These crock pot mashed potatoes are diced Russet potatoes that are simmered in the slow cooker, then mashed with butter and cream cheese for a decadent and delicious side dish. Making mashed potatoes in the slow cooker is so easy, you’ll never use the stove top method again!
When I’m making a big meal, I try to use my slow cooker as much as possible to free up oven and stove top space. I often make slow cooker creamed corn, slow cooker glazed carrots, and these ultra creamy crock pot mashed potatoes.
Mashed potatoes are a must-have for any special occasion. These crock pot mashed potatoes are my all time favorite, because they require minimal prep work, yet come out perfectly every time. You’ll have everyone asking you for the recipe!
These potatoes are perfect for holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. When you make these for a special occasion, check out some of my favorite Christmas recipes like broccoli casserole, Instant pot ham and cranberry Jello salad.
Table of Contents
Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes Ingredients
To make this crock pot mashed potatoes recipe you will need potatoes, chicken broth, heavy cream, butter, cream cheese, salt, black pepper and parsley.
How Do You Make Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes?
To get creamy and smooth crock pot mashed potatoes, start with peeling your Russet potatoes. Dice the peeled potatoes and place them in a crock pot with some chicken broth. The potatoes and broth cook together for a few hours until the potatoes absorb the broth and become fork tender. Drain any remaining broth and add in butter, cream cheese, cream and seasonings to the slow cooker. Mash everything together until the potatoes are smooth and creamy. Give the potatoes a sprinkle of chopped parsley, then and serve and enjoy.
Tips For The Perfect Dish
- You can use a potato masher, a hand mixer, or potato ricer to mash potatoes. Don’t use a food processor, it will make the potatoes gummy. A potato ricer will give you the smoothest consistency and texture.
- There is no need to boil the potatoes, the get tender in the crock pot.
- Mashed potatoes can be made up to 3 days before you plan to serve them. Reheat your potatoes on the stovetop or in the oven.
- You can freeze mashed potato leftovers for up to 2 months in an airtight container. Thaw the potatoes in the fridge overnight, then reheat until warm.
- These potatoes are perfect for holiday meals, and pair so well with an Easter ham and roasted green beans.
Quick Tip
Cut your potatoes into similar sized pieces. This helps to make sure that all the potatoes finish cooking at the same time.
Recipe FAQs
You can keep your finished mashed potatoes warm in the crock pot for up to 2 hours before you plan to serve them. Choose the “warm” setting on your slow cooker.
The best potatoes for mashing are starchy potatoes like Russet and Yukon Gold potatoes. I personally like to use Russet potatoes for that classic mashed potato flavor. However, you can get good results with Yukon Gold potatoes or even a mixture of Russet potatoes and Yukon Gold potatoes. Avoid red potatoes and fingerling potatoes which are waxier and don’t mash as well.
You can store any leftover mashed potatoes in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer. Sometimes when I make these potatoes in advance, I store them in a covered casserole dish. I simply place the casserole dish in the oven to warm the potatoes right before we’re ready to eat.
It is completely fine to put raw potatoes in a slow cooker. Just make sure that they’re mostly submerged in liquid so that they will cook evenly.
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Flavor Variations
These potatoes are fantastic as-is, but you can add other flavors to customize them to your tastes.
- Garlic Potatoes: Feel free to add minced fresh garlic or whole roasted garlic cloves to the potatoes while they cook in the slow cooker.
- Sour Cream: Use sour cream instead of cream cheese for a different flavor profile.
- Mix-Ins: Add other flavorings such as chives, green onions, ham or diced cooked bacon. You can mix them into the mashed potatoes or sprinkle them on top.
- Herbs: Swap out the parsley for dill or chives. You can even stir in a spoonful of Italian seasoning for extra flavor.
- Cheese: Add your favorite mild cheese like shredded cheddar cheese or grated parmesan cheese.
- Potatoes: While I like Russet potatoes since they mash up fluffy, for creamier mashed potatoes you could use Yukon gold potatoes.
This recipe makes it easy to have flavorful mashed potatoes. Give it a try, you’ll be amazed at how good mashed potatoes can taste with such minimal effort.
More Side Dish Recipes
Crock Pot Baked Beans
2 hrs 30 mins
Cheesy Pull Apart Bread
25 mins
Broccoli Mac and Cheese
25 mins
Fried Corn with Bacon
25 mins
Stuffed Zucchini Boats
50 mins
Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes Video
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 5 pounds Russet potatoes peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup butter cut into slices
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened and cut into cubes
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
- Place the potatoes and chicken broth in a crock pot.
- Cover the crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours, until potatoes are tender.
- Drain the broth from the crock pot.
- Add the butter, cream cheese, salt, pepper and heavy cream to the slow cooker. Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes until they're smooth and creamy.
- Sprinkle with parsley, then serve.
Notes
- Cut your potatoes into similar sized pieces. This helps to make sure that all the potatoes cook evenly in the same amount of time.
- You can use a potato masher, a hand mixer, or potato ricer to mash potatoes. Don’t use a food processor, it will make the potatoes gummy.
- Mashed potatoes can be made up to 3 days before you plan to serve them. Reheat your potatoes on the stovetop or in the oven.
Hi there! Could I use Yukon Gold potatoes for this recipe or would that be a bad idea? Thanks in advance! 🙂
It’s fine to use Yukon Gold potatoes!
Hello! I want to make these the day before Thanksgiving. Can you provide some direction on re-heating on Thanksgiving Day?
Thank you!
You can reheat in a covered pan in the oven at 350 degrees F for 20-30 minutes, or put them in a pot on the stove over medium heat and stir regularly until warm.
Any suggestions if we can’t use chicken broth due to an allergy? Vegetable or beef broth? Thanks!
A different type of broth will work fine!
Hi! Does this recipe freeze well?
Yes you can freeze it!
Made them with Christmas dinner, everyone loved them! I transferred the potatoes to a mixing bowl and used a hand mixer. They were so smooth, flavorful, and perfectly seasoned. Simply the best mashed potatoes! I will never make them any other way going forward! Thank you and happy holidays 😋
Questio, it says liquid should cover potatoes but 3 cups of broth did not cover 5 lbs of cut up potatoes. Should I add more broth?
Yes you can add more broth!
This dish was very good. The reason for trying it was I wanted to have less last minute craziness before serving dinner, like having to mash potatoes. Company was coming at 330pm. I was finished mashing by 315pm and left them on warm for 3 hours. They were perfect. I added some extra flavors as in a couple cloves of garlic and some rosemary while simmering. At the time of mashing added chives. But it would be great to have the traditional mashed potato taste without the extras too. So many possibilities.
It is a keeper, thank you!
What size crockpot for 5 lbs potatoes?
I use a 6 quart crockpot typically!
When you make this do you think it’s better at 4 hours on high or better to do 6-8 on low?
Honestly it doesn’t matter for this one, it’s more about what works best for your cooking schedule!
Hello! I want to make this but don’t have cream cheese. Would they still turn out without that ingredient? Thanks.
You would need to substitute in some other creamy dairy product such as sour cream!
I make these every year. They turn out perfect every time and I love that it saves me a spot on the stove.