Infused with garlic and oh-so-creamy, these Instant Pot Scalloped Potatoes are definitely an irresistible side dish, or even a main dish!
I LOVE my Instant Pot! I know some people have love and hate relationship with it. And I’ll admit, I had that in the beginning too. But the more I used it, more I fell in love with it.
UPDATED RECIPE!
- If you’re coming to this recipe from a video you saw on Facebook, just know that this recipe has been improved and updated for optimal results.
Some of my go-to Instant Pot recipes are chicken or beef broth, chili, stew, and meatball pasta. And I slowly continue to convert my regular favorites into Instant Pot friendly versions. It’s so fun and so convenient. And as I mentioned earlier, it’s not always a smooth road, but I’m telling ya, it’s totally worth it!
Today, I’m sharing with you my latest favorite Instant Pot win: creamy garlic scalloped potatoes. So creamy, cheesy and infused with garlic in every single bite!
How To Make Scalloped Potatoes in the Instant Pot:
- Instead of pressing the garlic, as I usually do, I opted to grate them on a microplane zester into super fine garlic mush. You won’t be biting into any garlic pieces, and you’ll definitely taste the wonderful garlic flavor. Hope you love garlic!!
- Unlike my classic version, I also threw in some ham, because scalloped potatoes are so much better with ham, right? And I highly recommend getting thinly sliced deli ham, so you can layer them in between the potatoes slices.
- And speaking of sliced potatoes… Do your best to cut the potatoes as thin as you can. Or if you have a Mandoline slicer, use it. Too thick of potatoes may not cook evenly.
Why Wont My Instant Pot Come To Pressure?
- This recipe calls for a creamy, thick sauce that coats the potatoes. Because of the nature of pressure cooking, sauces that are too thick will end up scorching on the bottom and not allow the liquid to boil enough to create that steam needed to pressurize the pot.
- The best solution for this is to cook your thicker sauces inside a dish, resting on top of the trivet with the water underneath. This will allow your instant pot to come to pressure efficiently and your potatoes will be tender without a huge mess on the bottom of your pot.
- I use my 8 inch round cake pan that is about 2 inches high on the sides and it fit perfectly inside my 8 quart Instant Pot. If you have a smaller Instant Pot, you’ll want to use a 7 inch round, with 3 inch sides. You can find one here on Amazon for pretty cheap.
Once the potatoes are tender, you’ll pull the pan out of the Instant Pot and place it on a baking sheet then top with the remaining cheese. Pop it under the broiler to get a nice and golden brown crust!
Let the potatoes cool slightly before digging in. This will allow the creamy sauce to thicken just a little more and you’ll be left with some deliciously cheesy scalloped potatoes!
I’m sure you’re going to LOVE these deliciously cheesy potatoes with this new and improved recipe. The flavor is dreamy!
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Instant Pot Scalloped Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 lbs russet potatoes, washed and peeled
- 4 oz sliced deli ham
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup milk
- 2-3 garlic cloves, grated on microplane zester
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup loosely packed cilantro, chopped
- 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese, divided
Instructions
- Thinly slice the potatoes and cut the ham into small squares.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the heavy cream, milk, garlic, flour, salt, black pepper and cilantro.
- Spray a round pan that can easily fit inside your pressure cooker (I used 8" round with 2" high sides) with non stick spray. Layer half of the potatoes and ham in the round pan, followed by half of the cheese. Pour half of the liquid over the top. Repeat with the rest of the potatoes, ham and liquid, reserving the remaining cheese for later.
- Pour 1 1/2 cups of water into the liner of your pressure cooker and place the round pan on top of your trivet. Carefully lower your pan down into the liner of your pressure cooker. Close the lid and ensure the pressure release valve is closed as well. Cook on HIGH pressure for 25 minutes, followed by a QUICK RELEASE of the pressure.
- Carefully pull the pan out by the trivet handles and place pan on a baking sheet. Top with the remaining cheese and place under the broiler in your oven for 3 minutes. (Or if you don't want to turn on your oven you can just leave the potatoes in the pressure cooker, top with cheese and cover for 5 minutes before removing from liner).
- Let the potatoes sit for about 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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These turned out so good!! I used my Ninja Foodi and used the air crisp setting for ten minutes after they pressure cooked and had great results!
I did add onions and pressure cooked for 5 minutes longer than stated. Will definitely make again!
I’m so glad it worked great in the Ninja Foodie! My mom has one and I’m jealous!
I have made this recipe twice now with similar poor results. The first time I followed the directions exactly. I sliced the potatoes on a mandolin on the second thinnest setting. The potatoes were hard. The second time I doubled the cooking time, but had the same result. At this point I would rather bake them in the oven and skip the whole instant pot.
I’m so sorry you didn’t have great results with this recipe Kathie! Sounds like there might be an issue with the seal of your pressure cooker not sealing completely. It’s happened to me plenty of times. I’ve tested this recipe multiple times in an 8 quart Instant Pot with great results, so I know it works.
Thank you for making this recipe even Better !!!!!!
So glad you enjoyed it Sarah!
I have attempted to make make these twice now, and both times it has taken more than double the time to cook. I used two different pans each try, because I thought maybe the first just wasn’t a good one. As I am now still waiting (40 minutes later) for the potatoes to cook through I rechecked the blog. I saw that you have a video that I hadn’t seen before sowing that you made them directly in the instant pot. I don’t know if its worth another try or not.
Has anyone tried making these directly in the Instant Pot?
Hi Angilena, I’m so sorry you had trouble getting your potatoes to cook through. Could it be that your potatoes are cut too thick? If that’s the case, you’ll want to cook it longer. I would not recommend cooking this dish directly in the instant pot as so many have had burn notices. This recipe was originally from one of my blog contributors, but I had to rework it using the pot-in-pot method. I tested it multiple times to make sure it works with great success. I would just make sure your seal is properly adjusted to make sure you’re getting adequate pressure and that your potatoes aren’t too thick. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the input on the direct method. I am not cutting them too thick, but maybe I can try cutting the recipe down to 1lb potatoes.
That should work too.
Sounds good and will try but was noticing all the “scalloped” potato recipes have cheese in them. That is Au gratin or gratin. https://www.leaf.tv/articles/the-difference-between-potatoes-au-gratin-and-scalloped-potatoes/
Sorry it was just annoying me today while I was looking for a scalloped recipe. My mom can eat cheese much.
You’re totally right that scalloped potatoes don’t usually contain cheese. I go into more detail about that in my Scalloped Potatoes recipe HERE. Most people don’t really know the difference, but are much more familiar with the term scalloped potatoes. 😉
I’m SO WITH YOU on this one!!! Scolloped (or escolloped) potatoes are seasoned flour and scalded milk, au gratin is with cheese and if you want bread crumbs. They are different, and surprisingly good, without the cheese. I like them both ways, but named correctly. Joy of cooking goes into the terms deeply.
I can’t wait to try this it just sounds wonderful-simple & yummie !
But my question is, can I use a soufflé dish ??
thank you, Susie
Mine came out horrible. Watery,and the milk looked and tasted like it curdled…ewwwww
I always have this trouble with scalloped potatoes. They come out curdled. 🙁 The flavor was fine but the curdled sauce is a turn off.
The trick is to let the scalloped potatoes sit for a few minutes and the sauce will thicken and be perfect!
Can I double the recipe and use the 2 double stacked pans with trivet (bought via the link on this site)? Do I increase the water? Increase the time? HELP! Making double portions for the holiday and out of time to experiment.
This is the first time I have used pan insert. It has a removable bottom and 1/3 of the liquid leaked out before I could stop it. Suggestions: substitute crisp bacon for ham, maybe add chopped onions, jalapeños, or olives for more flavor. Also cook 5 min longer.
Any idea on what the temperature should be when it’s done? I know that the perfect baked potato needs to be 204 degrees. That’s probably a little too well done for this dish, but I have a kid with gut issues, and he can’t have half-cooked potatoes.
I cooked it for the 25 minutes, and it wasn’t even up to 150. So, I put it back in for another 10, and not even up to 165. After another 15 minutes, it got to about 180, and I was too hungry to wait much longer. The slices still felt a little too firm. Also, it seemed rather watery.
I’ll probably make this again because it tastes delicious, but it’ll probably be one of those things that I make the day before, refrigerate it, and reheat it the next day.
I was in a pinch the day before grocery day. So I made “favorite chicken” (chicken with a can of mushroom soup and some spices baked in the oven) and these potatoes but we had no milk and also due to ice cream no cream. Haha so I used the original ingredient meant to make ice cream with a can of coconut milk and the cream from that worked well to replace the milk and some cream. I just used less potatoes. Thought I would share. It wasn’t as good as the original but hey sometimes you just got to roll….Am I right?
*in rating this recipe I am rating the original and not my substitutions.
I can’t tell you how tickled I am to find your awesome recipe! OMGosh, these are the best scalloped potatoes ever. I have not been happy at all with potato recipes in the instant pot. Just way too ‘watery’ & mushy textured for my tastes, so I’ve just about given up. Problem solved, yay!!!! I just recently got a set of the stackable pans, so am just getting into the pot-in-pot thing. Thanks so very much for spending the time working out & improving your original recipe & sharing. So easy & perfectly textured potatoes YUM! So grateful to you for this recipe, thank you!
If I cut the recipe in half, do I change the cook time?
I sliced potatoes with a mandolin, used very little ham (from a real ham roast) . I used 1 cup water under a glass bowl on the trivet. The potatoes were still crunchy and sauce was runny. It did come up to pressure because the steam came out when quick released.
Threw everything in the oven for almost an hours and it thickened up and got nicely done with bubbly crust. But I am pretty sure that defeats the purpose of using the IP.
The sauce does come out looking a little more runny, but after you toss it under the broiler and then let it sit for at least 5 minutes the sauce thickens up. If the potatoes were still crunchy, I’m thinking it needed just a few more minutes in the pressure cooker. Time can vary based on how thick the slices of potatoes are.
Love the look of this IP Scalloped Potato Recipe, my wife makes a good one in the oven, that’s right I am a man, and do 90% of the cooking and got myself an IP and love experimenting. My question is this: Do you have to use an insert pot? Or can you just make the recipe in the main IP pot? would there be enough liquid?
Love your emails to my inbox, by the way
Stu
This sounds so yummy! I don’t have a Insta pot.Would you work in a slow cooker? Thanks
Yes! I’m sure it would! I would try it on low for 3 to 4 hours.
Did the pot in a pot version and it turned out great! I may add like 2 more minutes next time to get them even softer. I don’t have a mandolin slicer so I just used my potato peeler to get them super thin and it worked great lol
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed it!
I can’t wait to try your recipe, i made them tonight the old fashioned way in the oven 2+ hours. 25 min is so exciting and they look drool worthy! Where did you get your trivet with the long handles? That would be a must have. Thanks wish I would have discovered you last week, that would have saved me at least an hour.
I made it and it tasted great. However it was so runny & soupy I pored off about 1 cup of liquid when it was done and before I put in oven. Was I to put a lid on the round pan before putting on the pressure cooker lid?
You don’t need to cover it in the instant pot, but I find that while the liquid is a little runny when it first comes out, it thickens up as it’s in the oven. I hope you enjoyed it!
Hi, This recipe sounds & look great but I’m confused by the direction re: the sauce listed under the “Why won’t my Instant Pot come to pressure?”
The recipe directions say to mix the milk, cream, etc. & pour half into the pan finish another layer of taters & pour in the rest of the milk mixture. But your tip about thick sauces says to cook the sauce in a bowl on the trivet or the sauce will score in the pan filled with taters.
If the tater pan is on the trivet does that mean you cook the sauce separately then add it after cooking the taters separately?
Second question is that the link you provide to acquire a 7″ x 3″ pan from Amazon goes to a page with a 2-pan stacking steamer. Is that what you intended? Seems like if you put the taters in the bottom pan & put the sauce in the top pan the taters would be covered which doesn’t seem like cooking would work well.
Sorry to bug you about this but I don’t get it. Thanks for your time.
If I read your question right you are asking about 2 pans to cook these in? You only cook it all in one pan. You just layer the Potatoes and sauce mix then layer again. Just one pan.
Thanks for replying.
It makes sense that you’d cook these in one pan. But I was referring to/asking about the comment Shawn made under the heading “Why won’t my Instant Pot come to pressure?” where she says to cook thick sauces separately. I just didn’t get cooking the sauce separately.
I think now that was more of a general caution vs specifically about these taters.
That said I think I understand it a bit more now cuz I recently made lentil soup & tried to make more than the recipe called for. Because the pot was filled to the “max” line & the lentils & contents were thick, they stuck a bit & the pot couldn’t reach pressure. I then saw a message on the digital readout that said “burn” so I had to release the pressure & remove the lid. The soup had cooked just, & didn’t actually scorch, but it was very thick so I had to add more stock.
Feedback: If possible, could you add a “Print Recipe” at the top of the page as some bloggers have done? Also, single space so the recipe will be all on one page. Thank you so much for creating and sharing. Just printed this out and can’t wait to try it! Looks deliciously decadent!
Thanks for the feedback Cheryl! I’ll definitely look into it!
Looks really runny and soupy.
It’s not! The creamy sauce thickens up when it’s cooked!
Cilantro? Really?
Feel free to leave it out if you’re not a fan, but I think it adds some great flavor!
I’m going to do it in a glass dish and not add the ham . Should I adjust the liquid any ? Also should I up the time a bit for the glass dish ?
An IP newbie – If I cook in the stackable pans, can anyone suggest a meat/chicken dish that I could cook in the other pan that would take the same time to make a whole meal?
Made exactly by the recipe. Used a glass dish inside pot. The potatoes aren’t done. Cut them thin on a mandolin. The liquid is too runny. Probably cause of the ham. I would double the flour or cornstarch. I have covered now with foil and it is cooking in the oven until the potatoes are done. If it doesn’t thicken enough. I’ll thicken the sauce with cornstarch which requires too much work and mixing the dish.
I think the issue might have been your glass dish. I used a thinner aluminum dish to get the potatoes cooked. Once the potatoes absorb some of that liquid it’ll thicken up nicely!
I don’t have a cakepan that fits in my 6 qrt and the stainless dish I use for other saucy recipes isn’t big enough for quantity of potatoes I wanted to make. I took the handle off one of my saucepans and it worked great .. just more layers.
Tasted good, but milk/cream separated leaving a different texture which I found somewhat offputting. Does anyone know if scalding the milk mixture first would correct that?
I added one small – med sliced onion throughout & omitted cilantro.
As always thanks for the recipes. 🙂
The onion inside might affect the outcome of the dish as the onion will add extra liquid once cooked down. In the future, you could try halving the recipe to fit in your IP dish? Hope that helps!
Made this yesterday and had to reset everything about 4 times. I eventually did get the potatoes cooked. I popped in to your site to post my results and found the recipe updated. HAPPILY!! I will certainly try the PIP method next because these spuds were absolutely amazing! I urge everyone to retry this recipe! Thank you so much!
Oh I’m so glad you saw the update. 🙂 The potatoes are amazing and I’m sure you will love the results with the Pot-in-pot method!
How long would you recommend me let this cook if I were to make it in a conventional crock pot? Any changes or alterations you would make to the recipe?
Looking forward to trying this recipe today! I bought stackable stainless steel pans with lid. If I use both pans in my 8-quart IP (with the 1.5 cups of water in the liner), do I need to increase the cooking time.
Tried four times to get this to pressure. There’s just not enough liquid to cook the potatoes and too much milk product. Put a cup of water in after the 4th try and reset to 8 minutes hoping it would come to pressure and it still did not. I just took everything out and poured into a dish and popped it into the oven. Likely a lost cause though darnit. I was really hoping this recipe would work for us
Hi Elizabeth, I understand your frustration. This recipe was submitted by one of my contributors and after attempting it several times yesterday myself, I’ve come to the conclusion that the liquid is just too thick to be able to make this as-is in the liner of the instant pot. I’ve found that if I put the ingredients inside an 8″ round (2″ high) cake pan and slide put it on top of the trivet with about 1 cup of water in the pot, it will come to pressure and cook in about 25 minutes with a quick release. I’m going to update the recipe and photos to account for these findings. I hope you give it another try like this, the flavors are really delicious!
Could this recipe be doubled if I use my 8qt? Looks SO delicious!
Yes, but you’ll want to find a pan that is tall enough to hold all the potatoes!
I tried this and had the same problem that others have had. it would not come to pressure. It’s not on it;s 3rd cycle of cooking and i’m just hoping it actually is salvageable!
Same here and the time wasn’t long enough. Potatoes were still hard and they were sliced thin.
You said there is a revised version you show in the video. But the printed version is not the same as the video. It says to use a pan but in the video it shows directly in the IP. I am so confused. What is the recipe for making it directly in the instant pot?
Hi Lynn, sorry for the confusion. The video shows making it directly in the IP, but so many people have been getting burn notices using this method, so I revised the recipe to do pot-in-pot. This way you don’t have to worry about a burn notice at all. Follow the instructions in the printable recipe. 🙂
Thank you for your feedback Allyson. We’ve since revised the recipe for optimal results. I’m confident you’ll have success with the new and improved recipe and directions. I hope you give them another try!
I made this for supper tonight and it was delicious, but I struggled so much getting it to come up to pressure! It kept reading “burn” so I’d take the lid off and scrape the bottom of the pot and try again. I think I did that at least 4 times. I even added a cup of water thinking that I just needed more liquid. It eventually did get up to pressure, but even then it occasionally would read “burn”. They did end up cooking thoroughly and the flavor was excellent, but now I have a huge burnt on mess to clean up. Not sure if I should have maybe cooked it on low pressure instead? Next time I will probably make this in the oven or slow cooker, since my whole family loved it!
Oh man, so sorry to hear all the trouble, Kelly. I’m a little disappointed how inconsistent Instant Pots are between the models. I bought mine a long time ago, and mine doesn’t have “burn” warning and no pressure options either. And it looks like my model of IP is now discontinued. Anyway, my potatoes don’t burn on the bottom, it just has a perfect crust on the bottom. I’m so glad you loved the flavor though. And I’d suggest trying on low pressure next time.
I’m sorry you had issues with the bottom burning. This is because the creamy mixture was too thick to allow the pressure cooker to come up to pressure. We have since revised the recipe to allow for optimal results – no burning or scorching! I hope you give it another try with the new recipe! Thank you for your feedback!
I followed this recipe to a tee and it will NOT come to pressure. Tried 4 times and eventually put the potatoes in the oven. Grrrrrr
I had the same problem. It kept reading “burn”. It was absolutely delicious though. Now I’m just dreading trying to get all the burned potatoes off the bottom of my Instant Pot. 🙁
I’m so sorry the original recipe did not come to pressure for you Andrea. Please know we have revised the recipe for optimal results, and I can promise you that it will come to pressure and cook perfectly now! I hope you give it another try!
Looks like a great recipe …. thank you! ……. but …….. don’t you get the *burn* signal with just using the milk for the liquid?
Maybe these should be made in a dish, set on a trivet, with a cup of water in the liner pot?
My Instant Pot doesn’t have “burn” signal, and I didn’t have an issue. I’ve made a few times this recipe, but I’d suggest low pressure.
Thank you for your suggestion Barb! Yes, you are correct that this recipe should be made in a dish set on a trivet inside the Instant Pot. We’ve since revised the recipe to reflect these changes. I sure hope you give it a try! Thanks!
Omg, this looks so delicious!! That cheesy photo made my mouth water. I’m definitely going to try this recipe myself!
Is there any difference between a pressure cook and an instant pot? Where to find the answer?
The instant pot IS an electric pressure cooker 🙂 It is much easier than a stove top pressure cooker as you don’t have to watch it to keep it at pressure.
Is there any difference between a pressure cook and an instant pot?
An Instant Pot is, among other things, an electric pressure cooker. Any IP pressure cooker recipes can also be done in an electric or stovetop pressure cooker.