Instant Pot Mother’s Ham Casserole–ham and potatoes in a creamy, cheesy sauce with a just a bit of spice from green chiles and pepper jack cheese.

Instant Pot Mother’s Ham Casserole
Ham is something I don’t often have but when I do I love all the fun recipes I can make with the leftovers! Ham and bean soup or ham in my omelets are my favorites. Today I add a new idea to the list with this ham and potato dish. I tweaked the original recipe to fit my preferences and, of course, to make it into a quick and easy Instant Pot recipe.
I added in a can of diced green chiles and I used pepper jack cheese instead of cheddar. Both of these additions gave awesome flavor and made these potatoes addicting! I kept going back for just one more scoop!
Of course if you don’t have leftover ham you can buy cubed ham at the grocery store. You can also trying using another cured meat such as smoked sausage. Try out this recipe soon! I think you’ll love it.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Russet potatoes–or red potatoes
- Carrots–or baby carrots
- Celery
- Butter
- Flour
- Milk–or half and half
- Kosher salt
- Pepper
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Diced green chiles–or a half cup of salsa verde
- Cubed ham–or cubed smoked sausage
- Pepper jack cheese
- Optional: panko breadcrumbs toasted in butter (you can try this recipe)
The Basic Steps
- Pressure cook the potatoes, carrots and celery in a steamer basket. I use my silicone steamer basket.
- Make the sauce with the butter, flour and milk using the saute setting.
- Season the sauce and melt the cheese in the sauce.
- Fold the potatoes into the sauce.
- Serve and enjoy! Top with toasted panko, if desired.
Notes/Tips
- Serve with roasted vegetables like broccoli, asparagus or brussels sprouts.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in an 8 quart pot.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Other recipes you can make with pepper jack cheese are Instant Pot Breakfast Enchiladas and Instant Pot Disney Potatoes.

5 More Instant Pot Recipes with Ham
Instant Pot Hay and Straw
Linguine noodles with sliced ham, broccoli and a light creamy sauce. Made fast and easy in your pressure cooker!
Instant Pot Emergency Fried Rice
When you don’t have the time to make fried rice in a wok try this dump everything into the Instant Pot and walk away version! It super simple and makes a great side dish (or main dish).
Loaded Million Dollar Casserole
Potatoes with a creamy sour cream sauce topped with bacon, ham and cheese. This will become a family favorite!
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.


Instant Pot Mother’s Ham Casserole
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes
- Total Time: 28 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Ham and potatoes in a creamy, cheesy sauce with a hint of spice from green chiles and pepper jack cheese.
Ingredients
- 5 medium Russet potatoes (about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds)
- 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 rib of celery, diced
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 (4 oz) can diced green chiles
- 2 cups cubed ham
- 6 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded
- Optional: panko breadcrumbs toasted in butter
Instructions
- Add potatoes, carrots and celery into steamer basket*.
- Pour 1 ½ cups water into bottom of Instant Pot. Drop the steamer basket into bottom of Instant Pot.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes. When time is up move valve to venting and remove the lid. Move the steamer basket out of the pot and discard the water.
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Add in the butter and let it melt. Whisk* in the flour, a little at a time and whisk until smooth. Pour in the milk a little at a time and whisk until smooth. Stir in the salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Simmer until sauce has thickened.
- Turn off saute setting and turn pot to the keep warm setting. Stir in the green chiles, ham, pepper jack, potatoes, carrots and celery. Coat the potatoes in the sauce. Let the cheese melt.
- Scoop into bowls and top with a spoonful of toasted panko, if desired.
- Category: Ham
- Method: Instant Pot
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
I haven’t made this recipe so I can’t know for certain, but I think adding salt might be too much. Ham is already very salty and adding more might make the dish too salty. I’d definitely taste the soup before adding any salt.
It’s always good to add less first and add more later if needs be! Good idea