Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes

These quick, easy slow cooker mashed potatoes will change your life. No peeling, no boiling, no mashing! Super creamy and fluffy, these mashed potatoes are the actual best you’ll ever make. 

Want all things potatoes? Me too! Check out my other popular recipes for Slow Cooker Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes, Instant Pot Baked Sweet Potatoes, and traditional Baked Potatoes. 

Bet you didn’t think a mashed potatoes recipe could be life-changing, did you?

For a long time I avoided making mashed potatoes as a side dish in our house because I hated the peeling and boiling and smashing process. It was too time consuming for me for a side dish and I’d rather spend that time working on my main entree to be honest. But this recipe?

Literally changed my life. So thank you, slow cooker mashed potatoes, I owe you big time.

Why This Recipe Works 

I boiled this recipe down (ha ha) to the essential reasons why it rocks: 

Fastest prep ever — These slow cooker mashed potatoes require, seriously, 7 minutes of preparation. All you have to do is cut up your potatoes (you don’t even have to peel them if you don’t want to!) and then let them cook for a few hours. When they’re done, you come back, dump the last few ingredients in, and whip those babies up in a matter of about 1 minute. 

No peeling — This point deserves to stand out because peeling potatoes is a total bummer. No need in this recipe! You’ll get perfect mashed potatoes every single time without peeling, boiling, or mashing! Just a whole lot of amazing mashed potato eating going on. Once you try these, you will never need another mashed potato recipe for as long as you live.

Red skin potatoes — I’m a sucker for those baby reds. So quick to cook up and so easy to whip together, they don’t taste gluey like other potato varieties will sometimes after they’re mashed. Plus, the skins are so thin, they whip right into the potatoes too, which helps with that whole not-having-to-peel thing. 

Reheats well — If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, all you have to do is microwave them to desired warmth, give them a stir, and be done! If they seem kind of dry add a tablespoon or two of milk to them before microwaving. Great for a side or a midnight snack. 

Here’s How You Make It

1. Spray the inside of your slow cooker crock with cooking spray for easier clean up.
2. Add the cut potatoes, put the lid on and cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 5-6 hours. (Or use the instant pot for even quicker results! Pressure cook on HIGH for 8 minutes with 1 cup of water, quick release, drain the water and proceed with the next step!)
3. When the potatoes are done, add the sour cream, milk, garlic, salt, and pepper to the potatoes and use a hand mixer to blend together all ingredients.
4. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired and SERVE.  

Ideas for Customizing Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes

• This is obvious, but the best way to serve mashed potatoes is with a big scoop or two of gravy. Try my recipe for Easy Chicken Gravy for starters. 
• Not into gravy? These mashed potatoes are so good topped with some cheddar, Gruyere, parmesan, or any of your favorite cheeses. 
• What about bacon and some chives and a big dollop of sour cream? Yes, please! 
• Make them spicy by adding in chili powder, a can of diced green chilis, or chipotles in adobo. Taste as you go to make sure they aren’t too spicy. 

Expert Tips 

• To keep your mashed potatoes from being too gluey, make sure you don’t over-mix them. That’s why I use a hand mixer, I feel like I can control the amount they’re whipped better. Stop when you still have a few lumps, those are supposed to be there. And please don’t use a food processor unless you need glue. 
• I recommend cooking these slow cooker potatoes in a new(ish) crock pot. It has been my experience that older models don’t get hot enough to get these done in 3 hours. If you have an older model, then add another hour or so on to the cooking time. 
• For the best-textured potatoes, add the sour cream and milk at room temperature. I have found that everything mixes together better if it’s all the same temperature. The dairy ingredients don’t have to be HOT per say but don’t pull them right out of the fridge and pop them into the slow cooker without letting the chill come off of them for a bit first. 
• Store these mashed potatoes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. They’ll last about 10 months in the freezer. Thaw before reheating. 

***RECIPE UPDATE*** A few readers have written in with a question about their potatoes tasting great but the consistency turning out “like glue” – I’ve never had this happen to my mashed potatoes but I did a little bit of research and found some information about how to avoid “gluey” potatoes. Click on the link for some tips for making perfect mashed potatoes.

***RECIPE UPDATE*** Some readers have reported that their potatoes were not nearly done cooking after 3-4 hours and not soft enough to mash at this point. After asking around and doing some digging, I’ve concluded that in most (if not all) of these instances, an older crockpot was being used (older than 2010-ish.). Newer crockpots should have no issue cooking the potatoes fully in about 3 hours.