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Yum! Yum! I have made these twice, once with the skins on and one without and both times they were EXCELLENT. It makes a lot and we love to have the leftovers. Simple and delicious. Would recommend to everyone that doesn’t like all of the work of traditional mashed potatoes.
Joan
Can’t stop can’t stop can’t stop.
Garlic mashed potatoes. They have my heart.
And you guys, I pinkie promise something: these are the easiest ever. I mean, nothing deserves the Easiest Ever badge of honor like a recipe that can be made in a kitchen that is, um, not even a kitchen. The basement, remember?
And it’s a complete bonus for all the friends around the table when easiest ever also means extremely delicious, right? The buttery texture with the texture of the potatoes skins (I am on the leave-the-skins-on-the-potatoes side of the fence) and a hint of warming roasted garlic is making me one happy pre-Thanksgiving girl. I have had these for dinner for WAYYY too many nights in a row and we’re still weeks away from the big feast. And yes I do seriously mean that I have been calling simple, humble bowls of garlic mashed potatoes my “dinner.”
What do normal people eat again?
Okay friends, I need to let you know that right here and now – this is your one last chance to get a peek into the basement kitchen. Which is essentially just a basement with a power strip for plugging in kitchen appliances. Because after today, we are moving on up to the uppppstairs where we have a Kitchen with a capital K.
CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES.
How To Make Our Garlic Mashed Potatoes:
Ahhhm, is sticking an electric mixer directly into a slow cooker some kind of bad cooking voodoo basement black magic? I have lost touch with reality down here amongst the dirty cement bricks. Bring me to the light.
I don’t know though, those horror movie basement lights are pretty flattering.
Jay-Kay.
So yesterday I started something new! I packed up my computer, put on my real person clothes, and set out to work at a co-working space. Where a bunch of self-employed adults go to hang out I MEAN WORK so that they don’t lose their minds, working from home, alone, on the couch, in pajamas, forever, until they die. No? Just me?
It was really fun to be downtown for the day. I was buzzing with entrepreneurial energy, even though the most complicated thing I did all day was write a blog post while sipping some strong coffee. I spent a good portion of the afternoon walking around downtown Saint Paul because I am a hipster and I like to walk. —> Lies. I got lost looking for a good place to eat lunch. What else? Lunch is a big deal to me, you know? I can’t just choose any old place to eat when I’m within walking distance of all the great downtown Saint Paul restaurants. My quest was only partially rewarded when I finally found a delicious restaurant, uhm, errr, just right across from where I started.
Hi, I’m not from here.
It’s good to have a place to work away from home. True thing.
Also true: it’s good to come back home to a large pot of steaming garlic mashed potatoes luring me down to the basement with their savory smells right when I walk in the door.
These garlic mashed potatoes. I’m telling you – they are so super easy and they get delicious roasty-garlic flavor even though you don’t actually have to roast the garlic. I was thrilled to see that when I lifted the lid off the slow cooker after a few hours, my baby garlic cloves were sitting right there on top looking rich and golden brown. Not roasted exaaaactly, but close enough for this ovenless girl.
If I were not already the Salad Bringer, or if I were the Salad Bringer (which I am) aaaand I was also feeling super generous and maybe hungry on that particular day, I would definitely be bringing these mashed potatoes to Thanksgiving.
Easiest Garlic Mashed Potatoes, you are creamy, buttery, laced with the perfect amount of garlic flavor, salted generously, creamy with just enough texture, all with just a few minutes of prep and one-bowl clean up. Like a champ.
And if you don’t have a slow cooker and want to make this in the Instant Pot, I’ve got something for you right here!
Easiest Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- Total Time: 5 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: about 12 one-cup servings 1x
Description
These are the Easiest Garlic Mashed Potatoes ever – made entirely in the bowl of a slow cooker and they still have that deliciously warm garlic flavor!
Ingredients
- 5 pounds Russet potatoes, chopped into 1 or 2 inch pieces
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 3–5 large cloves fresh garlic (depends on how much you can handle! I did 3 for this batch)
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Place the potatoes, milk, broth, and garlic in a slow cooker, with the garlic sitting on top. Cover and cook for 4-5 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low. When the potatoes are very tender, mash directly in the bowl of the slow cooker to incorporate everything to your desired consistency. You can also use an electric mixer, which I did, and it was super slick. Just be careful not to keep the mixer completely inside the bowl so you don’t get a mashed potato spray.
- Stir in the salt, butter, and sour cream. Taste and adjust seasoning, mix or mash any more if needed, and serve. Yummmms.
Notes
More salt is almost always a good thing with this recipe. Potatoes love salt! Also, as you can see, mine were very rustic-y with some lumps and bumps of potato and also of the potato skin, which I sort of liked. If you want ultra-smooth, you might want to a) cook the potatoes a bit longer, or b) do the full fancy thing where you use a potato ricer and everything. That’s not this recipe.
Make This In An Instant Pot: You can make a similar recipe in the Instant Pot using this recipe!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 5 hours
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: garlic mashed potatoes, slow cooker mashed potatoes, crockpot mashed potatoes
Made these for Thanksgiving 2024, and everyone raved about them! Thank you so much for this easy and delicious recipe! I left skin on and used my electric hand mixer to mash at the end, worked so well.
How do you keep the potatoes on top from turning black?
Hi Kathy! The potatoes shouldn’t turn black once they’re cooked and ready to serve!
I made these for Thanksgiving, they were so easy and everyone loved them!They are the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever made. I cooked them on high for 4 hours and that was plenty, the garlic is a must!
I made these yesterday for my boyfriend’s family Thanksgiving, and they were a huge hit! I used red potatoes instead of russet, and they were sooo good! Just the right amount of garlic too. Thanks for the recipe!
So glad to hear this, Brittni!
Substitute suggestions for the sour cream?
Hi, Jennie! You could try some full fat Greek yogurt or cream cheese here instead. Let us know how this goes for you. 🙂
I’ve never thought of making mashed potatoes in a slow cooker. Is the texture any different than a traditional cooking method?
I do need more potatoes in my system because of the potassium going in my muscles. I’ve been tired alot recently and haven’t been exercising. That comes from doing too much cardio in the past. But I hope to get a new juicing machine this year and some copper cookware where I can steam white potatoes and juice sweet potatoes. 🙂
These tasted really good, but it was more like eating mashed potato soup than mashed potatoes. We had them for Christmas dinner, and I literally had to serve them to everyone in a soup bowl. I probably won’t make them again as mashed potatoes.
I made these today for a late Thanksgiving with the fam. This is the easiest mashed potato recipe I’ve ever made, and my husband said they are the best mashed potatoes he’s ever had! Thanks, Lindsay!!
Glad to hear it!
I followed the recipe exactly and the result was a texture that had too much liquid 🙁
Going to scramble to add more potatoes
Question: is it possible to double the recipe and it will taste just as yummy? We have a crowd coming for Christmas 🎄
HI, can you tell me what size slow cooker you used or what will work for this? Thanks! 🙂
Hi Amanda! We’re not totally sure actually. We’d probably use a 6-quart to be safe!
Hi, I have a big family and only a 5qt cooker, will I be ok using 10lb potatoes and rest of ingredients keep same?
Also since more potatoes was gonna try the 7-8hr on low??
hi there!
i plan in making these for thanksgiving and was wondering if you use salted or unsalted butter?
can’t wait to try these out!
Yummy thanks for the recipe. .a little soupy by the time I served them they were fine..
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for sharing this… such a time saver! I thought it was too much liquid but once I masked it, the consistency was perfect. I omitted the sour cream and it was still very creamy.
Thanks for the feedback, Marie!
I stumbled across this while getting lost in Pintrest one day and I have to say, this is not a pintrest fail, lol!! These were amazing potatoes, I am a skin on kind of girl, and my crockpot and I are already attached at the hip. This was meant to be. I can never really master mashed potatoes, I can make just about anything, but mashed potatoes elude me. Not now, thank you very much. Everyone loved them, nobody could believe I made them in a crockpot. This is genius, sheer genius. Thank you so much for making me a master of the potato.
Glad you liked them, Abby!
Anyone else end up with WAY too much liquid? I almost had potato soup for Thanksgiving. Luckily I decided to drain some off before I mixed, so I was able to salvage it. I used 5 lbs of russets per the recipe, so not sure where I went wrong.
Sorry to hear that, Sarah! I would suggest (obviously) cutting back the amount of liquid you put in. You can always add liquid back in at the end if needed.
Would red potatoes work in this recipe?
Red potatoes would work great in this recipe!
Love the recipe.. I’m sure adding garlic makes them taste amazing!
I use a ranch dressing packet in mine- find the recipe here https://everyday-writing.com/2015/09/moms-mashed-potatoes.html
Thanks for the great post!
Andria
http://www.everyday-writing.com
Great idea, Andria! Yum! 🙂
I’m a novice as far as cooking goes and managed to get roped into making mashed potatoes for a fairly large group while camping. I saw in some of your replies that you said it could be boiled in a pot for shorter time. Were I to double the recipe how long would you suggest cooking for?
Hi, Connor. Are you planning to double the recipe and boil the potatoes on the stovetop? If your potatoes are cut up into chunks, they should be done after about 20-25 minutes of boiling. If you are doubling the recipe in the slow cooer, the cook times should stay about the same as stated in the recipe instructions.
Do You mince the Garlic?
Yep!
If you double the recipe, do you need to double the time?
Hi, Heather! Likely – no. You may need a little longer cook time to get all the potatoes done, but I doubt you’ll need to double the cook time. Maybe an extra hour on high or 2 hours on low.
Yum! Yum! I have made these twice, once with the skins on and one without and both times they were EXCELLENT. It makes a lot and we love to have the leftovers. Simple and delicious. Would recommend to everyone that doesn’t like all of the work of traditional mashed potatoes.
That’s awesome! I’m so happy to hear that. Thanks so much Joan!
hi , it is second time came to your blog, my dear blogger! this is ourcouponss.com, my dear friends.
in your instructions,you suggested, “cook for 4-5 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low.”
so i have two questions,
1.why not using Pressure Cooker, it need only 15 mins to make the potatoes mashed.
2. if you add more salt, it will taste very salty, so i just add very little salt?
i am waiting for your suggestion!
Hi!
Thanks so much for this! I am GF and DF. Can I use rice milk instead or do you think it would be too runny?
Thanks,
Tracy
I think it would work!