Pile in the potatoes, then go away.

The question is: If you cook a potato in your slow cooker, can you still call it a baked potato? Wouldn’t it technically be a crocked potato, considering the lack of actual baking?

While I don’t see “crocked potatoes” catching on anytime soon, I predict that cooking your spuds in the crockpot will. Slow cooking your scrubbed, whole potatoes results in a perfect, moist, ready-to-be-topped tater that seems to be almost foolproof.

Another upshot of the slow cooker baked potato is that it seems impossible for it to overcook or dry out. I wouldn’t want to test it for 24 hours just for kicks, but I did leave my potatoes in the crockpot for a whole three hours longer than I intended while I shopped. I nervously cut one open, and was hit with a blast of steam from a perfect potato specimen.

The slow cooker is reknowned for holding in moisture, so I suspect that overcooking would be very hard to do, considering the amount of liquid in just one potato. Oven-baked potatoes, however? You probably know as well as I do that overcooking by even just a little gets you a rock-hard skin on the outside and a gummy potato on the inside.

Of course the fun part of baked, crocked, or whatever-you-want-to-call-them potatoes is getting to top them. It might work for Las Vegas waitresses, but when it comes to potatoes, nobody likes them topless.

I opted for ricotta cheese, and a spinach-Parmesan mixture I whipped up on the fly, while the fiance opened a can of chili. We both ate two, making a meal out of them, and were thrilled to have leftovers to fry up the next morning with peppers and onions. Make extra –it’s worth it.

Potato with light Ricotta and sauteed spinach, garlic, onion, Parmesan, and Mozzarella cheese.

Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes Recipe

Ingredients: As many potatoes as you can fit in your slow cooker. (I recommend at least 4 just for even heat distribution.)

Directions: Scrub potatoes and prick with a fork multiple times. Wrap in foil and pile in the crock of your slow cooker. Cook on low 8-10 hours or high 3-4 hours. Do not add any water. Seriously.

Topping Ideas:

• *Traditional: butter, sour cream, cheese, chives, and bacon crumbles.
• *Thick Greek yogurt, green onions, and kalamata olives.
• *Ricotta cheese and spinach.
• *Hot chili and shredded cheddar.
• *Tuna salad or baked beans (They love it in England. No joke.)
• *Chunky garden salsa.
• *Chopped fresh tomatoes or sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Have a favorite potato topping, from the weird to the wonderful? Leave a comment and share it with other crock teases.

Some days I cook from completely fresh ingredients: choosing the best of the farmer’s market, snipping fresh herbs, slow-cooking a roux. Then, sometimes the very next day, I’ll eat a salad-in-a-bag and a can of Campbell’s Tomato Soup.

Anyone who exclusively eats one way or another is selling themselves short. If you always choose the shortcut, you’ll never know the taste of onions that have caramelized over several hours. Turn up your nose at convenience foods, and you’ll miss the airy childhood bliss of Cool Whip on Jell-O chocolate pudding (Devils Food flavor, if you can find it.)

That’s why pasta recipes are so universally loved. They’re easily adaptable to whichever cooking mood you’re in. If a recipe calls for a jarred sauce and you’d rather use homemade; go for it. Or vice-versa. Leave out the meat. Add double meat. Use fresh herbs. Lighten the cheese.

I tried cooking lasagna in the slow cooker as an experiment, and I’m absolutely thrilled with how it came out. There were no crispy bits of hard noodle like you get on the edges with oven baking. In my 4.5-quart Rival CrockPot, I had to break the noodles to fit the round crock. My lasagna was smaller than some, but a decadent mile high. If you have a large oval slow cooker, you can make your lasagna wider but more of a traditional thickness.

This recipe should adapt to any size slow cooker of 3 quarts or more. For a small crockpot, cut the recipe in half.

Doesn't this look yummy?

Then maybe you need to look more closely.

Slow Cooker Lasagna with Spinach, Mushrooms and Turkey Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground turkey
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup onions, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil (or non-stick spray)
2 25 oz jars pasta sauce (about 6 cups)
15 oz ricotta cheese
1 egg
3 cups cooked spinach, well-drained
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
3 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for topping
1 12 oz box lasagna noodles, uncooked

Directions: Brown meat in a pan with the garlic, onions, and olive oil. Remove from heat and stir in pasta sauce. In a medium bowl, beat one egg into the ricotta cheese until well mixed. Stir in spinach and mushrooms. Spray crock of your slow cooker with non-stick spray. Pour one cup of sauce/meat mixture into the bottom, then add a layer of uncooked noodles, breaking to fit your crockpot as needed. Top with one half of the spinach mixture, 1/3 of each of the cheeses, and 1/3 of the remaining sauce. Repeat layers again. Add one more layer of noodles, remaining sauce, and top with remaining cheese. Garnish with parsley or strips of fresh basil.

Cook on low 4-6 hours or high for 2-3 hours.

Tips: When I first cut my slow cooked lasagna, it was not quite as firm as some, though it tasted fantastic (the photos are of the pre-firm version.) I removed the lid and left it on warm. When I returned for seconds, the lasagna was perfectly firm, and cut into perfect squares. You won’t be disappointed either way, but if you have the time, removing the lid for the last part of cooking will give you a firmer lasagna.

Confession: I ate two slices of lasagna and didn't finish the salad. I heard my elliptical groan.

While I never make my lasagna the same way twice, I can guarantee one thing: I’ll never bake it in the oven again.