How To Make Simple Instant Pot Potato Salad
How to make a simple classic potato salad in the Instant Pot. A classic family favorite side dish made simple by using your Instant Pot. Traditional for all the summer picnic holidays. An old fashioned summer barbecue classic that will disappear as fast as you set it out. Easy to make the morning before with or with egg and simple to customize to your taste.
Classic Potato Salad
It does not matter if it is Memorial Day, 4th of July, Graduation Party, Family Reunion, or Labor day, hamburgers and hotdogs are on the grill. And a family backyard barbecue or deck picnic is just not complete without someone bring a big bowl of classic potato salad. If you do not see it at first, you are looking for that side dish to make your burger or dog complete. We all know the one relative that we are hoping just brings her tried and true potato salad. For our family, it is our pastor’s wife. In the summer whenever she asks what to bring, the only thing I say is Potato Salad.
If you are looking for other picnic dishes you may like to check out, Easy Green Bean Casserole, Corn on the Cob in the Instant Pot, and Quick & Easy Corn Bake.
Why Use an Instant Pot for Potato Salad?
This is her classic simple nothing fancy potato salad, with one twist, I use my Instant Pot, so I do not have to heat up my kitchen. My husband Jim loves her potato salad and I use to only make it once a summer. Between making the hard-boiled eggs and boiling the potatoes it took so long and made the kitchen a hothouse. I can make all the cooked ingredients in the Instant Pot in a matter of minutes and not heat up the kitchen. I also have my stove top free if I am making other recipes.
You can also make the eggs and potatoes the night before and keep them cold until the next day. When you are making dinner the night before it is easy to just set the eggs and potatoes cooking hands-free in the instant pot pressure cooker. Keep refrigerated for the next day to combine.
How Long to Cook Potatoes in the Instant Pot
Making sure that the potatoes are not too mushy is essential when making any potato salad. If the potatoes are too overcooked when you go to mix your dish it will be hard to keep the texture need to eat. You do not want to start mixing and have mashed potatoes instead. That is why I suggest only 7 minutes at the most and a quick release.
The time of high pressure will depend on the size of your potatoes. If you use a large baking potato peeled and whole the whole 7 minutes will be needed to make sure they are cooked through. If you are using more of a baby potato cut in half I would suggest only 4 minutes.
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Equipment Needed for Instant Pot Potato Salad
- You can use an electric pressure cooker but the industry standard is the Instant Pot. You can start with an inexpensive Instant Pot Duro60 6 QT is very reasonably priced and you can get a great price on Amazon Prime Day which is in July every year.
- When cooking hardboiled eggs and potatoes your job will be easier if you use a Steamer Basket for Instant Pot.
- The vegetables that you add to potato salad to make it the classic old fashioned favorite need to be cut in uniform bite-size shapes. This makes the potato salad combine to the creamy taste we all love, but getting a uniform size can be difficult. That is why you will want to have an inexpensive Vidalia Onion Chop Wizard. Do not let the name fool you, it chopped any and all vegetables in a uniform size.
- The last simple inexpensive kitchen gadget that will save you tons of time, and make egg cutting a breeze is the Egg Slicer. I have had mine for years and love it.
Simple Ingredients Needed for Instant Pot Potato Salad
- Potatoes
- Eggs
- Mayonnaise
- Onion
- Celery
- Salt & Pepper
You can add any other vegetable your family likes. Some recipes use pickle relish, scallion, olives, bacon, dill & peas.
Check Out These Budget Friendly Instant Pots
How To Make Simple Instant Pot Potato Salad
A delicious, creamy classic cold picnic potato salad with just simple ingredients.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Amreican
Ingredients
- 6 hard-boiled eggs
- 8 to 10 potatoes
- 3 stocks of celery
- 1 small onion
- 1 to 1 & 1/2 cups Hellmann’s Light Mayonnaise
- Salt & Pepper
- 2 1/2 cups of water for the Instant Pot, not the potato salad
Instructions
- Start with making the hard-boiled eggs. Add one cup of water to the Instant Pot.
- Place 6 eggs in the steamer basket and put the basket in the inner pot of the Instant Pot.
- Lock the lid in place, set the valve to seal.
- Set the Instant Pot in high pressure for 7 minutes.
- When the 7 minutes is done, do a fast release and remove the basket with the eggs from the Instant Pot.
- Put the cooked eggs in a bowl with ice water to cool the hard-boiled eggs.
- Next, peel 8 to 10 baking potatoes. (you can use any type of potato or any size)
- Cut the potatoes into large chunks.
- Place the potatoes in the inner pot of the Instant Pot or you can also put them in the steamer basket.
- Put 1 and 1/2 cups of water in the inner pot with the potatoes with a pinch of salt.
- Lock the lid in place, set the valve to seal.
- Set the timer for high pressure for 3 minutes.
- After the 3 minutes, do a quick release so the potatoes are overcooked.
- Remove the potatoes as soon as you can open the lid.
- If you are in a hurry to make the potato salad you can cool off your potatoes by putting them in cold water or running cold water over them to stop the cooking process.
- While the eggs or the potatoes are cooking, chop the celery & onion into bite-size pieces.
- Also, peel the eggs and chop them into small pieces or into rings for the top of your potato salad. Best to use an Egg Slicer.
- When all the ingredients are cool and chopped it is time to mix.
- Start by cutting the potatoes to the size that is best for your family.
- Add in the chopped celery and onion and start mixing in the mayonnaise.
- Use a light folding action so as not to mash the potatoes.
- Add the chopped egg last and mix.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Top the potato salad with rings of the hard-boiled egg for decoration
Notes
- Make the hard-boiled eggs in the instant pot in a Steamer Basket for Instant Pot. Cook on high pressure for 7 minutes, with a fast release.
- You can also make this recipe without any eggs at all if your family has food allergies or does not like eggs.
Keywords: How To Make Simple Instant Pot Potato Salad
If you have any questions please send a comment and I will get back to you. So many of our traditional dishes may seem to complicate to make on a routine basis but using the instant pot can make cooking for your family much easier and leave your hands free to get dinner on the table faster.
~Susan
