Slow Cooker Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes — 🤤⏰🥔 Creamy and decadent from the herbed browned butter, these EASY mashed potatoes are a family favorite side dish! Made in the slow cooker to free up stove and oven space. No one will be able to resist these comforting buttery mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving, Christmas, or your next family gathering!
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If there’s one thing everyone wants along side their Thanksgiving turkey, it’s mashed potatoes and gravy!
These browned butter mashed potatoes are rich, elegant, and taste like they could be served in a fancy steakhouse alongside a perfect steak from an overprice a la carte menu.
However, there’s nothing fancy or complicated about the way they’re prepared! In fact, mashed potatoes don’t get any easier than when they’re make in the slow cooker.
Whether you make them for Thanksgiving, Christmas dinner, New Year’s Eve, Easter, an anniversary night, or a just-because you wanted your carbs type of night, you just need to make them!
Ingredients for Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes
I made these brown butter mashed potatoes with sour cream for additional moisture and flavor.
For these buttery creamy mashed potatoes, you’ll need the following common fridge and pantry ingredients:
- Russet potatoes
- Half-and-half (or 2% or whole milk), divided
- Low-sodium chicken broth (or water)
- Garlic, divided
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Butter
- Sour Cream
- Thyme – fresh or dried
- Rosemary – fresh or dried
- Parsley – fresh recommended
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
- Peel and cube the potatoes, then place them in your slow cooker.
- Pour in 1/2 cup of the milk or half-and-half, the broth, part of the garlic, salt, and pepper.
- Cook on high for 3 to 4 hours. They’re done when they’re fork-tender and very soft. If they’re at all hard, they’re not done.
- In the final moments of cooking, brown the butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. Add the herbs and remaining garlic to the browned butter so they bloom and become fragrant.
- Use a potato masher to mash the cooked potatoes. Then pour the browned butter into mashed potatoes, followed up with the reserved milk, sour cream, and mix to incorporate.
Tips for Browning Butter
The biggest take-away here is to not burn the butter. It will seem like it isn’t doing anything for 5-ish minutes, and then bam, it goes quickly. Make sure you don’t let it get to the burnt stage, just nicely browned.
The butter will melt, foam, turn clear, golden, turn brown, and then will smell nutty. As soon at the butter begins to turn brown and there are a few brown specks (but not black), take the pan off the heat, pour butter into a large bowl, and continue to stir for about 1 minute, to ensure carryover heat doesn’t continue to cook and subsequently burn the already browned butter.
Make-Ahead Instructions
If you want to bring these Crockpot mashed potatoes over to a Friendsgiving or you’re attending a potluck-style Thanksgiving or holiday party, you can most definitely make the recipe from start to finish in your kitchen.
- Transfer the finished potatoes back into your slow cooker.
- Transport it all over to the host or hostess’ house.
- Plug your slow cooker in to keep them warm before serving.
Recipe FAQs
As for the butter, you can use either salted or unsalted butter. If you’re using salted butter, you can cut down on the amount of salt you add.
For mashed potatoes, the skins have to be removed for me and my family. If you’re somehow trying to keep these “healthier” by including the skin or you just like the texture of the skin in your mashed potatoes, then you can keep them on. However, for us, no skins are allowed and therefore I peel the potatoes.
Mashed potato purists will say that you should use 100% Russet potatoes. The reason for this is that they are really starchy and it’s probably the most traditional. They’re what I used exclusively for the Crockpot mashed potatoes.
However, it’s a nice option to mix half Russet potatoes with half Yukon Gold potatoes which are more buttery and a bit waxier. The two combined make a wonderful batch of mashed potatoes. I’m not as big of a fan of using solely Yukon Golds without being mixed with some Russets, but you can experiment of course.
Make sure to keep your potatoes in small 1/2 to 1-inch cubes so they cook in the 3 to 4 hours called for in the recipe.
I use half-and-half, which is a mixture of half whole milk and half heavy cream. For me, this is the perfect middle ground. Although I love rich foods, using all heavy cream is just a bit too rich for me but if you’re up for the decadence challenge, go for it.
If you want to lighten up the slow cooker mashed potatoes, you could use 2% or whole milk or possibly a non-dairy milk if you’re wanting to keep them dairy-free.Thicker plant-based milks such as cashew or oat milk may work. I wouldn’t use thinner milk like rice milk. However, then you have to deal with the butter and sour cream in the recipe if you’re keeping the recipe dairy-free to make sure they are as well.
I recommend a good old-fashioned potato masher for classic mashed potato consistency and texture. If you prefer smoother mashed potatoes with less texture, then this smooth potato masher is your ticket.
If you want them even smoother, then look for a potato ricer. It’s more work because you have to run the potatoes through it, batch by batch. I don’t really love the consistency of mashed potatoes pureed down to baby food consistency, but some people do.
I do not use a handheld electric mixer or stand mixer to mash them. It will overmix them rapidly and you’ll be left with gummy potatoes. However, do what you’d like, making sure that if you do mix them with an electric mixer that less is more, very definitely, in this holiday side dish recipe.
I used an 8-quart, although 6- to 7-quart capacity is also fine.
They will keep airtight in the fridge for up to a week and in the freezer for up to 4 months.
For mashed potatoes that have just been in the fridge, I recommend reheating them gently in a pot on the stove over low heat until warm or carefully in the microwave. You will probably want to add a splash of milk or cream since they’ve probably thickened up and reheating will only cause them to be even thicker.
What to Serve with Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes
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Slow Cooker Browned Butter Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 to 1-inch cubes* (See Notes)
- 1 ½ cups half-and-half, 2% or whole milk, divided
- ½ cup low-sodium chicken broth, or water
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic, divided
- ½ teaspoon salt, or as desired
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or as desired
- ½ cup salted butter, or unsalted and add additional salt
- ¾ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme, or 2 teaspoons fresh
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary, or 1 teaspoon fresh
- 1 teaspoon fresh parsley, finely minced for garnishing (or 1/2 teaspoon dried although fresh is preferred)
Instructions
- Peel and cube the potatoes, place them in a 6 to 8-quart slow cooker, add 1/2 cup of the half-and-half or milk, broth, 1 teaspoon of the minced garlic, salt, pepper, stir to combine and coat, cover the slow cooker, and cook for 3 to 4 hours on HIGH. The potatoes are done when they’re fork-tender and very soft. If they’re at all hard, they’re not done. I don’t recommend using the LOW setting unless you have at least 6 to 8 hours.
- In the final moments of cooking, brown the butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat.
- To brown butter, add the butter to a high-sided (it will splatter, so use high sides) medium to large pot, and heat over medium heat to melt, stirring nearly continuously or swirling the pan. The butter will melt, foam, turn clear, golden, turn brown, and then will smell nutty. As soon at the butter begins to turn brown and there are a few brown specks (but not black), take the pan off the heat, pour butter into a large bowl, and continue to stir for about 1 minute, to ensure carryover heat doesn’t continue to cook and subsequently burn the already browned butter.
- Add the thyme, rosemary, remainder of the garlic, and stir to incorporate; set aside. Tip – Read blog post section about fresh vs. dried herbs, and optionally straining the herbs from the butter. While the butter rests with the herbs infusing in it, mash the potatoes.
- Use a potato masher to mash the cooked potatoes. You can do this right in the basin/black canister of the slow cooker.
- Add half the browned butter (reserve the other half), the remaining 1 cup milk, all of the sour cream, and mix into the potatoes until smooth and blended.** (See Notes on Mashing)
- Transfer to a serving bowl or serve right out of the black slow cooker canister, evenly drizzle the remaining half of the browned butter, evenly sprinkle with parsley, and serve.
- Potatoes will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 4 months. Tip – Read the How To Store and Reheat Leftover Crock-Pot Mashed Potatoes section of the blog post for more specific info.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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The crockpot potatoes were very good! I did discover one discrepancy though. Where do the remaining 2 teaspoons of minced garlic go? The 1st teaspoon goes in at the beginning, but there’s no mention of what to do with the rest of it. Please clarify.
Thank you for catching this. In all the years this recipe has been on my site, no one has ever wrote to me about this. But I just updated the recipe card. The remainder goes in in Step 4 in the recipe card.
I put the remainder of the garlic in a small baggie and I couldn’t figure out why I had it left over. Thanks for the update!
great
Excellent mashed potato recipe :).
When re-heating in the micro oven, I take a piece of wet paper towel which prevent “drying” the left-overs.
Thank you very much for the recipe.
Great trick, I do that too sometimes.
great