does the cooking with kids ecourse depend on that piece of equipment?
Great question, I’m glad you asked! There’s no problem if you don’t have an Instant Pot.
You won’t need a pressure cooker at all for the full original course. The Instant Pot premium content class is just one section that is an add-on to the full course, and everything taught in that section can also be done in a slow cooker.