Instant Pot Carrots and Potatoes

Instant Pot Carrots and Potatoes Medley is flavorful and super quick when made in the instant pot. This tasty potato and carrots side dish is spicy, well-seasoned and perfect for your holiday spread. And to make this carrot and potatoes side-dish, you just need 30-minutes from start to finish.

I had a bounty of organic carrots and potato harvest this year. I love to grow veggies in my small organic garden, and this was the first time I grew carrots in my garden. Some were really big and juicy whereas many were thin, long and out-of-shape. But I loved the fresh, sweet flavor of homegrown carrots and potatoes.

This colorful carrots and potatoes are perfect for this instant pot vegetable medley. But you can always baby potatoes and carrots for this recipe. If using full-size potatoes and carrots, make sure to dice them to nearly similar sizes to use in this recipe. You can also use the tri-color purple, red and gold potatoes for this recipe. Peeling potatoes is not necessary. Since I have used baby potatoes for this recipe, I didn’t peel them. The skin on potatoes also adds a nice, earthy flavor to this dish.

This recipe doesn’t use robust Indian spices, but feel free to use curry powder and similar Indian spice mix for this recipe. I am including both options(American spice blend and Indian spice blend) in this recipe so that you can choose the spice option based on your preference.

This instant pot carrots and potatoes makes a perfect side dish and is 100% vegan. You can always modify the recipe and use animal fat or cheese while making this dish. My vegetarian family loves a dash on parmesan on this dish.

How to make instant pot carrots and potatoes?

Spicy and Herby Version: 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes, 3 cloves garlic finely chopped or minced, 1 lb of baby potatoes medley (purple, red and gold)(cubed to 1-inch pieces), ½ lbs carrots – cut into 1-inch thick pieces, ½ cup vegetable broth (no-chicken vegan broth mix mixed in ½ cup water), 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon Spike original seasoning, fresh parsley for garnish

Indian Curry-Spiced Version: 1 tablespoon Avocado oil, 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes, 3 cloves garlic finely chopped or minced, 1 lb of baby potatoes medley (purple, red and gold)(cubed to 1-inch pieces), ½ lbs carrots – cut into 1-inch thick pieces, ½ cup vegetable broth (or water), 1 tablespoon Indian curry powder, 1 teaspoon Coriander powder, ½ teaspoon red chili powder, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, Salt to taste, fresh cilantro for garnish

Method of Making Instant Pot Carrots and Potatoes:

• First, wash and cut your vegetables. Remember to cut them into nearly equal-sized pieces since we will pressure cook them. The size is really important because you will never want mushy carrots and potatoes.
• If you cut them too small, they tend to fall apart at the end of cooking.  The carrots and potato pieces need to be similar in size, so they both will cook at the same time.
• Since I have cut them into 1-inch size pieces, the cooking time is just 3-minutes. If you cut into big chunks, the cooking time may vary.  
• Once the veggies are cut into required sized pieces, take them in a ziplock bag and add all the herb, spice, seasonings and half of the oil.
• Give a good mix by shaking until evenly coated. Now add the vegetables to a steamer basket or an instant pot pot-in-pot(I used this version) and place on the trivet. Pressure cook for 3-minutes in manual setting. If using the pot in pot method, add the broth with the veggies.
• After pressure cooking time, carefully quick release pressure. Remove the carrots and potatoes and set the instant pot into sauté mode.
• Add remaining oil to the inner pot and once hot, and add carrots and potatoes. Allow them to brown a little from all the sides and the broth dries up.
• Add fresh herbs(parsley or cilantro) and switch off the instant pot. Serve warm.

📖 Recipe

Here are some fall-inspired sides that you will love.

• Sautéed Asparagus and Mushrooms
• Vegan Curry
• Indian Potato Curry