Slow Cooker Garlic-Stuffed Baked Potatoes

I am always on the lookout for side dish recipes that can be made in the slow cooker while my chicken roasts in the oven.  That way they can both be done at the same time and don't have to take turns in the oven.  I definitely found a winner in this recipe.  It comes from the blog A Year of Slow Cooking.


Slow Cooker Garlic-Stuffed Baked Potatoes


Ingredients:
4 large Russet potatoes
8 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
Salt
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp olive oil


Directions:
Wash the potatoes and pat dry.  Carefully slice each potato crosswise every ½”, almost but not all the way through.  The potato should start to separate a bit like an accordion.  Place as many garlic slices as you can into each potato slit.


Nestle the potatoes into a 6 quart slow cooker.  Don’t worry if they don’t all sit on the bottom; it’s okay if they just nestle against each other.  Sprinkle liberally with salt.  Combine the melted butter and the olive oil and drizzle it over the top of each potato, trying to get it into the slits, if possible.  Cover and cook on high 2 to 3 hours.  The potatoes are done when a knife inserts easily and the potato flesh is fluffy.  


Makes 4 servings.

These potatoes are so good!  I know that 8 cloves sounds like a lot of garlic, but when it slow cooks like this, it just gets all soft and sweet.  These potatoes definitely have a nice garlic flavor to them, but it's not overpowering.  I highly recommend using The Pampered Chef's Garlic Slicer.  It slices the garlic paper thin, much thinner than I could ever do myself.  And it's really easy to use. It's the perfect tool for this application.  (No, I don't sell Pampered Chef, I just really love their products!)

The original recipe suggests serving these with sour cream, and I'm sure they would be good that way, but we loved them just as they were.  

A note on the cooking time: mine were perfect at 2 hours and 45 minutes.  My husband was working late last night, so I turned the slow cooker to "warm" until he got home and the chicken was done.  They were in there another hour or so before we ate.  They got a little bit more done, but not overdone.

The raw potatoes with raw garlic.

I have a feeling this is going to be one of my go-to potato dishes for busy weeknights.