These creamy slow cooker garlic mashed potatoes are perfectly creamy and delicious and so easy to make! The slow cooker does all of the work for you and smashed garlic gives the potatoes so much flavor. This recipe is great as a weeknight side dish or an elegant addition to add to your holiday menu. You’ll get creamy potatoes every single time!
The Best Creamy Slow Cooker Garlic Mashed Potatoes
There’s nothing like perfectly creamy and delicious mashed potatoes. Whether you serve them with gravy or a drizzle of melted butter, they’re just a classic side dish that everyone loves, especially around Thanksgiving and Christmas.
If you have never tried making your mashed potatoes in the slow cooker I’m here to tell you that you have to give it a try, ASAP! Making your mashed potatoes in the slow cooker gives you the creamy dreamy potatoes you’re looking for with hardly and work. You will never want to make mashed potatoes any other way!
The Ingredients You Need for Creamy Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes (No Cream Cheese Needed!)
Potatoes – russet potatoes are my personal favorite but Yukon gold also work well.
Garlic – no need to mince your garlic for this recipe! Just give the garlic cloves a smash before adding them to the slow cooker. They will become tender while cooking and be easy to mash right into the potatoes.
Rosemary – the flavor of rosemary and potatoes is classic and gives these potatoes a subtle hint of herby flavor.
Chicken broth – instead of cooking the potatoes in water, this recipe uses chicken broth to add in even more flavor. You can also use vegetable broth if you prefer.
Full fat coconut milk – this helps make the mashed potatoes nice and creamy.
Butter – mashed potatoes MUST have butter in my personal opinion! If you like you can use a vegan butter of your choice or ghee instead.
Ingredient Variations
- Use buttermilk or cream – if you can tolerate dairy, try using heavy cream, half and half, whole milk, or even buttermilk instead of coconut milk in this recipe.
- Add in your favorite shredded cheese – parmesan or shredded sharp white cheddar are some of my personal favorites
- Use different combinations of fresh herbs – sage and thyme are both absolutely delicious in mashed potatoes.
- Add sour cream or Greek yogurt – this will give the potatoes even more creaminess and a little tang.
- Load them up – stir in crispy bacon, sharp cheddar cheese, and green onion for delicious loaded mashed potatoes.
How Do You Make Mashed Potatoes in the Slow Cooker?
Making mashed potatoes in the slow cooker could not be easier, in fact, it’s my new favorite way to make them because it requires hardly any hands on cooking time. Especially, if you’re serving mashed potatoes for a holiday dinner like Thanksgiving or Christmas, the slow cooker is the way to go for potatoes. You’ll just add the potatoes to the base of the slow cooker, set the heat to high, and let the slow cooker work it’s magic while you prepare the rest of the meal!
Step One: Add the diced potatoes, smashed garlic, rosemary, chicken broth, and a cup of coconut milk to the base of slow cooker and cook on high for three to four hours until the potatoes are fork tender.
Step Two: Once the potatoes are tender, remove the woody part of the rosemary sprig. Then, mash with a potato masher or electric hand mixer until creamy. Mashing the potatoes for a bit before adding in the butter and extra milk helps to ensure that they are extra creamy.
Step Three: Once the potatoes are mashed a bit, add in the remaining coconut milk and butter and then give the potatoes another mash or stir until they are just the right consistency.
This is also the time to add in your favorite seasonings or additions. You can add more milk to make the potatoes creamier, a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt for tang, or your favorite cheese. Adjust the seasoning too by adding a little more salt, pepper, or your favorite fresh herbs.
Step Four: Serve the potatoes with a drizzle of melted butter or ghee and a sprinkle of fresh herbs like chives.
What to Serve with Mashed Potatoes
These mashed potatoes make the perfect side dish. Here are a few of my favorite main dishes to serve with them:
- The Best Whole Roasted Chicken
- Simple Spatchcock Roasted Turkey
- Citrus Herb Turkey Breast
- Easy Spatchcock Roasted Chicken
- The Best Dutch Oven Pot Roast
How to Store and Reheat
Store: Transfer the potatoes to an air-tight storage container and store in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Reheat: You can easily reheat these potatoes in the microwave on high for 30 seconds to 1 minute at a time. You can add a bit of extra broth or coconut milk when reheating if you like.
More Thanksgiving Recipes to Serve
Making this recipe for the holidays? Here are few more of our reader favorite Thanksgiving recipes to add your menu this holiday season:
- Dairy Free Mashed Potatoes
- Healthy Homemade Cranberry Sauce
- Broccoli Mac and Cheese
- Brown Butter Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- Brussels Sprouts Au Gratin
- Creamy Slow Cooker Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Honey Dijon Dressing
- Honey Mustard Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Gluten Free Cornbread Stuffing
- Fall Harvest Salad with Maple Mustard Vinaigrette
- Healthier Homemade Green Bean Casserole
- Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole
- Rosemary White Cheddar Mashed Potatoes
Get all of our best Thanksgiving recipes, here!
I hope you give these Creamy Slow Cooker Garlic Mashed Potatoes a try! They are creamy and delicious and the perfect addition to your holiday menu or weeknight dinner!
If you do give this recipe a try, I want to know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. You can also snap a photo & tag @allthehealthythings on Instagram. Your reviews help support All the Healthy Things and make it possible for me to continue to create the recipes you know and love.
PrintCreamy Slow Cooker Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
- Category: Sides
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
These creamy slow cooker garlic mashed potatoes are perfectly creamy and delicious and so easy to make! The slow cooker does all of the work for you and smashed garlic gives the potatoes so much flavor. This recipe is great as a weeknight side dish or an elegant addition to add to your holiday menu. You’ll get creamy potatoes every single time!
Ingredients
- 5 pounds russet potatoes
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 3/4 cups full fat coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon salt (plus more to taste)
- black pepper
- 2 rosemary sprigs
- 6 cloves of garlic, smashed
- 1/3 cup butter
Instructions
- Clean and dice the potatoes into large chunks and then add to the base of a slow cooker.
- Add the smashed garlic cloves, sprigs of rosemary, chicken broth, and 1 cup of coconut milk to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours until the potatoes are fork tender. Lower the heat to the warm setting.
- Remove the woody part of the rosemary sprig from the potatoes. Next, use a potato masher or hand mixer to mash the potatoes.
- Add the butter and the remaining 3/4 cup coconut milk to the potatoes and continue to mash until smooth creamy. Add more milk if you want the potatoes to be creamier. This is also the time to add any cheese, sour cream, or Greek yogurt if you are using.
- You an either leave the potatoes in the slow cooker base or transfer them to a serving dish. Serve the potatoes with a drizzle of melted butter and a sprinkling of fresh herbs.