These crock pot baked potatoes are fluffy, easy to make and absolutely delicious. The seasoned skin gets perfectly cooked like they were done in the oven and doing them in the crock pot, your kitchen stays nice and cool.
Plus, you don’t have to watch them. Set it and forget it.
Easy Crock Pot Baked Potatoes Side Dish
Ingredients For These Baked Potatoes
Potatoes: While any type of potato will work in this recipe, my preference is to use Russets.
Oil: For coating the potatoes for cooking the seasonings have something to stick to. The type of oil is your preference. I like to use avocado oil because it’s a fairly neutral flavored oil.
Seasonings: You can use pretty much any seasonings you like and you won’t go wrong. In today’s recipe, I used salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning.
Equipment Needed
- Slow Cooker/Crock Pot: The size of the crock pot will depend on how many potatoes you want to make at once. I have the standard 4 Quart and it works just fine. The most important thing is that you must be able to have the lid fit tightly on the pot, regardless of how many potatoes are inside.
- Aluminum Foil: Use a heavy-duty foil. If your foil is on the thinner side, I recommend double-wrapping the potatoes.
How To Make Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes
So let’s dive right into this crock pot baked potato recipe, shall we? Here’s how I made it.
STEP ONE: Scrub the potatoes and let dry. With a fork, pierce the potatoes all over. Cut enough foil to cover each potato separately an set aside.
STEP TWO: Coat the potatoes in oil and then season all over.
STEP THREE: Wrap each potato in foil.
STEP FOUR: Place the potatoes in the crock pot and get to cookin’! It’s that easy.
After the cooking time is up, open the potatoes (leaving the foil on if you prefer), and dress the potatoes with different toppings.
Toppings For Baked Potatoes:
The possibilities are endless here.
- Sour Cream or full-fat yogurt for fewer calories.
- Butter
- Bacon Bits
- Herbs: Chives, fresh thyme, dill, or oregano.
- Chili
- Cheddar, blue/gorgonzola cheese, mozzarella, etc.
- Crispy fried onions
- Taco-inspired: Taco beef, hot sauce, salsa, etc
Why Specifically Russet Potatoes For Baked Potatoes?
Browse through the farmer’s market or a grocery store and you’ll come across several different kinds of potatoes. Any kind of potato will technically work for this recipe, but I find that russets work the best – as they do in traditional oven-baked potatoes.
Most russets (and sweet potatoes) in particular have impressive starch content and are perfect for frying and baking. So when ‘baked’ in the slow cooker this way, they come out exactly how you’d want a baked potato to be. Flavorful, fluffy and full of comfort.
Storage and Freezing
Fridge: After cooling, I’ve had the baked potatoes last in the refrigerator for 4 days until I used them up in different ways. I like to remove any toppings as best as possible, and then when reheating them, add fresh toppings to the warm potatoes.
Freezing: After roasting the potatoes, keep them in their foil jackets and put them (cooled) into a freezer-safe container or plastic bag. You can freeze them like that, and then thaw them ahead of time (overnight is perfect in the fridge).
Reheating: You can reheat them in the microwave (removed from the foil jackets of course), or you can dice them up and pan-fry them for skillet potatoes! Just remember to add a bit of extra seasoning to the potatoes.
This Recipe’s Second Act
This is part of the beauty of leftover slow-cooked baked potatoes! They’re really versatile and there’s no reason to waste the extras.
In fact, making extra potatoes than what you need for the meal is a great idea for some meal prepping in the week. It’s perfect because the potatoes are cooked and ready to use for whatever you want them for.
- Besides making fried potatoes with onions, or even some home fries, how about making some Chicken Ranch Potato Bake with the leftover potatoes? Add a bit of rotisserie chicken and you have a fantastic one-pan meal!
- If you have some extra sausage, combining it with the cooked potatoes and making them in Sausage Potato Patties is a great idea for a fun breakfast or a quick weeknight dinner.
- You could heat and then mash them up, caramelize some onions, and make these Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions and Bacon! That recipe is always a hit when I make it! It’s done with the Instant Pot, but you can use the leftover mashed potatoes to make a half recipe!
- If you need a thickener to some soups, remove a frozen potato from the package, remove the foil jacket, microwave to thaw, and then cut or mash and add to your soup for a thickener.
Ok, so that’s about it for making Crock Pot Roasted Potatoes!! I hope that when you try this Crock Pot Baked Potatoes recipe, you’ll give it a *****star rating in the recipe card below, and leave a comment. Thank you so much for stopping by The Salty Pot today, and I wish you an excellent day today!! See you next time!
Crock Pot Baked Potatoes
A super easy and efficient way to cook/roast baked potatoes in the slow cooker! I like to season mine before they go in the pot for cooking, and after following my method, you'll want to make baked potatoes in the slow cooker every single time! (Especially when you're busy!!)
Ingredients
- 3 medium-sized russet potatoes (see notes)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- as desired, salt and pepper
Instructions
- Wash and pat dry the potatoes. With a fork, pierce the potatoes all over.
- Place them in a bowl and drizzle the oil, seasoning and salt and pepper over them.
- With clean hands, spread the seasoning/oil mixture evenly over all the potatoes.
- Cut three sheets of aluminum foil and wrap each potato in one piece of foil.
- Place them in the slow cooker for 2-3 hours on high, or 6-8 hours on low.
- After cooking time is up, check for doneness by inserting a fork. If the fork goes in easy, the potatoes are done. If there is a lot of resistance or the fork sticks in the potato and doesn't want to come out easily, then it will need more time.
- When the potatoes are finished, remove carefully by using oven mitts and open up the foil. Slice the potato lengthwise and dress with preferred toppings.
- Enjoy!
Notes
If your potatoes are larger than a medium sized potato (about 5 ounces or so), then the cooking time may be a little longer. Please adjust your time accordingly.
Joan Martin says
So glad to find this. Our gas bill was so high, I am happy ro find ways to use my slow cooker and use solar power instead of gas.
Joanne says
Hi Joan! I’m happy that you like this post! I absolutely love doing potatoes this way, and you’re right, every bit helps with the gas bills. I’m thrilled that you use solar power, it’s something I’ve been wanting to take a look into!
Barbara says
Can you bake more than 3 at a time?
Joanne says
Hi Barbara! Absolutely. Just wrap each individually, and as long as you can fit the lid of the cooker on properly, it will be good to go.
Theresa Freele(Robinson) says
I’m going to try this looks yummy !
Joanne says
Thank you Theresa! Let me know what you thought of it! 🙂
Norma says
How long does it take about
Joanne says
Hi Norma! When you scroll to the bottom of the post, you’ll see the recipe card. It has all the instructions and cooking times there. On high, about 3 hours, on low, about 8.
Robin Dailey says
Hello I was wondering how you could cook them without using aluminum foil . Not a fan of using foul . Any suggestions?
Joanne says
Hi Robin – I suppose you could cook them without the foil but I think the texture might be a bit different? If you give it a go, please let me know!
Freddie WALDEN says
very interesting gonna do it
Barb G. says
Hi, I just found your site. I don’t have a slow cooker yet, but plan on it soon. Your recipe sounded easy and great, but you didn’t say to add any liquid to the cooker so they don’t burn or ruin the cooker. Is that important?? I want to try this, but I will write it down for later use. Thanks!!!
Joanne says
Hi Barb! So, no, I don’t add any liquid to the slow cooker. The potatoes are wrapped in foil so it keeps the moisture that’s naturally occurring in the potato. They’re a fantastic way to make them, I hope you love the recipe!
When you make them, give me a shout at my email address and let me know what you thought! joanne@thesaltypot.com
Louise G says
Can I do baked potatoes in the Ninja slow cooker? (My Ninja Multi Foodi only arrived last week, so I’m new to all this – so pleased I’ve found your website, as there aren’t many recipes about for the basics)
Joanne says
Hi Louise 🙂 So, theoretically, it should work the same. That being said, all slow cookers (slow cooker functions) can behave differently, so it’s best to just give it a go, and test how it turns out. I would do the ‘test’ on a time where you’re not counting on the potatoes – maybe the day before or something? Just so you’re not disappointed if you’re waiting too long, or they cooked too fast?
Debi says
I use my slow cooker at least a few times a week but I never thought to use it to cook potatoes. Well, I will try it soon! 😀
Joanne says
Yay Debi, I hope you love them like I do!! 🙂
Wally says
Hi Joanne I have done this several times and they come out fantastic
Joanne says
That’s awesome! It’s such a great way to make these potatoes!