Homemade Mashed Potatoes Creamy Fluffy And Easy To Make

How to Cook the Potatoes

You can switch up the cooking method for your mashed potatoes depending on what your particular needs and timing. In a hurry? Try our Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes recipe. Want to cook and serve your potatoes all in the same pot while also keeping them warm while serving? Try cooking them in the Crock Pot! I have personally used every method below and really, you can’t go wrong with any of them. Mashed potatoes can be tricky. They can easily get too thin, too whipped, too dense, or not dense enough. It really depends on your taste. In my opinion, my Mom makes the best mashed potatoes. They are thick, but smooth, dense, and fluffy, but not dry. Always perfect every time, and this is her homemade mashed potatoes recipe.

Boiled (stove top):

Boiling potatoes is the most traditional and common way of softening potatoes to be mashed. This is the way we have included in the recipe below because we realize not everyone will have the kitchen items available for the alternative methods below. Simply bring your water to a boil with a teaspoon or two of salt and add your peeled, diced potatoes. Boil for 15 minutes or just until potatoes are fork-tender.

Steamed (stove top):

There are some big advantages to steaming your potatoes rather than boiling them. Steaming potatoes is actually a faster method than boiling because you are heating much less water. Steaming also prevents your potatoes from getting mushy and waterlogged. It can make for lighter, fluffier potatoes. The only downside is you need a steamer basket, which a lot of people may not have. As for the method, it’s SUPER easy: Fill a large pot with 2 inches of water and salt. Set steamer basket in pot, making sure water doesn’t come through the holes. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a rapid simmer. Add potatoes to steamer basket, cover pot, and steam for 25 minutes or until tender.

Instant Pot (pressure cooker):

I’ve got to say, cooking the potatoes in the Instant Pot is my personal favorite way of softening potatoes for mashed potatoes. It’s fast, easy, and efficient. I also love that it doesn’t take up precious stove space on Thanksgiving Day. You can plug in your Instant Pot far away from your high-traffic kitchen area and forget about it. It doesn’t heat up your house because all that heat and steam stays in the Instant Pot. We love this method so much, we actually dedicated an entire post to it: Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes.

Crock Pot:

I love cooking potatoes in a Crock Pot when I want to get potatoes going ahead of time and just forget about them. This is actually a great method for Thanksgiving day because you can start your potatoes and move on with the rest of your Thanksgiving meal prep. It is also a great method because after mashing them, you can put them back into the Crock Pot, switch it to “warm”, and to keep the potatoes warm until ready to serve. You can even serve them straight from the Crock Pot! Here’s what to do: Spray Crock Pot with cooking spray and add peeled and diced potatoes (as many as your Crock Pot can comfortably hold). Add 1 cup milk, ½ cup water, and a generous pinch of salt over the potatoes, gently stir to combine. Place the lid on the Crock Pot and cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours or until potatoes are tender. After mashing/whipping the potatoes, return to Crock Pot to keep warm until ready to serve Read More: 60+ Potato Recipes from Idaho

Turkey gravy (seriously, this gravy is to die for) Beef Gravy Crockpot Steak and Gravy Country Gravy (included with our Chicken Fried Chicken recipe)

Fully Loaded – Top your potatoes with cheese, crumbled bacon, and green onion. So good we gave these potatoes their very own post! Sour cream and chives- Stir in a little sour cream and top with chives and fresh ground pepper. Roasted garlic- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice off the top of a head of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap in foil and place in a shallow dish. Roast for 40 minutes or until golden and soft. Let cool for 10 minutes then squeeze out garlic cloves (to taste) over your potatoes before mashing.

Reheating: No matter how you re-heat your potatoes, the most important thing to remember is to add liquid. After being in the refrigerator, potatoes tend to dry out. You can add a few splashes of milk, buttermilk, cream, or even chicken broth. Just add a splash at a time as you are re-heating them until they get back to the consistency you want. They should be right back to the consistency they were when you made them fresh. Also, don’t forget to add some butter to give them that fresh, buttery flavor. No one will even suspect they were re-heated! On The Stovetop: In a large pot over medium heat, add potatoes, liquid and butter. Stir often until heated through. In The Crock Pot: Place potatoes, liquid, and butter in a Crock Pot on low heat for two hours, stirring occasionally until heated through. In The Microwave: Though this is the fastest way of re-heating mashed potatoes, it is the least desirable. The consistency won’t be the same as when you first made the potatoes but sometimes you just need to get them heated quickly. In this case, place potatoes, liquid, and butter in a large microwave-safe bowl. Heat for one minute at a time, stirring well each time until heated through.