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.
Hi Patchwork, I do not oil or salt the skins. I wonder if that makes a difference. I only oil and salt when I use the oven and no foil.
I had the same unfortunate potato failure. I washed, air dryed, oiled and salted then wrapped in foil the potaotes. When I came home after 6 hrs on low I could tell something wasn’t right – the smell was off. All the potatoes that were on the bottom layer of the oval crockpot were way overdone – blackish skins and tan to brownish insides. The only potato that was ok was the extra one that was stacked on top of the others (I thought it wouldn’t be done enough for dinner and I could use it for fried potatoes tomorrow). That tater had a microwaved/steamed taste not a baked taste. All the others had that not so good overbaked taste – just like what you sometimes get from restaurants that have lots of potatoes keeping warm. Should I put something on the bottom of the crockpot, or can you only use the round pot? How can I get that really good baked taste (not steamed) and baked skin?
For the potatoes that turn out discolored..it may be the type of potato you used.
I am trying to cut back on our microwave usage because I’m hoping to convince Hubs that we don’t need one at all (ours is HUGE, and we could really use the extra counter space). This sounds like a great alternative, especially when we need a lot of potatoes.
However…
If you don’t mind using the microwave and you only need a couple of baked potatoes, it’s possible to get really good ones in minutes! All you have to do is:
(1) Wash and dry one or two baking potatoes
(2) Pour 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil in the palm of your hand and coat each potato
(3) Place potatoes on a microwave-safe plate and sprinkle w/ Kosher salt (optional)
(4) Microwave on high 5-7 minutes per potato depending on potato size and your microwave’s power
* Do NOT pierce the potatoes.
* Do NOT wrap the potatoes in anything.
This is a perfect way for us to make baked potatoes! I can’t wait to try this. Thank you for posting it!
I have the same question as #107 does. I know you spray the crock pot (I use Pam). But do you add any water? My concern is what Judith #121 said about the crock pot cracking. Has anyone else had this happen to them as well? I would cry if mine cracked!
We are trying this recipe later on in the week. I hope someone will reply and let me know.
Donna
My friend and I tried this the past two nights in preparation for our potato bar at work. I did it last night and she did it tonight. We both washed the potatoes, made sure they dried, wrapped them in foil, and then put them in the slow cooker for eight hours. Just like the directions. However, the pulp of the potato came out looking orange… like it wanted to be a sweet potato instead. My friend had the same result. Not sure what we are doing wrong.
Love this idea while I’m at work, but was disappointed that I didn’t get that “perfect baked potato”.
Love this idea. I absolutely refuse to cook potatoes in the microwave because they are just not as good as in the oven. Now this sounds even better without heating up my kitchen in the late afternoon, especially in the summer. Thanks for the idea.
What a wonderful idea, I can’t believe I’ve never heard of anyone doing this before. Thanks for sharing!
Be very careful with doing this. I cracked two different crocks pots trying to cook sweet potatoes this way. Some crocks might not be able to disperse the heat without a liquid at the bottom.
I’d recommend doing this at your own risk.
I’m a husband tring to cook for my wife and I would like to know if you put alittle water in the crock pot???
I want to just 2 potatoes how long should i let them stay in the crockpot?
Can I do sweet potatoes the same way?
When we didn’t wrap them we had a hard time getting a soft moist potato.
We have made “baked potatoes” in the slow cooker 3 times now. The first 2 times I just scrubbed, poked and oiled the potatoes and sprayed the inside of the crock. the first time I cooked them on high and they were great! The second time I cooked them over night and placed them on low (I was concerned about leaving it on high all night) and they were not very good. they were discolored and not done after 12 hours. The 3rd time I prepared as above and wrapped them in foil, then baked on high. They were good. I think the key is cooking them on HIGH!!! whether or not you wrap them in foil depends on if you want a crispy skin or a softer skin (I probably won’t waste the foil again). I WILL NEVER cook them on low again. Hope this helps someone else 🙂
I was so excitted when i found this on pinterest. We do lots of camping and since we are limited to bringing a smaller bbq, we end up cooking the pototoes first then the meat as the cooking area is too small to have both going so this method will be awesome…we will be able to eat everything hot..lol Thanks for sharing!