Easy Instant Pot Au Gratin Potatoes are easy, cheesy, and delicious! I absolutely love how much time I save by making these cheesy potatoes in my pressure cooker! They are the perfect side dish with layers of potatoes, a creamy sauce, and your favorite seasonings!
Originally posted February 2020, updated August 2024
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Easy Instant Pot Au Gratin Potatoes
My husband makes the BEST au gratin potatoes at our house. He's an amazing cook, and I rarely dislike anything he makes, but when he makes delicious, cheesy au gratin potatoes, I'm full-on drooling!
His Au Gratin Potato recipe is rich and creamy and he usually uses two or three kinds of cheese (at least cheddar cheese and parmesan cheese) so they're loaded with flavor. He also amps up the potatoes with some thin sliced yellow onion and some garlic powder.
However, Au Gratin potatoes take a long time to cook. He usually bakes them for at least an hour and by the time you add in peeling, slicing and all that jazz, they're not a fast dish.
Until now.
Instant Pot Potatoes Au Gratin
Pressure cooking cheesy potatoes au gratin is so much faster than baking them in the oven and wow, they are delicious! You cut the cooking time way down and you still end up with a great dish.
Recently, on a night when I was cooking instead of Richy, I decided to try my hand at Instant Pot au gratin potatoes. I was short on time and this seemed like a great solution.
This cut my cook time down dramatically and while they weren't as amazing as my husband's homemade, from-scratch, full-on version... these were really delicious!
Why You'll Love Instant Pot Au Gratin Potatoes
Save Oven Space. Especially around the holidays, I'm always short on oven space so this recipe frees up my oven for cooking other things.
Fast. Instead of having to bake potatoes for at least an hour in addition to all of the prep time, these potatoes are done in half the time!
Delicious Crowd Pleaser. Everybody loves a cheesy potato side dish and this one is no exception! Make this dish for your picky kids, your church potluck, or a holiday meal and everybody will love them! You might also love Cheesy Funeral Potatoes.
Keep it Cool. This recipe requires only a few minutes of broil time at the end so you don't have to heat up your kitchen by baking potatoes au gratin for an hour or more.
What are Potatoes Au Gratin?
Potatoes au gratin is a classic comfort food dish made of thinly sliced potatoes baked in a creamy sauce with cheese. The dish is known for its rich, cheesy flavor and golden, bubbly top. Here's a breakdown of the dish. Sometimes they're also called Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes.
Today we're making Au Gratin Potatoes in Instant Pot.
Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is. So let's make them!
Tools Needed
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Sharp Knife
- Cutting Board
- Instant Pot
- Small Baking Dish or casserole dish - an 8x8 dish is a good size
- Small Pot
- Grater
- Mandolin - For slicing the potatoes, I cannot recommend highly enough getting a mandoline. I bought my hubby one a few years ago and it's one of his most favorite kitchen tools! You get perfect slices, every time and SUPER fast! We use it several times a week for potatoes, onions, tomatoes, carrots, cheese, and more! Check out the one we have here.
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Ingredients
This au gratin potatoes recipe is really simple with common ingredients. But the outcome is a delicious side dish!
- Potatoes - Russet Potatoes are the best choice for au gratin potatoes but you could also use Yukon Golds.
- Water - to add extra flavor you can use chicken broth, but I find this recipe plenty flavorful enough with just water.
- Salt
- Pepper
- Butter
- Flour
- Milk
- Cheese - I like to use fresh-shredded sharp cheddar cheese
How to Make Instant Pot Potatoes Au Gratin
- First, slice your potatoes (Russest or Yukon Gold potatoes) into thin slices.
- Then mix together the water and ½ teaspoon of salt and add to the bottom of your Instant pot. Then add the peeled, sliced potatoes.
- After you add the potatoes, salt and water - set your Instant Pot to manual high pressure and set to 1 minute pressure cook time. Set to 2 minutes if your potatoes are slicked thicker. Note: It will take 5-15 minutes for your pressure cooker to reach pressure.
- While the potatoes are cooking, you'll make the cheese cream sauce on your cooktop.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. This will take 3-5 minutes. Then whisk in the flour and remaining salt and pepper. Cook for another minute, then add the milk and bring to a boil.
- Mix in two cups of the cheese and remove from heat; stir the cheese mixture until completely melted and combined.
- After the potatoes are done, do a quick release of the pressure and prepare an oven-safe dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- With a slotted spoon, dip the potatoes out of the Instant Pot and layer the soft potatoes with the creamy cheese sauce in a prepared 8x8 inch square dish.
- Top with remaining cheese and place under an oven broiler. Broil for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden brown!
- Let it cool for just a few minutes and then enjoy these cheesy, delicious Easy Instant Pot Au Gratin Potatoes!!
Tips
Fresh is best! Freshly shredded cheese is always best. Pre-shredded cheese has a coating that will cause your cheese sauce to be chunky rather than smooth. Au Gratin Potatoes - Instant Pot recipe is no exception.
Servings Suggestions
Potato side dishes are a necessity in the South, and Instant Pot Scalloped Potatoes is an easy recipe and the perfect cheesy side dish for a family dinner, a potluck, or a special occasion. They'd also be a great holiday side dish.
FAQ
Are Au Gratin Potatoes and Scalloped Potatoes the same?
Often the terms are used interchangeably but they're not exactly the same thing. Scalloped potatoes and potatoes au gratin are similar, but they have some key differences in preparation and ingredients.
Scalloped potatoes are usually cream-based with no cheese, while au gratin potatoes include cheese in the layers and on top.
Due to the added cheese, the texture and flavor of au gratin potatoes tend to be richer and more indulgent.
Yes, you can freeze potatoes au gratin, but the texture may change slightly due to the freezing process. Here's how you can do it:
Cook and Cool Completely: Prepare the potatoes au gratin as you normally would, then allow them to cool completely. This prevents excess moisture when freezing.
Portion or Store: You can freeze the entire dish or divide it into individual portions. Use a freezer-safe container or wrap it tightly in aluminum foil followed by plastic wrap.
Label and Freeze: Label the dish with the date and contents before placing it in the freezer.
Thawing and Reheating: When ready to eat, thaw the dish in the refrigerator overnight. Reheat it in the oven at 350°F (175°C) until warmed through (about 20-30 minutes). You may want to cover it with foil initially and then uncover it for the last few minutes to crisp the top.
Yes! To make a larger portion, double the ingredients while keeping the cooking time the same and using a larger baking dish, such as a 9x13 casserole dish.
More Instant Pot Recipes
PrintRecipe
Easy Instant Pot Cheesy Au Gratin Potatoes
Description
Instant Pot Au Gratin Potatoes are easy, cheesy and delicious! I absolutely love how much time is saved by making these cheesy potatoes in my Instant Pot!
Ingredients
- 3 pounds potatoes, peeled and sliced evenly (about ¼ inch slices)
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided
- ¼ teaspoon white or black pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup flour
- 1 cup milk
- 2 ½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
Instructions
- Mix together water and ½ teaspoon salt.
- To the electric pressure cooker, add the salt water and then sliced potatoes. Program the electric pressure cooker to cook on “manual” or “pressure cook” for 1 minute.
- Meanwhile, prepare the cheese sauce by melting the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour, remaining salt and pepper. Cook for 1 minute. Add milk all at once and continue stirring until the mixture comes to a boil. Mix in 2 cups of cheese and remove from heat. The sauce will continue to thicken as it rests.
- Preheat the oven broiler. Prepare a 9x9 square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- When the electric pressure cooker cycle is complete, perform a quick pressure release. Carefully remove potatoes and layer with cheese sauce in baking dish.
- Cover the casserole with remaining cheese, if desired. Place under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
C. Sterling
There was WAY too much flour in this recipe!! I have a lingering suspicion it was a typo, but WOAH. It was super weird lol. I doctored it after adding an assinine amount of flour and it was more a 3 parts milk 1 part flour ratio, it turned out too sweet, of course. Not inedible but definitely wouldn't recommend this exact recipe. Maybe try 2 tbs of flour rather than 1 cup
Rose Atwater
Ohmygoodness! I don't know how this wasn't caught before, but it was definitely a typo. Should've been 1/4 cup flour, not 1 cup!! Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Jennifer Wise
This looks delicious. I love how easy it is, too. Visiting from Senior Salon Pit Stop.
Esme Slabbert
Awesome and so tasty for sure. Congrats, your post will be featured Monday at SSPS 327 https://esmesalon.com/tag/seniorsalonpitstop/
Holly
These were great! Cooking the potatoes in the IP made this recipe so much faster than the one I usually make.