Recipe This | Instant Pot Rutabaga (Swede) (2024)

How to steam instant pot rutabaga. Also known as swede or neeps, rutabaga is delicious served with some butter for the ultimate veggie side dish or transformed into a veggie mash.

We will show you how to prepare rutabaga for the instant pot, as well as the best serving suggestions making it perfect for a quick veggie side.

We originally shared with you how to cook instant pot rutabaga back in 2018 and we are updating it today with more tips and tricks and better rutabaga ideas.

Rutabaga Vs Swede

One of my most bought veggies is rutabaga. I love it because they last ages in the fridge in case I forgot to cook it, makes a great alternative to carrots and even though it normally takes forever to cook using other methods, when steamed in the instant pot it is fast.

But it wasn’t until I went in a shop with a lot of American products that I found out that rutabaga is also what us Brits call a swede.

Usually in the UK a swede will be loaded into stews, casseroles, veggie bakes etc and most popular of all is to mix with carrots to make a carrot and swede mash.

Though up in Scotland it has a totally different food culture. There is it called neeps and most famously served up with haggis and tatties on Burns Night, which has a big place in my heart because me and Dominic got married on Burns Night! If you want to check out our instant pot haggis tatties and neeps then you can see how it all comes together.

So, if you live in the US and hear the word swede or live in the UK and here the word rutabaga, then note they are one of the same and perfect for pressure cooking for a quick veggie dish.

And today, I wanted to share with you the best way to cook rutabaga.

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Best Way To Cook Rutabaga

Because rutabaga is a very thick hard root vegetable, the best way for it to cook is in the instant pot, or another brand of electric pressure cooker.

This is because the instant pot cooks food much faster and will also steam your rutabaga to stop it from losing its flavour or nutrients.

Though if you cut the rutabaga small enough you can also air fry it such as our air fryer rutabaga fries.

Can You Steam Rutabaga?

Yes, you can steam rutabaga or swede. It makes it cook much faster and also makes it ideal for then steaming a little longer to make some veggie mash with.

Though, I love steaming rutabaga and then adding it into my air fryer frittata for a quick breakfast.

Can You Freeze Cooked Rutabaga?

Yes, you can freeze your leftover rutabaga and I do this all the time when I have some leftover. You can just load your leftovers into a Ziploc bag, but I much prefer to cook for longer and then I can freeze as little mashed potato style cubes, a bit like I do in our instant pot beef stock recipe.

How To Cut Up A Swede

One headline I remember (must have been over 20 years ago now) but has stayed in my memory was the front page of The Sun, when they wanted rid of the current England Manager. He had an eye for the ladies and the press hated him.

He was Swedish and the front cover had a picture of a swede and the headline “chop the swede”.

I still think of that now each time I cut up a swede!

To prepare a swede or rutabaga is easy.

Simply have it sat straight on your chopping board and chop the top and bottom off and then thinly slice around the edges until all skin is removed.

Then do one slice around the edges, that is like a long strip and keep doing this until you have no swede left. Doing it this way makes it so much easier and then you don’t need to cut right through to the middle which is hard work.

Instant Pot Rutabaga Mash

Whilst I usually pressure cook rutabaga and then just season it and add butter, I know most of you would rather have instant pot rutabaga mash.

Well, the easiest way to do this is to follow our swede and carrot mash recipe. Which is also a pressure cooker recipe and combines it with mash for a delicious side dish.

And even though its most associated with Christmas you can enjoy it at other times of the year. Or another idea is to have it as your top layer of your slow cooker cottage pie.

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Rutabaga Instant Pot Ingredients

Rutabaga – Even though you could do a few instant pot rutabagas I usually just steam one.

Liquid – You need some liquid to take the instant pot to pressure. When I am cooking rutabaga in instant pot for serving cubed, then I will just add water to the bottom. But if I want a little of the liquid to make mash, then I will use some instant pot veggie stock.

Seasoning – Pressure cooker rutabaga can be a bit boring on its own, so I will usually season it with salt, pepper, and thyme.

Butter – Optional but delicious I love to add a little butter that can melt over the rutabaga as it is served on the dinner table or you can take the low fat option and go with some light margarine.

Then for the kitchen gadgets that we have used in this rutabaga instant pot recipe it has just been our Instant Pot. We have this one and it’s my favourite and great for a lot of different instant pot quick recipes.

Plus, we recommend you head over to our instant pot recipes category as we have many electric pressure cooker recipes and have been using instant pots for 5 years.

How To Cook Rutabaga In Instant Pot?

• Liquid. Load your liquid into the instant pot first and then add in your steamer basket.
• Prep. Chop around the edges of the rutabaga and then gradually slice and then dice into cubes. Season well.
• Cook. Load the rutabaga into the steamer basket, place the lid on the instant pot, set the valve to sealing and pressure cook for 5 minutes, or 7 minutes for large chunks.
• Serve. Do a quick pressure release, remove the rutabaga from the basket and then serve with a little butter.

And I am sure you can see now how simple and easy it is to cook rutabaga in instant pot and why you should be doing the same.

How Long Do You Cook Rutabaga In Instant Pot?

The instant pot rutabaga cook time is JUST 5 minutes. Which is pretty good considering that it feels like rutabaga takes a lifetime to cook.

And I can not find a quicker method for rutabaga than in the instant pot.

Listen To Instant Pot Rutabaga

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More Instant Pot Veggies

I love instant pot veggies and there are so many different ways to you can put veggies on the dinner table. Here are a few more ideas:

• Instant Pot Carrots
• Instant Pot Cabbage
• Instant Pot Beets
• Instant Pot Cauliflower
• Instant Pot Broccoli
• Instant Pot Frozen Broccoli

Your rutabaga instant pot recipe is below, note you can print it out with or without photos, adjust servings, or click between metric and imperial depending on where you are in the world.

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