A foolproof Homemade Mashed Potatoes made creamy with milk, seasoned with salt and pepper. A touch of garlic adds an alluring flavor to this meal. Fluffy, creamy, and buttery, these are literally the perfect mashed potatoes for any occasion.
Homemade Mashed Potatoes Recipe
Creamy and delicious mashed potatoes are one of the most popular comfort foods in America. Potatoes, cream, and butter — need I say more?
The earliest known recipe for mashed potatoes was in a cookbook called The Art of Cookery. It appeared over 250 years ago, in 1765. That’s a long history of people making mashed potatoes. Cooking technology has come a long way but the basic process for making tasty mashed potatoes hasn’t changed much.
I know the majority have their favorite mashed potato recipe, however, I’ll like to show you my foolproof mashed potatoes recipe you can make at home and I can assure you everyone will rave about this.
Choosing the Right Potatoes
One of the secrets to great mashed potatoes is the type of potatoes you use. Russet potatoes are the most common variety. These are the typical brown-skinned potatoes that are usually used for making baked potatoes.
Russets make perfectly fine mashed potatoes but if you want to kick them up a notch, use a mix of Russet and Yukon Gold. Yukon Gold have a much creamier texture and will make your mashed potatoes a step above plain Russets.
Ingredients for making mashed potatoes?
Potatoes — Best to use Yukon gold potatoes or Russet potatoes.
Salt — Salting the water in which you cook the potatoes will enhance the flavor of the mashed potatoes
Black pepper — Lots of black pepper. I love it!
Butter — I discover using salted or unsalted butter doesn’t really matter. However, you might need to add a bit more salt when you use unsalted butter.
Garlic — Optional but it adds an alluring flavor to this meal. Talking about garlic, (so good) you can see how I make my roasted garlic mashed potatoes.
Milk — I use whole milk for that full creamy experience.
My other Favorite mashed potatoes additions
Once you master the basics, you can try adding other things to the mix like:
From there, you can expand into other potato recipes, and you’ll be on your way to impressing your friends and family with your culinary skills.
Peeled or Unpeeled Potatoes?
People have probably been debating this for the entire 250-year history of mashed potatoes. There’s no “best” answer. Try them both ways and see which you like best.
Leaving the potatoes unpeeled adds a unique texture to the final result and you’ll get the added advantage of the extra vitamins and minerals in the skin.
why mashed potatoes get gummy
Potato – Choosing the right potato helps for mashed potatoes is important. Go for potatoes with higher starch content like the russet or Yukon gold for the fluffiest, smoothest, and most flavor-packed mash. Avoid the red and white variety of potatoes because they have low starch content, and will require a bit of extra work to make them smooth and creamy that’s why it often ends up with a gluey or gummy texture when mashed.
Don’t overwork the Potatoes – You need to be gentle. When you mash too long it becomes gluey or gummy
Don’t Skip the Fat
You might be tempted to go with lower fat alternatives to the butter and cream in this recipe. Don’t give in to that temptation.
Potatoes are starchy and need the fat in the butter, milk, or cream to turn them creamy. If you use lower-fat alternatives, your mashed potatoes will be dry and much less tasty.
Is This the Best Mashed Potatoes Recipe?
I will leave that for you to judge but trust me when I say it’s super tasty, and it’s an easy mashed potatoes recipe, no matter how much experience you have in the kitchen. If you love good, old fashioned mashed potatoes just like the ones your favorite grandma makes, this is the perfect recipe. It’s simple, delicious, and trust me; everyone will rave about it.
why are mashed potatoes lumpy?
In order to avoid lumps in the mash, it is advisable to add the butter first before the milk. The butter will coat the starch molecules, and you can mash the potatoes easily this makes your mashed potatoes silky. The warm milk goes in last.
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Don’t overcook the potatoes. When potatoes are overcooked they too wet when you mashed them, which will cause them to be very watery.
Make sure all the water is drained from the potatoes before mashing
For best result, let the butter be at room temperature before adding it to the potatoes.
Be sure to check out all the fast, easy, family-friendly recipes on Chef Lola’s Kitchen blog. And if you make these mashed potatoes, be sure to leave a comment below and let me know what you think.
A Foolproof Homemade Mashed Potatoes
A Foolproof Homemade Mashed Potatoes made creamy with milk, seasoned with salt and pepper. A touch of garlic adds an alluring flavor to this meal.
Peel and dice potatoes into 1-inch cubes or chunks (make sure all are relatively the same size).
Place the potatoes chunks and garlic cloves in a large saucepan, season with salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Then reduce heat to maintain a rolling boil and cook until potatoes are tender about 15 to 20 minutes. When they’re cooked through a fork should easily slide into the potatoes with no resistance.
Drain the water completely and leave the potatoes in the pot. Add butter to potatoes hold back 2 tablespoons of butter for garnish and mash with a potato masher until they’re smooth. That’s a potato masher, not an electric mixer. We’re not making whipped potatoes!.
Add the warm milk to the potatoes and stir until everything is nicely mixed.
Season the mashed potatoes with salt and pepper to your liking.
Transfer the potatoes to a serving dish and top them with the butter you held back for garnish.
Notes
Don’t overcook the potatoes. When potatoes are overcooked they too wet when you mashed them, which will cause them to be very watery.Make sure all the water is drained from the potatoes before mashing itFor best result, let the butter be at room temperature before adding it to the potatoes.
