Crockpot Corn Chowder with Potatoes & Bacon Recipe | Centless Meals (2024)

FAQs

Should I part boil potatoes before slow cooking? ›

But despite using steam power, a slow cooker can also make the crispiest potatoes this side of your oven. One insider hack is to parboil the potatoes for about 10 minutes before plain them in the slow cooker. By parboiling, you'll get a head start on cooking them by ensuring the potato flesh is cooked.

Add Flour Or Cornstarch

Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool. Add a few tablespoons of flour or cornstarch to the bowl and whisk until it's blended smooth. Next, bring the soup to a simmer and add the mixture back to the pot. Pro tip: Don't dump in the entire mixture at once.

Insufficient Liquid: If there wasn't enough liquid in the crockpot, it could have caused uneven cooking. Potatoes need to be fully submerged in liquid to cook evenly. Old Potatoes: Very old or stored potatoes can become starchy and may not soften as well during cooking. It's best to use fresh, firm potatoes.

Tender vegetables such as zucchini and beans can be added to your dish in last ¾ - 1 hour of cooking when cooking on High, or 2 hours if cooking on Low. Hard, starchy vegetables like potato and carrots are best added around 3 hours before the meal is done if cooking on High, and 4 hours on Low.

The most classic and surefire way to thicken a broth-based soup is with a cornstarch slurry. Whisk together equal parts cornstarch (or arrowroot) and water or broth, then whisk it into the pot of soup. A good ratio to get to a pleasant thickness without your soup tasting goopy or heavy is one tablespoon.

Even if you don't purée the soup with a blender, potatoes release starch as they cook — thickening the broth with a satisfying velvety consistency. In fact, we've written before about how helpful frozen hash browns can be when cooking creamy soups.

A roux is the most common thickener for sauces and soups and comes in three colors and strengths: white, blond, and brown.

Plus, you can set it and forget it, leaving your hands free to do other things. It depends how well-done you prefer your spuds, but in general, they'll be ready to eat after 4 to 6 hours in a slow cooker.

Not only does parboiling save you time, but can help your kitchen run more efficiently and effectively as well! Because your potatoes will cook faster when parboiled, their cooking time will be more in sync with whatever other ingredients you are using.

Cutting potatoes before boiling does aid in removing excess starch. Excess starch can make potatoes gummy or gluey. That said, cutting the potatoes too small can lead to too much water absorbing into the potatoes. A good rule of thumb is to go with a 2-inch dice on the potatoes before boiling them.

Will potatoes overcook in a slow cooker? ›

Be careful not to overcook the slow cooker baked potatoes, because they will become tough and even possibly burn. That's it! You'll have delicious Crock Pot roasted potatoes in virtually no time or effort. Now that you know how to bake potatoes in a Crock Pot, grab a fork and dig in!