In this Instant Pot Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes recipe juicy, tender meatloaf and creamy, fluffy mashed potatoes cook at same time in an electric pressure cooker. It’s classic comfort food at its best!
It’s turkey meatloaf meets Instant Pot mashed potatoes in one pot!
Table of Contents
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Ingredients for Instant Pot Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes
- How to Make Instant Pot Meatloaf
- Tips for Best Results
- Can I Make Meatloaf in Instant Pot Using Foil?
- What to Serve with Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes?
- How to Store and Reheat
- FAQs
- More Instant Pot Recipes to Try
- Instant Pot Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes Recipe
If this Instant Pot meatloaf recipe doesn’t convince you to buy an Instant Pot, I don’t know what or who else will! You can make so many one pot meals in it!
This meatloaf in Instant Pot comes out mind blowing and kids gobble it up. I just love healthy Instant Pot recipes!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy: You will skip turning on the oven, stove and washing a few bowls. You mix, cook, slice and serve entire dinner in same 2 pans in your Instant Pot! You can even refrigerate leftovers in the same 2 pans. And then reheat them in the same 2 pans in Instant Pot.
- Juicy meatloaf: Meatloaf can be made with any ground meat and it always comes out juicy thanks to captured steam inside.
- Creamy mashed potatoes: Mashed potatoes in Instant Pot always come out extra tender and creamy.
- It can be made ahead: You can make it in the morning and press Keep Warm for hot dinner later. I often make it on the weekend and go shopping.
Ingredients for Instant Pot Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes
There are two parts to the ingredients for this Instant Pot meatloaf recipe – for meatloaf and for mashed potatoes.
For the meatloaf you will need:
- Ground meat: Use ground beef, ground chicken, ground pork or ground turkey like me. It turns out delicious either way. For red meat, I recommend to go for extra lean ground beef or ground pork.
- Egg: For binding meatloaf ingredients. You can try to replace it with one flax egg or chia egg.
- Oats: We use oats in place of breadcrumbs (forgot to picture it). I like to use rolled oats but you can also use quick oats, quick cooking steel cut oats or even steel cut oats. You can use equal amount of regular breadcrumbs or panko breadcrumbs as well.
- Garlic powder: To add flavor. Onion powder works just as well.
- Dried oregano: For more flavor. Also use your favorite dried herbs like dried thyme, dried basil or Italian seasoning.
- Salt and pepper
- Ketchup: For the glaze. I like to keep meatloaf recipe simple and it turns out delicious!
For the mashed potatoes you will need:
- Potatoes: Yukon gold potatoes or red potatoes are the best choice for mashed potatoes since you don’t have to peel them, just cut into large chunks. You can also use russet potatoes but be sure to peel first.
- Water: Cold water to cook the potatoes in.
- Milk: Classic ingredient to make mashed potatoes creamy. I use whole milk but any milk works.
- Butter: To add another layer of flavor and creaminess to the potatoes. You can also use ghee.
- Salt and pepper
How to Make Instant Pot Meatloaf
To cook meatloaf and mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot, I’m using these two stainless steel pans. They are stackable, fit 6 quart and 8 quart Instant Pots and you can buy them on Amazon.
But don’t worry, if you don’t have them, below I share how to cook meatloaf with tin foil.
While this Instant Pot meatloaf recipe might seem hard and labor intensive, I assure you it’s one of the easiest Instant Pot recipes! There is also detailed recipe card with video below.
- Prep the potatoes: To the bottom pan, add chopped into large pieces potatoes and cold water.
- Prep the meatloaf: To the top pan, add ground meat of choice, egg, oats and spices. Mix with your hands and shape meat mixture into oval or round shape. Do not add water.
- Close and stack the pans: Stack the pans with meatloaf on top, making sure the lids cover them tightly. Then secure the easy-lift handle around them.
- Cook meatloaf and potatoes: Into 6 quart or 8 quart Instant Pot, add 1 cup cold water. Pressure cook on High Pressure for 25 minutes. You will either press Manual or Pressure Cook button. After release pressure right away, called Quick Release, by turning the valve to Venting position.
- Open the pans: They are hot and full of steam, so do it carefully wearing the oven mitts.
- Bottom pan with potatoes: Drain water. Add butter, milk, salt and pepper and mash the potatoes with a potato masher.
- Top pan with meatloaf: Squirt some ketchup on top and spread with a mini spatula or pastry brush.
That’s it! Your Instant Pot meatloaf and mashed potatoes are ready! As an option, you can place the meatloaf on a baking sheet and broil under the oven’s broiler to brown the top.
Tips for Best Results
- Do not overwork the meat: When mixing the meat mixture, mix just enough to combine. Otherwise, your meatloaf might turn out tough and rubbery.
- If you would like to use 2 pounds of meat: The question I get asked the most about this Instant Pot meatloaf recipe. I would recommend to shape it into a round shape instead of oval shape to make sure it cooks through. Pressure cooking time will not change.
- To cut recipe in half: Cut all ingredients in half but keep same cooking time. Just use same 1 cup of cold water added to the bottom of pressure cooker.
- With 3 quart Instant Pot: You will need to use smaller mini pans or the foil method. Use half the amount of ingredients, keeping the same cook time.
- If using ground beef or pork: If the meat you use is not lean, I recommend to drain the extra fat from the pan after cooking the meatloaf.
Can I Make Meatloaf in Instant Pot Using Foil?
If you do not have or do not wish to buy stainless steel pans, you can use aluminum foil to cook meatloaf and potatoes in Instant Pot. You will create “a pan” for the meatloaf to place on top of the potatoes.
Here is a quick photo visual with instructions:
- Add potatoes: Add chopped potatoes and cold water in the Instant Pot.
- Place trivet on top: Then put trivet that came with Instant Pot on top of the potatoes. Doesn’t matter if it has handles or not.
- Shape meatloaf in a foil “pan”: Mix and form meat mixture into an oval meatloaf on top of double layered foil and then shape foil into “a bowl”.
- Pressure cook: Cook as per recipe.
Recipe Tip
If you prefer not to cook with foil for health reasons, you can use an oven proof baking pan or stainless steel bowl that fits your Instant Pot for the meatloaf. It does not have to be covered. A few readers have successfully tested this method.
What to Serve with Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes?
While this is a one pot dinner, adding a few colorful vegetable side dishes is always a good idea!
Try to serve meatloaf and potatoes with quick and simple garlic green beans, sauteed broccoli or Instant Pot steamed vegetables (make them in 3 minutes after cooking the meatloaf).
As for the salad, I think this arugula feta salad, cucumber tomato feta salad or bell pepper salad with pair nicely.
If you have time, try your hand in making Ukrainian garlic bread.
How to Store and Reheat
Store: Refrigerate leftovers in the same pans you cooked meatloaf and potatoes in for up to 2 days. Or transfer them into two separate airtight containers.
I personally find that mashed potatoes do not taste fresh after 2 days but you can store them another 1-2 days, if you wish.
Reheat: I recommend to slice leftover meatloaf for even reheating. To reheat, pop covered stainless steel pans into the Instant Pot, add 1 cup water and press Pressure Cook or Manual button for 1 minute.
Or reheat in a microwave for 2 minutes, check back and see if it needs more time.
FAQs
The best way to know if your meatloaf is ready, is to insert an instant read meat thermometer into the thickest part of the meatloaf. If it registers at least 155 degrees F, your meatloaf is ready. Meatloaf will continue cooking with residual heat while you apply the ketchup glaze and mash the potatoes, and reach recommended as per USDA safe for consumption internal temperature of 160 F.
If using stackable pans, you could double the meatloaf amount but not the potatoes because they will not fit into the pan. You can also cook double the amount of potatoes like in the foil method, then place metal pan with meatloaf on top (some people, like me, do not love cooking with foil for health reasons).
If using the foil method, you can double both the meatloaf and the potatoes. Pressure cooking time remains the same.
If you would like to add some vegetables to make it a complete meal, I recommend to add baby carrots or simply sliced chunks of carrots around the foil bowl with the meatloaf. I find other vegetables will come out extremely overcooked during the 25 minutes of pressure cooking.
You can freeze the meatloaf in an airtight container or freezer safe bag for up to 3 months. I recommend to freeze it whole, so it stays juicy. As a general rule of thumb, potatoes do not freeze well as they change their texture.
I think so. You can follow my slow cooker turkey meatloaf recipe instructions. You can also add cubed potatoes with 1 cup of water to the bottom of slow cooker and then place meatloaf mixture in parchment paper or foil on top.
More Instant Pot Recipes to Try
- Instant Pot chicken and potatoes
- Instant Pot potatoes
- Instant Pot ground beef stroganoff
- Instant Pot meatballs
- Instant Pot pork chops
Instant Pot Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
For the Meatloaf (Top Pan):
- 1 pound ground meat beef, turkey or chicken
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup oats any
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1-2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano basil, thyme or Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
For the Mashed Potatoes (Bottom Pan):
- 2 pounds potatoes cubed
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
How to Make Meatloaf in Stackable Pans
- Top pan: Add ground turkey, egg, oats, balsamic vinegar, dried herbs, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Using your hands mix well. Shape meat mixture into oval or round meatloaf shape. Do not add water.
- Place lid on a pan with meatloaf. Then stack it on top of pan with potatoes. You want top pan to sit comfortably. If too many potatoes, remove some and save in a bowl with cold water for another recipe.
- Into 6 or 8 quart Instant Pot, add 1 cup water. Place both pans in a trivet (sling) that came with pans, secure it and place inside Instant Pot.
- Close the lid, set pressure release valve to Sealing and press Pressure Cook on High Pressure or Manual for 25 minutes. After release pressure using Quick Release method – turn valve to Venting immediately after cooking.
- With a mitt on, remove pans from Instant Pot on a towel and open them.
- Bottom pan with potatoes: Drain the water and add butter, milk, salt and pepper. Mash.
- Top pan with meatloaf: Squirt some ketchup on top and spread with a mini spatula or brush. Slice meatloaf right in a pan and serve!
How to Make Meatloaf Using Foil
- Potatoes: Place potatoes and water at the bottom of Instant Pot. Then put trivet that came with Instant Pot on top. Doesn't matter if it has handles or not.
- Meatloaf: And then shape meat mixture into a meatloaf on top of double layered foil and then shape foil into a bowl. Place on a trivet.
- Close the lid, set pressure vent to Sealing and press Pressure Cook on High or Manual button for 25 minutes. After release the pressure immediately.
- Drain and mash potatoes with butter, milk, salt and pepper. Glaze loaf with ketchup. Slice and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate leftovers in the same pans for up to 2 days. Or transfer to an airtight container. Mashed potatoes do not taste fresh after 2 days.
- Reheat: Slice loaf for even reheating. To reheat, pop covered stainless steel pans in Instant Pot, add 1 cup water and press Pressure Cook or Manual for 1 minute. Or reheat in a microwave for 2 minutes, check back and see if it needs more time.
I have not made this recipe yet. Does this recipe still work if I double it? Do I need to adjust how long I cook it or any other changes??
Yes. Please see Tips and FAQs sections.
I made this a couple of days ago, it came out perfectly, I am retired, single, & live alone, so I only used 3 potatoes in the bottom pan & a half cup of water, made the turkey meatloaf per instructions, next time I want to add some vegetables, I did not put the lid on the top. I used the potato water to make gravy. I slice the loaf to make sandwiches for my lunches. I will make this again & again
Fantastic! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Just made this recipe the meatloaf was not cooked and the potatoes worked cooked what did I do wrong🥲
How do you know meatloaf was uncooked – bloody or thermometer temperature low? How did you check? You can always add a few extra minutes next time, won’t hurt. But depends how uncooked it was.
Absolutely delicious recipe ! Do you have any other one pot recipes as I bought the stackable pans?
I’m so happy to read this! Thanks for your positive feedback!
This saved me last night when I was in a huge rush to make dinner, no time to make what I’d planned. I confess I was skeptical about the recipe but – terrific. I used the foil method, it worked well.
I’m also wondering why I bother making meat loaf in the oven? Instant pot method comes out looking a bit pallid, but brushing on a glaze solves that.
Yay! I totally agree on the looks, Connie. Nothing ketchup can’t fix. So happy to hear you enjoyed my recipe.
I followed the recipe/cooking instructions exactly and after 25min at high pressure the meatloaf was barely cooked in the center and the potatoes were quite firm. I let both pans sit covered hoping the meat temp would rise and the potatoes would continue cooking. No luck with either pan so I popped them back into the IP and tried another 3 min at high pressure. The potatoes were better but it took 2 more tries (3 min each) to get the ground turkey even to 140 degrees. I did see that an earlier poster had very little steam released and I also had surprisingly little steam. Your suggestions/thoughts?
Hi Mary. I think your Instant Pot never came to pressure properly, so the water boiled for a while and food was cooked during that time with steam but not pressure cooked. Either forgot to turn valve to Sealing or your silicone ring needs replacement. Also next time I would wait and make sure pin pops up and it seals and count down begins so then you will know that was the issue. I have this Instant Pot troubleshooting guide that you might helpful. Good luck next time!
I have made your recipe so many times that I have it memorized. I even bought the pans you used after my first make-shift pan recipe. I’ve change it up a few times, added minced onions, grated carrots, diced mushrooms and subbed the balsamic with Worcestershire sauce, all at different times. To the potatoes, I’ve always added chicken or beef broth. Tonight too tired and forgot the exact timing and returned here. After re-reading your entire recipe post, I have a curious question for you. Is there a particle reason you mold the loaf into an oval shape? I’ve been spreading the meat so it covers the bottom of the pan. First time making I did make an oval, then remembered I have been spreading it out since. Thanks so much for our favorite meatloaf and mashed recipe. Look forward to hearing about the shape and if it makes a difference?
So happy you enjoy this recipe Clancy! I guess it really doesn’t matter how you shape the meat, oval is just the ‘normal’ meatloaf shape 🙂 It’s great no matter the shape though!
I gave this a try with the double-stack pans for 25 minutes. The meatloaf was still mostly raw and the potatoes were not cooked either. Any ideas what I did wrong?
Something didn’t work properly. Was pin up and IP under pressure or you didn’t see? 25 mins is more than enough to cook it all. What size is your IP?
Thanks for responding. We have a 8 qt. InstantPot Duo. It came up to pressure, but when I released it at the end of the 25 minutes, it released almost immediately instead of the normal couple minutes of steam before releasing. I tried it again with the same result.
Later I used the InstantPot for a different recipe (without the stackable pans) and it worked fine as normal. It is almost as if the stackable pans did not leave enough space to heat the water to create the heat around the pans. I used a cup of water in the bottom of the InstantPot. Do you think it would help to increase the water or decrease it?
This helps. Yes, there should be quite a bit of steam when you do QR with this recipe. I suspect for some reason (and very possible because of pans) it took longer your IP to come to pressure and more water evaporated during it. Maybe the silicone ring needs to be changed to seal faster, which could not matter with regular recipes but matters with pans. These pans are standard size and 8 quart is large and enough room but who knows. I would watch when it’s coming to pressure to see if it takes longer. If it does, press on the lid and pin will pop up and seal. I would also get new sealing ring. Yes, you could add 1.5 cups water – won’t hurt. Hope this helps, Jeff!
Thanks!