Instant Pot Ranch Potatoes (Creamy & Cheesy)

Instant Pot Ranch Potatoes are creamy, cheesy, and full of flavor. They are so easy to make that they will soon become your favorite potato dish. Serve as a side or a main, great for Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holidays.

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In a nutshell, ranch potatoes are red potatoes cooked and flavored with ranch seasoning.

Ranch seasoning is typically used to make a ranch salad dressing and consists of onion powder, onion flakes, dill, parsley, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and dried chives - a delicious mix of flavors.

While you would often use ranch dressing for a potato salad, it's just as good in a hot potato dish.

Ranch potatoes can be as simple as cut-up spuds coated in oil and seasoned with dry ranch dressing, then baked until crispy. Or, you can cook the potatoes first and then toss in a ranch dressing as well as things like sour cream, bacon or chives.

To make things even better, warm ranch potatoes can be transferred to a casserole dish and baked with grated cheese on top.

In this Instant Pot ranch potatoes recipe, the bacon is first sauteed in the pot and then the spuds are cooked in stock for extra flavor.

The excess cooking liquid is then removed and the potatoes are coated in a mixture of ranch dressing and sour cream and mixed in with bacon and chives.

You can leave it at that or sprinkle grated cheese over the top to melt in. Or follow our final step of baking the ranch potatoes and cheese in the oven for that perfect golden crust finish.

This potato casserole is fabulous as a side dish or even as a main with vegetables or salad on the side. It's great for potlucks, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, weekend family gatherings and barbecues.

Here are the ingredients you will need to make cheesy ranch potatoes.

Potatoes. We love making it with red potatoes but white or yellow baby potatoes or even diced russet potatoes will work with this recipe.

Ranch dressing. Good old store-bought ranch dressing will do or you can make your own. This will give lots of flavor, tang and creaminess.

Sour cream. This is used for extra creaminess and to dilute the ranch dressing flavor so it's not overpowering.

Extra flavors: To accentuate those classic ranch flavors, we're also adding extra garlic and onion powders and a little paprika, plus fresh chives.

Bacon. Crispy bacon is optional but it adds a little saltiness and texture - a really nice addition to ranch potatoes.

Cheese. Finally, any grated cheese will work here. We love something sharp like Cheddar.

You will find the full recipe with ingredients and nutritional breakdown in the recipe card below.

There are three simple stages to making this dish in the pressure cooker. The first stage is to pre-sautee the bacon until crispy. The second stage is to pressure cook the potatoes. The final stage is to mix the potatoes with all the sauces and seasonings and bake with cheese over the top or to leave in the Instant Pot on Keep Warm setting for the cheese to melt.

You can use a 6-quart or 8-quart Instant Pot.

Here is the video for how to make this recipe and step-by-step photo instructions below.

Saute Bacon Stage

Step 1. Turn the Instant Pot on Saute using Normal or More mode. Add the olive oil and diced bacon and cook for 3-4 minutes, until crispy. Stir a few times.

Step 2. Remove the bacon to a bowl. Pour in the water and scrape the bottom of the pot to remove any stuck bits. Press Cancel to stop the Saute.

Step 3. Add the potatoes, stock cube or powder and salt and stir through.

Pressure Cooking Red Potatoes

Step 4. Secure lid and move pressure release valve to the Sealing position. Press Manual or Pressure Cook; cook at HIGH pressure for 5 minutes. When cooking is complete, use the quick release. Leave on Keep Warm setting.

Step 5. Strain any leftover cooking liquid and return the potatoes to the pot. You can leave about ¼ cup of the liquid to mix with the dressing.

Finishing Ranch Potatoes

Step 6. Add the ranch dressing, sour cream, garlic, onion powder, paprika, and pepper. Add the pre-cooked bacon and half of the chives/onions (you can save a few bits for garnish after). Stir everything through and taste for salt. Season with more salt if needed.

Step 7. The final step is to melt the cheese over the top. For those with no oven, leave the potatoes on Keep Warm setting. Sprinkle the cheese over and pop a regular glass lid on top. Leave for 5 minutes for the cheese to melt into the potatoes using the internal Keep Warm heat.

OR

Transfer the potatoes to a casserole/baking dish. Top with the cheese and pop under the grill/broil for 5 minutes for the cheese to melt and brown.

Step 8. Finish the dish by sprinkling the remaining bacon and chives over the top.

• Refrigerator: store any leftover Ranch Roasted Potatoes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
• How to Reheat: you can reheat in a preheated 350 F oven for about 10 minutes, or until warm. If you happen to have an air fryer, you can also toss them into there for a few minutes.

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More Instant Pot Potato Recipes

• Instant Pot Loaded Mashed Potatoes (With Or Without Oven!)
• Instant Pot Stuffed Baked Potatoes 4 Ways
• Instant Pot Salt Potatoes With Herb Butter + VIDEO
• Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes
• Want more? Best Instant Pot Ground Beef Recipes

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