Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes (Easy Crockpot Recipe)
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These quick, easy Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes will change your life. No peeling, no boiling, no mashing! Super creamy and fluffy, these mashed potatoes are the actual best you’ll ever make.
Want all things potatoes? Me too! Check out my other popular recipes for Slow Cooker Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes, Instant Pot Baked Sweet Potatoes, and traditional Baked Potatoes.
Why You’ll Love These Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
I boiled this slow cooker mashed potatoes recipe down (ha ha) to the essential reasons why it rocks:
Fastest prep ever — These crockpot mashed potatoes require, seriously, 7 minutes of preparation. All you have to do is cut up your potatoes (you don’t even have to peel them if you don’t want to!) and then let them cook for a few hours. When they’re done, you come back, dump the last few ingredients in, and whip those babies up in a matter of about 1 minute.
No peeling — This point deserves to stand out because peeling potatoes is a total bummer. No need for this recipe! You’ll get perfect, creamy slow cooker mashed potatoes every single time without peeling, boiling, or mashing! Just a whole lot of amazing mashed potato eating going on. Once you try these, you will never need another mashed potato recipe for as long as you live.
Red skin potatoes — I’m a sucker for those baby reds. So quick to cook up and so easy to whip together, they don’t taste gluey like other potato varieties will sometimes after they’re mashed. Plus, the skins are so thin, they whip right into this slow cooker mashed potatoes recipe, which helps with that whole not-having-to-peel thing.
Reheats well — If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, all you have to do is microwave them to desired warmth, give them a stir, and be done! If they seem kind of dry add a tablespoon or two of milk to them before microwaving. Great for a side or a midnight snack.
Table of Contents
- Why You’ll Love These Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
- Ingredients for Crockpot Mashed Potatoes
- What to Serve With Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
- How to Make Mashed Potatoes in the Slow Cooker
- Tips for the Creamiest Mashed Potatoes
- Make Ahead and Storage Instructions
- FAQs
- Expert Tips
- More Slow Cooker Recipes
- Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients for Crockpot Mashed Potatoes
Red potatoes — These make ahead mashed potatoes in the slow cooker work best with red potatoes cut into 2 inch pieces. I don’t even peel them!
Sour cream — If you don’t have sour cream you can use plain Greek yogurt. Both taste great in this creamy mashed potatoes recipe, but sour cream will be a little tangier and creamier.
Milk — Any milk you have on hand is good for these, it helps to thin them out a bit and makes them easier to mix.
Minced garlic — I use jarred garlic in my easy mashed potatoes but you can mince your own or use those frozen, finely minced cubes they have in the freezer section now.
Salt & Pepper — I add these two to taste.
What to Serve With Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
How to Make Mashed Potatoes in the Slow Cooker
Wondering how to make mashed potatoes in a slow cooker? It couldn’t be easier, honestly. One trick though? Spray the inside of your slow cooker crock with cooking spray to make the clean up of this creamy mashed potatoes recipe that much easier.
- First, add the cut potatoes to the prepared crock, put the lid on it and cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 5-6 hours. (Or use the instant pot for even quicker results! Pressure cook on HIGH for 8 minutes with 1 cup of water, quick release, drain the water and proceed with the next step!)
- When the potatoes are done, add the sour cream, milk, garlic, salt, and pepper to the potatoes and use a hand mixer to blend together all ingredients.
- Taste and add salt and pepper as desired and SERVE.
Tips for the Creamiest Mashed Potatoes
Want the creamiest crockpot mashed potatoes recipe? Try adding butter when you add the sour cream, milk, garlic, and seasonings. How much is up to you. I start with about 4 tablespoons and go from there.
Another way to make these mashed potatoes in the crockpot the best they can be is to add cream cheese. I like to add about 8 ounces. For best results, let the cream cheese come up to room temperature before mixing.
Make Ahead and Storage Instructions
You can cook and mash this crockpot mashed potatoes recipe ahead of time and store them in an airtight container in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. Simply reheat in a pot on the stove and stir in some additional milk if you feel like they got too thick.
FAQs
This is obvious, but the best way to serve mashed potatoes is with a big scoop or two of gravy. Try my recipe for Easy Chicken Gravy for starters.
Not into gravy? These mashed potatoes are so good topped with some cheddar, Gruyere, parmesan, or any of your favorite cheeses.
What about bacon and some chives and a big dollop of sour cream? Yes, please!
Make them spicy by adding in chili powder, a can of diced green chilis, or chipotles in adobo. Taste as you go to make sure they aren’t too spicy.
Not sure how long to keep these slow cooker mashed potatoes cooking? Generally they cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 on low. You’ll know they’re done when they are fork-tender and starting to fall apart. Once they reach that consistency, you can begin to mix in the other ingredients.
I swear by red potatoes but you can also use yukon gold, fingerling, or even russet if they are cut up into equal-size pieces before cooking to ensure even cooking. If you’re feeling crazy, you can mix up various potato types.
Expert Tips
- To keep your mashed potatoes from being too gluey, make sure you don’t over-mix them. That’s why I use a hand mixer, I feel like I can control the amount they’re whipped better. Stop when you still have a few lumps, those are supposed to be there. And please don’t use a food processor unless you need glue.
- I recommend cooking these slow cooker potatoes in a new(ish) crock pot. It has been my experience that older models don’t get hot enough to get these done in 3 hours. If you have an older model, then add another hour or so on to the cooking time.
- For the best-textured potatoes, add the sour cream and milk at room temperature. I have found that everything mixes together better if it’s all the same temperature. The dairy ingredients don’t have to be HOT per say but don’t pull them right out of the fridge and pop them into the slow cooker without letting the chill come off of them for a bit first.
- Store these holiday mashed potatoes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. They’ll last about 10 months in the freezer. Thaw before reheating.
More Slow Cooker Recipes
- Slow Cooker 4 Cheese Macaroni – guaranteed to disappear fast.
- Braised Beef Short Ribs – fall off the bone tender!
- Slow Cooker Beef Roast – easy, comforting, and it practically cooks itself!
When you make this recipe, snap a photo and tag me on social – I love connecting with you and seeing what you’re up to in the kitchen!
Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 pounds red potatoes, cut into 2 inch pieces, (you can peel them but I never do – I love red potato skins in my mashed potatoes!)
- ½ cup sour cream , (or plain greek yogurt)
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Spray the inside of a slow cooker with cooking spray. Add chopped potatoes. Cover and cook 2-3 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low.
- Add sour cream, milk, garlic, salt, and pepper to potatoes. Use a hand mixer to blend together all ingredients. (Please see note below recipe!) Give them a taste and add more salt if desired. Serve plain, or with any favorite toppings such as gravy, or cheese and bacon. OR – check out my brand new variation – [url:1]Slow Cooker Buttery Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes[/url]!
Notes
- To keep your mashed potatoes from being too gluey, make sure you don’t over-mix them. That’s why I use a hand mixer, I feel like I can control the amount they’re whipped better. Stop when you still have a few lumps, those are supposed to be there. And please don’t use a food processor unless you need glue.
- I recommend cooking these slow cooker potatoes in a new(ish) crock pot. It has been my experience that older models don’t get hot enough to get these done in 3 hours. If you have an older model, then add another hour or so on to the cooking time.
- For the best-textured potatoes, add the sour cream and milk at room temperature. I have found that everything mixes together better if it’s all the same temperature. The dairy ingredients don’t have to be HOT per say but don’t pull them right out of the fridge and pop them into the slow cooker without letting the chill come off of them for a bit first.
- Store these mashed potatoes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. They’ll last about 10 months in the freezer. Thaw before reheating.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
***RECIPE UPDATE*** A few readers have written in with a question about their potatoes tasting great but the consistency turning out “like glue” – I’ve never had this happen to my mashed potatoes but I did a little bit of research and found some information about how to avoid “gluey” potatoes. Click on the link for some tips for making perfect mashed potatoes.
***RECIPE UPDATE*** Some readers have reported that their potatoes were not nearly done cooking after 3-4 hours and not soft enough to mash at this point. After asking around and doing some digging, I’ve concluded that in most (if not all) of these instances, an older crockpot was being used (older than 2010-ish.). Newer crockpots should have no issue cooking the potatoes fully in about 3 hours.
Do I add the sour cream and the rest of the ingredients before they r cooked or after cooked.
After
We tried these potatoes for Christmas, but they turned black, so did the water that had built up. The only difference I could find was mom used white potatoes. Ideas?
It’s probably the potatoes, sorry! I can only vouch for success with red potatoes because that is what I always use. 🙂
I was skeptical about not having any liquid in to start, but went ahead anyway. I thought I was clever, just halving my potatoes, but the larger pieces apparently needed way longer to cook, so they werent all the way done when I mashed them. Despite the bf’s assurance that chunky mashed potatoes are awesome, I will not be making that error again.
Yo, but this recipe is fantastic. Well, the method, anyway. I did my own seasonings. But I will definitely be trying again with appropriately chunked potatoes! I almost never make mashed potatoes because it seems like such a hassle to do it on stovetop. (Additionally, being able to put this on at roughly the same time as a turkey and walk away takes the stress levels down a notch during the holidays, yknow?) Thanks!
I am trying this again today for the second time. I followed your recipe exactly, and I studied your pics to determine the size of your slow cooker, and size of potatoes after being cut, but after 3 and a half hours on high, they were still too hard to mash. Oops. I was going to a potluck dinner. Double oops. After whirling them in my food processor with a stick (!) of butter, I brought finely chopped herbed red potatoes to dinner. Sigh. Lesson: always try a recipe first before trying it on company. Today I’m going to cook them for as long as it takes, darn it. On high. In my 10 year old Crockpot brand 4.5 qt. slow cooker: HOWEVER, thank you for the recipe – I will not give up!
Hi Gretchen! I’m really sorry about your first batch – most people have had lots of success with this recipe and my family personally loves it, we won’t make mashed potatoes any other way now! However, I noticed that you said you are using a 10-year old crockpot… after several people mentioning that their potatoes were not cooked enough to mash after a few hours, I’ve done a little digging and come to the conclusion that older crockpots (over 5 years old) take quite a bit longer to cook the potatoes fully. Newer crockpots seem to have no issue cooking the potatoes in about 3 hours. Just some food for thought! 🙂
Mine cooked in 2 and a half hours, on high and I used a little over 2 pounds of potatoes.
Hi. I was wondering if when making crock pot mashed potatoes, do you put any water in with the potatoes to cook?
Thanks
Rebecca
Nope, no liquid!
Is that the little dipper crockpot you are using?
I’m not sure what a little dipper crockpot is?? But you can use any crock pot for these potatoes.
That is definitely not a little dipper. She is using a regular sized crockpot! Little Dipper only fits like 2 cups in it lol Typically used for dips.
I made this recipe for the first time for Thanksgiving this year. The taste was wonderful and they were so easy. The only problem I had was that they were SOOOO salty. I doubled the recipe, so that would have been 1.333 tablespoons of salt. I used 1 heaping tablespoon (which I think was a little less than 1.333), but they were almost unbearable. Very little of them were eaten and I threw the rest away. Have you run into this problem before? I don’t know what I did wrong. Nevertheless, I will DEFINITELY be making them again because they were so good. I’ll just use less salt! Thanks for the recipe!
Wanted to comment again, I went ahead and made these tonight because since I was trying something new, I wanted to do them ahead of time just in case. Mine cooked about 2 and half hours on high and came out perfect. I did have to add a little more milk than the recipe called for, but that’s probably because I used slightly over 2 pounds of potatoes.
They’re delicious as-is, but next time I think I’ll try cream cheese instead of sour cream. The sour cream didn’t lend much in the way of flavor, so these would work using just milk and nothing else, although cream cheese would definitely bump up the creaminess factor.
Since we’re not eating them until tomorrow, I spread them into a pyrex dish coated with butter and will just heat them back up in the microwave when it’s time for dinner.
Thanks for the wonderful idea.
Making these tomorrow for Sunday dinner. Can’t wait 🙂
Have you tried this with russet potatoes? Red potates are normally only found in high-end grocery stores here in Malaysia and it is quite troublesome for me to get them as I’ve moved to a really small town.
I also believe it is significantly expensive compared to russet potatoes. We always make mashed potatoes using russet potatoes but never in a slow cooker.
Some readers have reported success with russets