How to Make Perfect Mashed Potatoes
Mashed potatoes are one of the most popular potato-based side dishes in the world…next to french fries. While we all know how to make mashed potatoes in one form or another, knowing how to make silky smooth, creamy mashed potatoes can be a life changer. Today, I’m going to share my tips on how to make mashed potatoes that are so good, you might forget about dumping gravy on top of them.
Tip 1: Please pick the perfect potato
As you may expect, great mashed potatoes start with the potatoes you use, and knowing the right kind of potatoes you use can make all the difference.
Fancy waxy potatoes, like the kind with the red skin (photo on the left), have a bit of a firmer texture that makes them ideal for roasting or potato salad, but they aren’t so great for mashing. If you try to mash these waxy potatoes, then they may not break down properly and you’ll end up with tiny, pebbly pieces of potato throughout your mash, it’s not as great as it sounds.
The key to great mash is using starchy potatoes as all that starch has a better chance of breaking down during cooking so you’ll end up with a much fluffier, creamier texture. The king of starchy potatoes has to be russets (photo on the right), but the potato I adore for mash has to be Yukon golds, as they are also starchy but have a nice buttery flavor that I can’t get enough of.
Tip 2: Cook them through
Another key to making great mashed potatoes is cooking them long enough. Often times when people are boiling potatoes for a mash, they’ll cook them until they’re about fork-tender like potatoes you’d plan on roasting or to have with your steak.
The truth is that, pardon my language, you want to cook the crap out of the potatoes to the point where they’re starting to fall apart just by picking them up. You’re mashing these potatoes, you want them to fall apart!
Tip 3: Use a proper mashing device
Your potatoes are now perfectly cooked, so it’s time to get mashing, which is the most important part of mashed potatoes. The question is, how should you mash them?
I’ve seen people mash potatoes with electric machines like a mixer or even a food processor because it’s faster, but…machines are the worst way to mash potatoes. The problem is that they are too fast and beats up the starch molecules in the potatoes, leading to mashed potatoes that you might as well use as cement for brickwork.
The best tool for mashing potatoes has to be a ricer or food mill which pushes the potatoes through tiny holes to make the mash a lot smoother.
Tip 4: Hot, hot dairy
While the potatoes on their own are good…kind of, they only truly become mashed potatoes when you introduce them with dairy such as butter, cream, half and half or milk.
To ensure that your mash stays smooth, hot, and gets creamy, you want to heat up your milk/cream in a small saucepan before adding it to the potatoes. While doing this, you can also infuse the cream with things like rosemary, garlic, and thyme for some added flavor because, let’s face it, potatoes need a lot of help when it comes to developing flavor.
Also, do not skimp on the cream, for 1/2 a pound of potatoes I’d suggest using at least 1/2 a cup of dairy and 1/4 of a stick of butter to start with. It sounds like a lot, but all of that fat will help produce the silky, creamy potatoes of your dream.
Alright, now that we have the basics down, let’s get cooking!
Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Serves 4
1 pound of Russet or Yukon gold potatoes
Salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 a stick) of unsalted butter
1 cup of half and half
Optional: 2 sprigs of rosemary and/or 4 crushed garlic cloves)
Freshly ground black pepper
Peel and cut the potatoes into evenly-sized chunks. (Some people like to leave the skin on their potatoes, but peeling will lead to a smoother texture) Place the potatoes into a pot of cold water, then bring that to a boil.
Once boiling, add a large pinch of salt, anything starchy needs a lot of salt, and boil for 20-25 minutes, or until the potatoes start to fall apart.
Drain the potatoes, then use either a wire masher or a potato ricer to crush the potatoes into tiny shreds. Place the potatoes back into the pot they were boiled in, then place them over a low heat and let them cook for about 3 minutes, doing this will remove any excess water from the potatoes and help them become fluffier.
Heat the butter, half and half, and, if using, the rosemary and/or garlic in a separate saucepan until hot but not boiling.
Add enough of the half-and-half mixture to form a creamy, smooth texture. As I said, it’s going to look like it’s too much cream and look more like soup, but within seconds you’ll see those potatoes drink up the cream and become extra creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then serve immediately.
These are not your ordinary mashed potatoes, these mashed potatoes are silky, smooth, have a nice buttery texture, and are full of flavor. These are mashed potatoes that are so good that they might as well kick your holiday turkey to the curb and be the new centerpiece for your holiday dinner.
