Instant Pot Potato Salad

I Use a 6 or 8 quart Instant Pot for all of my recipes. Most often, I use my 6 quart pot.

Course side

Prep Time 45 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 15 servings

Author Si Foster, A Bountiful Kitchen

Ingredients

Small white or red potatoes about 4-5 lbs washed, unpeeled
8-12 eggs
Dill pickles about 3 large or 6 small chunked
Dill pickle juice about 3/4 to 1 cup
Best Foods or Hellman's Mayo – No LIGHT please about 1 1/2 cups total
Sea or Kosher salt
White pepper optional

Instructions

For eggs:

Place the eggs in the Instant Pot with the wire rack in the bottom of the pot.
Pour 1 cup of water into the Instant pot. Make sure the sealing ring is in place inside of the Instant Pot lid.
Secure the lid on the pot and lock into position. Check the sealing valve on top and make sure it is set to the "Sealing" position.
Turn to "Manual" or "High Pressure" setting and cook the eggs for 5 minutes.
When the timer goes off, release the pressure in the pot carefully using the steam release valve on top of the pot.
Remove the eggs using the wire rack and place immediately in a bowl of cold ice water, or place the eggs in a bowl and run cold water over the eggs until cooled a bit.

Peel and set aside. For potatoes:

Wash the potatoes while the eggs are cooking, no need to peel or cut. If cooking eggs in the Instant Pot before cooking the potatoes, wash the Instant Pot insert with soap to insure there is not a cross contamination from the egg shells.
Place the washed potatoes in the clean Instant Pot with 1 cup water. Make sure the sealing ring is in place inside of the Instant Pot lid and secure the lid on the pot and lock into position. Check the sealing valve on top and make sure it is set to the "Sealing" position. Set the timer on the Instant Pot to 10 minutes on "Manual" or "High Pressure" setting with 10 minutes natural release time. If using very small potatoes 1-1/2 inches round, such as the potatoes sold in small mesh bags, I cook for 5 minutes with 5 minutes of natural pressure release time. See recipe notes for additional instructions.
When potatoes are done, release the pressure carefully, and place potatoes in a large bowl. Discard any water in Instant Pot insert. Use a knife and slice or slash the potatoes in half or fourths depending on size.
Pour pickle juice (cold or room temperature) over the hot potatoes. It is important the potatoes are cut and still hot while the juice is poured over. The juice will soak into the potatoes and create a type of dressing when the mayo is added and also add moisture to the potatoes. I start with about 1/2 cup of juice and add about 3/4 cup total as I fold into the hot potatoes.
Generously salt the potatoes at this time.
Add mayo to the bowl, about 1 1/2 cups, along with eggs cut into chunks, and sliced or chunk dill pickles. The eggs, mayo and pickles may be added to the bowl at one time.
Fold all ingredients together and taste to see if more salt is needed.
Add additional mayo if needed. See recipe notes for making ahead.
This salad is best served warm or at room temperature, but is also good chilled.

Recipe Notes

You may have to experiment with potatoes and cook time. The end result should be potatoes that are completely soft, but not mushy, with some of the skins being split. The amount of time potatoes take to cook will depend on many factors- size, variety of potatoes (red, white, russet , etc).
To reduce cook time of potatoes, cut the potatoes BEFORE cooking in the Instant Pot. Wash and cut the potatoes into even pieces, about 1 1/2 inch squares. Reduce the cooking time to 5 minutes on high pressure, and immediately release pressure after timer goes off. Drain any excess water before proceeding with recipe.
If for some reason your potatoes are not cooked enough, Set the timer for an additional 3-5 minutes according to doneness and add 1/2 cup of water and start the Instant Pot on manual cook setting again.
If the potato salad is sitting overnight and served the next day, allow for some additional mayo to be added if needed. The potatoes will soak up mayo after sitting for a while. I wait to place on a serving platter or dish until just before serving in case extra mayo needs to be added. Always store the potato salad in the refrigerator.