We had these amazing Crock Pot Salt Baked Potatoes for supper last nigh and I had to share this with you! Crock pot salt baked potatoes are so easy to make and so much like steakhouse baked potatoes! I have long been puzzled by how to get the same texture as you find in a steakhouse. I don’t know if this is how they make them, but it’s just like what I’ve had in a steakhouse restaurant.
You only need four things to impress your family with amazing Crock Pot Salt Baked Potatoes!
- Crock Pot
- Potatoes
- Healthy, traditional fat such as butter or olive oil
- Kosher salt, 2-3 cups (I have used regular salt with no problems)
Start with a good baking potato, such as Russet. The size of your crock pot as well as potatoes will determine how many you can do at one time. I used my smaller crock pot, which I think is 3 1/2 quarts (I can never remember the size, and wish the manufacturers would put that information on the unit somewhere!). My potatoes were on the small side, and I put 6 in there with room to spare.
Put a layer of salt in the bottom of your crock pot about one inch deep. Scrub your potatoes clean, pat dry, prick with a fork and coat well with a healthy, traditional fat such as butter or olive oil. Place potatoes in the crock pot.
Cover with the rest of the salt, making sure that all of the potatoes are covered. The top will form a “crust” which keeps the moisture in so this is important. Cover and set your crock pot on high and cook for two hours or until they are fork-tender. Carefully break the salt crust and dig out the cooked potatoes. I call it a carb-eological dig. The potatoes will be very done so be careful! Brush off excess salt.
Let the salt cool completely…BUT don’t throw it out! It can be re-used up to 10 times! I do try to pick out any bits of potato skin that may have been scraped off during the dig, but since salt has been used for centuries to preserve foods I’m not worried about bacteria building up during storage. I usually let the salt sit in the crock pot over night to make sure it dries out before storing it.
Salt baking is commonly used for fish, and as early as 4 BC was a method used (possibly earlier). This post has a nice little history about salt baked fish. I’m not a big fan of fish, although I may get adventurous some time and it. Maybe. For now, I’ll stick to making these delicious Crock Pot Salt Baked Potatoes to go along side a delicious steak (or this delicious Brown Bag Chicken) and salad – and skip the high prices and questionable ingredients one might find in a restaurant!
Have you ever baked in salt before?
Crock Pot Salt Baked Potatoes
Ingredients
- Crock Pot
- Potatoes
- Healthy, traditional fat such as butter or olive oil
- Kosher salt, 2-3 cups (I have used regular salt with no problems)
Instructions
- Start with a good baking potato, such as Russet. The size of your crock pot as well as potatoes will determine how many you can do at one time.
- Put a layer of salt in the bottom of your crock pot about one inch deep.
- Scrub your potatoes clean, pat dry, prick with a fork and coat well with a healthy, traditional fat such as butter or olive oil. Place potatoes in the crock pot.
- Cover with the rest of the salt, making sure that all of the potatoes are covered. The top will form a "crust" which keeps the moisture in so this is important.
- Cover and set your crock pot on high and cook for two hours or until they are fork-tender.
- Carefully break the salt crust and dig out the cooked potatoes.
- The potatoes will be very done so be careful! Brush off excess salt.
- Let the salt cool completely...BUT don't throw it out! It can be re-used up to 10 times!
Beth James says
Thanks for posting this recipe, but it did not work for me at all. The potatoes I could salvage from the hard salt crust were WAY. too salty. I’m not sure if I did it wrong or it’s just ridiculously impractical.
dawnyoder says
I’m so sorry to hear that! I’ve made potatoes this way many times with no problems. I’m not sure what might have happened. The skins will be salty of course (did you make sure to brush off as much excess salt as you could?), but the insides should not be.
Joycekk says
I have made this with a class of Family and Consumer Sciences (8th graders) along with 3 other types of crock pot potatoes and this was the hands-down favorite!
dawnyoder says
Yay! Your 8th graders have terrific taste 😉 I’m not eating potatoes anymore (trying to lose weight) and I have to say I sure do miss these. Thanks for stopping by with the ringing endorsement 🙂