Name: Slow Cooker Jacket Potatoes - Printable Recipe
Prep time: 3 min
Cook time: 4 h
Total time: 4 h 3 min
Yield: 3
Cuisine: English
Ingredients: Small Plate; Tin Foil; Slow Cooker / Crock Pot *; Salt; 1-2 tbsp Olive Oil; 3 x Medium Potatoes (approx 350g | 12.3 oz or 11 x 6 cm | 4.5 x 2.5″)

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CRAZY easy slow cooker jacket potatoes are a thing, and you absolutely need them in your life! With seriously soft and creamy insides, you won’t even miss the crispy skin of an oven baked potato!

Perfect for people of all cooking abilities, the slow cooker jacket potato is not only convenient but it’s healthy, naturally vegan/gluten free and requires very little hands on time at all. Read on for the easy step by step picture recipe, helpful tips and more…

A slow cooker jacket potato on a grey plate topped with vegan chilli and vegan creme fraiche

Why try slow cooker jacket potatoes?

Before trying this jacket potato slow cooker recipe – if you’d have spoken to me about this subject, you’d have quickly realised it’s something I’m quite passionate about.

My stance has always been that they’re called baked potatoes for a reason. They should only be cooked in the oven and any other method is clearly inferior and a crime against potatoes. Until now.

So what changed? It was a CRAZY hot day and we were supposed to be having jacket potatoes for tea. Naturally, I did not want to put the oven on for over an hour and turn my kitchen into a sauna.

So I caved and tried the slow cooker jacket potato method. I’m so glad I did! They’re far better than I’d hoped. Soft, creamy, delicious and about 3 mins hands on prep time. I’d say that’s winning, wouldn’t you?

Due to the set it and forget it nature of these slow cooker jacket potatoes, they’re also a perfect midweek meal. If you need a faster option, air fryer jacket potatoes might be more suited.

Do the skins crisp up in the slow cooker?

No, the skin doesn’t really crisp up in the slow cooker BUT you can always finish them up in the oven if you wanted to. Although, what really took me by surprise, is that I didn’t miss the crispy skin at all! The slow cooker gives the potatoes a beautiful creamy soft texture so I forgot all about the crispy skins!

If you really can’t live without a crispy skin, try this broccoli cheese baked potato.

Need to go out? Your slow cooker is the answer…

I realise baking a potato isn’t that hard to do – but sometimes, you can’t be at home to cook them and yet still really want one! I don’t know about you but I’m not comfortable leaving my oven on while out of the house. If you feel the same way, this slow cooker jacket potato method is 100% for you!

What if I/my family have dietary requirements?

Potatoes are great for free from diets! They’re naturally gluten free and perfect for vegetarians/vegans too. The only thing that’s tricky is deciding what to have on them. (I have some great suggestions further down in this post…)

A slow cooker jacket potato on foil topped with melting vegan butter

What potato variety should I use?

In short, any you like! Just use your favourite, whatever is in season or whatever you have in the cupboard. The same goes for my perfect homemade wedges and pizza loaded potato skins. It really doesn’t matter. In my opinion, all jacket potatoes taste great!

Does potato size matter?

Not hugely no. Mine were approx 350g (12.3 oz) and 11 x 6 cm (4.5 x 2.5″). Don’t worry though, so long as they fit in your slow cooker, they will cook! The time may vary a little (dependent on the size of your potatoes and slow cooker) but it’s highly unlikely that they will overcook. Thankfully, the slow cooker is quite a forgiving piece of kitchen equipment!

How long does it take to cook a jacket potato in the slow cooker?

For medium sized potatoes, it takes around 3-4 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low. It also takes less than 5 mins to prepare the potatoes for the slow cooker. WIN! You may need to adjust it slightly if your potatoes are small or large but, as I said above, slow cookers are quite forgiving.

Advantages of slow cooker jacket potatoes

Ideal for warm weather when you don’t want to switch the oven on.
Perfect for work days when you just don’t have time to cook when you get home.
Great for busy family days when you don’t have much hands on cooking time available.
They’re super cheap to make.
It’s a meal you can get the kids involved in.
You can change it up each time by adding different toppings.
A seriously easy meal with very little hands on time.

Tips for making slow cooker jacket potatoes

If you’re around – you can turn the potatoes once during cooking. This will help them to brown all over instead of mostly on one side. (Althouth they still taste amazing even if you don’t do this.)
Want them a little crispier? Line the base with 2 sheets of baking paper and don’t wrap the potatoes in foil. They won’t be quite as crisp as they would get in the oven but still nice nonetheless.
Don’t overcrowd your slow cooker. Try and make sure that each potato is touching the bottom in some way. (This helps the skin to brown)
When you wrap your potatoes, place the side that’s padded most with foil on the bottom of the slow cooker, to prevent any possible burning.
Want more flavour? Instead of using regular olive oil, use an infused oil like garlic or chilli.

Easy Slow Cooker Jacket Potato – Step by Step Picture Recipe

Here is what you will need to serve 3.

(For a printer friendly version, see the recipe card at the end of this post)

Ingredients

Salt
1-2 tbsp Olive Oil
3 x Medium Potatoes (approx 350g | 12.3 oz or 11 x 6 cm | 4.5 x 2.5″)

Essential equipment

Small Plate
Tin Foil
Slow Cooker / Crock Pot *

*Mine has a 3.5 litre capacity. If yours is bigger/smaller – don’t overcrowd it. Stick to a single layer of potatoes. You may need to increase/decrease the cooking times accordingly.

Instructions

First thing’s first, let’s prep those potatoes! Grind some salt onto a plate (I find this keeps things less messy! It also stops you from getting oil all over your salt grinder) then drizzle a little olive oil over each potato.

3 baking potatoes on a plate with salt, drizzled with oil

Rub the oil all over each potato to cover the skins, then rub some of the salt over each one. Next, place each potato into the middle of a piece of foil that’s big enough to wrap it up in.

a baking potato rubbed with olive oil and salt on a sheet of foil

Now fold one side up, then the opposite. It should look like this…

Lastly, fold the right excess foil up over the top of the potato then do the same with the left excess foil to completely wrap your potato. The side with the extra foil is the side we will put on the bottom of the slow cooker. (This will help to prevent any possible burning.)

Place your prepared potatoes into the slow cooker, extra foil side down.

jacket potatoes wrapped in foil in a slow cooker

Wow, that was super hard work wasn’t it? NOT! Haha. Time to pop the lid on and let the slow cooker do it’s thing.

Switch it on to high for around 4 hours or low for around 6 and walk away! Job done.

jacket potatoes wrapped in foil, cooking in a slow cooker

Once the potatoes time in the slow cooker has come to an end, carefully remove them (they’ll be hot) and peel off the foil. Serve immediately topped with your favourite topping, or leave them in the foils and keep them on the warm setting until needed. Tadah!

Delicious jacket potato filling ideas

Still undecided what to have on your slow cooker jacket potatoes? Don’t panic! Here’s some gorgeous recipes to tantalise your taste buds…

Have you made this recipe? I want to know!

Will these beautiful slow cooker jacket potatoes be made in your house? I’d love to know if they are! Send me your pics and comments on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or email me at emma@kitchenmason.com.

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Slow Cooker Jacket Potatoes - Printable Recipe

Yield: 3

Prep Time: 3 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours

Total Time: 4 hours 3 minutes

Creamy, delicious, naturally gluten free/vegan and about 3 mins hands on prep time. With all those positives I guarantee you won't even miss the oven baked crispy skin!