Instant Pot Rutabaga (Swede)
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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.
Table of Contents
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.
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.
Though before you do, don’t forget to subscribe, and grab your FREE VIP Pass to Recipe This. You will get access to our latest recipes first, you will be able to request recipes, you will have access to free mini courses, free instant pot ebooks and useful instant pot cook time charts and so much more.
Instant Pot Rutabaga (Swede)
Ingredients
Kitchen Gadgets
Instructions
- Place 1 cup/240ml of water or veggie stock into the bottom of your instant pot inner pot. Add in your steamer basket.
- Peel and then gradually slice and dice your rutabaga or swede, until it is into medium sized chunks. Season well with salt, pepper, and thyme.
- Load the rutabaga chunks into the instant pot, place the lid on the instant pot and set the valve to sealing. Pressure cook for 5 minutes.
- Do a quick pressure release and do a fork test to make sure your rutabaga is fork tender.
- Then transfer the cooked rutabaga onto a serving plate and then add little bits of butter and let it melt over the rutabaga.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Can’t make it now? Then save it for later!
I love it anyway especially mashed with carrots.
Absolutely! I’ve had loads of needs and tatties – and I’m Welsh!
Rutabaga is one of my Mom’s favorites! She always requests it for dinner on the holidays! I love how quick and easy it is in the Instant pot!
Did yours turn a rust orange/ brown colour when.cooked? Wondering if I cooked too long.recipe I had said 8 minutes.
Rutabagas have been grown here in the US for a long time. I like roasting them with other root veg. I still haven’t broken down and bought an instant pot… I just might have to do that now!
I feel like rutabagas are so underrated! They do deserve a better spot at my dinner table!! No doubt about it!
Perfect , easy, recipe for the humble rutabaga! I love how fast it cooks everything.
We agree with you Allison.
I’ve never tried rutabaga, but this looks pretty easy to make and pretty delicious!
I love rutabaga but this recipe says it is high in carbs but I did not see a serving size. Oh but it is so delicious
How would you change the cooking time for more rutabagas?
Hi Rob,
If you are adding alot more rutabagas up the time by 25% but if it is just a small amount leave it the same ?
In a town called Cumberland, Wisconsin in the US, there is a summer festival devoted to the rutabaga. It is called Rutabaga Fest. Also, here, we pronounce it Rootabeeggie or Rootabeguh
I make them like mashed potatoes. So delicious!
Hi Wendy,
Totally agree we love it with some carrots mashed together with some butter and salt and pepper 🙂
I do rutabaga carrot and potato mash yum going to use instant pot for this this year
The instant pot sounds like a great idea Nickie 🙂
I love rutabaga. Thanks for the info for the instapot!
How would one add meat seasoning when steaming. I am accustomed to boiling them in the meat grease
Hi Ann,
We would add the seasoning before steaming and mix it well in a bowl then put in the steamer basket, but if you want to cook them in the seasoning i would add the whole bowl that you mixed them into the IP and add an extra minute because it will take slightly longer to cook been in a bowl rather than in a steamer basket 🙂
Thanks.
Thank you for including the underrated rutabaga. I have also found it frustrating at times with different names for things. I thought in Scotland a neep was a turnip. Could you
please clarify this?
Hi Julie,
In Scotland they have neeps and tatties usually on burns night the 25th January. The neeps are defiantly a swede even though there is some confusion because they are from the same family. The neeps are served traditionally with the haggis and potatoes. The confusion comes from alot of people in England assume a turnip is a swede, like i did before i was a chef and had to cater for a burns night preparing the swedes/neeps/rutabaga for it and asking what they wanted me to do with the turnips, i was soon put right. Turnips are smaller and white in colour i was told!
Hope this helps to clarify abit for you Julie 🙂
Rutabagas are used in many regions. I cook them here in Canada using my mother’s Finnish recipe.
I was mostly looking for the cooking time, as I’m more accustomed to boiling these on the stovetop, then mashing them. You gave me exactly the information I needed. Thank you.
When I was growing up, my American mother always called them “turnips” (or sometimes “yellow turnips” to appease my Canadian father, who insisted that “white turnips” were the only true turnips). In the stores here in Quebec, they are referred to, under the French term, as “navettes.” Whatever name they are called by, Canada grows a lot of them, including many to the U.S.
We grew up in the US having Rutabagas — I think it was passed down from our English relations. It was a tradition growing up in California, and I still cook them every year. Now, I can do them so much more quickly — thanks for this recipe!
I love rutabaga, but as you said, cutting them is a work out!!! Do you think it would be easier if you put it in whole, steamed it for maybe a minute, cooled and peeled it and then cut it up…and put back in to finish cooking? Two things I hate having to cut – fall squash (acorn, spaghetti) and Ruttabag! I know letting the squash heat up for a few minutes softens it……
Hi Katie Beth,
Yes that might be a good idea to try, it would be trial and error as you would not want to overcook it, but it would definitely help they can be very hard to peel and chop, mostly it is the fact that they move about on the chopping board and this is why i get my hubby to do it 🙂
I have found that if you pop the rutabaga in the microwave for 15 seconds on a paper towel it makes it easier to cut peel.
Great Tip Reeann thank you 🙂
love rutabagas. have them every thanksgiving but they seem to take forever on the stovetop. the instant pot is a life saver. still they are really difficult to prep. i need my husband’s muscles!
Perfect IP rutabaga recipe. My go-to instructions. We love rutabaga and it is on every holiday table.
Any thoughts on cook time for two Swedes in one 8qt pot? Will 4 minutes still be enough?
Thank you ❣️
Hi Janet
Thank you for the nice comment. Yes 4 minutes should still be enough for 2 swedes, happy thanksgiving 🙂
In some parts of the country, rutabagas are known as turnips and turnips are called rutabagas. It’s very confusing at times. I actually had to look at the pictures to see what was in the pot. If they were orange, they’re turnips as I know them. And I’m using your recipe tonight to mash them with potatoes tomorrow, that’s a Thanksgiving tradition started by my great-grandmother.
In Northumberland (North East England) we call them Baggie pronounced baygee. They are always better after a hard frost as this starts to intensify the taste. It’s the same with parsnips.
As children we would make a baggie lantern for Halloween and put a candle inside as pumpkins weren’t available back then. It took great stamina and determination to hollow out a large swede with a blunt knife and an old spoon.