Make these Instant Pot scalloped potatoes and leeks as a perfect side for a family gathering such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, or a Sunday roast dinner. This pressure cooker potato recipe has a Nordic twist if you want to change things up.
Course Side
Cuisine French
Keyword Gluten-Free, Potatoes, Scalloped potatoes, Side Dishes, Vegetable Sides, Vegetarian
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 45 minutesminutes
Servings 6
Calories 552kcal
Ingredients
For the cream sauce
1oz.butter28 g
1.5cupscreampouring cream (about 300 ml, you can use light cream)
2clovesgarlicfinely diced
2anchoviesfinely diced (optional)
¼teaspoonsalt
¼teaspoonpepper
For the leeks and potatoes
1teaspoonbutter
1.5leekswe used 1 large and ½ medium, washed and sliced thinly
½cupvegetable stockor chicken stock
8-9mediumwhite potatoespeeled and sliced thinly
1teaspoonssalt
Other
1.25cupsvegetable stock250-270 ml
1.5cupsgrated cheesesuch 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
Please note that sometimes adding cream or milk to the Instant Pot during the cooking stage can cause a BURN notice, especially on newer models or 8-quart models which are more sensitive. If this happens, open the lid and add a little more stock or water (pour it on the sides of the potatoes). Then, use a spatula to scrape the food a little away from the bottom allowing more stock to sip through to the bottom. Then, set the pot to cook as described above. Adding more stock to the bottom will prevent the food from sticking/caramelising and burning.