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published November 17, 2021 — last updated October 25, 2022
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This is not your mom’s mashed potatoes recipe! These creamy mashed potatoes make a great addition to any dinner! Perfect as a side for the holidays or with a traditional chicken or roast beef dinner.
These are not your mom’s mashed potatoes. At least they aren’t my mom’s :). I am the official mashed potato maker for all of our family gatherings thanks to this rich, creamy mashed potato recipe.
Who doesn’t love mashed potatoes? Am I right? I’ve taken to classic to the next level with lots of butter, cream cheese, and milk. They end up perfectly smooth and totally delicious. And I have an Instant Pot version too!
They are the perfect side for slow cooker turkey breast, Instant Pot turkey breast, red wine braised short ribs. Pour on some homemade turkey gravy and serve them with any comfort food dish you can think of!
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Need some help planning your Thanksgiving menu? Check out “How to Host Thanksgiving Dinner for 4-6 People” !
Ingredients You’ll Need
For this recipe, you’ll need to have the following ingredients on hand:
- Potatoes – We always use russet or Yukon gold potatoes for this, but you can also use red if you like.
- Milk – We prefer using whole milk for the extra creaminess that you can’t get with lower fat options. You can also use a bit of heavy cream if that is what you have on hand.
- Salted butter – If you need to keep a lower sodium diet, you can use unsalted.
- Cream Cheese – We prefer using regular, full fat cream cheese.
- Kosher salt – You can also use sea or table salt if you prefer.
Different Types of Potatoes You Can Use
Potatoes come in different sizes, shapes, and colors. If you are new to making mashed potatoes, here are our picks for the best potatoes to use.
- Russet – Russet have a thicker skin, so you’ll probably want to skin them before mashing for a smooth texture. When you cook them up, the flesh softens a lot, which makes them great for whipping and making into mashed potatoes. If you can only find russets, they are a great choice.
- Yukon gold – Yukon gold potatoes have a smooth, thin skin and a yellowish tint in their flesh. They are also slightly sweet. Though they are often used in baking and frying, (we love making crispy air fryer potatoes with them) they are also perfect for making smooth mashed potatoes.
- Red – Red skinned potatoes have a red, thin peel and a white flesh. You can peel them or leave their skin on when making mashed potatoes. The skins can add a bit of texture and flavor to mashed potatoes. These are great for sour cream potato salad or German potato salad.
Making turkey to go with those mashed potatoes? Here’s everything you need to know about how to cook a turkey breast.
Instructions
Here’s what you need to do to make the best mashed potatoes!
Step 1 – Wash and peel the potatoes. Once washed, cut them into 1 to 2 inch pieces.
Step 2 – Boil the potatoes. Place the potatoes in a large pot and fill it with just enough water to cover the potatoes. Once the water is in, add two tablespoons of salt to the water.
Finally, cover the pot and heat over high heat. Bring the water to a boil and then let them cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until they easily break apart with a fork. Drain the potatoes and then place them back in the pot.
Step 3 – Mix the potatoes. Add the butter and cream cheese and then use a potato masher, hand mixer, or stand mixer to begin mashing the potatoes. Slowly add the milk, a little at a time, until you reach the consistency you want.
Finally, add in a teaspoon of salt at a time until you get the saltiness right for you. Serve with your favorite gravy, turkey, and other fixings.
How to Make it Ahead of Time
These easy mashed potatoes are a great make ahead recipe, whether you are busy prepping for a large holiday gathering or just planning on making a big dinner over the weekend.
To make them ahead, let them cool completely and then store them in a sealed container for up to 2 days.
On the day you plan to serve them, place them in a slow cooker with a little milk and stir them around. They will be difficult to work with when they are cold but set your slow cooker to low and let them heat up slowly. You’ll want to stir them every 30 minutes until they are warmed through.
If they begin to dry out, just add more milk, but go slow so you don’t lose the consistency you want. Once they are heated through, turn the heat down to warm and leave them until you are ready to eat.
Looking for More Potato Recipes?
- Cranberry Sweet Potato Casserole
- Sweet Potato Pie
- Air Fryer Potato Skins
- Sweet Potato Hash
- Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries
- Instant Pot Baked Potatoes
- Instant Pot Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes
- Loaded Au Gratin Potatoes
- Foil Packet Garlic Potatoes
- More Potato Recipes…
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Servings: 12
Prep Time: 20 minutes mins
Cook Time: 20 minutes mins
Total Time: 40 minutes mins
Not Your Mom’s Mashed Potatoes
These mashed potatoes are rich and creamy and made with a secret ingredient that is going to make your next dinner extra special!
Print Recipe
4.67 from 6 votes
Ingredients
- 5 pounds Potatoes
- 3/4 cup Milk, you will use ¾ – 1/ 1/4 cups milk depending on how dry your potatoes are. Just add a little at a time until you reach the consistency you like.
- 3/4 cup Butter
- 8 ounces Cream Cheese
- 3 tablespoons Kosher salt
Instructions
Wash and peel the potatoes then cut them into 1-2 inch pieces.
Put the potatoes in a large pot and fill the pot with enough water to cover the potatoes. Add 2 tablespoons of salt to the pot.
Cover and place the pot on the stove over high heat. Bring the potatoes to a boil and let them cook for 15-20 minutes or until the easily break apart with a fork.
Drain the water from the potatoes and then place them back in the pot.
Add the butter and cream cheese and use a potato masher or a hand mixer to begin mashing the potatoes. Slowly add the milk 1/4 cup at a time until you reach the consistency you want.
Add the salt a teaspoon at a time until you reached your desired level of saltiness.
Notes
Note: You can make these a day ahead and then on the morning of your dinner place them in a slow cooker with a little milk and stir them around. Turn the slow cooker to low and let them heat up, stirring every 30 minutes until they are warmed through, then turning down to warm and leaving them until you are ready to eat. If they begin to dry out just add more milk but go slow so you don’t lose the consistency you want.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cup, Calories: 384kcal, Carbohydrates: 51g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 19g, Saturated Fat: 11g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 52mg, Sodium: 764mg, Potassium: 1243mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 650IU, Vitamin C: 70.1mg, Calcium: 90mg, Iron: 2.2mg
Nutrition Disclaimer: We are not certified nutritionists. Nutrition facts are an estimate and are provided as a courtesy. They are generated by an online API which recognizes ingredient names and amounts and makes calculations based on the serving size. Results may vary.
Author: Kat Jeter & Melinda Caldwell
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: best mashed potatoes, creamy mashed potatoes, easy mashed potatoes, mashed ptoatoes
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18 comments on “Not Your Mom’s Mashed Potatoes”
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Summer — November 15, 2016 @ 9:59 am Reply
Beautiful and yummy ♥
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Nathaly — December 14, 2016 @ 1:50 pm Reply
What kind of potatoes do you use?
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Kat — December 14, 2016 @ 2:59 pm Reply
I used Russett potatoes
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Melinda — November 21, 2017 @ 5:16 pm Reply
Best mashed potatoes ever!
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joyce — September 16, 2018 @ 7:37 pm Reply
My former MIL, an excellent Southern cook, made her mashed potatoes with sour cream and cream cheese, as well as LOTS of butter, and they were simply amazing!! They almost stole the show at any meal she brought them to, which was a great many, and there were never any leftovers because the five of us could and did polish them off happily. She made fabulous meatloaf, too, and when she put the two on the table for the same meal, my FIL would beam from ear to ear, that being his favorite meal of all time, along with corn and green beans (my favorite meal, too 🙂 ). They’re both long gone, but Gladys’s mashed potatoes recipe is still my favorite, and I use it to this day.
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Kat — September 17, 2018 @ 11:14 am Reply
Mashed potatoes are just one of those dishes where you can’t cut back on the butter! 🙂 So glad this brought back memories for you!
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Susan — November 23, 2018 @ 7:29 pm Reply
Joyce, I love your response. I too was lucky enough to have a wonderful Southern cook for a mom. Giving a recipe a title with “Not your Mom’s” in the description is pretty insulting to all those great women who were so talented in the kitchen. My mother passed away a few years ago and I would love to be able to sit in her kitchen again and would be honored to have my cooking compared to hers.
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Kat — November 23, 2018 @ 8:01 pm Reply
Susan, I stood in the kitchen making these mashed potatoes with my amazing southern mother standing right next to me. She loves the recipe and the title and is proud to say that the student has surpassed the master. If anyone finds offense with the name of the recipe I think they are looking for an insult where there isn’t one.
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Haylie — December 31, 2018 @ 8:43 pm Reply
Not sure what either of those women are talking about. This a great recipe and the title is just that, a title. Wonderful job!
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Ziggy — December 30, 2018 @ 7:51 am Reply
Hey there, I also use sour cream, whipped cream cheese, butter, and some half and half. These mashed potatoes are always a big hit during family gatherings. The only drawback is no one else wants to make them and I always end up having to do it.
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jackie — November 30, 2018 @ 12:23 pm Reply
Im extremely excited to “try” this recipe. My mouth watered as i was reading it
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Kat — November 30, 2018 @ 1:36 pm Reply
I hope you like it as much as we do!!
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Kristine — October 3, 2019 @ 8:03 am Reply
Absolutely amazingly wonderful mashed potatoes! I was bummed out that I had over cooked my roast and I made these mashed potatoes. WOW! I never gave the roast a second thought. It was mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner. And these potatoes don’t need gravy. They are excellent on their own. Thank you for posting!
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Michelle — November 25, 2019 @ 6:10 pm Reply
Do you ever whip your potatoes?
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Kat — November 26, 2019 @ 11:17 am Reply
I often use a whisk attachment to get silky smooth potatoes. This recipe works with any consistency!
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SFelker — December 5, 2019 @ 1:14 pm Reply
I made these mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving this year….and OMG!!! I have had an ongoing love affair with mashed potatoes. I used to make my Mom make them for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I told her one year that it wasn’t the holidays without mashed potatoes. Since that day many years ago I have had a love – hate relationship with carbohydrates and potatoes have been off the menu for a very, long, (sad) time. But I am happy to report that they are back, I swear to never eliminate a whole food group ever again!! I have found my one and only recipe for mashed potatoes.
Thank you for posting this most wonderful recipe.
Signed,
Carbs are back!
p.s. I wish there were more than 5 stars to give.-
Kat — December 5, 2019 @ 2:00 pm Reply
I’m so glad you liked them! I made them for Thanksgiving this year (as usual) and used that slow cooker tip for keeping them warm. Truly one of my family’s favorite recipes!
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SFelker — December 5, 2019 @ 1:22 pm Reply
Oh, and I forgot to mention, your tip for making mashed potatoes ahead and keeping them warm in a crockpot is pure genius. I worked like a champ. Thank you for that too!!
