Our garden produced a ton of sweet potatoes last year, so I had to get creative to find ways to use them. We fried them in tallow, baked them in the oven, and even grilled them on low heat on the grill.
We even used them as the “noodles” in homemade lasagna (it was delicious!) and made dozens of different breakfast hash brown recipes with them.
While these were all a hit, sometimes the simplest recipe is the most delicious! These Crock Pot or Instant Pot sweet potatoes melt in your mouth just topped with butter and salt. They’re also convenient on those days when we don’t have time to throw them in the oven an hour before dinner.
This has been my go-to method of sweet potato cooking lately and it works incredibly well!
How to Make Sweet Potatoes in the Instant Pot (or Slow Cooker)
I feel bad even calling this a “recipe” because it only has one ingredient and one step, but a simple, healthy side that doesn’t take any chopping or hands-on time is worth sharing!
Oven roasting is delicious, but I was curious to try this method when a friend had mentioned cooking sweet potatoes in her Crock Pot. She might have meant actually peeling, cutting, and putting spices on them, but I decided to try it with the whole sweet potatoes… and it worked… really well!
This is great if you like sweet potatoes for breakfast because you can cook them overnight. I’ll often slow-cook sweet potatoes overnight and top with leftover chicken or sausage in the morning for a super fast and nourishing breakfast.
If you love sweet potatoes as much as we do, give this simple version a try!
Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes Recipe
Servings
Nutrition
Notes
Slow Cooker Method
Place the sweet potatoes in the Crock Pot, put the lid on, and turn on low. Cook for 6-7 hours or until tender.
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More Slow Cooker and Instant Pot Recipes
If you’re a Crock-Pot-aholic like me, check out my soups and stews recipes for some other great slow cooker ideas!
Also check out my full Instant Pot review here and this super simple Instant Pot pot roast recipe that you can prepare in an hour.
If you get hooked, here are some other favorite:
- How to Make Steel-Cut Oats in the Instant Pot
- Simple Tomato Soup Recipe (Stovetop or Instant Pot)
- Instant Pot Mushroom Risotto
- Coconut Curry Chicken (Quick Instant Pot Recipe)
- Mexican Beef and Rice Bowls (Instant Pot)
p.s. Worried about nutrient loss with a pressure cooker? This post explains how a pressure cooker may actually concentrate the nutrients in food, but there is one trick you need to know to preserve the nutrients in your food.
What is the easiest healthy side dish you’ve ever made in the Crock Pot or Instant Pot? Do you use them to cook sweet potatoes?
Thank you for this recipe. My oven died today — of all days! I need to bake sweet potatoes for Christmas lunch. Do you recommend a single layer in the slow cooker, or do you think the sweet potatoes will cook if they’re stacked?
I needed a go-to recipe for an overnight mashed sweet potato dish for a bat mitzvah/Thanksgiving meal. You came to the rescue and it came out amazing. I peeled my potatoes first Your recipe says nothing about peeling. Can they be mashed up with the skins on? I have always found the skins tough when baked in the oven. I also added a bit of garlic and onion. Just my preference. Thank you!!!
I always remove the skins…
Cool recipe. By the way, those are yams, sweet potatoes are different.
I made these for the first time today in the crockpot; 7 hours, so good and tasty!
The easiest meal I make in the crockpot is BBQ chicken. I put a pack of fresh, boneless, skinless chicken breast in the crock pot (even straight from the freezer!) and 1/4 cup water. Let it cook all day and when it is done (drain juices if necessary), fork it apart and add your favorite BBQ sauce. Eat is by itself or on a bun. My kids love this!
Oooh, nice. I will be trying this IMMEDIATELY.
I wonder: Could you cook both white potatoes and sweet potatoes together? That would make Thanksgiving cooking a lot easier. Put a little butter in and let it cook into the potatoes would make it easier for mashing too.
White potatoes need to be washed, dried, and covered in foil before you put it in the crockpot. You can definitely put both in the crockpot together!
Yes, you can. I made a dinner of just potatoes and mixed white with sweet. All of them turned out super.
thank you for this!! I was scared to attempt this!
Thanks Katie!! I will be cooking sweet potatoes with chicken breast tonight in the crock pot for my family!! I love your blog! I am in the process of refining mine AGAIN!! Such a process to get it right…but so worthwhile. I took a look around your blog and I am learning so much already. Looking forward to keeping up with your posts. Hope to connect with you on Social Media as well. Look out for me too please, I would love to share ideas and learn more from you. And don’t worry I always give credit to those that inspire me and you just did!
The easiest thing I ever made in the crockpot is applesauce. I wash and core a bunch of organic apples and put them in whole by themselves – no liquid at all. Sprinkle cinnamon over them. Cook on low for a few hours and they’re done. After I lift the lid, I use my potato masher and mash the apples, skin and all and no matter what type of apples I use, they always turn out yummy!
How long to you find to be adequate? This sounds fantastic and I can’t wait to try it! Did you need to use foil or anything or just apples in the crockpot? Thanks!
Depending on the size of the apples I’m using, I either cut them up or not, never peel them as they’re organic and put them in the crockpot. Last time I made them, I put some in small plastic freezer bags and froze it for future use.
Does the peel get really soft too?
I want to do this while I am at work, but I am afraid of burning. Has anyone left the crock pot alone while they were out?
I always leave my crockpot alone and on while I am at work. Last time, I had to put it in the bathroom, because we have a new beagle in our house, and I don’t trust her! 🙂
This depends on the crock pot itself. I have a crock pot that burns if it is not totally filled up… so I do not leave the house when it is on… my old one was awesome… turned off with auto on off…
Since I found this “recipe” a few months ago, the only way I’ll EVER cook sweet potatoes again is in the crock pot. I’ve also discovered that red and russet potatoes cook better than any other method I know. I use a 1 1/2 quart crock pot because I’m widowed and retired, so it’s just me. I’ve even combined sweet and red potatoes in the same pot… 2 small sweets and 2 or 3 small reds, cook on high for 4 hours and make a meal! Split the potatos open, put on some butter or margerine and a little cinnamon on the sweets, lightly salt and enjoy. I eat the shins of the reds but discard the skins of the sweets unless I can find organic ones (only around Thanksgiving). Also eat the skins on the russets and other white potatoes. Really glad I found this “recipe”!
Random passer-by here, just wanted to say thanks for the ‘recipe’! We’re new to using the crock pot and happened to be looking for an easy way to prep our sweet potatoes.
Thank you!
Wow! So easy and delicious. The skin was easy to peel. I added cinnamon and slow baked pecans.
We also grew sweet potatoes this year and I have baskets full and I still have more to dig!! So, I’ll be using this one a lot! I’m a big crock pot cooker! Thanks….
Since there are only two in our family, we use the microwave for sweet potatoes. But if I decided to cook several of them I would certainly use the crock pot and I know they would be delicious. I know someone who cooks many sweet potatoes in her crock pot and takes a couple to work to eat at room temp for her lunch.
Crock pot is way better then microwave.
thanks this looks great, I did not know you could do sweet potatoes in a crockpot! i was wondering if you tried white sweet potatoes in a crock pot? the ones with purple skin? my family prefers those to oranges ones.
I’ve done this what sweet potatoes and white potatoes. It’s my preferred method. I put 1/4 cup of water in the bottom of the crockpot when cooking mine. They turn out great every time.
I always am nervous about cooking dry things in the crock pot. I know lots of people do it, and I’ve been told it works really well, but it just seems so bizarre to me! But I do love sweet potatoes, maybe I can overcome my fear for them.
It is a fabulous idea. I just picked some from my garden, and am looking for something pre- morning workout to eat. Perhaps this will work good?
Fabulous idea!!