Slow Cooker Sweet Potatoes

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Slow cooker sweet potatoes are the easiest way to make cooked sweet potatoes for serving as a side dish or mashing to use in a sweet potato casserole. They turn out perfectly tender with almost no effort!

A slow cooker pot has several sweet potatoes in it ready to bake.

I know it is almost Thanksgiving when I see those gorgeous piles of sweet potatoes mounting up at the grocery store.

Our holiday menu just isn't complete without my favorite make ahead sweet potato casserole.

When you're busy prepping all the dishes for the holiday meal, it's smart to take all the shortcuts you can get.

To make my sweet potato casserole, you need baked sweet potatoes but my oven is usually filled with other things!

The good news is, you can pop those potatoes right into a slow cooker for a hands-off way to bake them.

It's such an easy way to cook sweet potatoes that you just might find yourself serving them for weeknight dinners topped with butter, brown sugar, and a sprinkle of cinnamon, too!

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How to Prep the Sweet Potatoes

A pile of sweet potatoes ready to be baked.

Sweet potatoes often come from the store covered in dirt and grime.

You'll definitely want to give them a really good rinse and scrub with a vegetable brush under cold water.

Don't dry the potatoes, you want that little bit of moisture to cling to the potato skins. It is what will help them to cook better in the Crockpot.

Prick the Potatoes with a Fork: Yes or No?

When you're buying the potatoes, try to find ones that are a similar size so that they all cook evenly in the slow cooker, too.

When you bake potatoes, you're supposed to prick them with a fork so they don't explode during the baking process.

Just to be safe, I always prick my sweet potatoes with a fork before I put them in the slow cooker but since they cook so much more gently and slowly, you'll be fine skipping that step if you want.

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Prep the Slow Cooker

A crockpot with sweet potatoes inside.

Line your slow cooker with aluminum foil, especially if you pricked your sweet potatoes with a fork.

The little fork vents allow some of the sugary juices from the potato to leak out during the cooking process.

This sticky sugar can be a mess to clean up at the end, so the foil helps to speed things up.

Nestle the sweet potatoes into the slow cooker and cover.

Cook the Sweet Potatoes

Slow cooker sweet potatoes will take 3 - 4 hours on LOW or 6 - 7 hours on HIGH.

You'll know they are done when you can easily prick them with a fork or paring knife.

Serving Suggestions

A baked sweet potato has been split open to show how to top it.

A baked sweet potato is a fun alternative to a traditional baked potato for any weeknight dinner.

We love to top ours with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. A little dash of cayenne gives them a spicy-sweet flavor, too.

A stuffed sweet potato filled with BBQ pork.

You could also serve slow cooker sweet potatoes as a stuffed potato with my favorite pulled pork recipe or this easy barbecue chicken and a drizzle of sweet bbq sauce.

But when you're super busy making all the things for Thanksgiving dinner, using this slow cooker sweet potatoes recipe to prep the potatoes for my make-ahead sweet potato casserole is one of my favorite handy tips!

More Sweet Potato Recipes

And if you love baking with sweet potatoes, you won't want to miss my sweet potato mash with fresh pineapple and my crispy roasted sweet potatoes.

๐Ÿ“– Recipe

A slow cooker pot has several sweet potatoes in it ready to bake.

Slow Cooker Sweet Potatoes

5 from 4 votes
Need baked sweet potatoes for a side dish or to mash for a Thanksgiving side dish recipe? When you're busy in the kitchen and need an easy way to cook sweet potatoes, pop them into your slow cooker so you can focus on other tasks.
TOTAL TIME 4 hours 5 minutes
PREP TIME 5 minutes
COOK TIME 4 hours
YIELD 6 sweet potatoes

Ingredients
  

  • 6 whole sweet potatoes unpeeled

Instructions

  • Scrub the sweet potatoes with a vegetable brush and rinse them well in cold water. There is no need to dry them because the moisture from the washing will help to cook them in the slowcooker.
  • Line your Crock Pot with aluminum foil for easier clean up. Nestle the sweet potatoes into the bowl and cover.
  • Cook on LOW for 6 - 7 hours or on HIGH for 3 - 4 hours or until a fork can easily prick through the flesh of the potatoes.

Recipe Notes

Serving Ideas

Slice each sweet potato open and top with butter, a bit of brown sugar, and a dash of cinnamon and enjoy like a baked potato.
Scoop the flesh of the sweet potato out into a bowl and mash for using in my easy sweet potato casserole.
COURSESide Dishes
CUISINEAmerican

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The photo collage shows a pile of sweet potatoes next to a photo of the sweet potatoes in a crock pot.

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