Merri Ann's Crockpot Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

 

It's coming home time to family and friends and home-cooked meals. Even meat and potatoes like your grandmother used to make can be easy--so easy that you can do it even on a weeknight.

Here's how you do it.

You put the potatoes i the crockpot so that all you have to do is mash them. The gravy?--just add water. The meat?--it's tough to cook a roast when you're at work. Have your meal on Sunday. Or cook it on Sunday and stick it in the fridge for later.

You've got to admit, this is a lot easier to--less work. And that leftover beef and gravy?--that's for hot beef sandwiches later in the week, maybe on Fully Loaded Baked Potato Bread. Life is good. 

 

The Sunday Morning Church Formula

When we would get back from church, we were ravenous, and the kids were impatient. Merri Ann would take the potatoes out of the crockpot and mash them. I was in charge of the gravy.

That was before I discovered instant gravy from a mix. She would have the potatoes mashed before I made the gravy. Now, she can't beat me.

See all the gravy mixes:

• Monarch Beef Gravy
• Monarch Turkey Gravy
• Monarch Chicken Gravy
• Monarch Country Gravy Mix

 

I'm partial to the country gravy. I use it on everything, almost like a white sauce. It's the gravy that country diners use for their biscuits and gravy. See how to make biscuits and gravy.

If you are making meatloaf, baked ham, or anything else that doesn't produce drippings, this is your gravy. You'll find lots of suggested uses on the country gravy product page.

Merri Ann's crockpot potatoes is a simple combination of several recipes that she found online with her simple seasoning. All you do is throw the ingredients into the crockpot and walk away.

You’ll have creamy crockpot mashed potatoes when you get home with minimal effort.

Crockpot Mashed Potatoes

She used seven pounds of potatoes, which maxed out a large crockpot. The recipe below is scaled back to five pounds of potatoes. We mashed them right in the crockpot. If we had mashed them with the paddle in the stand-type mixer, they would have been fluffier, but that would have been an extra step and a dirty bowl. 

 

Crockpot Mashed Potato Recipe

Ingredients:

• 5 lbs. Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks
• 1 stick of butter, cut into cubes
• 2 cups chicken broth
• pepper to taste
• Minced garlic (optional)

 

Directions:

1. Place the potatoes, chicken broth, butter, and minced garlic (if desired) in the crockpot. Cook on high for 4 to 5 hours.
2. Mash the potatoes in the crockpot.
3. Add seasoning and other preferred additions such as sour cream, cream cheese, ranch seasoning, bacon bits, or shredded cheese.

 

That’s it! Enjoy!

Mashed Potato Variations

Some recipes called for cream cheese or sour cream to make them creamier. We preferred the recipes that used butter and broth instead. Not everyone likes garlic at our house, so we omitted that. It’s really up to you to decide what you and your family like.