This slow cooker 3-ingredient poor man’s potato and beef tallow dish is rooted in true wartime thrift cooking. My grandmother made a version of this during the war, when meat was scarce but rendered beef fat was precious and nothing went to waste. Potatoes, a bit of salt, and beef tallow were enough to make something deeply satisfying: tender, fluffy-centered potatoes with rich, savory, almost meaty flavor and crisped edges.
This modern slow-cooker version keeps the spirit of that recipe—simple, inexpensive pantry ingredients, very little hands-on time, and a surprisingly big payoff in flavor and texture.
Serve these potatoes hot, straight from the slow cooker or transferred to a warm platter, with a simple green salad or steamed vegetables to balance the richness. They’re fantastic alongside eggs for breakfast, with roasted or grilled vegetables for a budget-friendly dinner, or as a hearty side under a ladle of beans or lentils. A slice of crusty bread to swipe through the extra glossy beef tallow is very much in the spirit of the original wartime table.
Slow Cooker 3-Ingredient Poor Man’s Potato and Beef Tallow
Servings: 4
Ingredients
2 teaspoons kosher salt (or 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt)
Directions
Lightly grease the inside of your slow cooker crock with a small amount of the beef tallow to help prevent sticking and encourage some browning where the potatoes touch the sides.
Place the potato chunks in the slow cooker. Sprinkle the salt evenly over the potatoes.
Drizzle the remaining beef tallow over the salted potatoes. Use clean hands or a spoon to toss everything together until the potatoes are well coated in tallow and the salt is distributed as evenly as possible.
Cover the slow cooker with the lid and cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours, or on LOW for 6 to 7 hours, until the potatoes are very tender when pierced with a fork. Avoid lifting the lid during the first 2 hours to keep the heat consistent.
Once the potatoes are tender, gently stir them, scraping up any golden bits from the edges of the crock and coating everything in the glossy, rendered tallow. Some pieces will break apart slightly, showing their fluffy interiors—that’s perfect.
