Save room on the stove and make your mashed potatoes in your crock pot. These easy crock pot mashed potatoes are rich, creamy, and so decadent. It’s a perfect side dish for holiday dinners.

Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
Recipe Steps
Recipe Tips
Main Dish Ideas
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Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes

Today is all about a no-frills side dish that I intentionally left simple and straight-forward: easy crock pot mashed potatoes.

These are go-to homemade mashed potatoes that are perfect for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any other dinner that needs a rich and creamy potato side dish.

There are two main things I love about this recipe:

Cooking mashed potatoes in the crock pot is a simple way to save room on the stovetop. It makes the whole holiday meal plan just a little easier to execute.
The mashed potatoes are so easy to make, taste amazing, and pair with all the holiday main dishes like ham, turkey, prime rib… you get the idea

If you want to dial-up your holiday cooking efficiency this recipe is one to add to your list.

Ingredients

Yukon gold potatoes
Chicken broth or stock (or vegetable broth)
Unsalted butter
Heavy cream
Sour cream
Kosher salt and black pepper
Parsley for garnish

I think Yukon gold potatoes are best for mashing – they have a buttery flavor, and they’re not super starchy like russets. That said, you can use russet potatoes if that’s what you like. Red potatoes will also work!

Recipe Steps

Peel the potatoes and cut them into quarters. Place them in the slow cooker with the stock.

Cook them on high for three to four hours or until they are tender. You can mash potatoes right in the crock pot with a potato masher.

Add the butter, sour cream, cream, salt and paper. Stir until everything is well combined. Keep the potatoes on warm in the crock pot until you are ready to serve them.

photo of the butter, sour cream, and cream being added and stirred

Recipe Tips

While I’ve written this out as a recipe, it really isn’t. It’s all about the method, which is as easy as peeling some potatoes, cutting them into chunks, and letting them slow cook for a few hours until they are mashable.

After that, you to dress them up however you like your mashed potatoes – I prefer a simple mash, but there are a few ways to dress them up:

Add some grated Parmesan cheese when you mash them. Cheddar cheese would also be an excellent thing.
If you like garlic you can add some minced fresh garlic cloves or add some garlic powder when you add the cream and butter.
Add some fresh herbs after you mash the potatoes – parsley, chives, and thyme would all work well.
Swap the sour cream for some cream cheese for a tangier, creamier potato experience.

If you prefer whipped potatoes, have at it. I like the texture that comes from using a handheld masher and a little elbow grease, but you can pull out your hand mixer and whip your potatoes if you like a lighter and airy texture.

How to keep mashed potatoes warm: Another benefit of using your crock pot or slow cooker is that it’s easy to keep them warm. Once you make them, turn the heat to warm or low and keep them covered until you’re ready to serve them.

Either way, you can mash or whip to your heart’s content right there in the crock pot. Heck, you can even serve them right from the slow cooker saving yourself from one more dish to wash, but I’ll let you decide on that.

Main Dish Ideas

Besides the obvious turkey and ham, here are a few less holiday-ish mains that go great with them, too:

So many wins with this one – they are so easy to make in the slow cooker, they are decadent, rich carb side dish, and you can easily customize them to your taste. All around, so good!

Happy mashing!

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