Easy Mashed Potatoes

by Sabrina Snyder

Last updated on

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5 from 20 votes
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These easy Mashed Potatoes are creamy, buttery and are the perfect side dish with almost any meal. They only need 5 ingredients and is ready in under 30 minutes!

Side dishes make the meal, and around here we’re already practicing for the holidays with Green Bean Casserole, Baked Mac and Cheese and Easy Apple Sausage Stuffing.

Mashed Potato Recipe

EASY MASHED POTATOES RECIPE

The perfect mashed potatoes to serve alongside your steak, Baked Ham (mine may be the best you’ll ever have) or turkey in the holiday season and it makes enough for a crowd! Easily halved for smaller meals, this recipe is simple and open to your favorite add ins!

Mashed Potatoes are a time tested side dish recipe that pairs perfectly with most steak or chicken recipes. Personally, I like to make mashed potatoes with russet potatoes, but if you’re not in the mood to peel them you can also use Yukon Gold or red potatoes.

HOW DO YOU MAKE THE PERFECT MASHED POTATOES

  • In a large pot, add potatoes and boil for a total time of 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are soft and a fork goes through easily.
  • Drain the potatoes. Add back to the pot and set aside.
  • Heat the butter and milk in a separate pan, or microwave until butter is melted.
  • Add butter and spices to the potatoes. Mash potatoes together until there are no large lumps.

For this recipe I used my largest stockpot WITH a basket. You can buy a large fryer, like this one that comes with a basket. Plus since it is a fryer it is going to do double duty for you. I used my All-Clad one I got from our wedding registry but it is totally unnecessary to buy something that expensive.

MORE CLASSIC DINNER RECIPES:

HOW TO MASH POTATOES WITHOUT A MASHER

If you don’t have a traditional potato masher, you can use another common kitchen tool to achieve creamy mashed potatoes. An electric hand mixer is so much easier and faster, that you’ll be pulling it out to mash all of your potato recipes from now on.

Perfect Mashed Potato Recipe

CAN YOU SUBSTITUTE SOUR CREAM FOR MILK IN MASHED POTATOES?

If you have sour cream that you want to use up, you can use that instead of milk in this mashed potatoes recipe.

Sour cream can help the potatoes have a nice creamy texture, while the flavor goes really well with a savory side dish like this. The rule of thumb is to add 1/2 cup sour cream to replace one cup of milk, and add more as needed once you are mashing the potatoes.

You can also add evaporated milk in place of milk in your recipe if you’re looking for a shelf stable option.

You can also add cream cheese or mascarpone cheese for an extra creamy and tangy texture like in this Richest, Cheesiest, Crispy Mashed Potatoes.

HOW MANY POTATOES SHOULD YOU MAKE PER PERSON FOR MASHED POTATOES

Potatoes can come in all shapes and sizes. If using large potatoes, use 1-2 per person. If small, use 2-3 potatoes per person.

A good rule of thumb is to go by how many pound of potatoes you have. a 3 pound bag of potatoes should feed 5-6 people comfortably, which leaves you at about 1/2 pound per person.

Mashed Potato Flavor Variations:

  1. Garlic Rosemary Mashed Potatoes: Add your favorite herbs! Fresh minced rosemary or sage would be wonderful.
  2. Brown Butter Thyme Mashed Potatoes: Brown the butter before adding it in with the warmed milk and add some fresh thyme.
  3. Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes: Caramelize onions deeply in the butter and add goat cheese.
  4. Cheddar and Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes: Add cheddar and sour cream (1 cup cheese, 1/2 cup sour cream).
  5. Garlic Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes: Add olive oil instead of butter and mince up as much fresh garlic as you can handle.
  6. Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes: Roast a head of garlic and add the whole head of it to the potatoes as you mash them (don’t worry roasted garlic has a sweet, muted flavor).
  7. Bacon Mashed Potatoes: Bacon fat used in place of butter and bacon crumbles throughout.
  8. Loaded Mashed Potatoes: Add your favorite baked potato toppings, cheese, bacon, chives and sour cream.
  9. Spinach Artichoke Mashed Potatoes: Add spinach and artichokes to a food processor. Add 1/2 a cup of each to the potatoes with 2 cups of Parmesan Cheese.
  10. Cajun Mashed Potatoes: Add jerk or cajun seasoning to kick up the spice and flavor easily.

MORE DELICIOUS HOLIDAY SIDE DISHES:

Creamy Mashed Potatoes in green pot

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Mashed Potato Recipe
5 from 20 votes
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Easy Mashed Potatoes Recipe

Mashed Potatoes are a creamy and buttery side dish in under 30 minutes!

Course Side, vegetarian
Cuisine American
Keyword Easy Mashed Potatoes, mashed potatoes
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 12
Calories 184 kcal
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients

  • 5 pounds potatoes , (either Russet or a mix with Russet and Yukon)
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 2/3 cup whole milk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  1. Peel and quarter potatoes and put in cold water until ready to cook (up to 4 hours ahead of time).

  2. In a large stockpot bring 1 gallon of water and 2 tablespoons of salt to a boil along with the potatoes and boil for 15-18 minutes.

  3. Add the milk and butter together in a small saucepan and heat until steaming.

  4. Drain the potatoes and put them back into the pot on low heat and mash them well before adding in the milk and butter mixture and continuing to mash the potatoes until as creamy as desired.

Recipe Notes

For perfectly fluffy mashed potatoes use a ricer.

Nutrition Facts
Easy Mashed Potatoes Recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 184 Calories from Fat 72
% Daily Value*
Fat 8g12%
Saturated Fat 5g31%
Cholesterol 21mg7%
Sodium 382mg17%
Potassium 798mg23%
Carbohydrates 24g8%
Fiber 4g17%
Protein 5g10%
Vitamin A 255IU5%
Vitamin C 21.5mg26%
Calcium 74mg7%
Iron 6.1mg34%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Easy Mashed Potatoes collage

The perfect mashed potatoes to serve alongside your steak, ham or turkey in the holiday season and it makes enough for a crowd! Easily halved for smaller meals, this recipe is simple and open to your favorite add ins!
The perfect mashed potatoes to serve alongside your steak, ham or turkey in the holiday season and it makes enough for a crowd! Easily halved for smaller meals, this recipe is simple and open to your favorite add ins!
The perfect mashed potatoes to serve alongside your steak, ham or turkey in the holiday season and it makes enough for a crowd! Easily halved for smaller meals, this recipe is simple and open to your favorite add ins!

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  4. Love the simple ingredients in this recipe. The mashed potatoes were creamy and a big hit with the family. Making again for Christmas dinner!

    Reply

  5. These mashed potatoes look amazing on their own but I do love how you added the different variations to this post too!

    Reply

  6. Such a wonderful recipe to have on hand. Fabulous-looking mash that sounds like it is so easy to make I won’t even notice me cooking it 🙂

    Reply

  7. An excellent recipe for plain mashed potatoes. Just he way I like them – nothing fancy, just comfort! BUT, if you are serious about making them, invest in a potato ricer. Look to spend $20 for a good one that will last a lifetime.

    Reply

  8. Over 20 years ago, my son, who is now 31, was assisting me in the kitchen. His favourite meal is eggs, so he broke an egg into the mash and continued to mash the potatoes.These became a staple of our household, as they were the creamiest potatoes we had ever ate. Now he and his partner have two boys who always remind grandpa to put in the egg when having potato mash.I also have never tried bacon in mash, but could easily be converted to that particular delicacy. Will try it out on my grandkids next time they come up.

    Reply

  9. Sabrina
    I make my mash the same way ”but” I catch the water. The butter gets
    mashed into the potato and use the water to get desired creaminess. The potato
    flavor goes way up. Just butter gives good mouth feel.Try.
    Charlie LOL

    Reply

  16. I love using sour cream and cream cheese in my potatoes gives them such a nice flavor and texture ?? And Amen to using a mixer, game changer!

    Reply

  21. Those mashed potatoes look so delish and worth the extra effort. I’ve bookmarked this page so it will inspire me as I plan our Thanksgiving menu.

    Reply

  26. This sounds so good. I’d love to get really good at making these potatoes so I can change them up with those add-ins from time to time.

    Reply

  27. Oooh, rosemary in mashed potatoes? I never thought of that. I am totally going to try that for Thanksgiving. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  28. Yummy! I love how we can add onions, garlic, or many other things to totally change the taste. Such an important part of the dinner table.

    Reply

  29. Oh this is awesome. Mashed potatoes are huge in my house, my kiddos often request it this would be fun to have some add ins!

    Reply

  37. Love how easy these are, and the add in ideas. Rosemary sounds just right for thanksgiving!! Perfect! I’d love it if you’d come share again over at #TryABiteTuesday on Caleigh’s Kitchen along with some other recipes!!

    Reply

  40. About how many side servings would this be? My mashed potato loving daughter will be home. I am so glad to have a good mashed potato recipe

    Reply

    1. Barbara, 12 easy since it is an entire 5 pound bag. Maybe a bit less if you have a lot of college kids home for the holidays!

      Reply

  43. OMG, these are awesome ideas! I love bacon. I can’t believe I never thought of putting it in my mashed potatoes.

    Reply