Mashed potatoes are the quintessential comfort food side to pair with so many dinners. This recipe will show you how to make the best buttery, fluffy mashed potatoes using only basic ingredients.
These mashed potatoes are the potatoes I grew up eating - simple and light. I've tried every type of trick to see if my parent's basic mashed potato recipe yielded the fluffiest mashed potatoes -- soaking potatoes for a few hours beforehand, putting potatoes in the refrigerator, using a ricer to mash, heating butter and milk prior to adding to the potatoes, you name it. I've found that you don't need to overcomplicate mashed potatoes to yield the best side dish that ever existed.
These potatoes are light and fluffy thanks to just a couple small changes you can make for a big impact.
Why This is the Best Mashed Potatoes Recipe
- Simple ingredients. There are only the basics needed: potatoes, butter, milk, and salt and pepper. If you want to jazz yours up, I've given you some ideas below.
- It's all in the technique. There's no fancy equipment needed to make the fluffiest, creamiest mashed potatoes. No ricer or masher required.
- Buttery and soft. These mashed potatoes have the consistency of a cloud. You'll want to dive into these potatoes and go to bed.
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If you're looking for a thicker, somewhat gummier texture, like the mashed potato flourish you get on a plate a fancy restaurant, you'll want to check out my pomme puree recipe. These potatoes are riced then added to a heated butter, garlic, and milk mixture. These mashed potatoes are incredibly rich and dense, so they're perfect for spooning some onto a plate to make a mashed potato streak, then serving with cuts of steak like Tomahawk Steak or a Perfect Pan-Seared Filet Mignon.
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Ingredients You'll Need
The ingredients you need to make the best mashed potatoes are quite minimal. It's more in the technique that creates light and fluffy mashed potatoes.
- Potatoes - Russet or Idaho potatoes are best for mashed potatoes. You can use Yukon gold, but these potatoes will produce a denser texture.
- Butter - I use unsalted because I like to control the amount of salt I'm using.
- Milk - We keep whole milk in the refrigerator at all times because it's the most versatile, but you can use whatever milk you'd like.
- Salt and pepper - Add to taste.
The recipe card below will have the quantities of each ingredient as well as the directions.
Step by Step Diretions to Make Fluffy Mashed Potatoes
Making delicious mashed potatoes isn't difficult. The key is to get as much starch off the potatoes as possible. This is done by first cutting the potatoes in larger pieces. Boiling smaller potatoes, while faster to finish, will leave you with a lot of starch in the water. Give the potatoes a good rinse before you put them on the stove top to boil, too. Less starch = fluffier mashed potatoes.
- Step 1: Peel that potatoes with a vegetable peeler, getting all of the brown spots off.
- Step 2: Cut potatoes into 2" chunks. The bigger the cut, the less starch the potatoes will produce.
- Step 3: Rinse potatoes with water to get excess starch off.
- Step 4: Fill pot with water so all potatoes are submerged. Boil potatoes until they are fork tender.
- Step 5: Drain potatoes well. Add butter and use a stand mixer to mix potatoes on high until butter has melted.
- Step 6: Add milk and continue to mix on high until the potatoes reach your desired level of consistency. Add more milk if you want creamier potatoes.
Tips of the Trade
- Peel your potatoes well. I get lazy a lot of times, and I always regret it when there's a dark spot in my mashed potatoes from not peeling well.
- Cut potatoes in larger chunks. If you cut the potatoes in small pieces, they will boil faster but it releases a lot of starch in the water. Starch makes the potatoes denser.
- Don't skip the rinse. Rinsing potatoes after you cut them is the key to making light mashed potatoes. This releases the excess starch. You can even rinse them again once the potatoes are fork-tender.
- Use a hand-held mixer. This is the method that garners the airiest mashed potatoes. A potato masher doesn't usually get all of the lumps out and doesn't whip air into the potatoes. A stand mixer does a better job, but a hand-held mixer gets the most air in the potatoes while they are mashed.
Variations
Want to mix it up? You can jazz up your mashed potatoes in several ways:
- Cheesy mashed potatoes - add shredded white cheddar cheese into your mashed potatoes. Buy the brick cheese and shred it yourself. It melts much better.
- Add crispy onions on top - This gives your mashed potatoes a little sweet crunch on top.
- Garlic lovers - Roast garlic and add it in with the butter so it's mashed up and super garlicky.
Main Dishes for Mashed Potatoes
- Easy Chicken and Gravy - Is there anything better than chicken and gravy over a bed of mashed potatoes?!
- Whole Roasted Chicken - I've made this whole roasted chicken on repeat this winter. It's so easy to throw together because the oven does most all of the work, and it can feed a small crowd.
- Dutch Oven Pot Roast - add guacamole, crispy onions or
- Stuffed Chicken Breast with Stuffing - Thanksgiving foods don't have to just be on Thanksgiving!
- Tomahawk Steak - Don't be intimidated by its size. It's so easy to cook!
You can view the whole recipe index by protein, too!
Storage & Reheating
To store: Store cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Mashed potatoes will stay fresh for 3-4 days.
To reheat: Leftover mashed potatoes are best heated in a saucepan over medium to medium-low heat. Add a splash of milk to loosen the potatoes and heat until warm.
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The Best Fluffy Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 pounds potatoes Russet is best
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter cut into ½ Tablespoon slices
- 1 cup milk any kind will do
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Peel and cut potatoes into 2" pieces. Rinse potatoes in a pot to get excess starch off.
- Cover potatoes in water so all potatoes are submerged. Salt the water. Bring potatoes to a boil.
- Continue cooking uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until fork tender. Drain well.
- Add butter to the potatoes. Using a hand mixer, beat until butter is fully melted. Gently add milk and continue mixing until the potatoes have reached your preferred consistency. Feel free to add more milk or butter if you want creamier potatoes.
- Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
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