Crockpot Cheesy Potatoes
These Crockpot Cheesy Ranch Potatoes Recipe make an easy side dish you can make for dinner tonight. They’re so tender with the perfect combination of cheese, bacon, and a creamy ranch sauce. They’re truly mouth-watering.
Love using your Crockpot as much as I do? Next try my Crockpot Mississippi Pot Roast, Crockpot Pork Chops, and the best Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup.
Why You’ll Love These Crockpot Cheesy Potatoes!
- No Need to Stand Over a Hot Oven. I don’t know about you, but cooking 86 different things on the stove for dinner is not something I love to do. Cooking these potatoes in the slow cooker means one less thing on the stove.
- Hands-Free and No-Fuss Cooking. Prep these up real quick and come back later to delicious potatoes! Not having to supervise them on the stove as you’re trying to prep the rest of dinner is a big win-win in my book!
- Always a Crowd Pleaser. Whether you’re cooking for just the family or have guests over for a small dinner party – these potatoes are sure to be a hit!
- Versatile Dish! Serve them up for a comfort food snack or as an EXCELLENT side dish for dinner.
- Great Flavor. What’s not to love about a creamy Ranch-flavored sauce, cheese, and bacon.
Ingredients
These easy crockpot potatoes require just a handful of simple ingredients you can easily grab what you need on your next grocery store run.
- Potatoes: Red potatoes work best for this recipe! They are thinner than russet potatoes and soak up flavors way better. Not to mention the added flavor profile these potatoes have. But if you’d prefer, you can also use russet potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes (also known as yellow potatoes).
- Sour Cream: This creates the perfect creamy flavor for your potatoes.
- Ranch: This simple dry seasoning mix adds tons of flavor to the creamy sauce for cooking these potatoes.
- Milk: Just a bit of milk to provide the liquid for the potatoes to cook!
- Cheese: Essential for the cheesy flavor in your potatoes. We always use cheddar but other types of cheese work too.
- Bacon: Crispy bacon adds the finishing touch to these slow cooker potatoes.
Tips & Variations
- Don’t Over Cook the Potatoes. Unlike other slow cooker recipes, you can’t pop these potatoes in and be gone all day by any means. They actually cook in only a couple of hours on high heat.
- Lower Calorie and Fat. Swap the whole milk and cheese for lower-fat versions. Just note that these lower-fat options may make the sauce a bit less rich and creamy.
- Change Up the Cheese. Cheeses with unique flavors such as Pepper Jack cheese and smoked gouda make an easy way to change up the flavors of your cheesy potatoes.
- Make It Meatless. Simply leave out the bacon! If you still want a salty, crispy topping consider adding some crispy fried onions.
How To Make Cheesy Potatoes in the Crockpot
This dish is mostly hands-free with only a few minutes of prep at the start of cooking. Here’s a look at the main steps.
- Mix the Liquid: Combine the sour cream, ranch, and milk in a small bowl and whisk together.
- Add the Potatoes: Place your chopped potatoes in the bottom of the crockpot.
- Pour the Mixture Over the Potatoes. Make sure to cover it completely and cook until the potatoes are tender and fully cooked.
- Add the Cheese and Bacon. Mix everything together and serve when the cheese is melted with sour cream and chives.
What To Serve With Cheesy Potatoes
Planning a holiday party or get-together? These cheesy potatoes make an ideal side dish. Here are some meal-planning ideas of what to serve with them.
- Appetizers: These Stuffed Mushrooms, Pumpkin Dip, Pretzel Dip, and Potato Chip Dip are a great way to start the party!
- Drinks: Cheers, everyone will love this Brandy Slush, Homemade Lemonade (just add vodka!) and Cranberry Holiday Punch.
- Meat/Seafood: We love mixing it up with a Bottom Roast, Crockpot Ham, Air Fryer Pork Tenderloin, and even Shrimp.
- Salads: A fresh Cucumber Tomato Salad is always a hit or try my Grape Salad, Greek Tortellini Salad, and Fruit Salad.
- Sides: You can never have enough side dishes, so try my Corn Casserole, Sweet Potato Casserole, Green Beans, Glazed Carrots, and Roasted Brussels Sprouts.
- Dessert: It wouldn’t be a party without dessert, try my Cinnamon Cake, Pumpkin Cake, Christmas Cut-Out Cookies, and everyone’s favorite Orange Creamsicle Cookies.
Recipe FAQ
It depends on the size you cut your potatoes. I prefer to cut them into small cubes about a half inch big and they will usually cook in two hours. If you cut them into larger pieces they will need additional time to cook.
Yes, they can. They can cook too much and end up way to soft and can even burn on the bottom. Be sure to check them at two hours to determine if they are ready or if you need to cook a bit longer.
Sure, the sour cream give the cheesy potatoes creaminess and tanginess. For a similar flavor and consistency you can use Greek yogurt. Creamy soups such as cream of chicken or cream of mushroom work well too and will make it creamy but it won’t have the same flavor profile.
Sure thing! You’ll follow the same recipe, cooking it on low in a pot on the stovetop and stir constantly. Another option is to boil the potatoes first and add the other ingredients later. But I think they taste better and are more flavorful when the potatoes are cooked with the milk mixture.
Leftovers & Storing
- Store. If you happen to have leftovers, although you might not have any because these are so good, store them in an airtight container and placing them in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
- Reheat. Place the potatoes on a plate and microwave in 30 second increments until they are your preferred temperature.
PRO TIP: Do not freeze these slow cooker cheesy ranch potatoes. Due to the dairy in the recipe they don’t freeze well.
More Side Dish Recipes
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Crockpot Cheesy Potatoes
Ingredients
- 5 pounds baby red potatoes, diced
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 packet ranch dressing and seasoning mix
- ½ cup milk
- Cheddar cheese
- 12 pieces of bacon cooked crisp and crumbled.
Instructions
- Place the potatoes in the crockpot.
- In a small bowl, combine sour cream, ranch seasoning and milk. Pour over potatoes.
- Cook on high for 2 hours or until potatoes are done.
- Add cheddar cheese and bacon. Mix and turn down crockpot to low.
- Once cheese is melted they are ready to eat. Serve with sour cream & chives.
Notes
- Don’t Over Cook the Potatoes. Unlike other slow cooker recipes, you can’t pop these potatoes in and be gone all day by any means. They actually cook in only a couple hours on high heat.
- Lower Calorie and Fat. Swap the whole milk and cheese for lower fat versions. Just note that these lower fat options may make the sauce a bit less rich and creamy.
- Change Up the Cheese. Cheeses with unique flavors such as Pepper Jack cheese and smoked gouda make an easy way to change up the flavors of your cheesy potatoes.
- Make It Meatless. Simply leave out the bacon! If you still want a salty, crispy topping consider adding some crispy fried onions.
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