This dish of Instant Pot scalloped potatoes and leeks is perfect for a family gathering such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, or a Sunday roast dinner. Beautifully creamy and delicious, it's great as a side dish or a vegetarian main. You can try our Nordic twist to change things up!
WHAT ARE SCALLOPED POTATOES?
Scalloped potatoes take their origins from French cooking, specifically from the ‘ gratin’ method in which a dish is baked with a browned (usually cheesy) crust on top. Dauphinoise potatoes or potatoes au gratin is another name you might have seen on French restaurant menus.
Recipe with a Nordic twist
I’ve adapted the classic recipe to the Instant Pot and added leeks and a little Nordic touch. In Sweden, creamy baked potatoes are often made with a few anchovies for that unbeatable umami or savoury flavour. I tried it when a friend brought a dish to a Christmas potluck lunch. I was surprised by how well the anchovies worked without giving the potatoes any overpowering, fishy taste.
In this recipe, I only used 2 finely diced anchovies for a little hint of that salty flavour, but feel free to leave them out for a vegetarian version or if you're really against anchovies. We thought they improved the dish and you can't really see them, but we’ll leave it up to you.
HOW TO MAKE INSTANT POT SCALLOPED POTATOES
The recipe has two stages. Part 1 happens inside the Instant Pot and takes a lot less time than a regular oven-baked potatoes au gratin. But, once the dish is almost cooked, we move on to Part 2 and transfer the contents to a casserole dish to get that classic grilled cheese finish in the oven. You will find the full recipe ingredients, instructions and nutrition breakdown in a recipe card below but here are some handy step-by-step photos to guide you along.
STEP 1. Slice potatoes and leek and prepare the creamy sauce.
STEP 2. Layer the vegetables in the Instant Pot and cover with the sauce. Pressure cook on HIGH for 12 minutes with 10-15 minutes of natural pressure release.
STEP 3. Transfer the pre-cooked scalloped potatoes to a baking dish and sprinkle with grated cheese.
STEP 4. Bake under a grill until the cheese is melted and golden brown.
MAKE-AHEAD TIPS: If you want to make this dish ahead of time, you can pre-cook the main components and transfer them to a baking dish. Cover with cheese, wrap with some Clingfilm and store in the fridge for up to 2 days. Then simply reheat and finish grilling the cheese in the oven when you’re ready to serve this dish. Here are some step-by-step pics on how we made these Instant Pot scalloped potatoes.
MORE INSTANT POT SIDE DISHES
- Instant Pot Green Bean Casserole
- Instant Pot Creamed Beats
- Instant Pot Thanksgiving Recipes
- Instant Pot Green Beans With Butter & Pepper
- Instant Pot Vegetable En Papillote
- Instant Pot Whole Cauliflower
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Instant Pot Scalloped Potatoes & Leeks
Ingredients
For the cream sauce
- 1 oz. butter 28 g
- 1.5 cups cream pouring cream (about 300 ml, you can use light cream)
- 2 cloves garlic finely diced
- 2 anchovies finely diced (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
For the leeks and potatoes
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 1.5 leeks we used 1 large and ½ medium, washed and sliced thinly
- ½ cup vegetable stock or chicken stock
- 8-9 medium white potatoes peeled and sliced thinly
- 1 teaspoons salt
Other
- 1.25 cups vegetable stock 250-270 ml
- 1.5 cups grated cheese such as Cheddar or Gruyere, or both
Instructions
- Prepare all the ingredients before you begin. Combine the cream sauce ingredients in a bowl, whisk and set aside. Make sure the potatoes are sliced very thinly and evenly.
- Turn the Instant Pot on and press the Sauté function key. Heat a teaspoon of butter in the inner pot and add one-third of the leeks. Spread them on the bottom and sprinkle with about ¼ teaspoon of salt. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring around. Press Cancel/Keep Warm to stop the Saute process. Add half a cup of vegetable stock to the leeks and stir around.
- Add a third of the sliced potatoes and spread over the leeks. Sprinkle with another pinch of salt (about ¼ teaspoon). Pour over a third of the cream sauce evenly.
- Add another layer of raw leeks and potatoes (another third of each). Sprinkle potatoes with another ¼ teaspoon of salt. Pour another third of the cream sauce evenly.
- Finish with the final layer of leeks and potatoes, a bit of salt, and the final bit of the cream sauce.
- Finally, evenly and gently pour over the vegetable stock. Use your hands to press down the potatoes and leeks so that the sauce comes up to the surface. They won’t be completely covered, but we just want to apply some pressure so everything is nice and tight. Potatoes will give out some juice as well, which will incorporate into the dish.
- Cover the Instant Pot with the lid, lock it and make sure the steam release handle is pointing at Sealing. Set to Manual/Pressure Cooke, and adjust the time to 12 minutes, on HIGH pressure. After 3 beeps, the pressure will start to build up the pressure and the cooking will commence (the timer will kick in once the pressure is built up, about 10 minutes). Once the timer goes off, allow about 10-15 minutes for the pressure to release naturally. Then, use quick release method to let off the rest of the steam and open the lid.
- While the Instant Pot is cooking, preheat the oven to about 220 C / 420 F (unless you want to finish the dish at a later stage).
- Transfer the potato and leeks mixture into a large casserole dish. Instead of using a spoon, which will break up the potatoes, simply tilt the inner pot over the baking dish allowing the mixture to ‘slide into’ it, so to speak. Pour over all the remaining sauce and bits over the top. You can see some of the more browned leeks from the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- Sprinkle with cheese and pop in the hot oven under the grill for 12 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and turned golden.
Notes
Nutrition
SAVE SCALLOPED POTATOES TO PINTEREST
Nova Nan
Divine! I generally don't eat a lot, but I had three servings of this with salad on the side. It was a trial run for Easter. I love the fact that you can make most of it ahead of time. This recipe made enough for three generous casserole dishes for two. You can freeze them too. Just add the cheese sauce when defrosted. This dish totally made my week.
Mary V
I kept getting a burn notice and had to give up pressure cooking. I left it on saute until the potatoes were tender and baked it in a casserole. What did I do wrong?
Ann Fabrizio
Newer models of Instant Pot are more sensitive to the burn notice. You can get the warning from either not enough liquid, sauces being too thick, or a miss layering of ingredients. Once you do get the notice, you have to wait for the pot to cool down before attempting again.
Jerri Myer
Could you add cheese to the sauce?
instantpoteats
Yes, absolutely! It's added at the end to get it nice and crispy when baked.