Mashed Potatoes Recipe

Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes Recipe

Mashed potatoes are an all time favorite for many people and when it is time for the traditional Thanksgiving dinner they must be on the table right there next to stuffed turkey and gravy. So if you are new at cooking and want to try your hands at some traditional Thanksgiving cooking – start with an easy one like this Thanksgiving mashed potatoes recipe to gain confidence and then move on to more complex ones. And you still have a few days to practice so there is no better time to start than now :).

And to help you with your Thanksgiving cooking career there will also be links to some other recipes that are a part of almost every Thanksgiving dinner at the end of this one. OK, now to the mashed potatoes recipe for beginners.

Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes Recipe

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 35 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1lbs (1/2kg) of golden potatoes, cleaned up and peeled
4 Tablespoons of fresh cream (heavy or non fat)
2 Tablespoon of butter
1 Tablespoon of milk
1/2 Teaspoon of salt to taste
1/4 Teaspoon of pepper (white or black)
Water
You will also need a manual potato smasher

Instructions

Chop the peeled potatoes into cubes
Place them in a saucepan and put water in it till the potato cubes are covered with water.
Add some salt to taste and bring the water to boil. Then simmer and cover the saucepan and cook the potatoes for about 15-20 minutes.
Remove the cover and put a fork in one of the pieces of the potatoes and check if cooked and soft.
Drain out the remaining water from the saucepan and let the potatoes sit for some while so that any remaining water evaporates.
In a pan take the butter and melt it. Then add the cream to it and stir and mix with the butter.
Once the cream and butter mix well, add this to the potatoes in the saucepan.
Using a potato smasher, smash the potatoes into a fine paste.
Add the milk, salt and pepper as per liking and blend in.
Blend until the right consistency is achieved but not too gluey.
Serve these fluffy and smooth mashed potatoes in a bowl with fresh or dried parsley.

Notes And Extra Tips

To make garlic mashed potatoes you can add 2-3 cloves of garlic when the potatoes are boiling. Then mash them up with the potatoes.
Dried parsley or coriander gives a great flavor to otherwise rustic tasting potatoes.
When adding milk to the mashed potatoes, add warm milk to make a better blend. Cold milk can make potatoes gluey.
Do not add too much milk, or else the consistency will become thin and you would have to add more potatoes.
When you mash the potatoes when they are really hot and add warm milk to them and mash well, you can add less butter and make them more healthy.

You can of course take this basic mashed potatoes recipe and add all sorts of things to make it better and different. You can add chives, garlic (here is a full recipe for garlic mashed potatoes), parsley, dried herbs, mushrooms or about anything which tastes well with them and you have a recipe of your own.

Maybe Thanksgiving dinner is not the best time to start experimenting so try the new version alone before making it for the “big” night. OK, so this is it when it comes to making Thanksgiving mashed potatoes.

As promised, here are a few more recipes that are quite simple to make and are a part of most of the traditional Thanksgiving dinners. Apart from the turkey, cranberry sauce and gravy you also want to offer:

some bread rolls which can be made using your leftover mashed potatoes,
another thing to do with potatoes and can be included in your thanksgiving dinner are different potato salads,
then there are the desserts and this is when various pies are usually served. Try these:
apple pie,
sweet potato pie.

And most of all – enjoy your time with your family – Happy Thanksgiving!

Rate This Recipe:

Comments (0)

Vegan Sweet Potato Soufflé Recipe

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 1 hour

Serves: 12

This is a great recipe for thanksgiving and holiday gatherings. Every guest, vegan or not, would surely rave about it. This soufflé has a unique blend of ingredients that are mostly healthy and nonfat; it does not resemble the traditional soufflé. Aside from the sweet potatoes, the silken tofu gave off a thick and creamy texture to the filling, especially after it was crushed in the blender/food processor. The best thing about tofu is it’s an excellent source of protein but it’s lower in calories and fat compared to ground beef and cheese. Tofutti, a soy-based, nondairy product, is often used as an alternative to ice cream and cheese. Tofutti was also used in this recipe to replace the usual dairy cheese and the end result was absolutely creamy and delicious. It is best to use a blender or a food processor to mash the ingredients together but you can always do the manual mixing if you don’t have one. This recipe is quick and simple, no need for complicated baking skills and it’s done in an hour or less. Now, here’s how to make this Vegan sweet potato soufflé.

Ingredients

Filling: 5 -6 medium sweet potatoes, baked, peeled and mashed
1 package firm silken tofu (8 ounce or 224 g)
1 container tofutti better-than-cream-cheese (8 ounce or 224 g)
1 cup brown sugar (200 g)
2 tablespoons soy margarine, melted (30 g)
1 tablespoon cornstarch (15 g)
2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice (30 g)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extractss (15 g)
Crumble topping: 3/4 cup flour (113 g)
1 cup brown sugar (200 g)
6 tablespoons soy margarine (180 g)
1 cup pecans, chopped (125 g)

Instructions

Make the filling by mixing sweet potatoes and silken tofu in a blender or food processor. Blend until mixture is fine and smooth.
Stir in the rest of the filling ingredients: tofutti, brown sugar, soy margarine, cornstarch, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract, and then blend until smooth.
Pour the filling mixture into an 8×13 inches greased baking pan.
In a separate bowl, prepare the toppings by combining flour and brown sugar.
Cut in soy margarine with a pastry blender/fork until reaches a crumbly consistency. Mix in pecans to crumble.
Sprinkle toppings over filling.
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 35-45 minutes. If topping starts to get too dark, cover the baking pan with aluminum foil.
Let it stand to room temperature for best consistency.
Serve and enjoy!

Rate This Recipe:

Comments (0)

Mashed Potatoes With Cauliflower – Mock Mashed Potatoes

What is better during the holidays than a big bowl of mashed potatoes? The creamy, buttery potatoes are a staple on many dinner tables, but for a growing number of people the starchy vegetable is on the “no” list when it comes to diet. Luckily there is an option: “mock” mashed potatoes made with cauliflower. (more…)

Rate This Recipe:

Comments (0)

How To Make Mashed Potatoes

Prep time: 30 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Mashed potatoes have been a staple of a good old-fashioned home cooked meal in countries like the United States and Ireland for possibly three hundred years. There are those that believe they were invented in France as the result of a potato recipe competition. But no matter where their origins, no Thanksgiving dinner in America would be complete without fluffy homemade mashed potatoes drenched in turkey gravy. But these buttery delights don’t have to be drowned with gravy as long as you know how to make mashed potatoes the right way. The basic recipe for mashed potatoes is easy and you don’t have to be a gourmet cook to make them. What makes one batch distinct from another are the things you can add either right before or right after they are mashed. Let’s start with the fundamentals of making mashed potatoes.

Ingredients

6 russet potatoes
1 cup of heavy cream*
1/2 cup of salted butter at room temperature
salt
You can substitute plain milk or buttermilk.

Instructions

Peel the potatoes and remove the eyes, then place them in a bowl of cold water so they don’t turn brown as you are cutting them up.
Cut the potatoes into approximately 1-1/2 inch chunks.
Put the potatoes in a large pot and completely cover them with water. Over high heat bring the water to a boil and then turn down so they can simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove them from the heat and drain long enough to remove all of the water.
Put the potatoes in a bowl and add the butter and milk or cream. Heating the milk first will help make your potatoes nice and creamy.
You can use either a potato masher or an electric mixer to mash your potatoes. Never use a food processor. If you use a hand masher, use an up and down technique rather than a stirring motion. If you use an electric mixer, be careful not to over mix them. No matter what method you use, mix the potatoes well enough to get rid of any lumps but not so much that your potatoes end up sticky or gluey.
Add salt to taste.

Notes And Extra Tips

Here are some ways to dress up your potatoes so they are sure not to need gravy. For garlic mashed potatoes, roast about 5 cloves of garlic for every 6 potatoes you have used. Add the garlic plus 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese before you mash.
For something a little zingy and exotic, add about 1 tablespoon of wasabi powder for every three potatoes. You can find this either at an Asian market or in the Asian section of upscale supermarkets.
Now that you know how to make mashed potatoes, you can use the same technique to make mashed sweet potatoes , but add a little brown sugar while mashing.

Mashed potatoes

Rate This Recipe:

Comments (18)

Homemade Mashed Potatoes Recipe

I’m so used to eating homemade mashed potatoes that I had to thing what other kind of mashed potatoes is there. How can they not be homemade. Then I remembered that I tried those supermarket instant mashed potatoes a few times years ago when I was a teenager and I didn’t want to be bothered with cooking. As long as it was easy and fast to make, I ate it. To bad I didn’t know then that even homemade mashed potatoes are simple thing to make. I could have spared myself a few “yuck is this real mashed potatoes plastic taste” I got when I tried the instant mashed potatoes mix. It’s just not the same. So, this recipe will be for all of you that are looking for a homemade mashed potatoes recipe.

Homemade Mashed Potatoes Recipe

Prep time: 30 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Ingredients

2 pounds potatoes (russets or yukon golds)
1/2 cup half-and-half
3 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper

Instructions

Let’s get started. Take your potatoes and peel them. Then cut them in a few big pieces. Like three or four pieces. Sure they will cook for a bit longer but they will also suck in less water and taste better because of it. Now put those cut potatoes into a pot, cover them with cold water and add some salt. Bring them to boil and then let them simmer for about 15 minutes. How do you know your potatoes are cooked? Pierce one with a knife or a fork – if its soft then it’s done.
Now comes a little trick that will get rid of even more water and will make this homemade mashed potatoes recipe taste even better. First drain the potatoes and then return them to your pot and put them back on your stove set to low heat. This will make all the excess water evaporate. Just be careful you don’t burn them.
Now its time to mash the potatoes. Add some more salt and pepper (taste the potatoes!) and add warm half milk half cream and butter to your mashed potatoes. Then use a wire masher or a potato ricer or whatever… :) even a fork will work if you are in the wilderness :) and mash the potatoes. And you are done and this homemade mashed potatoes recipe is finished.
Bon apetit!

Rate This Recipe:

Comments (52)

Cheddar and Onion Mashed Potatoes Recipe

Yet another version of the cheddar cheese mashed potatoes recipe. We will add onions together with cheddar cheese. Most of the recipes will tell you to add thinly sliced green onions. But you can also take any onions and fry them on oil (or butter) for a while, and then add them to your mashed potatoes. Well, just a thought… you can try it.

Cheddar and Onion Mashed Potatoes Recipe

5.0 from 1 reviews

Prep time: 30 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Ingredients

2 pounds potatoes (russets or yukon golds)
1/2 cup half-and-half
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
4 green onions, thinly sliced
salt and pepper

Instructions

Peel the potatoes and cut them in four pieces. Big pieces will suck less water, sure they take a bit longer to cook, but we are here for the taste, not time, right? :) Put the potatoes in a pot and cover them with cold water. Add some salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let them simmer for a good 15 minutes. They are done when they are soft (pierce them with a knife for test).
Drain the potatoes. You can return them on heat for a while so all the water goes away, just don’t burn them. Add half milk half cream mix, butter, salt, and pepper. Now its time to mash the potatoes. Stir in cheddar cheese and cook your mashed potatoes for a few minutes so the cheese melts.
At the end mix in sliced green onions. Or as I said before – you can thinly slice the onions and then fry them for a while on oil of butter. Then just mix them in at the end. But ways are good, but the end result is a bit different with each of these cheddar and onion mashed potatoes recipes.

Rate This Recipe:

Comments (3)

Bacon and Cheddar Mashed Potatoes Recipe

This is another version of the popular cheddar mashed potatoes recipe. With this recipe we are adding bacon, so if you can not live without the meat taste – this is the recipe for you.

Bacon and Cheddar Mashed Potatoes Recipe

Prep time: 30 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds potatoes (Yukon gold or Russets are best for mashed potatoes)
1 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
4 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup chopped green onions
salt and pepper

Instructions

Peel the potatoes. Cut them into big pieces. Big pieces suck up less water and mashed potatoes will taste better. Put them into a pot and cover them with cold water. Add salt and bring to boil. When the water boils you can turn the heat down (or your stove will be really messy) and let your potatoes simmer for fifteen or twenty minutes. When they are soft and tender they are done.
Now drain them and return them to your pot. Put the pot back on low heat. Why? By doing this you will get rid of all the water and mashed potatoes will taste better. Just make sure you don’t burn them.
Now add cheese and milk and mash the potatoes. Put them back on fire and cook them until all the cheese melts. Make sure you keep stirring so you don’t burn the potatoes. When the cheese melts you can add the rest of ingredients – sour cream, bacon, green onions, salt, and pepper. Using this much potatoes will feed around 8 people, so you can easily cut all the ingredients in half in you don’t need so much mashed potatoes.

Notes And Extra Tips

Also, if you like, you can replace bacon with prosciutto. This is the end of this bacon and cheddar mashed potatoes recipe. Enjoy your potatoes.

Rate This Recipe:

Comments (4)

Cheddar Mashed Potatoes Recipe

This cheddar mashed potatoes recipe uses…duh – cheddar cheese to make your mashed potatoes better. Lot’s of times it can happen that your mashed potatoes turn out a bit plain. Maybe your potatoes were not the best kind for this recipe, maybe you forgot to follow some of the tips and tricks we include in our recipes to make mashed potatoes better or just plain and simple you need some more depth to the taste. Cheddar cheese help you add richness to your mashed potatoes. Sure you can use other cheeses but cheddar is the most popular one to add to your mashed potatoes. So what do we need?

Cheddar Mashed Potatoes Recipe

Prep time: 30 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Ingredients

2 pounds potatoes (Yukon Golds or Russets)
3/4 cup warm milk
2 tbsp butter
1 cup shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 Tblsp chopped chives
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Peel the potatoes and cut them into big pieces. Put them into a pot and cover them with cold water. Add some salt and start cooking. When water boils turn the heat down and let it simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Your potatoes are cooked when they are soft.
Drain them and return them to the pot, put the pot back on low heat. This will make the rest of the water evaporate. Be careful not to burn the potatoes. Now add all the milk (milk must be warm, cold milk can make potatoes gluey and also – it will take longer for cheddar cheese to melt), butter, onion powder and salt and pepper for the taste.
Use a wire masher, potato ricer… to mash your potatoes and only then stir in the Cheddar cheese. You should put your Cheddar cheese mashed potatoes back on low heat so all the cheese melts. But make sure you stir them all the time so you don’t burn them.
At the end, for that extra little bit, sprinkle your cheddar mashed potatoes with chopped chives. 2 pound of potatoes will feed 4 to 6 people. That’s it, cheddar mashed potatoes recipe is easy.

These mashed potatoes also go great together with beef, like beef you can bake using these beef brisket recipes. Enjoy!

Rate This Recipe:

Comments (0)

Healthy Mashed Potatoes Recipe

We always asume that healthy foods are some exotic weird sounding plants that come from the other side of the planet and that taste like crap. The weirder they are teh more we are happy to believe they have some extra healing powers. So what if I told you that an ordinary potato also has some health benefits? It’s true, every mashed potatoes recipe on this site will also give you mashed potatoes that will be good for you?

How is that? The “secret” (lol, it’s no secret) is, that potatoes are mostly made out of water and starch. Some of that starch is a bit special. It is resistant to enzymatic digestion. That means that it does not get digested in your stomach and in your small intestine but it comes all the way to the large intestine. Can you name me a food that does the same? If you can’t remember – foods that are rich in fiber. So in a part common potatoes have similar effects and benefits food rich with fiber.

Healthy Mashed Potatoes Recipe

Prep time: 30 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Now lets take some of these healthy potatoes and turn them into a nice healthy mashed potatoes recipe! BTW, since every potato has these capabilities all mashed potato recipes on this site are healthy :).

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs potatoes (Yukon Gold are arguably the best potatoes for making mashed potatoes, Russtes are also good)
5 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pepper for taste

Instructions

So we can really call this recipe healthy, we kicked out the cream and replaced it with milk. Cream has more fat which is bad for you (if you eat to much of it of course). It is also nice to hold back on the salt if you want to avoid some of the problems that to much salt brings (like high blood pressure).
Let’s get started – peel the potatoes and cut them into big pieces. Big pieces absorb less water than small potato pieces. More water – watery potatoes with less taste. Cover them with cold water, add salt, and bring them to boil and then simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.How do you know potatoes are cooked? They must be soft if you sick a knife or a fork in the fattest potato in the pan.
Done? Now you need to drain the potatoes and then put them back on low heat. This will make all the water evaporate (be carefull not tu burn them) and potatoes will taste better – less water – more taste. Heat the milk (don’t add cold milk) and add it together with butter. Also add some salt and pepper.
Now all there is left is to use a wire masher and mash the potatoes and this healthy mashed potatoes recipe is finished.

Check here for a few things on wire masher …

Rate This Recipe:

Comments (3)

Best Mashed Potatoes Recipe

When it comes down to the final taste of your mashed potatoes it really mostly comes down to what kind of potatoes did you use for your mashed potatoes recipe. Two most common potatoes are Russets and Yukon Golds, which one to choose? For this recipe – we call it the best mashed potatoes recipes we have chosen Yukon Gold.

(more…)

Rate This Recipe:

Comments (0)