You'll love this rich and creamy Instant Pot Scalloped Potatoes Recipe (instant pot au gratin potatoes). For one thing, it doesn't require flour to thicken which means it's gluten-free! Also, since it's prepared in a pressure cooker, it will free up your oven for the turkey or pies!
This delicious Instant Pot Scalloped Potatoes Recipe (Instant Pot Au Gratin Potatoes) will be a new favorite! Whether you serve it with ham at Easter, with turkey for Thanksgiving, or prime rib for Christmas, you will get great reviews! However, I love that it's easy enough to prepare any day of the week!
But before I share the recipe, I have a quick question for you. Do you know the difference between scalloped potatoes and au gratin potatoes? These days, the terms seems to be used interchangeably. However, the two do have one major difference, do you know what it is?
Scalloped potatoes usually do not contain cheese while au gratin potatoes do. So technically, this is an au gratin potatoes recipe, but I still called it "scalloped potatoes" because that's what most people seem to be searching for these days. Shhhh, don't tell anyone. It's our little secret! 😉
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🛒 What You Need For This Recipe
🔖 Recipe Ingredients and Substitutions
- French Fried Onions — The French fried onions add a delicious flavor to these scalloped potatoes, however, you can use fresh onions if you prefer.
- Vegetarian Option — For a vegetarian option, substitute the chicken broth with vegetable broth and leave out the bacon. 🙁
- Soup — You may substitute your favorite creamy soup for the cream of mushroom soup.
- Cream or Half and Half — A ¼ cup of cream or half and half can be added to the sauce ingredients in the Instant pot for extra creamy scalloped potatoes.
- Potatoes: You can use either russet potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes.
- Seasoning: You'll need white or black pepper, thyme, and fresh garlic, although you can substitute garlic powder if you need to.
- Bacon: If you don't want to add bacon, you can use diced ham instead.
Tools Required
- Sharp knife
- Pressure cooker or Instant Pot
- 8" x 8" baking dish
🥔 How to Make Scalloped Potatoes (Au Gratin Potatoes)
Step 1: Wash and peel the potatoes then slice into ¼″ sections. Add the potatoes to your Instant Pot or pressure cooker.
Pro Tip: At this point, there's no need to layer the potatoes.
Step 2: Whisk pepper and thyme in with the broth and pour over the potatoes. Close the Pressure Cooker lid and turn the valve to seal. Turn the power on and choose high pressure. Set the timer for two minutes.
Note: It should take approximately 7 minutes until the pressure builds up and the timer begins to count down from two minutes.
Step 3: Meanwhile, grease an 8" x 8" baking dish with one teaspoon of butter, and preheat your oven broiler.
Step 4: Once the time is up, do a quick release to remove the pressure & steam. Use a slotted spoon to remove the potatoes. Layer the potatoes in the prepared baking dish. Leaving the liquid inside the pot.
Step 5: Set Pressure cooker to "Saute." Add cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, and garlic, and cook for a few minutes until bubbly. Stir half of the cheese into the sauce, until the cheese melts.
Step 6: Pour the sauce over the potatoes. Sprinkle with french fried onions and bacon. Top with the remaining cheddar cheese.
Step 7: Place the pan on the top oven rack and broil on high for a few minutes until the top is browned and crispy. Cover with aluminum foil until ready to serve.
🍗 Serving Suggestions
These delicious potatoes are a wonderful compliment to so many dishes! Whether you serve them with my oven roasted tri-tip, Traeger smoked turkey, or grilled ribeye steaks, you will get great reviews, of this I'm sure!
🤷🏻♀️ Recipe FAQs
Russet Potatoes are the best option for making Scalloped Potatoes. Russets have a high starch content which helps with thickening the sauce. They also hold up pretty well during the cooking process.
This Easy Scalloped Potatoes Recipe is perfect for reheating! Once the potatoes are layered, cover with foil and refrigerate until you want to serve them. When ready, heat the potatoes in the oven, covered, at 350 degrees F, for 30 minutes. Finish by broiling the top for a few minutes prior to serving.
When using a pressure cooker or an Instant Pot, you will want to make sure that the potato slices are no thinner than ¼" and no thicker than ⅓." Using a Mandoline helps keep the slices uniform in size so that they can cook evenly.
Follow the same steps regarding slicing the potatoes. Then make the sauce on the stovetop, and layer as instructed in the recipe. Cover with foil and bake in a 350-degree F oven for one hour. Remove foil then broil for a few minutes to brown the top.
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- If you have access to a mandoline, set it to ¼" thickness and use it to slice the potatoes so that the slices are all the same thickness. This helps them to cook evenly.
- For extra creamy scalloped potatoes, add ¼ cup half-n-half or heavy cream to the sauce ingredients.
- For vegetarian Scalloped Potatoes, replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth and leave out the bacon.
- When layering the potatoes, layer the overcooked slices on the bottom and leave the intact slices on top for a prettier presentation.
- If you make the potatoes ahead of time, once the potatoes are layered, refrigerate until you want to serve them. Then heat the potatoes in the oven, covered with foil, at 350 degrees F, for 30 minutes. Finish by broiling the top for a few minutes prior to serving. This is also highly recommended if you have time to spare. Finishing them off in the oven makes them even better!
- Store any leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week.
🍽 Related Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Scalloped Potatoes (Au Gratin Potatoes)
Equipment
- pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. potatoes (4 large)
- ¼ tsp. white pepper
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 1 cup chicken broth (or vegetable)
- 1 tsp. butter
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ⅓ cup cooked diced bacon
- 2 cloves garlic (pressed)
- 1¾ cup sharp cheddar cheese (freshly grated)
- ¾ cup french fried onions
Instructions
- Wash and peel the potatoes and slice into ¼″ sections. Add prepared potatoes to your Instant Pot or pressure cooker.
- Whisk pepper and thyme in with the broth and pour over the potatoes. Close the Pressure Cooker lid and seal the vent. Turn the power on and choose high pressure. Set the timer for two minutes.
- Meanwhile, grease an 8" x 8" baking dish with one teaspoon of butter, and preheat your oven broiler.
- Once the time is up, do a quick release to remove the pressure & steam. Use a slotted spoon to remove the potatoes. Layer the potatoes in the prepared baking dish. Leaving the liquid inside the pot.
- Set Pressure cooker to "Saute." Add cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, and garlic, and cook for a few minutes until bubbly. Stir half of the cheese into the sauce, until the cheese melts.
- Pour the sauce over the potatoes. Sprinkle with french fried onions and bacon. Top with the remaining cheddar cheese.
- Place the pan on the top oven rack and broil on high for a few minutes until the top is browned and crispy. Cover with aluminum foil until ready to serve.
Notes
- If you have access to a mandoline, set it to ¼" thickness and use it to slice the potatoes so that the slices are all the same thickness. This helps them to cook evenly.
- For extra creamy scalloped potatoes, add ¼ cup half-n-half or heavy cream to the sauce ingredients.
- For vegetarian Scalloped Potatoes, replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth and leave out the bacon.
- When layering the potatoes, layer the overcooked slices on the bottom and leave the intact slices on top for a prettier presentation.
- If you make the potatoes ahead of time, once the potatoes are layered, refrigerate until you want to serve them. Then heat the potatoes in the oven, covered with foil, at 350 degrees F, for 30 minutes. Finish by broiling the top for a few minutes prior to serving. This is also highly recommended if you have time to spare. Finishing them off in the oven makes them even better!
- Store any leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Kelly says
This recipe is perfect for a Thanksgiving side and beyond!
Can’t wait to try it! Thanks for another dinner idea!
HildaSterner says
Yes, I finally pushed out a Thanksgiving recipe, thanks for the encouragement!
Terry Smith says
Thank you for the recipe. I tried to make scalloped potatoes the other day off the top of my head (without a recipe) they didn’t come out so good.
Your recipe sounds great. I’ll try it. I have cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup in my pantry at all times. I need more creative ways to use them. Terry
HildaSterner says
Thanks, Terry, good luck and remember, NO SUBSTITUTIONS! 😉
Tommie Hargus says
This was easy, quick and tased great. Thank you!
Hilda Sterner says
Thank you so much, Tommie, I appreciate the review!