Learn how easy it is to come home to perfect baked potatoes with this crock pot baked potatoes recipe! It’s almost too good to be true!
Baked potato recipes have always been favorite easy side-dishes for a lot of families. They’re simple to prepare, and they can be dressed up in so many different ways to suit anyone’s tastes. Recently though, I’ve clued into an even faster, easier way of making potatoes when I learned how to make baked potatoes in a crock pot, and my family seems to love these even more than when I make traditional baked potatoes in the oven. It turns out you don’t actually need to bake a potato to make baked potatoes. This potato recipe is just about the easiest possible way to cook a potato, and it also turns out to be one of the best.
You can also make slow cooker baked sweet potatoes and even mashed potatoes in the crock pot if you’re looking for more time-saving potato recipes.
How to Make Baked Potatoes in a Crock Pot
So here’s what you do!
Start out by washing some potatoes. You can do just a few or a whole big batch, whatever you need!
Once they’ve all been scrubbed, plunk those potatoes down in your crock pot!
I don’t know if you can tell from the photo, but this crock pot is really shallow, and it’s just the neatest thing ever. It’s kind of a cross between a casserole dish and a slow cooker. I had just gotten it when I was putting this post together for you, so I wanted to try it out. That’s what I used to make my potatoes, but you can use any size or type of crock pot or slow cooker that you have. You can see a similar casserole crock pot here. It’s great for serving potatoes like this or even for corn on the cob when you set food out at a gathering, buffet-style.
Drizzle the potatoes with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper over the top. This makes the potato skins nice and crispy and gold brown. Don’t worry about pricking each potato with a fork like you would normally do if you were cooking potatoes in an oven. Since they cook so slowly, you don’t really need to worry about it at all.
And that’s it!
Let them cook on low for about 8 hours, and you’ll have perfect potatoes! Sometimes, if there are a lot of potatoes in there, I might stir them around halfway through the day to re-coat them with the oil and salt-and-pepper mixture, but if I don’t think of it, then it’s really no big deal.
These are my absolute favorite potatoes to make because they turn out so well every time, and they take literally about 20 seconds to prepare, even if you’re cooking for a crowd!
What Type of Potato Work Best For Cooking in the Crock Pot?
Russet potatoes might be the traditional choice for making baked potatoes in the oven, but I actually prefer varieties with more delicate skins for this recipe. Something like a yellow potato, a white potato, or even a red potato cooks up really nicely with this method. They’re actually so tasty that you can just cut them with a fork and eat them without any garnish at all, even the skins.
Ideas for Baked Potato Toppings
You really don’t need to do anything other than melt a bit of butter over these potatoes for them to be some of the best you’ve ever had. The best way to serve baked potatoes is to set out little dishes of a variety of different garnishes and let people get creative, whether you have a large group or just your immediate family. Baked potatoes are both a tasty, healthy food and a fun activity. 🙂 Here are some ideas for toppings to try:
- Coarse sea salt
- Grated cheddar cheese
- Melted brie cheese
- Sour cream and chive mixture
- Sliced green onions
- Caramelized onions
- Steamed broccoli florets
- Smoked paprika
- Bacon bits
- Black beans and taco seasoning
- Leftover chili
The Secret to Perfect Baked Potatoes in a Crock Pot
One last little tip: When the potatoes are done, and you’re ready to eat, place your potato on a big heavy cutting board, hold one potato in your hand with a tea towel, and give it a good THWACK on the cutting board. This breaks up all the fibers in the potato and makes it extra fluffy, kind of like giving it an instant mash.
Plus, it’s just fun! 🙂
Definitely try this one out! You’ll probably be making potatoes this way multiple times a week like we are because it’s just so convenient!
What’s your favorite way to make potatoes? Any extra delicious topping ideas that we all need to know about?
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Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.