The Creamiest Mashed Potatoes

Thanksgiving is coming up and if you’re in charge of mashed potatoes, this recipe has you covered! Super creamy, really fluffy, and perfectly seasoned. They’re super easy to make but a few tips and secrets will take a favorite side dish to the next level.

Let me just say I’ve always dreamed of making restaurant quality mashed potatoes at home and after this recipe, I can confidently say we have achieved that! One of my favorite restaurants Tender Greens has the creamiest mashed potatoes ever and my inspiration for this recipe was exactly their consistency. Not dry at all, melts in your mouth, and perfectly seasoned.

Fun fact, mashed potatoes are one of the first dishes I learned how to make! My childhood best friend’s older sister taught me how to make her famous recipe and ever since, my mom would always request me to make them to add to her dinner spread. It’s such a simple and easy side dish to make if done right. Now that I’ve gotten older, I’ve been able to adapt my own recipe including one secret trick she taught me of adding a bit of cream cheese. Simple is more when it comes to mashed potatoes and it’s all in the technique. Let’s make it!

THE SECRET TO PERFECT MASHED POTATOES

There are a few tips and tricks I use in my kitchen to make the perfect mashed potatoes! Let’s dive right into them.

THE NEXT THREE TIPS REVOLVE AROUND THE INGREDIENTS:

• GARLIC: Garlic makes everything better. The secret is to add whole garlic cloves along with the potatoes in the boiled water. The garlic will soften along with the potatoes, making them also mashable. The flavor they add is just beautiful. If you try this, you’ll never make mashed potatoes any other way. This was my own little trick I learned by just being lazy.
• CREAM CHEESE: My friend’s older sister said this was the secret to her mashed potatoes and now I never make mashed potatoes without adding a little bit. Some swear by sour cream but I like cream cheese more!
• LOTS OF DAIRY: I recently started using heavy cream and wow does it take the mashed potatoes to a whole another level. Feel free to swap it out for half and half or whole milk if you’d like to cut down on the richness though. The milk and butter is what will keep your mashed potatoes from being dry so don’t be shy with it.

THESE NEXT TIPS REVOLVE AROUND THE PROCESS/TECHNIQUE:

• After peeling the potatoes, do not add them to hot boiling water. Instead, add the peeled and chopped potatoes to a large pot along with the garlic and salt. Then pour in cold water and put the pot over high heat to bring to a boil. Once boiling, drop the heat and let the potatoes simmer. Simmering the potatoes instead of boiling helps prevent them from crumbling.
• Do not undercook the potatoes or you’ll have chunky mashed potatoes instead of smooth and creamy. Cook them until fork tender.
• After you drain the water from the boiled potatoes, return the potatoes to the SAME pot. The residual heat in the pot will dry out any excess water on the surface of the potatoes! No one wants watery potatoes.
• Make sure to use starchy potatoes NOT waxy. The best starchy potatoes to use are Yukon Gold or Russet. Use either or a blend of both! The reason why we don’t use waxy is because they turn out super gummy when mashed instead of fluffy. Yukon Gold will give the mashed potatoes a deeper yellow color while Russet will make your potatoes more white. Either way, it’s delicious.
• DO NOT cut the potatoes uneven when boiling them. You’ll end up with chunky raw potatoes in the mash since the bigger pieces will take longer to cook while the smaller pieces will be overcooked.
• Make sure to salt the water to incorporate some flavor into the potatoes.
• For the butter and milk, make sure to warm it up properly before adding to the mash so it doesn’t cool them down.

How to Make the Mashed Potatoes

PART 1. BOILING THE POTATOES:

Start out by peeling the potatoes and cutting them into equal pieces, about 1 inch thick. Add them to a large pot and fill it with cold water just about 1 inch above the potatoes. Add 4 garlic cloves to the water along with salt – about 2 teaspoons. Place the pot over high heat until the water comes to a boil. Once boiling, drop the heat to medium and allow the potatoes to keep cooking until fork tender – about 15 minutes. Drain the water and then add the potatoes and garlic back to the pot so the residual heat can dry out any excess water on the surface.

PART 2. MASHING AND MIXING:

While the potatoes are still hot, mash them along with the garlic using a potato masher, ricer, or a stand mixer/hand beater until there are no more chunks and it is super fluffy. Then it’s time to stream in melted unsalted butter and combine together. Now add the heavy cream and cream cheese and mix all together until everything is super smooth. Finally add some salt and freshly grated parmesan. Taste and adjust anything to your liking.

Feel free to customize the recipe to your taste. For example, if you like the mashed potatoes more thick, add less dairy. If you like the mashed potatoes more creamy and thin, add more dairy. If you want black pepper in your mashed potatoes, add some.

If you tried this recipe and loved it, drop by down below and let me know how you liked it with a rating and comment! Feel free to also leave a question there about this recipe and I’ll get right back to it.

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