Easy Holiday Mashed Potatoes

The holidays are coming fast.  Thanksgiving is only days away.  For many of us, that means prepping for a big meal for family and friends.  And for most of us that meal will include everyone’s favorite…mashed potatoes.  The problem with holiday meals, is that many of us don’t have enough burners on our stoves or in our kitchens, to accommodate making all the foods we love and having them ready at the same time.  Or if we have everyone bringing food we don’t have space in the oven or on the stove to keep it warm until we are ready to eat.  So today we have a great idea we think you’ll like.

We came across this idea for making mashed potatoes on Pinterest and gave it a try to make sure it worked as well as we hoped it would.  It is a method for making mashed potatoes in your crock pot or slow cooker.  Making potatoes this way not only frees up a burner on your stove, but allows you to keep your mashed potatoes hot and fluffy until you are ready to serve your dinner.  Try this method.  Whether you are hosting dinner or are charged with bringing potatoes to wherever it is you are celebrating, this is a great idea.  Use the ingredient amounts, and the method outlined below, and we think you will be thrilled with the outcome.  This is a fabulous use of your slow cooker.  We wish we had thought of it ourselves 🙂

Holiday Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
(serves 12-16)

5 lbs. Yukon gold or Idaho potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup water
1 cup butter, cut into chunks
1 tablespoon salt (plus more as needed)
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/3 cups warm milk

Place the potatoes, butter, water, salt and pepper in your slow cooker, cover and set the time for 4 hours on High.  Do not remove the excess water from the slow cooker, it will help to make the potatoes have the creamy texture you are after.  Mash with a potato masher adding only as much milk as necessary to create that creamy consistency.  Set your slow cooker on the Warm setting and keep your potatoes covered in the slow cooker until ready to serve.  They will stay fresh for at least a couple of hours.

Happy mashing…and even happier eating 🙂