What Are Crock-Pot® Scalloped Potatoes?

Scalloped potatoes is a dish normally baked in an oven or cooked on top of a stove that contains potatoes, milk, butter, and cheese, and then is often topped with breadcrumbs. Crock-Pot® scalloped potatoes are the same dish that is instead prepared in a brand of slow cooker called a Crock-Pot®. These slow cookers are run by electricity and allow a person to make this potato dish, as well as other foods, without the use of a stove or an oven. When a person prepares Crock-Pot® potatoes, he cooks them much slower than he would on a stove over very low heat. Many people use this method of cooking because they can put the ingredients in the pot and then go on to do other things, without having to stand over a stove or deal with the heat an oven creates in the kitchen.

The ingredients a person uses to make Crock-Pot® scalloped potatoes are the same as those he uses for the dish if it is cooked on a stove or in an oven. This usually consists of sliced potatoes, milk or cream, butter, cheese, bread crumbs, and salt and pepper. Some people may, however, add additional ingredients in order to give this dish more flavor. For instance, a person might choose to add ham or bacon, and some people substitute soup, such as cream of mushroom or celery soup, for the milk or cream base one would normally use. Generally, any recipe a person would use to prepare this potato dish on the stove or in the oven is also suitable for Crock-Pot® scalloped potatoes.

The primary difference in cooking scalloped potatoes in a Crock-Pot® versus in an oven or on top of a stove is the time involved. With traditional preparation of this dish, a person can expect scalloped potatoes to cook in about an hour or less, depending on the cooking method and the ingredients included. With Crock-Pot® scalloped potatoes, however, one might cook these potatoes for eight hours or more on the lowest setting or about four hours on the highest setting.

While a person might wonder why an individual would want to spend eight hours cooking these potatoes, many people find Crock-Pot® cooking very convenient. Some people start their slow cookers in the morning and enjoy having their dinner cooked with no additional attention from them while they go about their day. In fact, some people even set their Crock-Pots® to cook before they go to work and appreciate coming home to a meal that is ready to eat.