Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes are velvety rich. This easy dish requires no boiling, just simply chop & season and let the slow cooker do the rest!
The result is smooth and flavorful potatoes which are the perfect side to any turkey dinner. They can easily be prepped ahead of time and kept warm in the crock pot until serving!
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Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes
A hearty meal is just never complete without warm mashed potatoes. What’s better than mashed potatoes, you may be wondering? Mashed potatoes made in a slow cooker!
Just imagine creamy potatoes with melted butter to complement your meal with very little work and only one dish. Can you say, heck yeah?! Add in a bit of sour cream, cheese, or whatever you fancy making these creamy crock pot mashed potatoes the star of your meal!
Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
These potatoes are perfect to serve with an easy swiss steak, or slow cooker salisbury steaks! In fact, these are the perfect side to your next a big turkey dinner since you don’t need to worry about boiling the potatoes and these are prepped well ahead of eating. This means that when you’re in the crazy hectic last minutes of getting your turkey carved and your gravy ready, these are waiting and ready in the slow cooker.
If they’re done a little early, just set your slow cooker to warm and they’ll be perfect.
How to Make Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
The best potatoes to use are red, white or yellow because of their smooth texture and buttery flavor! I’ve also successfully tested this recipe with russet potatoes (remember to peel them).
To make these creamy, add a splash of milk or heavy cream if needed (depending on the type of potato, you may not need it). I use Homemade Chicken Stock but you can use canned or even vegetable broth for the initial cooking, the results will still be amazing.
Whatever taste and texture you prefer can easily be incorporated into this recipe!
More Classic Potato Recipes You’ll Love
- Easy Oven Roasted Potatoes – Go to side dish!
- Perfect Baked Potatoes
- Twice Baked Potatoes – Make ahead and freeze!
- Potatoes Au Gratin
- Loaded Twice Baked Potato Casserole – Family favorite!
No Boil Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 pounds potatoes red, yellow or white
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese optional
- salt & pepper to taste
- milk or cream to taste
Instructions
- Peel potatoes and cut into chunks.
- Place potatoes, broth, garlic powder and onion powder into a 4QT slow cooker.
- Cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-7 hours, stirring every hour or so or until tender.
- Using a hand masher, mash potatoes until smooth. Stir in butter, sour cream, parsley and cream cheese if using. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Add warmed milk or cream to reach desired consistency if needed.
- Serve or keep on warm until serving.
Video
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Side Dish
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How simple these were, also knowing I can use other broth flavors like beef, turkey and vegetable is an added bonus.
So glad you loved these!
Don’t know what we did wrong, but these were not the greatest. I’ll probably be returning to my old method. I wanted them to be good because it would free up a burner on the stove when you are making many dishes… disappointed.
Sorry to hear that, Sara! Was there something specific that we can help you with? If they are too thick you can add additional broth or sour cream to thin out. If they are sticking to the bottom of the pot you want to make sure you are using a full ¾ cup of broth. Hope that helps!
Followed the instructions exactly, but the texture and consistency of potatoes were not right. The potatoes were so thick and not light and fluffy. I recommend testing this recipe a few times before using it for a large gathering
Sorry this recipe wasn’t a hit, Sue! To thin the potatoes out you can add additional broth and/or sour cream to reach your preferred texture.
I tried these on low and on high. On low the potatoes stayed hard and started to turn black. However the recipe was great when I used the high setting directions. Delicious and I will be using this method from now on for the holidays. Thank you!
You’re welcome Kelly!
Holly, I do think you should try cooking the potatoes in cream – NOT half & half, but heavy whipping cream. You’ve got your cut up potatoes in the slow cooker, but instead of broth or water, cover them with 1 liter of whipping cream. You could top it up with water if the cream doesn’t quite cover them completely. Cook on low until they are “fall apart” done. Then mash and whip with electric mixer. Even without salt or butter, they really are fantastic – you’re probably going to smother them with gravy anyhow. I wish I could remember where on line I saw this, but I have now become the designated mashed potato provider for all big family dinners.
Thank you for sharing Jackie!
I loved the idea of having the potatoes cooking away from the stovetop. They were really flavourful and everyone loved them. Will definitely make again.
Horrible! Followed recipe as written; no adjustments. The potatoes were not tender at all at three hours on high. Gave up and cooked them on the stove. I used red potatoes.
Totally agree. AND they burned a bit on the bottom so little tan chunks were in the potatoes since my hubby stirred them up.
Sorry to hear that, Sara! If there is anything specific we can help you troubleshoot please let us know!
That’s why the recipe calls for 3-4 hours of cook time at high. If they’re not tender after three hours, you keep them going another 15 or 20 minutes and then check them again. I don’t see how it’s the recipe writer’s fault that you didn’t follow the instructions.
These were the most delicious mashed potatoes I’ve ever made, and I didn’t have to worry about having a pot of water boiling on the stove while I was working on my other Christmas dinner dishes.
I’ve never made mashed potatoes from scratch and this was a winner! I believe I have a 5 quart slow cooker, and I used Great Value organic golden potatoes from Walmart. Added all ingredients in the recipe except cream cheese. Cooked on high for 3 hours. The texture was amazing. I will try to enhance the flavor a bit next time with more milk (I used 1/3 c), and maybe more seasoning and broth. This tasted even better with roast and gravy. Thanks!
Made these for Thanksgiving. I put in a full cup of broth and was good about stirring every hour. After 3.5 hours the potatoes were perfect and had soaked up all the broth. With the sour cream, butter, and milk they were a great texture and taste.
Thank you for sharing this great method to make mashed potatoes. Such a simple way to enjoy mashed potatoes with our turkey dinner, and they turned out delicious!
I can’t believe that anyone would actually need a recipe for Mashed Potatoes. Even if you wanted to ‘Gourmet’ them up, it’s pretty simple to do.
Everyone has to learn sometime! :)
If you don’t need the recipe Karen, just scroll on…..
Tried this recipe for Christmas dinner, rating it a fail.
was skeptical to begin with, and my original fear came true. when I saw this recipe I wondered how the potatoes would not turn black as they are not in water. Sure enough they did as they cooked in the slow cooker.
I used a 7 quart slow cooker, 10 pounds of Russet potatoes, doubling every thing from the recipe as written and ended up with black potatoes, and 17 really disappointed guests.
If you can tell me how to avoid this I will try it again, but was disappointed in the result.
I’m sorry this didn’t work out for you, how disappointing! I have never had an issue with the potatoes turning black. While they aren’t in water, the potatoes are steaming as the slow cooker heats up. That being said, I haven’t tried doubling this recipe (although many readers have successfully doubled it) so I can’t say for sure if that affected it.
I am wondering, since the recipe requires the broth to steam the potatoes, if the issue is that when cooking on low the broth doesn’t steam them properly, so they turn black? I will try the recipe again soon using the high setting and post the results. Thanks for your reply to my original comment.
Thank you Ian, I look forward to hearing how that works out for you!
I tried the recipe again tonight. (was just my wife and I, so was planning on having leftovers) This time I cooked the potatoes on High and had much better results. The potatoes (again used Russet) remained white and they turned out perfect. I would like to know if anyone else had issues with cooking them on the Low setting?
I am upping my rating now to a 4. I am glad I did the second attempt. Will probably try them again at Easter.
Thanks so much for letting us know Ian, glad it worked out better for you this time!
That happened to me too! Potatoes turned black/grey. But I did not double the recipe. Maybe I used the wrong potatoes. ? I’ll have to run to the store Thanksgiving morning to try it again…
BIG family favorite! Made them for Christmas, now I have to bring them to every family holiday meal.
Will a 7qt work? Also can you be more specific in adding milk or cream to taste? I am a complete novice and have just stared my crock pot culinary journey and have been given the task of mashed potatoes for our thanksgiving dinner and really want to impress everyone. Any help is appreciated thank you!
Ricky, I make this in a 4QT slow cooker. A 7 quart slow cooker may be a bit big for 5 pounds of potatoes, but would be great for doubling the recipe. To make these creamy, add a splash of milk or heavy cream if needed (depending on the type of potato, you may not need it). The milk or cream is to make the potatoes the consistency that you prefer. If you enjoy thicker mashed potatoes, you may not add any milk or cream (or just a small amount), or if you like them a bit more smooth and creamy, you can add more cream or milk. Hope that helps!
Do I drain potatoes before mashing?
There is no need to drain the potatoes first Davida. The potatoes will soak up the liquid perfectly!
this recipe was so easy to follow and it yields DELICIOUS results. i did not add the cream cheese but i added some shredded colby jack! it was so good. the consistency is perfect. this was my first time ever making mash potatoes and they were awesome.
I bet the colby jack was delicious in these, I’m so glad you enjoyed them Kaylie!
These were so pasty that they could have been used to apply wallpaper, if not for the lumps. Very disappointing, had to toss the entire 5 lbs of Yukon Golds. Maybe better results possible using russets, but I’m not likely to ever try this recipe again.
Sorry they didn’t work out for you Das. I’ve made them with Yukon golds with great success so I can’t say for sure what went wrong.
Ive had the potatoes in a crockpot on high for 6 hours now, and they’re still not done. Disapointed, as I was really looking forward to good mashed potatoes. Sorry, i wont make them again.
I can’t say for sure what went wrong, potatoes should certainly be cooked within 6 hours in a slow cooker.
I found that if you keep your potatoes covered with broth at all times they will cook fully. I did them the first re and the broth wasn’t covering them and they never got done. I hope this helps you. Another thing don’t over mash them or they will be like glue.
So when doubling the recipe, would it take longer to cook or would it be the same amount of time? If longer, how many hours?
I have only made this as written. If you double it, I’d suggest you make it earlier because if it’s done early you can set it to warm to keep hot for serving.
I ruined the potatos last year by using the slow cooker. They turned black and scorched instantly. I put them in a pan to boil, as soon as i saw this happening, but it was too late. They were terrible!!!! No one complained, of course, but I’ll never do this again. I DON’T recommend this at all ! ! !
Did you use a 4qt slow cooker (or larger?), what type of potatoes did you use and how long did they cook? I’ve made this many times with great results!