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Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes are the five minute prep, zero oven trick every busy kitchen needs, fluffy steakhouse style russets that cook themselves while you live your life, and the first time I tried it on a scorching summer afternoon I could not believe I kept the kitchen cool and still got that perfect baked potato. If you love our crispy baked potato, this is the hands off cousin for crockpot days.
Scrub, season, wrap, and walk away, the slow cooker handles the rest.
Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 5 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 7 to 8 hours on low
- ⏳ Total Time: 8 hours 5 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 8 servings
- ⚡ Calories: 200kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Fluffy salted skin baked potato, ready for any topping
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, on par with our slow cooker hot dogs
Quick Answer
Scrub and dry russet potatoes, pierce the skins with a fork, then brush them with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap each potato individually in foil, stack them in the slow cooker, and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours or high for 4 to 5, until a fork slides in easily. Unwrap and load them up with your favorite toppings.
Jump to:
- Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes Quick Look
- Quick Answer
- Why This Recipe Works
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Key Ingredients
- Variations and Substitutions
- How to Make Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes
- Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Serving Ideas and Suggestions
- Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes FAQs
- Other Recommended Potato Recipes
- Easy Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes (with Foil)
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Foil wrapping steams the inside fluffy. Each potato cooks in its own sealed packet, trapping moisture so the inside turns creamy instead of dried out.
- Piercing prevents pressure. A few fork holes let steam escape gradually, so no potato bursts mid cook.
- Oil and salt season the skin. Rubbing the seasoning into the skin before wrapping gives you that salty steakhouse skin even without an oven.
- Low and slow equals even cooking. Hours of gentle heat cook the potatoes through to the center with no hard spots and no babysitting.
- It frees your oven. Holiday dinners and summer days both win when the potatoes cook on the counter instead of fighting for oven space.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Five minutes of prep, then the slow cooker does all the work while you are at work.
- No oven means a cool kitchen in summer and a free oven on holidays.
- They are a built in dinner bar, top them with chili, cheese, or our award winning slow cooker chili for a full meal.
Key Ingredients
Four ingredients. That is the whole list.
- Russet Potatoes: The only potato for this job. Their starchy flesh bakes up fluffy and their thick skin crisps with salt. Choose potatoes of similar size so they finish together.
- Olive Oil: Helps the salt stick and keeps the skin from drying out inside the foil.
- Kosher Salt: The big flakes give that classic steakhouse skin. Rub it in so it stays put.
- Black Pepper: A little bite on the skin that seasons every forkful you scoop.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
A baked potato is a blank canvas. Here is how to dress it up.
- Loaded classic: Butter, sour cream, shredded cheddar, crumbled bacon, and chives.
- Chili cheese: A ladle of hot chili and a handful of cheese turns one potato into dinner.
- Garlic herb: Add garlic powder and dried rosemary to the oil before brushing.
- Sweet potatoes: The same method works with similar size sweet potatoes, check them about an hour early.
- Crispier skin fans: Our air fried baked potatoes trade the hands off cook for crackly skin in under an hour.
How to Make Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes
- Scrub the potatoes well under cold water, then pat them completely dry with a paper towel.
- Place the potatoes on a sheet tray and pierce the skin of each one a few times with a fork.
- Brush the potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, rubbing the seasoning into the skin so it sticks.
- Tear off pieces of foil and wrap each potato individually.
- Stack the wrapped potatoes in the slow cooker, cover, and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours.
- Unwrap or slice through the foil, fluff the inside with a fork, and add your favorite toppings.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Pick same size potatoes. Mixed sizes mean the small ones overcook while the big ones stay firm in the middle.
- Dry the skins completely before oiling. Oil will not stick to a wet potato and the seasoning slides right off.
- Do not skip the fork holes. They release steam gradually so the potatoes cook evenly and never burst.
- Check doneness with a fork or thermometer. A fork should slide in with no resistance, about 205 degrees Fahrenheit in the center.
- No water needed. The foil and the sealed slow cooker create all the steam these need.
- Keep them warm for a party. Done potatoes hold on the warm setting for up to 2 hours, perfect for a potato bar.
- Save the leftovers for breakfast. Diced leftover baked potatoes crisp into incredible home fries.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
Set up a baked potato bar and let everyone build their own. Butter, sour cream, shredded cheese, bacon, chives, and a ladle of warm slow cooker chili cover every craving at the table.
These are the perfect lazy side for grilled and slow cooked mains. Serve them alongside slow cooker ribs, slow cooker BBQ chicken, or a juicy Mississippi pot roast without ever turning on the oven.
Got leftovers? Scoop the flesh into mashed potatoes, or stuff the skins with cheese and bacon and broil them into quick loaded potato skins.
Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes FAQs
Cook foil wrapped russets on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours. Exact timing depends on potato size and your slow cooker, so test the largest one with a fork before serving. It should slide in with zero resistance.
Foil gives the most even cook and keeps the seasoned skin moist, which is why this recipe uses it. You can cook them unwrapped right in the crock, but the skins on the bottom can brown unevenly and the potatoes cook a little less consistently.
Russets, full stop. Their starchy interior bakes up light and fluffy, and the thick skin holds the salt and pepper. Waxy potatoes like red or Yukon gold turn dense and creamy rather than fluffy.
Squeeze one with tongs, it should give easily, or pierce it with a fork that slides to the center without resistance. For precision, an instant read thermometer should read around 205 degrees Fahrenheit in the middle.
Yes. They hold on the warm setting for up to 2 hours, still wrapped. Leftovers keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in their foil and reheat well in the microwave or a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven.
Classic loaded toppings are butter, sour cream, shredded cheddar, bacon, and chives. For dinner potatoes, try chili and cheese, broccoli and cheese sauce, or leftover shredded BBQ chicken. The fluffy interior soaks it all up.
Need an appetizer to match? Our sausage stuffed mushrooms with cream cheese disappear faster than any party tray we have ever made.
Doubling up on crock sides? Our velvety slow cooker creamed corn cooks itself while the potatoes do their thing.
Easy Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes (with Foil)
Ingredients
- 8 russet potatoes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Scrub the potatoes well under cold water. Pat the potatoes dry with a paper towel.8 russet potatoes
- Place the potatoes on a sheet tray and pierce the skin with a fork.
- Brush the potatoes with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. I like to rub the salt and pepper into the skin to make sure it sticks.2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Tear off pieces of foil and wrap the potatoes individually in foil.
- Place them in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or high 4-5 on high.
- Unwrap or slice through the foil and add your favorite toppings.
Notes
- We like to use a medium/large potato for this recipe.
- You can cook them on low for 7-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.
- These are great for parties, leave them in the slow cooker and have all your toppings set out so people can serve as they please.
- Top with any of your favorite toppings, see some of my suggestions above.
- We only use russet potatoes for this recipe, I do not suggest using any other.
Nutrition
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