Mashed potatoes is the one side dish that’s a must for the holiday dinner. These Perfect Mashed Potatoes are smooth, creamy, fluffy and sure to earn a permanent spot on your holiday menu.
Mashed Potatoes
No matter what holiday you are preparing for, mashed potatoes is a side dish that must always be on the table.
There is nothing better next to turkey, ham, or Prime Rib than a scoop of soft, fluffy, comforting mashed potatoes. It gets even better when those mashed potatoes are smothered in gravy.
I like to make a different dinner menu for every holiday and different dishes every year but there is one thing that never changes and that is my homemade mashed potatoes. It’s a simple, classic, and comforting side dish that makes you feel like home.
These mashed potatoes are even more comforting made by the fact that my grandmother and my mom make these potatoes the same way. Each bite bring all the family dinner memories with it. I hope these mashed potatoes will make your family dinners just a cozy so you can make your own family memories around the dinner table.
Tips For The Best Mashed Potatoes:
When cooking potatoes, start with cold water and add potatoes to cold water.
Leaving the skin on or taking it off is a personal preference. Potato skin does have a lot of nutrients in it so leaving them on is not a bad idea.
If you leave potato skins on, make sure to wash them well. Otherwise, peel potatoes and cut them into 1-inch cubes so they cook faster.
Cook potatoes with seasoning and herbs so that the flavors cook into the potatoes.
Remember to take out the bay leaf when potatoes are done.
Make sure to reserve some cooking water from cooking potatoes, don’t drain it all off completely.
Mash potatoes while it’s still hot.
Add liquid a little at a time, checking the thickness while mashing potatoes. If you add all liquid at the same time, you might add too much and mashed potatoes will be too runny.
Always taste as you cook (and mash) to check if more seasoning is needed.
What Potatoes Are Best To Use?
Believe it or not, not all potatoes are created equal. There are different types of potatoes and all have different amount of starches and other enzymes that make them either on the waxy side or on the crumbly sides. Other potatoes mostly fall in the middle.
Russet potatoes is always the best choice for mashed potatoes because they are soft and fluffy and fall apart easy.
Gold potatoes would be our second choice because they are medium starch. They are soft but still stay together a little more. There is a slight sweetness to gold potatoes which will add that flavor to your side dish.
The one that I recommend less often is red potatoes. Red potatoes are on the waxy side and won’t give you as soft and fluffy results and Russet potatoes.
Try Adding Other Flavors
If you’d like to spruce up your mashed potatoes and add more flavor, you can make them with peas and caramelized onions.
I love the flavor that caramelized onions add to the mashed potatoes.
To get a nice caramelization on the onions, preheat the pan on medium-high heat with some butter or oil. Add your diced onions and saute, stirring often, until the onions get that nice golden-brown color (and smell incredible).
You can also cook the peas in the water that you saved from mashed potatoes.
Try them cheesy! Add about 1/2 cup of sharp cheddar cheese or you can even mix several cheeses together. If you like it extra cheesy, feel free to add a whole cup. Remember, it’s best to grate cheese off the block because pre-shredded cheese is mixed with starch and separators.
Add some fresh chopped green onions or chives.
Of course, who can ever resist crispy bacon so try adding some of that!
Some More Recipes for Holiday Dinner:
If you want something mashed, try our Mashed Cauliflower, Mashed Sweet Potatoes, or Bacon and Herb Mashed Potatoes.
When you want to go the cheesy casserole route, make Scalloped Potatoes, Hashbrown Casserole, or Loaded Cheesy Potatoes.
If you made any of my recipes and shared them on Instagram, make sure to tag me @willcookforsmiles and #willcookforsmiles so I can see all the things you tried!
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The Perfect Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Idaho potatoes peeled or not
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp dry dill weed
- salt
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 tbsp sour cream
- 1/4-1/2 cups cooking water from above cooking potatoes
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Start by peeling your potatoes and cutting them in about 1 inch chunks. Cutting the potatoes will make it faster to cook and easier to mash. (If you want to leave skin on, make sure to wash potatoes well.)
- Add the potatoes to the pot and pour in enough water to cover the potatoes comfortably.
- Add the bay leaf, some salt, and dill weed. Bring to boil over medium-high heat and lower the heat to medium. Cook on medium heat until the potatoes are cooked all the way through and starting to fall apart.
- Drain potatoes and save at least a 1/2 cup of cooking water.
- Keep potatoes in the pot and add butter, heavy cream, sour cream, about 1/4 cup of cooking water, and salt. Start mashing potatoes.
- When potatoes are mostly mashed and combined, see if you might need to add a little more water. If you do, add another 1/4 cup or so at a time until you reach a desired consistency. Mash after each addition. (You will most likely only have to add 1/4 to 1/2 cup altogether.)
- Mash it until it's nicely smooth. Taste to see if you need to add more salt.
- When servings, you can top off mashed potatoes with a little more butter while it's still hot and let it melt. It makes a nice presentation.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles on November 12, 2013. Updated October 24, 2020.
Carla says
Always a great addition to our holiday family meals!
Marisa Franca says
Usually I make two different kinds of potatoes for Thanksgiving but this year I’ll just be making mashed potatoes. Last year I made them the day before then heated them up in the crockpot. Not as ideal as making them right before dinner. I’m trying to make as many things ahead as possible. I found another method that cooks and rices the potatoes the night before and then you microwave the riced potatoes until they are hot. Then you add the milk products. I like the idea of your recipe because with the bay leaf and dill you are giving the potatoes flavor to begin with. The method I mentioned above bakes the potatoes and then scoops them into the ricer. This is going to be a hard decision 🙁
lyuba says
Good luck with your decision! I always try to find ways to optimize my time.
Happy holidays, Marisa!
Tahnycooks says
Mmmmm….I’m ready for dinner! These mashed potatoes look so good! Perfect!
lyuba says
Thank you so much, Tahny!
Julie @ Julie's Eats & Treats says
Mmmm those look like the PERFECT mashed potatoes!!! Wonderful!
lyuba says
Thank you so much, Julie!
Kelly @ Mostly Homemade Mom says
I’m AWFUL at mashed potatoes, these look amazing!
lyuba says
Thank you so much, Kelly! You should try these 🙂
Sarah says
These sounds delicious, I love potatoes. I’ve never added sour cream, sounds yummy.
lyuba says
Thank you so much, Sarah!
Ruth Cataldo says
These look incredible – and mashed potatoes are a MUST on my holiday table! I am doing a Thanksgiving Round-Up Series next week on my blog and I would love to share this recipe. Please email me if you are happy for me to include this recipe (and any other Thanksgiving delights you may have to share!) Ruth x
lyuba says
Sorry for a late response, Ruth! Time has been is short supply lately 🙂
If you are still putting it together, feel free to add these 🙂
Mandy @ South Your Mouth says
I love everything about how you make these gorgeous mashed potatoes!
LyubaB says
Thank you so much, Mandy! 🙂
Jane says
Yumm we eat a lot of mashed Potatoes here in NZ its a nightly staple in most houses, so I’m always on the lookout for ideas to jaz them up a little. Will be trying your way for sure we don’t really do thanksgiving here in NZ so tomorrow night when we have our regular mash I’ll be trying some of these ideas. My mum used to add bacon and cooked onion at times to her mash potatoes I’d forgotten about that. So tomorrow night I’ll surprise the family with your ideas. Will let you know how they go down with the boys. Many thanks for taking the time to post all these yummy recipes and ideas to jaz stuff up.
LyubaB says
Hi, Jane! Thanks for your sweet comment! I hope your boys loved them! 🙂
Paul says
Mashed potatoes are loved by all in my family. I tried this recipe, it was so creamy and delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂
LyubaB says
Thanks, Paul! I am so glad you liked it! 🙂
ldpedersen says
I just happened to find your recipes and they look so inviting, using my memories of such delicious foods from my grandmother’s table, I can smell this brisket and sauce and mashed potatoes, never heard of putting thyme in, will add this for sure.
My grandmother made all food cozy and delicious, her sourdough recipes were out of this world! Do you have sourdough recipes and how to store and replenish so it doesn’t spoil and mold?
Your face is so sweet looking and your responses friendly and warm.
LyubaB says
I do not have any sourdough recipes but I do know you should not store your sourdough bread in the refrigerator instead, I like to wrap mine in a towel and leave it on the counter.