This Easy Homemade Mashed Potatoes recipe is pure homemade comfort food! This mashed potatoes is rich, creamy and packed with great flavors, simple to make, and always a crowd pleaser. This is such an easy side dish, perfect for the holidays or any time you’re after a hearty side dish.
Since the holiday season is upon us, I thought it would be a great idea to start sharing with you some of my favorite dishes that are great for all types of holidays, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas!
If you’re looking for more sides dishes, also try my delicious Oven Baked Brussels Sprouts or my Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots. They are some of my reader’s favorite side dish recipes.
Why you’ll love this Simple Mashed Potatoes Recipe
- Rich and creamy. Made with sour cream, milk and butter – these fluffy mashed potatoes are dreamy creamy!
- Garlic potatoes. These creamy mashed potatoes have a lovely garlic hit, of course you can leave it out if you want – but I highly recommend including it!
- An easy side dish. Made with a few pantry staples and super simple to prep, you can easily scale this recipe up to feed the crowd.
- A versatile side dish. This recipe is the best side dish recipe you can serve with so many proteins. It’s my family’s favorite all year round!
Ingredients you’ll need
- Yukon Gold Potatoes– This is my favorite type of potato to make mashed potatoes because they are creamy and buttery, as well as have a sweet flavor to it. But I also like to use Russet potatoes when I don’t have Yukon gold in hand.
- Sour Cream– I love the flavor sour cream add to mashed potatoes. If you don’t have sour cream, you can use plain cream cheese instead.
- Salt & Pepper– the best to flavor the mashed potatoes.
- Milk– to add creaminess to the dish. Powdered milk also works.
- Butter– get sweet cream butter or any kind of good quality full fat butter. Don’t use light butter spreads. Melt some extra for topping the mashed potatoes dish.
- Chives– this is one of my favorite herbs to go with mashed potatoes. You can mix it into the potatoes itself or garnish the dish with it.
- Garlic: optional
How To Make Homemade Mashed Potatoes from Scratch
- Parboil your potatoes – Bring a pot filled half way with water to boil. Add in the salt and the cubed, peeled potatoes then cook until they are fork soft (enough to easily insert a fork).
- Mash – Drain the water and return potatoes to pot. Add in the butter, garlic, salt to taste, hot milk and mash well with a potato masher until you obtain and very creamy texture.
- Serve – Remove and transfer the mashed potatoes to a serving bowl. Drizzle 2 tbsps. of melted butter on top and then crack some fresh ground pepper on top. Garnish with some chopped chives and serve.
Tips To Make The Best Mashed Potatoes Recipe
- Use Yukon Golden or Russet Potatoes.
- Cut your potatoes into big cubes. Cutting them up too small gives water more of an opportunity to make its way inside the potatoes and will make them too watery.
- Start cooking the potatoes in cold water to ensures that the potatoes cook evenly. Otherwise, if you start with hot or boiling water, the outsides of the potatoes cook and soften while the middles are still hard and crunchy.
- If you want a really creamy taste and texture, you can’t let the potatoes cool before mashing, you want to start mashing as soon as they are drained.
- Salt the water you cook them in.
- Drain well to avoid mushy potatoes.
- Tastes constantly! This is so important, season and taste often so you can get the right level of salt and pepper into the recipe.
- Do not use a food processor.
- If you would like to whip the potatoes up in a cake mixer and use the whipping whisk, you can do so as well and transfer back to the pot.
- Use full fat milk, cheese and sour cream and butter.
- Melt butter with herbs to infuse flavors if adding in herbs.
Frequently Asked Questions
A lot of people think potatoes are not “healthy” because they come with quite a bit of carbs. But potatoes can be healthy based on how you cook them and what your goals are as far as nutritional intake. Potatoes are low in fat and have many vitamins and nutrients. If you are on a low carb diet, potatoes might not be the best option for you.
The best two types for mashing are Yukon Golden Potatoes and Russet Potatoes. You want potatoes that are starchy and have a buttery consistency. Red and white potatoes require more mashing and can sometimes lead to a pasty or sticky consistency. That’s why you must choose the right type of potatoes to make the best and creamiest mashed potato recipe!
The best way to reheat mashed potatoes is to just put them in the microwave (covered with plastic wrap) and heat them for a couple minutes until warmed through, then give them a good stir before serving.
Yes, simply follow the recipe instructions and allow the mashed potatoes to cool completely. Once cooled, store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator until ready to use then reheat in the microwave.
The best way would be using a potato masher right after you drain the water and the potatoes are still hot. Do not use a blender or food processor because it will cause the potatoes to get sticky.
Yes you can. Simply add a little bit more butter and milk to the recipe if you are planning on freezing them. Cool completely then store them in a airtight container or freezer bag.
Best Additions to Mashed Potatoes?
You can add basically anything you like to your mashed potatoes. Some examples are:
- Cream Cheese
- Cheddar Cheese
- Blue Cheese
- Sour cream
- Dill
- Chili Flakes
- Chopped Onions
- Thyme
- Parsley
- Rosemary
- Bacon Bites
More Side recipes To Try
- Oven Roasted Parmesan Herbed Potatoes
- Parmesan Herbed Potatoes
- Spicy Cilantro Hassleback Potatoes
- Crispy Air Fryer Roasted Potatoes
- Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
I hope you enjoy all the recipes I share with you, including this Easy Homemade Mashed Potatoes recipe. I hope you try it, enjoy it, rate it and share it with your friends and family!
If you try this recipe and liked it, please leave a star rating and comment below. Use my hashtag to share it with me on Instagram so I can see your delicious recreations! Also, follow me at Cookin’ With Mima on FACEBOOK |INSTAGRAM |PINTEREST for all of my latest social posts and recipes.
Easy Homemade Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. Yukon golden potatoes
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 tsps. salt 1 for boiling, 1 to adjust the taste
- 1/2 cup butter + 2 tbsps. melted for topping
- 1/2 cup hot milk
- 1 tsp. grated garlic optional
- Chives and fresh ground black pepper for garnishing
Instructions
- Peel and dice the potatoes into 2 inch cubes. Rinse and set aside.
- Bring a pot filled half way with water to boil. Add in the salt and potatoes and cook until they are fork soft (enough to easily insert a fork)
- Drain the water and return potatoes to pot. Add in the butter, salt to taste, hot milk and mash well with a potato masher until you obtain and very creamy texture. Note, if you are adding garlic, melt the butter and garlic together at the same time to infuse the garlic flavor.
- Remove and transfer the mashed potatoes to a serving bowl. Drizzle 2 tbsps. of melted butter on top and then crack some fresh ground pepper on top. Garnish with some chopped chives and serve.
- You can cover and keep on low for a few more minutes and then remove to serve.
Notes
- Use Yukon Golden or Russet Potatoes.
- Cut your potatoes into big cubes. Cutting them up too small gives water more of an opportunity to make its way inside the potatoes and will make them too watery.
- Boil the water before adding in the potatoes.
- If you want a really creamy taste and texture, you can’t let the potatoes cool before mashing, you want to start mashing as soon as they are drained.
- Salt the water you cook them in.
- Drain well to avoid mushy potatoes.
- Tastes constantly! This is so important, season and taste often so you can get the right level of salt and pepper into the recipe.
- Do not use a food processor.
- If you would like to whip the potatoes up in a cake mixer and use the whipping whisk, you can do so as well and transfer back to the pot.
- Use full fat milk, cheese and sour cream.
- Melt butter with herbs to infuse flavors if adding in herbs.
- Feel free to omit the garlic, these recipe still tastes great!
Leave A Reply & Rate Recipe