You can’t find anyone who doesn’t like potatoes! Potato is yummy; it makes any dish delicious. But do you know how to make mashed potatoes? They are comforting, easy to make, and also a quick fix to the arrival of unwanted guests. You can make this at any time of the year, but during holidays it is the best.
Correctly cooking mashed potatoes can get complicated, but don’t worry cause we are here to help you out with it. In this article, we will give you tips and tricks on how to cook mashed potatoes easily from scratch. You just need some staple ingredients, and you’re good to go. So without any further delay, let’s get to the topic.
Table of Contents
How to Make Mashed Potatoes for One?
Whether an American dish or even a Turkish dish, mashed potatoes remains constant either as a side dish or as a snack. But making it perfectly can get tricky at times, but we will guide you properly here. So take a pen and paper or just note it’s down, cause you can’t miss these.
Ingredients
- potatoes
- milk
- sour cream
- butter
- salt
- Choose potatoes like Russet or Yolanda potatoes.
- Better to use unsalted butter.
- Use fat milk
- Use sour cream to make it rich and fluffy and spice up the flavor.
Procedure
- First, peel the potatoes and wash them properly. Drain out the water. Cut the potatoes in half or make them in their 1/4th size.
- Simmer the potatoes for good 10minutes. Add the potatoes to a saucepan, add salt and let it boil. Use a fork to check if the potatoes turned soft. If the fork cuts the potatoes, then it’s done.
- Drain the water and mash the potatoes with a potato masher. Mash it to fine paste to avoid lumps. It should be a plane. You can use a regular masher, or you can use a ricer that smashes finely.
- Transfer it to a serving bowl and add the next ingredients.
- Use milk to soften the potatoes. Use full-fat milk to soften the potatoes.
- And then, use sour cream and butter on the potatoes. Don’t add it on top of the other. Add melted butter, mix it, then add sour cream, and give it a good mix.
- Serve it with herbs and a pinch of garlic.
How to Make Mashed Potatoes Creamy?
Follow the above procedure to boil or cook the potatoes. Close the lid and boil it for good 10 minutes in medium heat. The time can vary for you according to the type of potato you are using. Use Yukon potatoes, as they will turn out creamy. To make mashed potatoes creamier than usual, use splashes of milk in your mashed potatoes. Don’t skip the milk if you want the potatoes to be extra creamy. It will be better to use warm milk as it will help make the potatoes warm and soft.
- You can also use butter instead of milk. It even ensures the potatoes are creamy. Make sure to use unsalted butter to avoid excess salt.
- You can also use cream cheese or sour cream. It makes potatoes creamy, fluffy, and lightweight. And that sour flavor gives a twist.
How to Make Mashed Potatoes Without Milk?
If you are lactose intolerant or you don’t wanna use milk just like that, then your solution is to use milk substitutes like soy milk, almond milk, etc. If you want to avoid t, the part of the milk, then uses an unsalted dairy-free butter substitute.
Use these two ingredients to make your mashed potatoes without milk.
Mash it with a masher and smash it into a fine mixture and check if there’s any lump in it. Garnish it with some fresh chives and herbs.
What to Add in Mashed potatoes for Flavor?
There are different flavors you can try and add to your bland mashed potatoes. The flavor is a treat to one’s taste buds, and it elevates your mood when you taste a flavor that is delicious and yummy.
Here are a few suggestions that you can try with your mashed potatoes –
1. Garlic Butter
The most common and the most delicious combo. What’s a perfect match without garlic butter? Nothing. Nothing can beat the match of garlic butter in potatoes. Add some mixed herbs and create your lip-smacking snack in minutes.
2. Spring Onions
Onion and potatoes go well with each other. But adding onions directly to your mashed potatoes can overpower the taste. We don’t need that. We go for mild flavors, so we can use spring onions, which can bring that particular hint of flavor without overpowering it.
3. Adding Cheese
Adding mozzarella cheese or any kind of cheese into the batter can make it taste 10X better, honestly. Cheese goes hand in hand with potatoes, like a match made in heaven. The unique flavor of the cheese makes it taste delicious.
4. Oregano or Mixed Herbs
This is the easiest yet most effective way to add a certain flavor to the dish. This is an Italian taste mix that got popular for its versatility in different dishes. Making it tastes so much better.
Try out these flavors and let us know the best out of all, according to you. Go and try them now. Other recommendations –
- Black pepper
- chives
- parsley
Homemade Garlic Mashed Potatoes
One of the common recipes with mashed potatoes is garlic mashed potatoes. You just need a few ingredients to make this and a few minutes in hand. Let’s go through the recipe for garlic mashed potatoes.
Ingredients
- Russet potatoes (according to your requirements) here I’m taking 64 medium-sized potatoes. • salt to taste
- Parmesan cheese
- 7-8 cloves of garlic
- milk
- half and half (half milk and half cream)
Procedure
- First, peel the potatoes and wash them properly under running cold water. Cut them into four parts and place them in a large saucepan. Add some salt to taste and bring it to a boil. Check with a fork that the potatoes turned soft or not. The potatoes should break when poked with a fork.
- Drain the water through a strainer and mash the potatoes with the help of a potato masher.
- Use half and half cream mixture and set it to boil. Add the cloves of garlic to it and let it cook for a while. Remove and set it aside.
- Add the garlic cream to the potatoes, followed by parmesan cheese.
- Mix it well together, and there are your garlic mashed potatoes ready to serve.
- Try this out cause you would love this. A blessing to your taste buds.
Secrets to Best Mashed Potatoes
- Using the right potato can change the game, honestly. You can use Yukon Gold potato, which is the best for making mashed potatoes.
- Be gentle while adding the liquid ingredients. Do not add the ingredients all at once as it can make the batter runny, thus ruining the whole thing. So mix it little by little, keep mixing, and that will make it better.
- avoid cutting the potatoes into bite sizes while boiling. This will make the potatoes watery, which will strain you from tasting the actual flavor. It will get bland, and the recipe won’t turn out as expected.
- Add salt to the boiling water helps in cooking potatoes with great taste. The salt gets absorbed, which helps the recipe to turn out flavorful.
- Avoid adding butter and cream together. First, add the butter, mix it and then add the cream and again mix it. This will ensure you have good textured mashed potatoes.
- Undercooking it can also ruin your recipe. Cook it well, and keep checking it with a fork that will ensure you have perfectly boiled potatoes. If the potatoes are cut when you poke them with a fork, that means it’s ready.
These are some of my secrets that can help you cook mashed potatoes with perfection. Cooking needs patience, so I’ll suggest you wait for it. You won’t get perfect on your first attempt but trying is better than procrastinating.
Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.s)
1) How long does it take to boil whole potatoes for mashed potatoes?
➢ Potatoes like Russet take about 20-25 minutes to boil, whereas potatoes like red gold boil faster at 15 minutes. I would recommend you to cut it in half or 1/4th size, though. 2) Can you mash in a blender? Or mixer?
➢ Well, yeah, you can add all the ingredients possible, then give it a good mix. If the mixture gets stuck on the blades of the blender, then add more milk to loosen things up. 3) Should I cut potatoes before boiling?
➢ It depends on you. If you want, you can, or you can boil whole-sized potatoes. But, cutting the potatoes before boiling will cook more quickly.
2) Should you add salt while boiling potatoes?
➢ Well, if you add salt later, it makes it under-taste and not flavorful enough. Whereas if you add salt to the boiling water, potatoes turn out to be tasty and good.
How to make mashed potatoes from baked potatoes
This is rather an easy process; according to me is quite flavorful.
Ingredients
- potatoes (Russet or Yukon)
- garlic few cloves
- olive oil
- salt to taste
- black pepper
- unsalted butter
- chives
Procedure
- Preheat the oven to 425°. Meanwhile, prick the potatoes with a fork so that it cooks well from the inside. Cut through garlic from the middle. Brush the potatoes with some olive oil and season the potatoes with salt and pepper. Prepare a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake this till a knife slides easily through the potato.
- Cut the potatoes in halves. Scrape out the skin. Scrape the skin of the garlic and mash the garlic with a potato masher. Mash the potato evenly.
- Add an adequate amount of butter to a saucepan and 1 cup of half and half. Simmer this in medium flame until the butter melts completely.
- Now keep adding the half and half cream until the potato gets smooth. Keep the batter thick. Don’t add the liquid at once.
- Season it with a bit of pepper and some freshly chopped chives.
- Serve the mixture hot.
It is aromatic and blended with a caramelized flavor which makes it delicious on its own. How to make mashed potatoes with skin
You can either use Russet potatoes or red skin potatoes as their skin are thick, and the texture will be buttery and creamy. Cut the potatoes into medium dice before boiling.
Use melted butter because that will make the mixture mushier and soft.
You can use heavy whipping cream to make it more creamy and rich. If you’re health health-conscious, you can substitute it with half and half mix, sure.
Preparation
Scrub the potatoes well to remove further dirt and give them a boil. Cut the potatoes into big dice and bring them to boil.
Add the potatoes into a big saucepan and bring them to boil for 25-30 minutes.
After everything, it’s time for you to mix all the ingredients. Butter, salt, cream, pepper. Mash and mix together. That’s it. Now dig in!
The best-mashed potatoes are made with potatoes in well-drained soil. – we prefer to use a hand mixer as you can still achieve super smooth and creamy mashed potatoes with the skin attached. Some of the
skin e wrapped around the whips, but that’s okay. Just be careful not to overmix. If you like thicker mashed potatoes, use a potato masher.
Other recipes you can try with mashed potatoes are –
- Cheddar baked mashed potatoes
- Garlic cauliflower mashed potatoes
- Chive Bacon mashed potatoes
- Mashed potato pancakes
Final Thoughts
Making mashed potatoes is super easy, and it’s under budget. But getting everything together can be a bit tricky. But with the help of our tips, you can make the best-mashed potatoes out there. Whether for unannounced guests or during the holiday season, these delicacies come in handy. You can experiment with other recipes even.
Hopefully, this article was relevant to your search, and we succeeded in clearing all your doubts regarding how to make mashed potatoes. Don’t forget to follow these tips when you’ll make it. Let us know about your experience. Till then, take care and Bon Appetite!