This mashed potatoes recipe is so good and can be used for a weekday dinner, Thanksgiving, or a special occasion dinner. Your family and friends will love these lushly smooth potatoes. This creamy mashed potato is so good and can be used for weekday dinner, Thanksgiving, or a special occasion dinner. Your family and friends will love these lushly smooth potatoes.
In our family, potatoes are a staple in almost every meal. Well, maybe not every single meal, but they are definitely a first choice over rice or something like that. My husband is always the masher because he can mash them to the perfect fluffy consistency without making them soupy.
Some cooks believe the best way to make mashed potatoes is by using a ricer, but I find the way I make them, they turn out just as smooth using a hand masher or electric beater.
These mashed potatoes are a great accompaniment with roasted chicken, pesto chicken, turkey dinner, beef roast dinner, and pork chops.
Mashed potato ingredients
Here is a list of the ingredients to make this homemade mashed potato recipe. You will find the full recipe at the bottom of this post.
- Potatoes My favorite picks for potatoes are Yukon gold or red potatoes. I find a Yukon gold potato makes for a really creamy mashed potato, unlike a russet potato.
- “Salt and pepper” For optimum flavor, I like to salt the cooking water as well as salt and pepper the mashed potatoes.
- Toppings: There are a varied number of toppings for your mashed potatoes. My favorite way to eat them is with a sprinkle of chives, bacon bits, and a little bit of butter.
5 Tips for the Best Mashed Potatoes
- Use Yukon gold potatoes. These are the best potatoes for mashing.
- Boil in large pieces I learned this tip recently that if you cut your potatoes into small pieces, water will make its way into your potatoes, and this means more liquid and less flavor. I cut mine in half or quarters. It takes a little more time to cook, but the end product is so much better. Another option is to cook them with the peels on and then peel them before you mash them.
- Keep your potatoes hot. To have that nice creamy texture, you want to mash your potatoes while they are still hot, so as soon as they have boiled and drained, start mashing and combining.
- Add fat first. You want to add the fat first, so in this case it would be butter and sour cream. This helps the mashed potato remain firm.
- Don’t add the liquid all at once Working in the liquid in small amounts helps the potatoes slowly absorb the liquid and also helps that you don’t add too much liquid and end up with liquid potatoes instead of fluffy silky potatoes.
How to make mashed potatoes
- Peel potatoes I like to peel my potatoes before cooking them and then cover them with an inch of cold water. You can leave the peels on and remove them once cooked, but I find that a step that slows down the process. I will sometimes leave the peels on and mash them into the potatoes, not as smooth but still pretty creamy.
- Mash the potatoes Now it’s time to mash those potatoes. I know some recipes call for a potato ricer, which you can definitely use, but I use a regular potato masher, which you are used to using. Make sure you mash them thoroughly.
- Fold everything together Add in the butter and sour cream and mash until smooth.
- Fixings Our favorite toppings are baked potatoes with cheese, bacon bits, and chives. You can add anything you like, though, and enjoy!
Mashed Potatoes
Equipment
- 1 potato masher
- 1 potato ricer optional
Ingredients
- 2 lbs potatoes
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp butter
- ½ cup sour cream
Instructions
- Make the mashed potatoes: Place the potatoes and 1 teaspoon of salt in a large pot and fill with enough water to cover the potatoes by 1 inch. Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Drain
- use a ricer or a potato masher to mash the potatoes into a large bowl. Add butter and sour cream until smooth and creamy or reaches desired creaminess.
- Add additional topping like chives, bacon, or cheddar cheese serve and enjoy.
Any potato can make a good mashed potato. But as you said, the Yucan potato makes the most creamy mashed potato. Love your suggestions for the toppings.