Cheesy Crockpot Potatoes
These Crockpot Cheesy Potatoes require a few basic ingredients and no prep! Simply dump the ingredients for these cheesy potatoes in a slow cooker, mix, and forget it! This is the best side dish recipe!
Especially in the South, everyone has a handful of dump-and-go recipes they rely on during hard times and hectic weeks. These cheesy potatoes (also known as Funeral Potatoes) require no effort and barely any prep time, making it perfect for these situations! While I’ve had similar dishes to this one all my life, I tested this recipe over and over to ensure it is always creamy, never dried out, gritty, or too mushy. You’ll be able to cart it to your next potluck knowing you’ll get all compliments and no complaints!
Three Reasons You’ll Love These Cheesy Crockpot Potatoes:
- No boiling, peeling, chopping, or parcooking involved.
- Great for potlucks because it travels in the crock and can be kept on warm.
- Gluten-free cream of soup recipe included in case you can’t find the gluten-free version in the store.
Ingredients For Crock Pot Cheesy Potatoes
As always, here is a quick overview of the ingredients used in our Crock Pot Potatoes. For the complete recipe, just scroll to the bottom of the page.
- Frozen Diced Potatoes: you will need four cups of diced potatoes for this recipe. You can find bagged frozen hash brown potatoes in the vegetable section. If you would rather use fresh potatoes I suggest Russet or Idaho potatoes.
- Cream of Chicken Soup: You can also use cream of mushroom soup if you prefer. If you are gluten-free or prefer homemade cream of soup, simply scroll down. I have a recipe for a 3-ingredient homemade cream of soup that is ready in about 10 minutes.
- Sour Cream: this provides the ultra creamy texture and helps prevent the potatoes from drying out as they cook. You can use full fat, reduced fat or dairy free sour cream in this recipe.
- Butter: I use salted butter in this recipe.
- Spices: You will need garlic salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper.
- Cheese: I use sharp shredded cheddar cheese because it pairs perfectly with potatoes, but another variety such as colby jack will also work well.
- Bacon: Cooked, chopped bacon works best in this recipe. Skip the store bought bacon bits for the best flavor.
Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup
To make a homemade or gluten free cream of soup, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a sauce pan. When the butter is completely melted stir in 2 tablespoons flour or gluten free flour.
Stir until the flour mixture makes a paste that begins to turn brown. This will take 2-3 minutes. Add 11 ounces of good quality chicken stock and stir until the mixture is thick. This will take 5-6 minutes. I use this same method for a from-scratch Chicken Rice Casserole!
How to Make Crockpot Cheesy Potatoes
- First, spray the crock pot with cooking spray or add a liner.
- Next, add the frozen potatoes to your slow cooker.
- Add the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, butter, all the spices, and half of the shredded cheese.
- Cook on low for 6 hours, being sure to stir the potatoes once. You can also cook this on high for 2 hours, stirring once.
- Right before serving, stir in half of the bacon.
- After mixing everything together, top with the remaining cheese and bacon.
- Add the lid back to the crock pot for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
- Serve immediately.
How Long to Cook Potatoes in the Crock Pot (Frozen vs. Fresh)
- Frozen potatoes do not need to be thawed, peeled, or chopped, so you’ll save 5-10 minutes of prep by using frozen. They are partially cooked before freezing, so that makes up for the time they spend getting to temperature.
- Fresh potatoes should be chopped into small, uniform 1/2-inch cubes so they’ll cook evenly. Peel or don’t peel, whatever you personally prefer.
- Frozen potatoes release a lot of water, so stirring helps incorporate that liquid into the sauce. Fresh potatoes release less water, so the sauce comes out thicker. Add a splash of milk or broth to thin it out if you like.
- If they’re cut to the same size, fresh potatoes should cook at about the same rate as the frozen potatoes. Check around 2 hours on high or 3 hours on low, stirring occasionally to ensure the center potatoes are cooked evenly.
Cheesy Potatoes Crock Pot Tips
- Sprinkle the cooked cheesy funeral potatoes with chopped green onions for a nice chew and flavor.
- Cook your own bacon for this if possible since it has a nicer texture and taste than the bagged bacon bits.
- Use a crock pot liner if you want to make this easier for cleanup.
- For extra flavor, you could add some ranch seasoning into the slow cooker; we liked it in these ranch potatoes.
What to Serve With Cheesy Crockpot Potatoes
This is a great side dish that bulks up any meal, disappears quickly at potlucks, and is a kid-friendly option that doesn’t get complaints. Here are some of our favorite main courses to serve with these potatoes:
Storing and Reheating Slow Cooker Cheesy Potatoes
- Fridge: Cool and store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 3-4 days.
- Freezer: Cool completely, then store in freezer-safe container up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating for the best texture.
- Reheating: Individual servings can be microwaved in 30-second increments, stirring after each blast. To reheat the entire dish, you could place it in the oven in a covered casserole dish until hot or return to the slow cooker with a splash of milk stirred through the potatoes to keep them creamy.
Crockpot Potatoes FAQs
No, pour them in straight from the freezer. If you thaw them first, the dish comes out more watery
Yes, but you will need a larger slow cooker for a double batch. Stir often so that the potatoes in the center get cooked as well.
No, the frozen potatoes would thaw overnight in the fridge, so the cheesy sauce gets really thin and runny.
In my failed batches, I got watery potatoes when I let the potatoes thaw first and when I added too much butter. The potatoes turned out grainy when I overcooked them. If just the edges turned out grainy, stir the mixture more often and cook a little less next time.
More easy Crock Pot recipes
- Crockpot Chicken Tacos
- Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Slow Cooker Rotel Chicken
- Crockpot Crack Chicken
- Slow Cooker Cabbage Roll Soup
- Crockpot Mississippi Chicken
- Chicken Crack Crock Pot
Get the Recipe: Slow Cooker Cheesy Potatoes
Ingredients
- 32 ounces frozen diced potatoes
- 1 10.5 ounce cream of chicken soup
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons butter, cubed
- 1 teaspoon EACH garlic salt, garlic powder, and onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups shredded cheese, divided
- 1 cup bacon, cooked, chopped
Equipment
- slow cooker liner optional
Instructions
- Add your frozen potatoes to the pot and top with cream of chicken soup, sour cream, butter, spices and half of your cheese.
- Cook on low for 6 hours* and stir once. You can also cook on high for 2 hours; just stir once during cooking. You'll know the potatoes are done when they are fork-tender and mash easily on the side of the pot.
- Stir in half of the bacon right before serving. Top the dish with the rest of the cheese and bacon. Put the lid on the slow cooker for 5 additional minutes to melt the cheese and serve.
Also im using potatoes o’brian
im adding some ham cubes should I put those in from start or wait? Also my crock setting is on high.
Those stay good and juicy, so you should be able to have them in from the beginning! It also works fine to stir them in about 15 minutes before serving so they have time to warm up, so you can do whichever you prefer. Hope you enjoy!
would froze shredded hash browns work?
We haven’t tried this with shredded hash browns, but I think that would work! You may want to cook them a little less as they would cook faster and become nice and tender quicker than the diced potatoes. If you try it out, I’d love to know how it works for you!
can this recipe be doubled and in a 7 quart crockpot?
Yes, you will just need to be sure to stir it occasionally so the center is warmed through evenly. Enjoy!
Sounds delicious
This is the greatest cheesy potatoes recipe EVER. The bacon takes it over the top!
Hi Annie, this looks amazing! I’m bringing this to a potluck style event, and am planning to make them early in the morning (so they have the full 6 hours to cook before being transported) but then wondering if they’ll be okay to leave on a “warm” temp for most of the day — hoping they don’t get weird if they sit in the crockpot after they’ve finished and would love your thoughts!
Hi Allie, some crockpots run a bit warmer than others. If you feel like yours runs a bit on the warmer side, I think you could just do a cooking time of 4-5 hours, then leave them on warm, and they should be totally fine. I do not think you will have any issues, other than you may want to sir them so the edges do not get overcooked occasionally.