Bacon ranch potatoes in less than 30 minutes! AND only 4 main ingredients and 3 simple seasonings for this mouth-watering comfort food.
If you follow me on snapchat, you know what I went through to create this recipe. Well, not that dramatic… But here’s how the first trial went down. After 15 minutes of cooking the potatoes in pressure cooker, it didn’t release ANY pressure! Now I don’t know about you, but I always feel uneasy about pressure cookers. It just seems like it’s going to explode any minute. I know, it’s just in my head…
Anyway, since no pressure came out, I was nervous to open the lid inside. So I carried my instant pot out to the backyard. If it explodes, let it be outside, right? And why wouldn’t I snapchat the whole process too, thinking I may be able to capture a crazy explosion or something.
Well, I held my phone in one hand and carefully opened the pressure cooker with other. And guess what? Nothing happened! No explosions, not even a steam. And the potatoes were barely cooked. Bummer!!
Lesson here is that to cook something in pressure cooker, you need LIQUID! Duh, face palm, after reading the handbook! But if you use recommended 1 cup of water, your potatoes will overcook and you’ll get mashed potatoes instead.
April 16, 2018 UPDATE: My original recipe called for only 2 tablespoons of water, and it worked with my original (now discontinued) version of Instant Pot, which didn’t have any “burn” warning. However due to number of readers’ feedback about “BURNT” warning, I purchased a new Instant Pot and reworked the recipe. I tested the recipe many times, and found 1/3 cup of water is perfect amount. The pressure cooker comes to pressure just fine without any warning and cooks the potatoes perfectly. More water overcooked the potatoes.
So, what makes this recipe so special?
Only 4 main ingredients and 3 simple spices for this mouth-watering comfort food. I mean, bacon and potato alone will sell this recipe. But when you throw cheese into the mix, it’s simply hard to resist!
And the best part, everything is cooked in one pot!
Super simple, yet unbelievably tasty dish in less than 30 minutes.
Do you have Instant Pot, or similar electric pressure cooker? What’s your favorite dish to cook in it? I’m slowly building my favorite pressure cooker recipe list, and I’d love to try your favorites too.
Instant Pot Bacon Ranch Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 lb (1 kg) red potatoes scrubbed
- 3 bacon strips
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 4 oz (115 g) cheddar cheese shredded
- 1/3 cup (85 g) Ranch dressing
Instructions
- Cut the potatoes into about 1-inch pieces.
- Cut the bacon into small pieces.
- Set the Instant Pot to "Sauté" and add bacon. Cook until nice and crisp.
- Stir in potatoes, dried parsley, garlic powder and salt.
- Add 1/3 cup of water.
- Set the Instant Pot to Manual for 5 minutes at high pressure.
- Do quick release the pressure and carefully open the lid.
- Add ranch dressing and cheese and stir to combine. Serve immediately.
⭐️ Did you make this recipe?
Please leave a review and let us know how you liked it!
Tips & Notes
Nutrition
Recipe cause the burning alarm to go off on my instant pot ultra. Add more water ended up with soggy potatoes.
Hi, Diana. Sorry yours didn’t turn out. I ordered a new version of Instant Pot the other day, and will re-test and improve the recipe soon. I appreciate your honest feedback.
Did not come to pressure, burnt on bottom of pot, just a huge mess.
Hi, Doris. Sorry about the mess. But thank you for your feedback.
First, I have the 6 q Instant Pot Ultra 10-in-1. Second, I scanned those directions 😱. I added the Ranch Dressing with all the other ingredients to my bag of cut up Little Potatoes (red). I used Costco bacon that is precooked but I only added 2 tbsp of water as directed. I also added the cheese too 😱 but got most of it out when I read the directions more carefully. I should have read comments as well!
How did it turn out? When I went to check on it – the display said BURN! But actually the potatoes were perfect – I added cheese and it was ready! The pan did require some extra scrubbing however!
Hi, Janna. So glad that the potatoes turned out well despite the changes. 🙂 Thank you for your feedback!
I made this tonight. The flavor is delicious but I’ll cut my potatoes smaller next time. Most were still too crunchy. Love the flavor though!
Hi, Andrea. Thanks for trying my recipe and for your feedback. Glad you enjoyed the flavor, and I hope next time it’ll turn out perfect. 🙂
Did not work for me. First time, did not come to pressure. Added more water & tried again. Came to pressure & cooked ten more minutes. Still not done. I threw it all in my big cast iron pan & cooked.
Hi, Lori. Sorry to hear yours didn’t work out. But I appreciate your feedback.
I will make this several times a month better than potatoe salad! Year around.
Hi, I’m new to using my Instant Pot, this is the second recipe I’ve tried… I tried this and the potatoes burnt to the bottom. When I turned on the IP and started the cooking process, a few minutes in I got an error message that said “BURN.” I stopped it and scrubbed the bottom and added a bit of olive oil, but I got the same result. I have an 8qt and we added 4 TBSP of water and followed the instructions exactly. Any tips? I’m sure this is delicious and I’d love to try again.
Great recipe! This was my first time cooking with the Instant Pot, and it turned out great. I cooked these in the 3 qt pot and used the same amounts of ingredients and times. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I’m an Instant Pot fanatic now!
Hi, Tony. So glad you loved the recipe!! Thank you for your feedback.
1/3 cup powdered ranch mix or like the creamy bottled dressing?
Hi, Rhonda. You’ll need creamy bottle dressing for this.
I add onions and bacon together on saute. Then potatoes an seasoning, add more water and doubled time on manual. Seasoned to taste when finished added last of ingredients. Served with sour cream. Everyone loved it!
Michelle, thank you for your feedback and sharing your adjustments. Glad to hear everyone loved it!