This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of College Inn®. The opinions and text are all mine.
Thanksgiving!
Are you ready? Do you have your menu all planned? Are you looking for some great (but easy!) side dishes to impress your guests that won’t have you cooking ALL DAY? Well, I have got the dish for you!
College Inn Broth
Because this recipe uses only a handful of ingredients, it’s important that those ingredients have a lot of flavor. This recipe uses College Inn® Chicken Broth as a main ingredient! College Inn crafts a deeper, richer broth; because every detail matters.
They carefully select the finest, all-natural chicken and farm-grown vegetables. Purposely blend the most flavorful herbs and spices and then finish with a long, slow simmer. The savory taste of College Inn broth is the detail that helps you make any dish and every meal scrumptious! Delicious is definitely in the details.
Secret Ingredient
College Inn® Chicken Broth is my secret ingredient for these mashed potatoes. The potatoes gently cook in the broth and soak up all of that delicious flavor!
Best mashed potatoes ever
I promise these are going to be the best mashed potatoes you have ever made and they will be the surprising hit of your Thanksgiving meal. That’s why we’re calling them ‘Million Dollar’ Mashed Potatoes!
Ingredients:
5 pounds russet potatoes
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, cut into cubes
1 (32 oz) carton College Inn® Chicken Broth
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened and cut into cubes
¼ cup milk (or more, to taste)
salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
Peel and cut potatoes into 1-inch chunks.
Place the cut potatoes into the bottom of a 6-quart crock pot.
Dot the potatoes with 1 stick of the cubed butter. Season with a little salt and pepper.
Pour College Inn® Chicken Broth on top of potatoes.
Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours. Potatoes are ready when fork tender.
Carefully drain the excess broth into a bowl. Pro tip: use the excess broth to make some delicious gravy! See my quick recipe at the end of this post.
Place drained potatoes back into the crock pot. Add in remaining stick of cubed butter, cream cheese, milk and salt and pepper to taste.
Mash the potatoes with a potato masher until smooth (or leave a little lumpy if that is your preference).
Cover and keep potatoes on the warm setting until ready to serve.
Then dig in!
Optional: Make them ‘Loaded Mashed Potatoes’ by topping with shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled and cooked bacon and sliced green onions.
Quick gravy recipe:
2 cups College Inn® Chicken Broth
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
In 1-quart saucepan, heat 1 1/2 cups of the broth to boiling. Reduce heat to medium.
In small bowl, stir remaining 1/2 cup broth, the flour, salt and pepper with whisk until smooth. Gradually stir mixture into hot broth. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Serve with your Million Dollar Mashed Potatoes!
Enjoy!
Crock Pot Loaded Little Potatoes
Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- 5 pounds russet potatoes
- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, cut into cubes
- 1 32 oz carton College Inn Chicken Broth
- 1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened and cut into cubes
- ¼ cup milk or more, to taste
- salt and pepper to taste
- Peel and cut potatoes into 1-inch chunks.
- Place the cut potatoes into the bottom of a 6-quart crock pot.
Dot the potatoes with 1 stick of cubed butter.
- Pour College Inn Chicken Broth on top of potatoes.
- Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours. Potatoes are ready when fork tender.
- Carefully drain the excess broth from the cooked potatoes.
Place back into the crock pot.
Add in remaining stick of cubed butter, cream cheese, milk and salt and pepper to taste.
Mash the potatoes with a potato masher until smooth (or leave a little lumpy if that is your preference). Add more milk if needed until it gets to a consistency you prefer.
- Cover and keep potatoes on the warm setting until ready to serve.
Optional:
Make them ‘Loaded Mashed Potatoes’ by topping with shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled and cooked bacon and sliced green onions
Your potatoes sound amazing, my only problem is that half of my family is vegan so I would have make two crock pots of potatoes.
Hi Judy! You could maybe try Vegetable Broth?
The recipe calls for 2 sticks of butter…should it be 1 stick, cubed, on the top before cooking and the other before mashing?
Hi Kathy, exactly. One stick of cubed butter goes in while it is cooking and the other stick of butter goes in after it’s finished cooking. 🙂
Can these be cooked with Yukon Gold potatoes? Thanks!
I just made them with Yukon gold potatoes. They came out very good.
Hi Matthew! Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and let me know! So happy you enjoyed this one!
this recipe sounds great. I have to transport the potatoes to the dinner. Questions #1 – how long could I keep the whole potatoes warm before mashing? Question #2- if I mash ahead of time as suggested, how long can they sit in the crockpot on warm without turning to mush?
I would absolutely LOVE to answer this question. There is just one problem: I haven’t done any of those suggestions so I can’t give you a real answer. I can only guess and I’m sure my guess is just as good as yours. I imagine you could keep the potatoes warm for an hour before mashing. By nature, mashed potatoes are “mush”. But, I would *guess* that they could stay warm for a few hours after mashing. Just make sure your crock pot is on the warm setting and not low. 🙂
My Dad has often kept mashed potatoes light and fluffy in a crockpot for a few hours. I might suggest soaking potatoes overnight prior to placing them in the crockpot. I’m actually trying this tomorrow. My potatoes are cubed and soaking now. A quick rinse in the morning and I will toss them in with the College Inn broth. This brand was what my Gram always used, so I am excited to try it in a different way.!
Can I make these ahead of time and just warm them up on thanksgiving?
Don’t see why not. I have never tried it,so if you do, please come back and let us know! 🙂
For the past several years, I have cooked my potatoes on the stove, (the night before ), then transferred them to a crock pot, mashed them , & put the crock pot in the fridge. On Thanksgiving Day, I turned the crock pot on low for about 2 hours before dinner (stirring as necessary) & they’ve turned out great! It’s SO much easier doing the peeling & such the night before!! Gonna do the same thing this year, but will skip the stove & use just the crock pot for the entire process.
What I wouldn’t give for a giant bowl of these right now.
I’m giving these a shot today. I am roasting a head of garlic to add at the end and using red potatoes. Hoping to leave them a bit chunky.
Sooo i made these. Red potatoes. At end i added i bulb roasted garlic and some garlic and herb cheese spread. I have to agree, these are the BEST crockpot potatoes ever. I usually mash and then leave in crock to keep warm. But these were still so creamy. Keeping this recipe.
Hi Brandie,
I tried the recipe and made the first mashed potatoes and gravy of my life! I was a happy camper! I do need additional advice. The first one I made was done in a seven quart crock pot. It often overcooks dishes following instructions. Then bought 6 quart. Better. But the gravy was to thick both times. Can you give me a different ratio for the gravy. I have extra stock leftover after following your instructions. I can use this to make gravy thinner but aren’t sure how the extra liquid/flour ratio should be put together so as to not change your recipe in a negative way. Please advise.
Thanks,
Hugh.
Can anyone help out here? Brandie didn’t get a chance to reply. Thank you.
Hi Hugh! Sorry about that! You are correct in that you can add a bit more broth until it thins out to how you like it. It won’t affect the flavor. I hope that helps!
Perfect!
These turned out awesome!!! Made them for thanksgiving and it was so convenient to set the crock pot and move on to other dishes. I used regular LS chicken broth, and sour cream instead of cream cheese because I prefer the taste.
The gravy recipe was on point too.
Do yourself a favor and slow cook your mashed potatoes, they actually turn out way better than boiling.
Thanks for the easy, delicious, space and time saving recipe!!
I need to double the recipe. Is it just double of everything? Thanks!
They do look so light and fluffy!
When you have them ready and they’re just staying warm, put a kitchen towel between the lid and potatoes. This keeps them from getting watery from the moisture in the lid.
I agree with Terri. I have made crockpot potatoes before and I also placed a dish towel between the pot and lid and it kept the potatoes from getting watery for hours. Excellent way to have hot mashed potatoes ready for a great meal. Enjoy! Merry Christmas!
Is there a special reason to use a masher instead of an electric mixer?