Pioneer Woman Recipes: Quick & Easy Pressure Cooker Potato Salad

Looking for a delicious and hassle-free side dish that’s perfect for any occasion? This pressure cooker potato salad recipe, inspired by the ease and homestyle goodness of Pioneer Woman recipes, is your answer! Whip up this creamy and flavorful potato salad in just about 15 minutes, thanks to the magic of your electric pressure cooker. Whether you’re grilling burgers for a birthday celebration or need a quick potluck contribution, this recipe will become your new go-to.

This recipe utilizes the speed of a pressure cooker, making it significantly faster than traditional methods. We’ll use sturdy russet potatoes – a versatile choice, but Yukon Golds or similar waxy potatoes also work beautifully. The key is to cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces to ensure quick and even cooking in the pressure cooker. While prepping your potatoes, preheating the water in your pressure cooker on the saute or sear setting can further cut down on the total cooking time.

potatoes and eggs for salad

Image: Preparing potatoes and eggs for pressure cooker potato salad, showcasing diced russet potatoes and whole eggs ready to be cooked together.

For those who love eggs in their potato salad, this recipe simplifies things by cooking the potatoes and eggs simultaneously in the pressure cooker. Simply nestle the eggs on top of the potatoes in the steamer basket over water, and you’re ready to cook!

Image: Raw eggs nestled amongst diced potatoes in a steamer basket inside a pressure cooker, illustrating the simultaneous cooking method.

Pressure cook on high for just 5 minutes. While the potatoes and eggs are cooking, you can prepare the salad dressing directly in your serving bowl, saving even more time and dishes.

Image: Mixing ingredients for potato salad dressing in a large bowl, showing mayonnaise, mustard, and other seasonings being combined.

Image: Close-up view of creamy potato salad dressing in a bowl, highlighting the texture and color of the dressing.

Once the 5 minutes are up, perform a Quick Release on your pressure cooker. Immediately transfer the cooked potatoes and eggs into a bowl of cold or ice water to halt the cooking process and prevent them from becoming mushy.

Image: Steaming hot potatoes and eggs being quickly cooled in a sink filled with ice water, demonstrating the quick cooling step.

Drain the cooled potatoes and gently stir them into the prepared dressing. Peel and chop the hard-boiled eggs and add them to the potato mixture. Stir everything together gently to combine. For the best flavor, refrigerate the potato salad to allow the flavors to meld together beautifully.

Image: Drained and cooled potatoes being added to a bowl of creamy potato salad dressing, ready for mixing.

Image: Chopped hard-boiled eggs being added to the potato and dressing mixture, illustrating the final assembly of the salad.

Image: Finished pressure cooker potato salad in a serving bowl, garnished and ready to be served, showcasing the final dish.

Here’s the full recipe, adapted from our Everyday Cooking cookbook, for your convenience:

Pressure Cooker Potato Salad Recipe

Inspired by Pioneer Woman Recipes

Recipe Type: Side Dish Salad

Cuisine: American

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes

Total time: 15 minutes

Serves: 6-12 servings

This old-fashioned potato salad gets a modern, speedy twist with the use of an electric pressure cooker like an Instant Pot or Pampered Chef Quick Cooker.

Ingredients:

6 medium potatoes, cut into bite-sized chunks (Russet or Yukon Gold)
½ onion, finely chopped (optional, for added flavor)
1 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced (optional, for sweetness and color)
Handful chopped fresh spinach or 1 tsp dried parsley (optional, for freshness)
½ – ¾ cup mayonnaise (adjust to your preferred creaminess)
1 Tbsp mustard (yellow, Dijon, or your favorite variety)
1 Tbsp vinegar (white vinegar or apple cider vinegar)
4-6 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and roughly chopped (plus one sliced for garnish, optional)
Salt and pepper to taste (add after tasting and adjusting other seasonings)

Instructions:

Pressure Cooker Version: Place potato chunks and eggs (in their shells) in a steamer basket set over 1 cup of water inside your pressure cooker.
For stovetop pressure cookers, bring to high pressure and cook for 4-5 minutes. For electric pressure cookers, cook on Manual HIGH pressure for 4-5 minutes. Perform a Quick Release and immediately immerse the contents in ice water to stop cooking.
Peel the eggs and chop them as desired.
In a large serving bowl, gently stir together the cooked potatoes and chopped eggs with mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, and optional ingredients like onion, carrot, and spinach/parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with sliced egg, if desired.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend before serving.

Notes:

No Pressure Cooker? No Problem! Stovetop Version:

If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can easily make this potato salad on the stovetop. Boil the potatoes until they are just fork-tender, about 9-12 minutes depending on size. While potatoes cook, whisk together mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, salt, and pepper for the dressing. Drain and rinse the cooked potatoes with cold water to cool them down quickly, or chill in the refrigerator if you are prepping in advance. Combine the cooled potatoes with the dressing and add onion, sliced carrots, spinach/parsley, and chopped hard-cooked eggs. Refrigerate to let the flavors meld.

Scaling Up: This recipe can be easily doubled or tripled to serve a larger crowd. However, it’s best to add vinegar and mustard incrementally when making larger batches, tasting and adjusting as you go. A double batch (using about 5 pounds of potatoes) will fill a 9×13 inch casserole dish.