Y’all, I bought an Instant Pot on Cyber Monday after hearing lots of buzz about them all over the blog world! Just the other day I used it to make a delicious batch of Instant Pot Loaded Baked Potato Soup, but let me tell you a little back story…
On Cyber Monday, Walmart was selling the Instant Pot for $69 which is $30 cheaper than the normal price, so I pulled the trigger and ordered one.
My slow cooker is 13 years old and the glass lid recently cracked. I wanted to just replace the lid, but it would have cost almost the same price as a new slow cooker! This meant I would be in the market for a new crock pot – OR – pressure cooker as the case may be :)
What is an Instant Pot, you might ask?
It’s basically a slow cooker/crockpot, rice maker, pressure cooker all-in-one miracle machine.
My curiosity was piqued early on when I saw Instant Pot recipes floating around the internet. HOWEVER, when the pot was actually delivered to my door, I kind of panicked and let it sit in my foyer for over a week…maybe 2!
I was too lazy to figure out a new contraption, and I was a little intimidated by the hefty instruction manual and plethora of buttons and settings.
I guess I’d hoped it would be as simple as turning it on and pushing a button.
Turns out it’s not too much more complicated than that!!
Don’t let the complicated user manual overwhelm you. I’m going to walk you through a quick and EASY recipe that will have you rocking out that Instant Pot with gusto!
Instant Pot Loaded Baked Potato Soup!
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 32oz chicken stock (I used a box, but you can use homemade)
- 6 cups (approximately) peeled and diced yukon gold potatoes (about 1 inch cubes)
- salt and pepper to taste (just shake a little of both in!)
- ¾ - 1 cup cream cheese
- 6 slices bacon, cooked until crisp and then chopped
- 6 green onions, sliced
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- Plug in Instant Pot and press the "Sauté" button
- Wait a few seconds for a beeping sound letting you know the pot is heating up
- Add tablespoon of butter and stir with a wooden spoon until it's melted
- Add diced onion and sauté until slightly soft, stirring occasionally
- Add minced garlic and sauté for about 1 minute, stirring consistently (don't let it burn!)
- Add chicken stock to deglaze any brown bits from the bottom of the pan (use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pot while you stir everything together)
- Add diced potatoes and press the "Cancel" button
- Securely place the lid onto the pot and twist it into place (it will make a little musical tone when you do this correctly)
- Set valve on top of the lid to "Sealing" in the center position (Not venting on either side)
- Press the "Manual" button and set the time to 25 minutes (I think it automatically loads 25 minutes onto the timer)
- Wait several seconds for the pot to start (you will hear a series of beeps when it does)
- The pot will take a few minutes to come up to pressure. You'll know it has achieved pressure when the 25 minute timer starts ticking down.
- One the 25 minutes are up, use an oven mitt or silicone mitt (provided with the pot) to CAREFULLY move the lid's valve to "Venting"
- Steam will immediately shoot out of the valve (steer clear!)
- When the steam has stopped and quieted, use an oven mitt or silicone mitt to open the pot and set the lid aside.
- Unplug the Instant Pot and use an immersion blender to carefully blend the brothy cooked potato mixture (leave some chunks in tact) You could probably achieve similar results with an old fashioned potato masher if you don't have an immersion blender.
- Add cream cheese to the pot and stir until it melts and fully combines with the soup.
- Add diced bacon pieces (you may want to reserve some bacon crumbles for topping) and stir to combine
- You can add additional salt and pepper if needed (be careful taking a taste test...it's HOT!)
- Serve topped with sharp cheddar cheese, green onions and bacon crumbles (if desired).
- Enjoy!
***Subbing in ghee for the butter and full-fat coconut milk for the cream cheese would make this recipe Whole30 compliant! Of course read your bacon labels and skip the cheese too….
I vlogged the making of this soup, check out this video for some footage of the process!!
