While you might not want your green beans touching your gooey marshmallow yams, everything tastes great with buttery mashed potatoes. The neutral, crowd-pleasing side can be plopped anywhere on the plate, ready to soak up extra gravy or complement savory stuffing. And while most recipes are good, I went in search of greatness–and ultimately came away with my new forever favorite.
What Makes Perfect Mashed Potatoes?
Perfect mashed potatoes are ridiculously fluffy, with a rich, buttery flavor and impressive amount of salt. They should be creamy but not too decadent (a little tang is always welcome), and the best ones can be reheated without the risk of drying out.
And if you manage to have any leftover mashed potatoes, they can be put to use several ways. Fry them up like fritters, stir them into soup, or even pull out your waffle iron for a savory start to your day.
Which is all to say there’s twice the reason to find the very best mashed potato recipe in time for Thanksgiving. It was time to test.
Which Mashed Potato Recipes Did I Test?
I tested the five most popular mashed potato recipes on Allrecipes.com, which taught me that there’s a seriously tasty recipe for every mashed potato preference. I tried one with bold garlic flavor, one that can be prepped in advance, one designed for large crowds, one made in a slow cooker, and one that I loved the most. Here’s how it all mashed up.
Fast facts: Developed by Esmee Williams, has 411 reviews with a 4.6-star rating
This straightforward recipe employs a super-smart technique: simmering peeled garlic cloves alongside the chopped potatoes. The cloves stay with the spuds throughout the rest of the cooking process, ultimately getting mashed into the potatoes with the warm milk and butter. The resulting dish is so deliciously garlicky, Ithink it deserves new branding. These are far from basic!
Get the recipe: Basic Mashed Potatoes
Best for Super Planners: Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
Fast facts: Developed by Carol Evans, has 353 reviews with a 4.7-star rating
These mashed potatoes can be made up to two days in advance, and are chilled right in their baking dish for extra-easy reheating. Though the three types of dairy (sour cream, cream cheese, and milk) provide plenty of tang, I recommend adding extra onion salt to really bring all the flavors to life.
When you’re ready to bake, top the spuds with pats of butter, which will prevent them from drying out and infuse them with extra flavor.
Fast facts: Developed by Christina C, has 315 reviews with a 4.5-star rating
Thanks to the addition of cream cheese and grated Parmesan, these mashed potatoes are packed with tangy, salty flavor. They’re thick and mostly creamy, with a few small chunks throughout, and speckled with a generous amount of onion-y chopped chives. If you’re hosting a large crowd, this is the way to go: The recipe yields a whopping 12 cups.
Get the recipe: The Best Mashed Potatoes
Best for Mix-Ins: Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
Fast facts: Developed by BWAYE, has 1,252 reviews with a 4.7-star rating
These slow cooker spuds stay warm for several hours, leaving the stovetop cleared for cranberry sauce and gravy. They taste rich and creamy with just a hint of garlic, but are generally a blank slate that would welcome any mix-ins. Keep it (mostly) classic with fresh herbs or sliced green onions, or have a little fun with smoked paprika, chopped bacon, or shredded cheese.
Get the recipe: Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
Best Overall: Chef John’s Perfect Mashed Potatoes
Fast facts: Developed by Chef John, has 699 reviews with a 4.8-star rating
Chef John does it again! This 5-ingredient recipe is classic to its core: potatoes mashed with milk and butter and seasoned simply with salt and pepper. They’re smooth, fluffy, and pair well with everything on the plate, proving there’s really no reason to mess with perfection. Note: This recipe only makes four to six servings, so you’ll want to scale it up, especially considering everyone will be clamoring for more.
Get the recipe: Chef John’s Perfect Mashed Potatoes
The best potatoes for mashed potatoes are a starchy varieties like russet, Idaho or Yukon gold. Starchy potatoes are best for mashed potatoes because they have a fluffy, almost airy texture that breaks down easily.
Nutritionally speaking, instant mashed potatoes offer roughly the same vitamins and minerals as the real mashed potatoes with the exception of Vitamin C. To please palates, they tend to be higher in sodium, significantly higher than the amount of salt home cooks would add when making them at home from scratch.
Most potatoes grown in the US are of the russet variety, meaning they're what most people picture when you say "potato." With a mildly rough brown-grey skin, the flesh once cooked is light and fluffy and the skin becomes chewy.
Potatoes remain the top vegetable crop in the United States. They are grown commercially in 30 states, but Idaho grows more potatoes than any other state, followed by Washington.North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Colorado are also leading producers of potatoes.
Made with fresh red skin potatoes, butter, and real buttermilk, Bob Evans Mashed Potatoes tastes like homemade. We put extra care into making our mashed potatoes rich and creamy to deliver that homemade flavor your family expects.
I tried Ina Garten's simple recipe for mashed potatoes, and I loved the secret ingredient. In addition to Yukon Gold potatoes, butter, and milk, the ingredient list includes lemon zest. I loved how fresh the lemon made everything taste, but next time I'll probably use a little less.
If you've been debating trying Idahoan mashed potatoes, take comfort in the fact that they are real potatoes, with quality ingredients. Many of your friends, family and neighbors have tried us and love us. After all, they are America's favorite mashed potatoes.
Waxy potatoes hold their shape well after cooking so are great for boiling, roasting or slicing. Use them to cook casseroles, soups or potato salads. When to avoid: Waxy potatoes are not good for mashing because they hold their form and produce a chunky mash.
The ricer is the most efficient tool because one single pass is all it takes to get the job done. Epicurious food editor Jesse Szewczyk is a staunch advocate for the kitchen tool: “A ricer is something that can't be replicated or replaced.
Instead of boiling a few potatoes and mashing them plain, a lot of restaurant chefs like to apply a little more finesse. Garlic and herbs infused in butter and cream add a flavor boost without overpowering.
They are loaded with preservatives such as sodium bisulfate, BHA/BHT, and MSG. They also contain hydrogenated “GMO” soybean oil and corn syrup, maltodextrin (sometimes wheat-derived, causing concern for people with gluten intolerance), and dairy.
Mix in shredded cheddar or Parmesan cheese for an easy way to make instant mashed potatoes better, or go beyond the basics with blue cheese, Manchego, Gruyere, goat cheese or even cream cheese. They all bring something delicious to the table and add a new spin on basic boxed potatoes.
The most famous varieties include Russet Burbank, Russet Norkotah, Cal Red, Red La Soda, Red Norland, Russian Banana Fingerling, French Fingerling, Purple Peruvian Fingerling, Yukon Gold, and Yukon Gem Gold. This potato variety was named after Luther Burbank, a scientist who developed the strain in Massachusetts.
Mashed potatoes (28%) and baked potatoes (25%) top the list of preferred preparations, with French fries (20%), home fries/hash browns (10%) and potato chips (5%) following. The beloved baked potato is favored for its easy execution and palate-pleasing versatility.
Red potatoes are an excellent source of flavonoid antioxidants like quercetin, kaempferol-rutinose, catechin, and rutin. Red potatoes contain twice the amount of flavonoids as compared to white potatoes. 6They're also a rich source of several nutrients, including vitamin C and potassium.
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