A Weeknight Win: Slow-Cooker Loaded Potatoes—Your Essential Time-Saver Before the Big Turkey Day

The countdown is on. Whether you're hosting the big feast this year or traveling across state lines, the week leading up to Thanksgiving is notoriously frantic. Between final grocery runs, deep-cleaning the house, and starting the ambitious side dishes, the last thing anyone has energy for is a complicated weeknight dinner. We all need a culinary safety net—a dish that requires minimal effort but delivers maximum comfort. Friends, meet your new best friend: Slow-Cooker Loaded Potatoes.

This recipe is pure genius precisely because it lets your crock pot do all the heavy lifting. While your mind is busy calculating brine times for the turkey or debating the virtues of stuffing versus dressing, your dinner is quietly transforming itself into the ultimate comfort food. There's no pre-boiling, no extensive chopping, and virtually no post-dinner cleanup (thanks, slow-cooker liner!).

Imagine coming home after a long day of preparing for the holidays—maybe you just wrestled a turkey out of the freezer or perfected your pumpkin pie crust—and being greeted by the savory aroma of melted cheddar, smoky bacon, and tender potatoes. That’s the magic of this meal. You simply layer all the ingredients: tender baby potatoes, a generous blanket of sharp Cheddar, savory bacon crumbles, a whisper of fresh garlic, and a pop of green onion and paprika. Then, you set it and forget it for five to six hours.

When it’s ready, you have a hearty, satisfying, and completely loaded meal that tastes like an entire baked potato bar exploded with flavor. A final drizzle of cooling sour cream ties everything together, transforming a collection of simple ingredients into a dish that feels like a warm hug. It’s comforting, classic, and requires exactly zero minutes of stovetop stirring or oven watching.

This Slow-Cooker Loaded Potatoes recipe is more than just dinner; it’s a strategy for survival during the hectic holiday season. It ensures that even when your schedule is packed tighter than a suitcase before a long trip, you and your family can still sit down to a wholesome, delicious, and stress-free meal. Give yourself the gift of an easy weeknight. You’ve earned it—especially since you’re about to cook a feast for twenty!

Slow-Cooker Loaded Potatoes Recipe

For reference, this recipe is from Delish: Slow-Cooker Loaded Potatoes

Ingredients

• Cooking spray

• 2 lb. baby potatoes, halved (quartered if large)

• 3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

• 8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

• ¼ cup sliced green onions

• 1 tbsp. paprika

• Kosher salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• Sour cream, for drizzling

Directions

1. Prep the Slow Cooker: Line a slow cooker with foil (for easier cleanup) and spray with cooking spray.

2. Layer the Ingredients: Add half of the potatoes, then half of the cheese, garlic, cooked bacon, green onions, and paprika. Season generously with salt and pepper. Repeat the layering process with the remaining ingredients.

3. Cook: Cover and cook on high until the potatoes are tender, which will take approximately 5 to 6 hours. (Note: larger potatoes may require longer cooking time.)

4. Serve: Drizzle with sour cream just before serving.