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This Creamy Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes Recipe is SO easy and perfect to make ahead! A delicious slow cooker side dish for any meal throughout the fall and winter.
These are the easiest mashed potatoes ever! It’s MUCH more hands-off than using the stove and you can do most of the preparations like peeling (if you like your potatoes peeled!) and chopping the potatoes in advance.
Mash them after the 4 hours are up and just keep them warm in the slow cooker until dinner is ready. This is my favorite side dish (besides spaetzle) for fall and winter dinners! And it’s PERFECT for Thanksgiving or Christmas!
These slow cooker mashed potatoes will definitely make a great addition to every meal (try my Horseradish Parmesan Crusted Salmon with it)! They are buttery, creamy, and full of flavor. I like mine the traditional way, made without cream cheese or sour cream but with milk and butter!
One special ingredient I like to add to my mashed potatoes is creamed horseradish! Believe me, it tastes SO good in mashed potatoes and it’s a super simple way to make them a little more special.
The first time I had horseradish mashed potatoes was many years ago in a restaurant called Maze in London. It’s one of Gordon Ramsey’s and it was my then boyfriend’s (now husband) and my first experience of fine dining. We even got a tour of the kitchen!
And the food was SO good! I think I had braised ox cheek but my favorite was definitely the horseradish mashed potatoes. So simple but so delicious! Since then mashed potatoes are only served with creamed horseradish in our house!
But back to the Crock Pot mashed potatoes!
This year I started to make my mashed potatoes in my crock pot and I love it! It’s so much easier, no more big pots of boiling water and cold main dishes. The slow cooker makes my life much easier!
At first, I was a bit afraid that they wouldn’t taste as good as stove top mashed potatoes or that they would have a funny texture! So I tested it a few times and found the perfect way to make them. What makes my recipe so good is adding the milk and butter after the potatoes are done and using a potato masher (here is a link to the one I use) instead of a blender or hand mixer.
Here are my tips for perfect crock pot mashed potatoes:
- Cook the potatoes with chicken stock instead of milk! When you add the milk earlier it will get brown like in a potato gratin.
- Grease your crock pot to make things less sticky!
- The best potatoes for mashed potatoes are high-starch potatoes like Russet Potatoes. They make the mashed potatoes light and fluffy instead of gluey! Those are also the mildest flavored ones so if you want more flavor you could also use half Russet, half Yukon Gold. But if you don’t like Russet Potatoes using only Yukon Gold also works.
- Use a potato masher, a potato ricer or a fork to mash the potatoes! You don’t need to use your hand mixer for this (it’s really easy to over-do it with a hand mixer) and you should definitely not use your blender or food processor for this. Overworking potatoes makes them gluey!
Creamy Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 pounds russet potatoes
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 stick butter
- 2 tbsp creamed horseradish, optional
Instructions
- Lightly grease your slow cooker with butter or cooking spray.
- Peel the potatoes (if desireand roughly chop them into 1-inch pieces.
- Add chopped potatoes, chicken stock, salt, and a little bit of black pepper to the bowl of a slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or until the potatoes are cooked and soft.
- When the potatoes are done, gently warm the milk and butter together in a saucepan over low heat and use a potato masher or ricer to mash the potatoes right in the slow cooker.
- Slowly stir in the warmed milk and butter. The potatoes will quickly soak up the liquid. If you want them creamier just add an additional 1/2 cup of milk.
- Season with additional salt or pepper if desired. Optional: Add creamed horseradish for the tastiest mashed potatoes ever!
- To keep the mashed potatoes warm you can leave them in the slow cooker for up to 4 hours on the 'keep warm' setting (or switch between low and off if your slow cooker doesn't have a keep warm setting)
Nutrition
This is a great way to make mashed potatoes! Love your tips!