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
- ⅓ 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!
Ths looks yummy! 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! 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? My nearby stores don’t sell a dairy free version of sour cream. Any ideas? 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