This is one of our favorite simple suppers during the summer – Crock Pot Baked Potatoes! Did you know you can make slow cooker baked potatoes? Same great taste as an oven baked potato without the hot kitchen!
Cooking potatoes in the crock pot is so convenient – no need to heat up the oven and make the kitchen hot! Just wrap in foil, throw potatoes in the crockpot, and make sides on the grill! If you like this recipe, you’ll also love our hearty crockpot mac and cheese!
I hate to use the oven in the summer. This is something I can throw in the crock-pot in the morning and have dinner ready in the evening. This great idea really is an easy baked potato recipe,.
How To Make Crock Pot Baked Potatoes
Wash and dry large potatoes. Give each potato a prick with a fork. Cover each potato in aluminum foil.
Now simply place potatoes in the slow cooker or crock-pot. Just as good as oven baked without using the oven.
Cook on low for about eight hours, or cook on high four hours. Easy to prep, and cleanup is a snap. Save the recipe card below for perfect, fork tender potatoes every time.
Crock Pot Baked Potatoes
Equipment
- slow cooker
Ingredients
- 4 - 6 russet baking potatoes I have done 8
- 2 - 3 teaspoons olive oil optional 1/2 teaspoon per potato (I typically omit oil and salt)
- 1 - 11/2 teaspoons salt about 1/4 teaspoon per potato(optional)
- Aluminum foil
- Your choice of toppings: Grated cheese, cooked broccoli, crumbled bacon, chives, chili, sour cream etc.
Instructions
- Scrub the potatoes and dry completely.
- Prick each potato several times with a fork.
- Rub potatoes with a tiny bit of oil and then rub with salt. This step can be omitted.
- Wrap each potato tightly in aluminum foil. Be sure potato is completely covered.
- Place potatoes in slow cooker
- Cook the potatoes on high for 4 to 5 hours or low for 8 to 10 hours, or until soft. Do not overcook or potatoes will become soggy. I cook mine about 8 hours.
- Carefully unwrap the potatoes.
- Cut potatoes open and top with desired toppings.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is calculated without the toppings.
Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes
Now that you’ve got a pile of perfectly baked potatoes, let’s eat!
Load them up with your favorite toppings, serve with a big salad and dinner is served. Potatoes also go great with grilled meat, corn on the cob, and all kinds of other summer sides.
What are your favorite baked potato toppings? We like to make ours “loaded” by laying out a bunch of toppings. We have butter, sour cream, salt and pepper, cheddar cheese, bacon bits and green chives or onions handy.
In fact, a potato bar is a perfect set-up for a party. Just lay out all your toppings and let guests grab their potatoes and top them off with all the fixins!
Tips for Perfect Crock Pot Baked Potatoes
- After you wash your potatoes, make sure you dry them completely.
- Rub each potato with olive oil and rub with salt, if desired.
- Pierce the potatoes in several places with a fork. Technically, you are steaming the potatoes, and that steam needs somewhere to get out!
- Wrap the foil tightly around each potato. You don’t want it loose or open.
- If the potato is exposed, it can discolor. Darkened potato is still totally edible, though!
- Don’t overcook, or the potatoes will get soggy. You want fluffy!
- For a healthy topping, try plain nonfat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. It adds protein and still delivers the tangy, creamy flavor you want.
- You can also smoother one of these delicious baked potatoes with Slow Cooker Chili. I think of this as comfort food add some cheese and sour cream on top – YUM!
Got any potato tips? Have you tried the crockpot baked potatoes method? I’m slightly obsessed with all things crockpot, so leave your comments and let us know how yours turned out!
For another easy dinner try our favorite crockpot mac and cheese! And for another super easy crowd-pleaser, be sure to check out our slow cooker lasagna recipe! These are perfect for busy nights or potluck get-togethers.
Great idea! I’d never though to make ‘baked’ potatoes this way. I’ll give this method a try sometime soon!
I also would like an answer to #107/angie
This is genius! I love baked potatoes but they do take longer than I have available for dinner sometimes and I hate the way they taste in the microwave. I have to try this out. thanks for sharing!
Can’t wait to try this out..
Did this for dinner tonight. Cooked eight potatoes on high for 4 hours…they were great! Thank you for sharing this…I’m sure to use it again!
the microwave does just
as well,in just a few min.
I haven’t tried this yet, but was wondering how the crock pot doesn’t burn up. Do you put any water in the crock pot?
LOVE this idea! I was trying to figure out how I was going to bake potatoes and pork chops for 10+ people at the same time. Now I know!
Hi! I’m going to try this! One recipe I saw recommended poking a few holes in the potatoes with a fork before wrapping them in foil. Maybe this will help @KarenS?
Love this. Did it yesterday and they came out great. Seems like everytime we want to do steak for dinner, we end up not being home when it’s time to put the potatoes in the oven. This way I can start them early and not worry about them all day. Thanks for the great idea.
Can you do this with Sweet potatoes too?
I’m confused too! I was so shocked when they came out so nasty-looking and tasting! I’ve used the oil-rub method when baking them in the oven in the past, so I was thinking of maybe trying that next time. I know I will definitely not be doing a whole bag again until I can get it right LOL. I was also thinking I might try letting them sit for a while (unwrapped) after I wash and dry them, just to ensure they are truly dry. It’s not such a big deal in the winter to use the oven, but I really love the idea of doing this in the summer, maybe even out on the patio, and not having to worry about heating the house up. I will let you know what happens next time. Thanks for the response!
I am confused for you! I have used this a lot and it’s been a fool proof method. Make sure they are thoroughly wrapped in foil. I wish I could pin point the issue.
HELP – TRIED IT YESTERDAY – MAJOR FAIL!!! I was soooo looking forward to enjoying this after discovering it on Pinterest recently, but my first batch came out too terrible for words! I used a whole 5-lb bag of russet (small- and medium-size) potatoes in my 5-quart Crockpot. After patiently waiting for 8 hours, I tried one of the small potatoes, and it wasn’t quite as tender as I would like. It also didn’t look so great, so I left it in another two hours, thinking maybe because the pot was so full, it just needed more time.
After 10 hours, I turned the pot off and unwrapped the potatoes. OMG, what a mess! All of the potato skins were a butt-ugly blackish-brown in color, and the outer half-inch or so of the potatoes was brownish, much like you would see if you peeled fresh potatoes and left them sitting (without water) for an hour. As for the rest of the potato meat, it was also more of a brownish than white color, and dry and tough. It was actually difficult to tell if it was undercooked or overcooked – that’s how tough it was!
In hindsight, I’m wondering if it’s because I didn’t dry the potatoes thoroughly enough after washing them, and maybe the combination of moisture inside the foil wrapping on the low heat is the culprit. Not sure.
Has anyone else had this happen? I really want to try this again, based on the plethora of positive reviews, but I don’t want to waste another batch of potatoes – not to mention waiting all that time just to be disappointed again!
Any ideas or additional tips/suggestions? Thanks in advance! ~Karen 🙂
I found you on pintrest and LOVE this idea! Wish I would’ve thought about it! I have been featuring crock pot recipes for the month of January on my blog and borrowed your recipe! I would love if you would follow me! Thanks for sharing, B