Creamy Mashed Potatoes Recipe (VIDEO) (2024)

FAQs

Is it better to use milk or heavy cream in mashed potatoes? ›

As always, better quality ingredients equals better tasting food. Heavy Cream - While you, hypothetically, could use whole milk or something, I don't recommend it. Part of what makes these the creamiest mashed potatoes is the CREAM! Use the cream, we aren't eating mashed potatoes for our health.

Overworking the potatoes will cause them to get gummy, potatoes should still be light and fluffy. 6. Add the butter first. Adding the butter first helps to coat the starch in the potato, resulting in a creamier potato.

Milk! Water will thin them too much and kill any flavour added. Stock can be used if you want to use half the amount of milk/cream the recipe calls for. Milk is the best for mashed potatoes.

Soak the potatoes in water for at least 4 hours, up to overnight. This step is crucial to really get all of the excess starch off. Fill a large pot with water, rinse off the potatoes one last time and add them to the cold water. Salt the water, place the pot on the stove and turn on the heat.

So, the most convenient way to make mashed potatoes that doesn't take a quick trip to the store is to use milk, sometimes even 1% or 2%, and then add in melted butter to the warm milk when mixing into the mashed potatoes.

Sour Cream: The sour cream helps keep the mashed potatoes fluffy. Cream Cheese: This adds a bit of creaminess without being too overpowering. Heavy Cream: Increases the creaminess and helps thin out the potatoes a bit.

Sour cream adds a little bit of tangy flavor and a boost of richness to mashed potatoes. It's a fun change from the standard milk or cream and butter combo usually flavoring mashed taters. You can even try your hand at making homemade sour cream from heavy cream!

Runny potatoes can happen for a few different reasons. Too much liquid: This is the most common reason. In the mashing process you may have added too much milk or broth.

Too much butter, it'll be too rich and you won't be able to eat a lot of it. Not to mention, it doesn't taste much like potatoes but just butter. Same thing with seasoning. Too little, it becomes bland.

Should you let potatoes cool before mashing? ›

There's no need to cool potatoes at all before mashing them. It's actually easier to mash them while warm. It also means better taste! Also, if you're using butter in them, the heat allows it to melt into them.

Instead, it's better to use cold butter, so all of the starch is equally coated in the fat and milk solids. Whereas it's important to use cold butter for mashed potatoes, you'll want to add cream that's warm or room temperature.

Method. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the potatoes and boil for about 15 mins or until tender. Transfer to a colander and drain well, then return to the pan and set over a very low heat for 2 mins to dry completely.

Tips for the Best Mashed Potatoes

Start cooking the potatoes in cold water: This ensures that the potatoes cook evenly. Otherwise, if you start with hot or boiling water, the outsides of the potatoes cook and soften while the middles are still hard and crunchy.

You can use what you have on hand: Flour, cornstarch, or powdered milk are all solid options that are probably already in your pantry. Potato flour and potato starch would work as well. Stir in the thickening agent gradually, about a tablespoon at a time, until the potatoes have reached your desired consistency.

Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.

Using milk gives mashed potatoes a creamy and rich taste, while water will make them more thin and runny. If you go with water, you might want to consider adding extra butter or sour cream to compensate for the flavor and richness that you'd get from using milk.

Mashed potatoes can have butter and perhaps a bit of milk. Creamed (or whipped) potatoes are beaten with an electric mixer -- or one of those old-time hand-held manual mixers -- and they have lots of butter and cream to create a smoother texture.