Slow Cooker Garlic Mashed Potatoes
The easiest mashed potatoes you will ever make. Just throw it all in the crockpot and you’re set. Easy peasy!
Mashed potatoes. A Thanksgiving essential.
And here’s Butters. Just waiting for a bite with his big puppy eyes. How can anyone resist his face?
No, but really, it’s not Thanksgiving without the mashed potatoes.
So creamy. So chunky. So garlicky. So full of carbs and comfort.
And it’s just so easy to make right in the crockpot.
I mean with all that you have to do on Thanksgiving Day, these mashed potatoes are one less thing to worry about on the big day.
Simply throw everything into the slow cooker and when you’re ready, go ahead and blend it with a hand blender. Done and done.
Now how easy is that?
Slow Cooker Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 pounds red potatoes, chopped
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ cup sour cream
- â…“ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 2 tablespoons milk, or more, as needed
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Instructions
- Lightly coat the inside of a slow cooker with nonstick spray. Place potatoes, butter, garlic and 1/4 cup water into the slow cooker; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours, or until tender.
- Add sour cream, Parmesan, milk, thyme, oregano, basil and nutmeg. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend potatoes until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more milk as needed until desired consistency is reached.
- Serve immediately, garnished with chives, if desired.
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If I am trying to make a batch for about 14-16 people for Thanksgiving, should I just double all of the ingredients? Thank you!!
I would like to transport these right after cooking in my slow cooker to serve at a relatives house. It says serve immediately but would it last another hr ok in a turned off or low crockpot??
Yes, you can probably leave the slow cooker turned off or on the “WARM” setting, if available.
I made these today’s for my work thanksgiving potluck! Such a great idea! Everyone loved them! I had none left!Â
Ths looks yummy! Â I don’t have any sour cream or fresh nutmeg/fresh chive on hand but I’m still tempted to try it… Anyone out there tried it without those ingredients on hand? I’m thinking extra cheese (the creamy blend kind) bottled nutmeg and dried chives might work… Any thoughts? And will probably use hand masher…
I’m an infrequent cook – and I’m pretty good at the slow cooker (wink). This sounds amazing but the “serve immediately” part has me a bit cautious. I need to make these at my house and bring them to the host house where we probably won’t eat for a few hours after that. If I put them in a baking pan, can they be reheated right before dinner or will the quality suffer?
Sharon, yes, this is best when served immediately but it can certainly be reheated as needed.
Hello! Â I have a dairy sensitivity; I’m sure for the butter I could use margarine and for the cheese use nutritional yeast or maybe dairy free cheese shreds instead, but how could I replace the sour cream? Â My nearby stores don’t sell a dairy free version of sour cream. Â Any ideas? Â I would love to try making this for Thanksgiving.
Jamie, here is a great resource to make dairy-free sour cream. Hope that helps!
This recipe sounds great. I plan to do a trail run and then serve for Thanksgiving. Thanks for another great way o make mashed potatoes.
Anyone have experience with leaving potatoes in the slow cooker for a longer amount of time? If I left for work in the morning and came back 8 hours later, would they be ok? Thanks for any thoughts.
Lauren, it really depends on the slow cooker and the amount of potatoes. If you have an older slow cooker, you could try doubling the recipe and that might work with the extended cooking time. I don’t think I would try it with the newer slow cookers though, since they tend to run hotter.
I love all of your recipes, ansd these potatoes sound exceptionally deliciopus. I’m trying these tomnorrow!.
Amazing, and I love mashed red potatoes! We’re making this! You have a great site.
If I wanted to cut the recipe in half like to 4 servings, what would be the time in the slow cooker then?
You can try shaving off about 1-2 hours but without further recipe testing, I cannot say with certainty how much time is really needed. Please use your best judgment.
This looks so yummy and versatile – I’ve tried and loved quite a few recipes from your blog. They’re easy to follow and I’m always filled with tasty leftovers.
Also… I am immensely jealous that you own a corgi. ^_^
Amazingly quick + easy. Mine were finished in 1hr 1/2. In my 2nd slow cooker, I roasted a whole chicken w/paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, Himalayan salt, pepper, thyme. Lemon wedge stuffed inside. (Sorry for the indignity Mr. Bird.) Very tasty meal! (I put the leftovers in individual tupperware containers in the freezer (potatoes + some chicken cut up + gravy, mixed–so I can have some “grab’n’go” meals later this winter.
Would you think if i halved this recipe and made it in a 5qt that would be ok. Or is my slow cooker too big for half the recipe?
Nope – it should work just fine.
I just made these and they are delectable. Thanks for posting this. These are the best mashed potatoes I have ever made. I used yukon golds with skin on and they are just fantastic. I roasted a whole head of garlic in the oven and then added all of it as I was mashing the potatoes.
I made these yesterday for an early Christmas dinner. I followed the recipe exactly but I was very disappointed. They turned out gluey and not at all like mashed potatoes. The flavor was good but the texture was really horrible. I shouldn’t have tried a new recipe for an important dinner, but it seemed fool proof. Live and learn! Thanks for the recipe anyway, I’ll just adapt it to cooking on the stove.
Thank you for your feedback. I’m so sorry that this recipe did not reach your expectations but this recipe really is fool-proof, and if the texture wasn’t to your liking, you can certainly add more milk, sour cream, Parmesan until the desired consistency is reached. It’s a vey flexible recipe!
The big problem with using a hand mixer is over whipping the potatoes. It will bring out the starch and you are, in fact, left with a gluey mess. I always use a potato masher, or, if you want the creamiest texture and have peeled the potatoes, use a potato ricer. These methods allow you to monitor the potatoes better. I’m putting my taters in the crock pot now. We are having guests in from Vietnam and are having quite the feast!
Has this ever been tried with Greek yogurt instead if sour cream? Wasn’t sure how the yogurt would do.
Can I use a regular hand mixer right in the crockpot when potatoes are cooked or do I need the paddle that Indo not have will usebthisvfor Christmas
Yes, you can use a regular hand mixer.
Can I use minced garlic? Doesn’t the crushed just stay in huge chunks one whipped?
Using whole cloves will bring in more flavor. It will also soften quite a bit in the slow cooker and will immerse itself once they are whipped.
I love love love this recipe! It’s so good and creamy, everyone loves it!
It’s a great recipe but be warned that the smaller you cut the potatoes the faster they’ll cook. I think my crock pot also runs a bit hotter sometimes (it’s old and temperamental sometimes) so the “until tender” is much more important than a time, I just made this recipe and at a low heat they were done in 4 hours!
Wish I would have seen your comment earlier. I followed directions and came home to a burnt butter smelling house. Will definitely try again on a weekend when I can watch them more closely. Good thing potatoes are cheap this time of year
I need to feed about 20ppl! You think doubling the recipe will be ok? or should I triple it? It’ll just be for a side and we have plenty of other food provided.
It’s really up to you but doubling the rcipe should be fine! I just recommend adding a little bit more cooking time to ensure that the potatoes are “mashable”.
I have made lots of your delicious recipes, with great success I might add. I was wondering if you ever tried to double the mashed potato recipe? I will need more then 8 servings for my hungry family. Thanks so much, I always enjoy your posts.
I actually have not tried doubling this but it should be fairly easy to double. I just recommend adding a little bit more time to ensure that the potatoes are completely “mashable”.
Looks so delicious! I’m going to fix this for Thanksgiving. What size crock-pot did you use??
I used a 3 qt crockpot but a 6 qt slow cooker should also work just fine.
I LOVE MASHED POTATOES!!! and these look so simple and so jam packed with tastiness!!!!
It says on very top of recipe cook time 4 hours . Recipe in the body says 7-8 hours, I am guessing second time more accurate?
Thanks
Steff, you have the option to cook this on low heat or high heat. The cooking time changes based on which setting you use.
OMG…..You have just rocked my world!!!!
I’m in LOVE with this recipe – delicious and easy. You can’t beat that!! If had any leftovers… and that’s a big if…. I’d make potato patties the next day by just adding some seasoned breadcrumbs, an egg, some seasoned salt & then frying them in a non-stick frying pan – yummy!
How clever! Will have to try this!! In other news, I know a corkie named Waffles who lives in Nashville. I bet Waffles & Butters would hit it off lol How corny but I couldn’t resistl Tried the Korean ground beef on Thursday and let’s just say it was a huge success & I’m making it again on Monday! Great blog, so glad I found it!!!
What??? This looks a.maz.ing. Can’t wait to try this!!
This looks unbelievably creamy 😀 Didn’t think you could make this in the slow cooker, neat 😀 x
Can you use regular russet potato’s and peel them — getting the same results, or do you need to adjust the recipe?
It should be fine to use regular russet potatoes and peeling them, although I highly recommend using red potatoes and leaving the skin on for a bit of color and texture!
Laura & Chungah – Here’s a possibility–half peel the russets, cut into small pieces, in this way you’ll still have texture. Remember to really scrub the russets. I use a course dish rag. The best dish rags, crocheted cotton. I can buy them for a song on ebay. Plus, many are really are pretty.
Can leftovers be frozen?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! I recommend using your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
That’s funny! We use 10 pounds of potatoes for mashed every Thanksgiving and NEVER have leftovers.
I adore this recipe idea, almost as much as I adore my crockpot(s). I believe my daughters are probably close to your age, so I’ve been cooking a LONG time, and while they were growing up, my crockpot was one of my best friends. My thought, I do Thanksgiving as a buffet with several crockpots. Do you think I can keep this recipe on on warm (maybe adding some liquid) if it gets too dry?
A Thanksgiving buffet sounds amazing! And yes, it should be fine to keep this on WARM and adding milk as needed to thin it out for the big day. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the reply.
directions state add 1/4 c of water,but ingr list 1/4 c butter can anyone help with this?
Carol, the recipe calls for both water and butter.
I guess the thing to note is that, like most recipes, the ingredients are listed in the order used – and “1/4 cup water” is missing in the list after the garlic. Â Hopefully mystery solved!
I love mashed potatoes – so delicious!
I love that you used red potatoes and kept the skins on so there’s that pop of color and also that there’s a little bit of texture left. Just perfect! And in the slow cooker…nice! You should start a second blog about slow cooker recipes 🙂
Mashed potatoes in the crockpot?! They look amazing! I love that the crockpot gets used for so many unexpected dishes now. Also, these potatoes sound like they’re right up my alley with that garlic!