Just because you’re dairy-free and egg-free, doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to creamy, ranch potato salad this summer! So full of flavor, it slaps you in the face, not once, but TWICE. Dotted with crispy bacon and green onions, this savory side dish will win over any BBQ–no matter your food allergies or food restrictions. This Instant Pot Dairy-free Ranch Potato Salad is free of: wheat, gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut & tree nuts. It’s also top-8-free and is vegan is you swap out the bacon for vegan bacon crumbles!
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Ranch is basically nectar of the God’s, so saying goodbye to dairy meant saying goodbye to one of my favorite dips and dressings. Long are the days of buying the seasoning mix packets at the store and adding it to Greek yogurt or sour cream and making a homemade dip–which made making a Ranch Potato Salad seem impossible.
Trust me, I’ve searched high and low for a store-bought ranch packet–and the closest I’ve found is the dressing Hampton Creek Just Ranch (unsponsored.) Which is great when you’re in a pinch and you want something from the store. It’s really been great, but it’s not thick, like you want when you’re coating something like potato salad.
So, what was a ranch-loving girl supposed to do? While I love regular potato salad, a ranch potato salad was my jam. It’s truly the best side dish for any and all BBQs.
I went to my previous trusty blogger, Pioneer Woman, because while she basically bathes in butter, she knows how it goes to be out of an ingredient. While I’m not “out” of an ingredient because I live on some remote ranch, I have to cook without store-bought ingredients and from scratch constantly due to food allergies and dietary restrictions. I found her homemade ranch mix packet and tweaked it to be allergy-friendly.
Since you don’t use buttermilk or any other way of watering it down, the ranch results in a super tangy, super flavorful ranch unlike you’ve ever had. Seriously–it may have ruined me, because other ranches may just seem blah after this. I’ve been dipping sugar snap peas, carrots and cucumbers in the remaining ranch and it has been pure heaven!
Potatoes are quickly made in the instant pot (or not) for a painless dish. And, if you’ve been following along, you know that I am instant pot obsessed. I actually just turned in my manuscript for my allergy-friendly instant pot cookbook–so to say I use it a LOT is an understatement. (If you don’t have one, buy one now so you’re ready for when my cookbook comes out spring 2019!) I love using the instant pot, because I often feel when I have to boil a large pot of water, it ends up making my kitchen feel hot and steamy–which isn’t a welcomed feeling when it’s already the dead heat of summer. The instant pot is able to tenderize the potatoes in just 8 minutes of cooking time (plus coming up to pressure and releasing the pressure).
SUBSTITUTION HELP FOR DAIRY-FREE RANCH POTATO SALAD:
- Feel free to use any mayo you need. If you can have eggs, use regular. If you have a favorite vegan/egg-free mayo, use that. Either will work, and use you can use it at a 1:1 ratio.
- Feel free to use vegan bacon if you want this to be completely vegan.
- Chives can replace green onions, if you have those on hand instead.
- You can boil the potatoes until fork tender if you do not have an instant pot.
- You can purchase bacon crumbles, if you don’t want to cook your own. I’m just a sucker for hot, fresh bacon!
I hope that this helps you bring a side dish with some pride to the next pool party or BBQ you attend. People will not realize this is an allergy-friendly side dish and I wouldn’t be shocked if it’s the first to go–I mean, ranch AND bacon–come on! Match made in side dish heaven. Happy cooking and eating of my Instant Pot Dairy-free Ranch Potato Salad.
DO YOU HAVE A VIDEO SHOWING HOW TO MAKE THIS DAIRY-FREE RANCH POTATO SALAD?
Yes, I do! I like to use TikTok because their videos are short and succinct. This general overview should give you a good idea of how to make it. I also have the video saved to my Instagram Highlight Bubbles. Enjoy!
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Instant Pot Dairy-free Ranch Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 12 oz bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 1 cup water
- 5 pounds red potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 Tablespoon dried parsley
- 1/2 Tablespoon garlic powder
- 1/2 Tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tsp dried dill
- 1/2 tsp dried chives
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 cup vegan mayo
- 2 bunches green onions, thinly sliced--both the green and white parts
Instructions
- Open the lid to the instant pot and hold several pieces of bacon over the pot. Using kitchen shears (these are my FAVORITE), cut the bacon into bite sized pieces and let it fall into the pot. Do this until you've cut all of the bacon. Hit "saute" and cook the bacon until it's extra crispy. This takes around 5 minutes, while it's cooking stir it occasionally. While it's cooking, wash and dice your red potatoes and set them aside.
- Turn off the instant pot, and remove the bacon and set it on several paper towels to absorb excess grease.
- Carefully pour the grease out into a safe container (I like to save mine). If you do not save yours, you can throw it away once it's cool.
- Wash, or wipe out your instant pot to remove any leftover grease..
- Add one cup of water. Place your trivet on top of the water (or if you have a steamer basket, this works even better!). Place the potatoes on top of the trivet or steamer basket. Close the lid and move the valve to "sealing".
- Hit "manual" and use the plus and minus buttons until you reach 8 minutes.
- While the potatoes cook, combine all of the spices: parsley, dill, chives, garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt and pepper. Add the vegan mayo and stir well to combine. Set it aside.
- Once the potatoes are done cooking, move the valve to "venting" to quickly release the pressure. Drain the water and add the potatoes to a large bowl. Gently stir in the spiced mayo mixture, using a little bit at a time, until it's coated to your liking.
- Dice your green onions and add them, along with the crumbled bacon to the potato mixture. Serve immediately, or keep cold until you're ready to serve.
- If there's any leftover ranch mix, it's fabulous as a dip with bell peppers, carrots, cucumbers, sugar snap peas and cucumbers!
Notes
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman. Also inspired by The Recipe Critic
DON’T FORGET TO PIN IT, SO YOU DON’T LOSE IT. BE SURE TO ALSO CHECK OUT ALL OF MY OTHER ALLERGY-FRIENDLY PINTEREST BOARDS.
Looking for other allergy-friendly side dishes to bring to summer potlucks? Here are some of my favs:
Gluten, Egg & Dairy-free Avocado BLT Pasta Salad
Apple, Bacon & Spinach Salad with Sweet Red Onion Vinaigrette
Allergy-friendly Tuscan Pasta Salad
Hi! I’m Megan, a mom to four kids, two with multiple food allergies & one with EOE. I’m a published cookbook author that constantly tweaks recipes to make them allergy friendly–it’s an addiction. I share every recipe & tip with the hope that they help you as you manage your food allergies & dietary restrictions. You can still be awesome, even with food allergies!
Related Recipes:
German Potato Salad (GF, DF, Egg, Soy, Peanut/Tree nut Free, Top 8 Free, Vegan Option)
Homemade DAIRY-FREE Cilantro Lime Ranch Dressing (Cafe Rio Copycat)
Allergy-friendly Thai Chopped Salad
Dairy Free Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Casserole (Gluten Free, Top 8 Free, & Vegan Too!)
Gluten Free Vegan Brown Sugar Brussels Sprouts with Craisins
Double Chocolate Banana Bread (GF, DF, Egg, Soy, Peanut, Tree nut Free, Top 8 Free, Vegan)
Brittany Malone
DELICIOUS! I made this for a cook out yesterday and it was a hit! Nobody missed the dairy. It is full of flavor and perfect for summer pitch ins or even a dinner side.
Megan Lavin
You’re the best, thanks Brittany!
DEANNA
Love this recipe! Thank you! I’ll be checking out more of your recipes.
Megan Lavin
That’s so nice. Thanks Deanna!
Lynsey
This was so good! My 7 year old helped me and thought it was so good she asked if this could be her entire dinner! We ate it warm but put the leftovers in the fridge and can’t wait to try it cold. Quick and easy. I put it on my repeat list!
Megan Lavin
I can’t blame your daughter. I’ll just sit and eat it with a spoon! Way to get your daughter cooking in the kitchen too. Appreciate the comment.
Jacki E
In the video you say potatoes should be submerged in water, yet in the recipe it calls for one cup of water?
Megan Lavin
Honestly–either will work. You can submerge, or steam them with the one cup of water. The instant pot can work with either. Sorry for the confusion.