How to Make Perfect Mashed Potatoes
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This easy side dish recipe makes the best, most perfect lump-free mashed potatoes every single time! So buttery, so creamy, and so fluffy!
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Why you’ll love this mashed potato recipe
- Uses real ingredients. Skip the boxed potatoes and all the artificial ingredients! All you need is a few good-quality ingredients for restaurant-quality potatoes – russets, butter, sour cream, and half-and-half.
- Super smooth and fluffy. The secret here is using a potato ricer! It helps create lump-free, ultra-smooth, and fluffy mashed potatoes every single time without releasing too much starch. No more gluey, over mashed potatoes.
- Quintessential side dish. Whether it’s the holidays or a family dinner during the week, mashed potatoes is an essential side dish staple, elevating any meal. And it’s very important that we make them perfectly without too much effort!
Key Ingredients
Potatoes
Russets or Yukon Golds can be used. Russets will yield fluffier potatoes whereas Yukon Golds will be more buttery.
Garlic
Cloves of garlic are boiled with the potatoes to impart garlicky goodness.
Butter
Softened butter (room temperature) blends best.
Sour cream
This will add extra richness with a slight tang.
Half and half
Half and half is a sweet spot for fat! Regular milk contains too much water, particularly skim-milk, yielding thin, runny potatoes, and heavy cream is ultra-rich, yielding heavy, dense potatoes.
Salt and pepper
Always add a generous amount of salt when boiling the potatoes to season them from the inside out.
Chives
Chives or parsley can be used for sprinkling as a garnish (and for a pop of color).
How to make mashed potatoes
- Prep the potatoes. Peel and cut the potatoes into uniform 1-inch chunks.
- Boil. Place the peeled, cut potatoes and garlic in a Dutch oven. Cover with cold salted water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
- Dry. Drain the potatoes and place them back into the warm, empty Dutch oven over low heat, stirring until the potatoes are completely dried out.
- Mash. Press the potatoes and garlic through a potato ricer.
- Add the dairy. Stir in the butter, sour cream, and half and half, then season generously with salt and pepper.
- Serve. Sprinkle with chives and serve warm. Pro tip: the potatoes can be kept warm in the pot, covered, for up to 30 minutes.
What to serve with mashed potatoes
Tools For This Recipe
How to Make Perfect Mashed Potatoes: Frequently Asked Questions
Both russet potatoes and Yukon golds are excellent options.
Always start with cold salted water to allow the potatoes to cook evenly from the inside out.
The potatoes may have been overworked (by using a food processor or blender). Use a potato ricer instead for extra fluffy, lump-free potatoes.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Gently reheat the potatoes on the stovetop with a splash of cream or milk and a pat of butter to keep it creamy.
How to Make Perfect Mashed Potatoes
Video
Ingredients
- 4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 4 cloves garlic
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cubed and at room temperature
- 1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 cup half and half, at room temperature
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Instructions
- Place potatoes and garlic in a Dutch oven and cover with cold salted water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, until just tender, about 15 minutes; drain well and return to the Dutch oven over low heat.
- Stir with a wooden spoon until potatoes are dried out, about 1 minute.
- Transfer potatoes to a large bowl. Using a potato ricer, rice potatoes and garlic. Stir in butter, sour cream and half and half, being careful not to overstir; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately, garnished with chives, if desired, or keep warm in the Dutch oven, covered, for 30 minutes.
Equipment
Notes
- Choose the right potatoes. Russet potatoes are a classic choice for mashed potatoes, yielding ultra-fluffy potatoes. Yukon golds, on the other hand, are naturally rich and buttery, and a great alternative here. You can also do a 50/50 mix for a balance of fluffiness and richness.
- Start with cold water. Boil the potatoes in cold water to start, ensuring that they cook evenly from the inside out.
- Use room temperature dairy. Using cold dairy products (ex. butter, sour cream, and half and half) will cool down and seize the potatoes.
- A potato ricer is key. Skip the blender and food processor! A potato ricer will create lump-free, ultra-smooth, fluffy potatoes without making them sticky or gluey.
- Gently reheat. When reheating leftovers, reheat on the stovetop over low heat, mixing gently until smooth and hot with a splash of cream or milk and a pat of butter.
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Instead of cutting up your potatoes, boil them whole or halved if they are really big. They absorb less water that way. Drain the water off at the end and let them cook for a minute more to evaporate any water on the potatoes. Drier potatoes = fluffier potatoes. The only real moisture should be from the butter and milk. It makes a HUGE difference in preventing gummy mashed potatoes 🙂
Thanks for the great recipe.
Delicious! I’ve been making mashed potatoes for eons – trying this and that suggestion from friends or recipes … but although fine – I wanted something better … smoother- tangier – richer …. this is it! I’ve made your recipe 3 times now and each time perfection – rave reviews from all guests. Thank you!!
I want to make the day before. What are the reheating instructions?
Can these be done a day early?
Love this!! Seriously the perfect mashed potatoes. Her instant pot mashed potatoes are delicious too with a little ranch seasoning kick.
I thought this was a ‘make ahead” list. This says to serve immediately. But Damn Delicious is one of my very favorite blogs!
You’re right—this recipe is excellent! The addition of sour cream is the key to a very creamy finished dish. Interestingly, the garlic does not stand out at all in he end, but just contributes to an overall tastiness. I added chives from the garden. Thank you!
Delicious and fluffy. Yum!
This was amazing, everyone went back for seconds!
Hello, can you make these ahead of time or how long can you keep them on a warmer?
These are the best mashed potatoes! Such a simple addition, garlic cloves in the potatoes, but makes a huge difference in the taste.
Didn’t have any milk but I had half and half, so I made these. They were delicious! Would definitely make them again. Perfect amount of garlic too.
Always great in cast iron/ Griswold
Thank You another tasty recipe
For a family batch of 6 large baker potatoe boiled
Add :
▪︎ 8oz. Hiland French Onion Dip.
▪︎8 Oz Philadelphia cream cheese
▪︎ fresh minced garlic
▪︎ Cavenders seasoning.
▪︎ Fresh ground pepper
My family begs for these all the time.
Not a review, but a question- what’s the big difference between using a potato ricer versus whipping them into submission with a hand blender, which for me produces pretty fluffy results? Happy thanksgiving! We’ll be spending ours in Tuscany so it’s gonna be more like bistecca alla fiorentina & roasted potatoes!!
I use an immersion blender or just an electric hand mixer, too. I don’t own a potato ricer, and have never bought one because it only has one purpose: ricing potatoes I don’t make mashed potatoes very often.
A potato ricer also works great to remove water from frozen spinach! Granted, there are not a lot of uses for a ricer but it does work for this too.