Spend less time cooking and more time eating with this Instant Pot trick for sweet potatoes

I don’t know what this says about me, but instead of having a fruit bowl on my kitchen counter, I have a potato bowl. Those precious spuds can be mashed, baked, sliced, French fried, and made into crunchy tots? And now that I’ve learned you can also pop them right into your Instant Pot, I’m about to have a lot more free time on my hands.

As much as I love sweet potatoes, I’m not particularly a fan of how long it takes to cook them. Those things are always rock hard, so aside from the arm workout I get from cutting them, they also take forever to soften up. Luckily, Reddit always comes through: According to u/NickelGallium17, all you need to do is cut the potato in half and place it on top of a rack or inside a steamer basket in your Instant Pot. Add a little bit of water to the bottom, cover and select the “Steam” option on the “Less” setting, then cook for seven minutes. “Cooked through and through. It has a nice satisfying crunch in the middle. The peel came right off,” they write.

If you want your potato to be extra soft—no crunch included!—just cook it longer. This recipe recommends 30 minutes for something that’s silky-smooth and velvety all the way through. Whether you cook them for 7 or 30 minutes, after you’re finished you can pile on some healthy toppings, turn it into a vitamin-loaded dessert (try this s’more-inspired recipe!), or add some chunks to your salad or grain bowl. And if you want to steal my potato bowl hack, feel free: With this quickie potato-making technique, you’ll be needing a lot of ’em.

Here’s exactly how to tell yams and sweet potatoes apart, because you know you’ve been wondering. Also, stop trying to choose between a sweet potato and regular potato: According to a nutritionist, they’re both good for you.