Crock Pot Baked Potatoes
Crock pot baked potatoes give you the perfect fluffy potato each and every time. This foolproof method takes away any guess work so you can set them up and end up with a yummy, effortless side dish.
I can not be the only one out there that doesn’t have great luck making a good baked potato in the oven.
They either come out overdone, or more often than not not, underdone.
And if they are underdone, then I find myself checking them every 10 minutes until I know they are cooked through.
Quite frankly, it’s a pain in the you know what for a dish that’s supposed to be super easy.
Why make baked potatoes in the Crock Pot?
Your slow cooker is a magical thing.
It does all the work and creates a perfectly cooked batch of baked potatoes each and every time.
There’s no longer any guess work involved and I can easily plan ahead, get them going, and set to be finished and and delicious when I’m ready to serve dinner.
Ingredients
To make this you’ll need:
- Potatoes– Use russets or yukon gold potatoes. You can make as many as your slow cooker will allow provided that you don’t fill your slow cooker up more than 3/4’s of the way with the potatoes. This will vary based on the size of your slow cooker.
- Seasonings- Olive oil, salt and pepper. This is optional but will add a bit of extra flavor.
You’ll also need foil to wrap the potatoes in.
How to Make
It’s so easy to make slow cooker baked potatoes.
Start by prepping your potatoes by washing them well and cutting away any eyes or bad spots as needed.
After you wash them, let the skins dry.
Then, prick each potato with a fork 6-8 times and rub a little olive oil onto the skin of each potato.
Season with salt and pepper.
Wrap each prepared potato individually in aluminum foil, sealing them up tightly.
Place the wrapped potatoes in the slow cooker, foil seam side up.
Cook them on low for 8 hours, or until tender when pressed with fingers. Slow cooker times may vary a little.
When the potatoes are tender, remove them from the crockpot.
Carefully, take off the foil.
Cut a slit in the top along the center of each potato to open them up, and serve with topping of your choice.
Enjoy!
Is it less expensive to cook these in the slow cooker than the oven?
Yes! It is cheaper to make baked potatoes in the slower cooker since you don’t need to to heat the oven up.
The general rule of thumb is that 8 hours in the crockpot only uses half the heat of 1 hour in the oven.
Can I save leftover baked potatoes for later?
Yes! To do it, remove them from the foil and let them cool. Then put them in an airtight container and refrigerate them for up to 2 days.
Tips and Tricks
- This same technique works great for sweet potatoes too! Loaded sweet potatoes have now become a new fall favorite of mine.
- Do NOT skip poking holes in the potatoes. The holes allow steam to escape as they cook. If you skip it, the steam will cause the potatoes to explode and, trust me, exploded baked potato isn’t fun to eat or clean up.
- You don’t have to use olive oil on the skins, but it will make them nice and crispy and so delicious!
Other Crock Pot Side Dishes
These Crock Pot baked potatoes are the easiest way to make perfect potatoes each and every time. Make them and load them up with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Looking for other slow cooker side dishes? Try these:
- Slow Cooker Macaroni & Cheese
- Slow Cooker Green Bean Casserole
- Slow Cooker Creamy Ranch Potatoes
- Slow Cooker Baked Beans with Bacon
If you’ve tried these CROCK POT BAKED POTATOES, or any other recipe on the site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!
Crock Pot Baked Potatoes
Ingredients
- russet yukon gold, or sweet potatoes (you don't want to fill your crock pot more than 3/4 of the way full to prevent under/over cooking between the potatoes on top and the ones on the bottom)
- olive oil optional
- salt & black pepper to taste (optional)
- aluminum foil
Instructions
- Wash and scrub your potatoes thoroughly. Remove any eyes or bad spots if necessary. Let the skins dry before proceeding (only takes a few minutes).
- Prick each potato with a fork 6-8 times per potato. Do NOT skip this step! The holes allow steam to escape as they cook. Exploded baked potato isn't fun to eat or clean up.
- Drizzle a little olive oil onto each potato. Using your hands, rub into the skin all over the potato. Repeat for each potato. You can omit this step, but I like the extra crunchy skins the olive oil creates.
- Salt and pepper, to taste, the skins of the potatoes.
- Wrap each potato individually in aluminum foil, sealing them up tightly.
- Place the wrapped potatoes in the slow cooker, foil seam side up. There's no need to grease the crock pot or add any liquids. Cook them 'dry'.
- Cook them on low for 8 hours, or until tender when pressed with fingers. Slow cooker times may vary a little.
- Remove the potatoes. Remove the foil. Cut a slit in the top along the center of each potato to open them up, and serve with topping of your choice.
Notes
- This same technique works great for sweet potatoes too! Loaded sweet potatoes have now become a new fall favorite of mine.
- Do NOT skip poking holes in the potatoes. The holes allow steam to escape as they cook. If you skip it, the steam will cause the potatoes to explode and, trust me, exploded baked potato isn't fun to eat or clean up.
- You don't have to use olive oil on the skins, but it will make them nice and crispy and so delicious!
recipe originally published October 22, 2013
I used this recipe but i used regular russet potatoes and they got hard on the bottoms why would this happen? Thank you
I learned the following recipe from the college cafeteria – after the potato is cooked, slit the top and press it open as usual. Then add butter, sour cream, cottage cheese, chopped tomatoes (I use salsa instead!), black olives, chives, and cheddar cheese. Use whatever of these toppings appeal most. They called them Princess Potatoes – great meal!
That sounds like the ultimate loaded potato dinner- thanks for sharing!
I followed the recipe. I didn’t get crunchy skins so not sure what happened there BUT the skins were so tasty and moist. Made a meal out of it with. broccoli, onion, cheese, bacon bits, and sour cream!