American · Side · Easy
Mashed Potatoes
Fluffy, buttery, and rich with warm cream. These are the mashed potatoes everyone hopes will be on the table.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Mashed Potatoes, in 5 ideas
- Start potatoes in cold water so they cook evenly from edge to center.
- Warm dairy is nonnegotiable. Cold cream makes gluey, lukewarm mash.
- Butter goes in before the liquid so it coats the potatoes and keeps them silky.
- Never use a food processor. It turns potatoes into wallpaper paste.
- Steaming the drained potatoes dry for a minute is the difference between fluffy and watery.
What you need
Ingredients
- 4 lb russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 tbsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup heavy cream, warmed
- 1/2 cup whole milk, warmed
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp chopped chives (optional)
How to make it
Directions
- Put the potato chunks and garlic cloves in a large pot and cover with cold water by an inch. Add the salt.
- Bring to a boil, then simmer 15 to 20 minutes until the potatoes fall apart when poked with a fork.
- Drain well and return the potatoes to the hot pot for 1 minute, shaking gently, to steam off extra moisture.
- Mash with a potato masher or push through a ricer until mostly smooth.
- Fold in the melted butter first, then stream in the warm cream and milk until you reach the texture you like.
- Season with pepper and more salt to taste. Go a little bold, potatoes drink up seasoning.
- Serve in a warm bowl with a knob of butter on top and a scatter of chives.
Hold mashed potatoes warm for up to 2 hours in a slow cooker on the warm setting with a thin layer of warm milk on top. Stir once before serving and they taste freshly made.