Mashed potatoes are delicious and can be the best companion to a lot of different dishes. Below you will find lots of tips and tricks on how to make the best mashed potatoes. It’s an easy recipe which is also very easy to vary.

How to make mashed potatoes

As a kid mashed potatoes were one of the staples we had at least once a week. Remember that it was back in the day when the standard meal was meat, veg and potatoes most days of the week. So mashed potatoes were my favorite treat! (like this red cabbage mash or this runner bean mash.)

There is a lot to be said about mashed potatoes. And there are lots of ways to make your own delicious mashed potatoes. With the festive season approaching, I thought it would be a good time to list some tips for making the tastiest mashed potatoes.

Floury potatoes

Want to make mashed potatoes? The best potatoes are those with a higher starch content for the fluffiest mashed potatoes. Russet potatoes or yukon gold potatoes would be a good bet. Most bags of potatoes you buy in the supermarket are labelled with the type of potato and their starch content. If you buy them at the farmers market ask for potatoes with a high starch content or floury potatoes and maybe explain that you want to make potato puree with it.

Once you have selected your potatoes, there are a few key points to remember when making the mash.

Don’t mix!

One of the most common mistakes people make when making mashed potatoes is to use an electric mixer, hand mixer or other fast spinning appliance. This makes the potato mash sticky and gooey and gives it the consistency of glue. So do NOT do this. A good mash is made with a potato masher, a potato ricer, a puree press or a sieve.

Depending on how smooth you want your puree to be, use different tools. A potato masher (hand masher) gives a nice rustic look with little chunks of potato in there. Using a potato ricer will give a more smooth result and of course it depends on what you use to mix through the potatoes. How much unsalted butter or heavy cream you add to the hot potatoes will have an effect on the end result.

Cooking

The process for making the best mashed potato recipe starts with cooking the potatoes. Take a large pot of cold water and add the potatoes. For making a potato puree you want to remove the skin of the potatoes for the best result. Cook the potatoes until a fork or knife slides in easily. Don’t overcook them as that will result in too much water in the puree itself. Once cooked and drained steam the potatoes shortly to remove excess moisture. I do this by placing the drained potatoes back in the pan and placing them on low heat for a few seconds. Shake the pan well and stay with it to avoid burning them.

French mashed potatoes

French chef Joël Robuchon’s mashed potatoes have almost as much butter as potatoes. One pound of butter goes into every kilo of potatoes. He made a name for himself with this very creamy mash, but for my taste it is way too much butter and too much creamy texture. There are also variations with cheese, so you get a kind of mix between cheese sauce and mashed potatoes. I do love adding some cream cheese, cheddar cheese or parmesan cheese to the mashed potatoes.

Rustic result

Want a tasty, rustic mash with large chunks of potato? Use a potato masher and add a good chunk of butter and a little hot milk. Want it even creamier? Use double cream or heavy cream instead of milk. Either way, make sure the liquid is warm. Otherwise the mashed potatoes will cool down too quickly, which is a shame. For a kilo of potatoes, use about 50g of butter, a generous splash of warm milk (think 50-100ml, roughly 1/4 of a cup), pepper, salt and a pinch of nutmeg.

These mashed potatoes are delicious with just about anything. As a side dish or to make a stew. A few lumps here and there are no problem. Of course you can also add fresh herbs to it. It’s the perfect base for making mashed vegetables too. We Dutch like to mash our food and the base of that is always the potato puree. Mix the potatoes with various vegetables like kale, endive or brussels sprouts.

Smooth result

If you want to make nice, smooth mashed potatoes, you can use the same method, but use a masher or a sieve to mash the potatoes. Try not to work the potato mash too much. You can also use a colander or a sieve with holes that are not too small. Push the potatoes through it. The more you work the potatoes the more risk you run of the potatoes becoming too sticky and get an unpleasant texture.

Boil or fry

To make your mashed potatoes, you can either boil or roast them. As with many other methods, roasting the (whole) potatoes adds flavor. So it is an option, although it takes a little longer than boiling potato pieces. Also using roasted potatoes will be different as the skin will be tougher and the potato mash will be less smooth.

Adding flavor

Just as different methods of cooking potatoes add flavor, so does the milk you use. It’s best to use whole milk, but if you can’t tolerate milk, you can use almond milk or oat milk (see below for a vegan option). You can use salted or unsalted butter but make sure you use a good butter for best results. The butter melts through the mashed potatoes and will give it a great flavor. So quality matters!

If you add herbs or other spices to your milk, leave them to stand for a while while the potatoes cook. For example, consider adding thyme and rosemary to the milk, or use a cinnamon stick. Of course, it all depends on the dish you are serving the mashed potatoes with. Cinnamon is a pretty strong flavor but does work really well with Moroccan style curries. Sour cream is also a good addition and will give a slightly different flavor compared to heavy cream or regular milk.

Vegan mashed potatoes

Want to make vegan mashed potatoes? Use vegetable butter instead of butter. Margarine is plant based and can be used. This has about the same properties as butter (although it tastes different) and is a good alternative. Instead of milk, use a plant-based milk such as almond milk, rice milk, cashew milk, coconut milk (it has a strong coconut flavor!) or oat milk.

When choosing your milk, think about the flavor combinations with your final dish. If you are serving Brussels sprouts, coconut milk may not be the best choice.

Alternatives to mashed potatoes

Below I’m giving you a couple of alternatives to regular mashed potatoes. All use pretty simple ingredients and it is easy to swap one for the other. Keep in mind that taste varies depending on the vegetable used. I love serving a bit of turkey gravy at Thanksgiving on my mashed potatoes

Sweet potato puree

Although sweet potatoes are not related to the common potato, they can also be used to make a mash. As the name suggests, sweet potatoes are much sweeter than regular potatoes. As sweet potatoes do not have the starch content of potatoes, you can use a hand blender to achieve an ultra-smooth result.

Celeriac puree

Not mashed potatoes, but mashed celeriac. This vegetable can also be used as an alternative to mashed potatoes. (like in this carrot mash) Or add some celeriac to your mashed potatoes. This gives a nice herbal effect. Use 1/2 potato and 1/2 celeriac.

The same goes for cauliflower. You can also use this as a substitute or as an addition.

Steps for making the perfect mashed potatoes

Wash and slice the potatoes.
Boil the potatoes in plenty of salted water for about 20 minutes until tender.
Drain the potatoes and steam well to remove most of the moisture.
Heat some milk.
Mash the potatoes with a potato masher or put them through a potato ricer. Add a generous knob of butter and stir in. Add the milk until the mash has the right texture.
Season to taste with pepper, salt and any other spices you like, such as nutmeg. Nutmeg is a real classic with mashed potatoes.