Perfect Mashed Potatoes Recipe: 4 Ways To Make Them Perfect

Name: Perfect Mashed Potatoes
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 3-4 pounds Russet potatoes; 1/2 cup milk; 1/4 cup butter; 1/2 cup sour cream; salt and pepper (to taste)

This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy.

Want fluffy, light mashed potatoes with dinner? With this simple how-to recipe, you’ll get perfect mashed potatoes every time!

Jump to Recipe

Featured with this recipe

Ingredients in Mashed Potatoes
Best Potatoes for Perfect Mashed Potatoes
Cooking Methods
Tips for making mashed potatoes
Frequently Asked Questions: Mashed Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes With Gravy
More Variations
Reheating Mashed Potatoes
Here are four easy ways to re-heat mashed potatoes:
Using Leftover Mashed Potatoes
More Potato Recipes
Perfect Mashed Potatoes Recipe

These creamy, buttery, mashed potatoes are the perfect side dish for turkey, roast beef, or pork chops. In just a few simple steps, you’ll have delicious mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving, Sunday dinner, or just a side to weeknight meatloaf.

Mashed potatoes can be tricky. They can easily get too thin or too whipped, too dense, or not dense enough. It really depends on your taste! In our opinion, our 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 mashed potatoes recipe. We will often change up how we cook or soften the potatoes to be mashed (depending on our timeframe, or if we need to free up stovetop space) but our method for mashing them is always the same!

Ingredients in Mashed Potatoes

Potatoes
Sour Cream
Butter
Milk
Salt & Pepper

Best Potatoes for Perfect Mashed Potatoes

When making mashed potatoes, you want to use a nice, starchy potato such as Russet, Idaho, or Yukon Gold potatoes. Russet is the cheapest and easiest to find, which is why most people prefer to use them. They are high in starch and mash perfectly. Idaho potatoes are very similar to Russet potatoes and will mash up the same. If you like a more creamy, buttery taste, go with Yukon Gold. You really can’t go wrong with either. Yukon golds are nice because the skin isn’t as thick and dry as a Russet, so you don’t have to peel them perfectly. In fact, leaving a little bit of the peel on adds nutrients and gives it a nice texture. If you want the best of both worlds, use half of each!

Cooking Methods

As mentioned above, we will switch up the cooking method of our mashed potatoes depending on what our particular needs and/or timeframes are on any particular day. 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!

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 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 HERE.

Cut up potatoes and water in an instant pot.

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

Tips for making mashed potatoes

Cut your potatoes a little larger (if boiling) – Large potato dices won’t get as mushy or waterlogged. This can also be prevented if steaming or using the Instant Pot or Crock Pot.
Use a stand mixer – I don’t know about you, but mashing potatoes by hand is not my favorite thing. I love using my Kitchen Aid with the whisk attachment. Makes them perfectly every time without the hand cramps.
Heat your dairy – Heat your milk and butter ingredients in a small saucepan or the microwave before adding to the potatoes. This will keep the potatoes warm and help with even distribution.
Fluffy mashed potatoes – For light and fluffy mashed potatoes, all you need to do is rinse away a lot of the starch. Rinse your potatoes well after peeling and cutting into cubes. Then, rinse again after boiling when you drain the water in the sink.
Creamy mashed potatoes- If you like your potatoes on the creamy side and a little more dense, add a few splashes of half and half, heavy cream, or a few tablespoons of cream cheese.
Add some color – When serving, add a garnish of a parsley or thyme sprig to add fresh color to the potatoes.

Frequently Asked Questions: Mashed Potatoes

What is the trick to good mashed potatoes?

First of all, using the right kind of potato. We prefer Russet potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes for smooth, creamy mashed potatoes. Second, cut the potato into large chunks (usually 4-6 equal pieces) to boil. If cut too small, the potatoes will be overcooked and mushy. Then, heat the liquid and fat you will be adding prior to mashing. A final trick is to use a stand mixer, or spend plenty of time hand mixing, so the potatoes are smooth and creamy with no lumps.

What does milk do to mashed potatoes?

Milk gives mashed potatoes the fluffy texture we all love! Be sure to heat the milk and other ingredients prior to adding to the potatoes.

Is it better to peel potatoes before boiling or mashing?

Either way is fine. It’s up to you. We almost always peel our potatoes first, which is just a personal preference. If you are going to leave the peel on, be sure to thoroughly scrub the skins clean before cutting and boiling the potatoes.

Mashed Potatoes With Gravy

These potatoes are so good on their own, but they are my favorite with GRAVY. I mean, who doesn’t love their potatoes with a big ol’ gravy lake in the middle? Skip the powdered packet gravy or store-bought gravy and make your own. Trust me, it’s just as easy, and tastes a million times better! Here are some of our very favorite homemade gravy recipes to serve with mashed potatoes:

Turkey Gravy

How to Make Beef Gravy

Crock Pot Steak and Gravy

Chicken Fried Chicken

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

More Variations

If you don’t want to hop on the gravy train (or boat) there are many other ways you can serve your mashed potatoes. All of these variations can be served on their own, no gravy needed! Try them as a side with any of your favorite dishes:

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 Mashed Potatoes

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!

Bowl of mashed potatoes next to a roasted turkey

Here are four easy ways to re-heat mashed potatoes:

In The Oven: Stir in the liquid and butter into the mashed potatoes and spread in an even layer in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Bake at 350-degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through (165-degrees).
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.

Using Leftover Mashed Potatoes

Whenever we have leftover mashed potatoes, we usually like to incorporate them into a completely different meal. It’s easy to make two meals out of one big batch of potatoes! You don’t even need to make them the very next day. Your mashed potatoes will stay good in the refrigerator for up to four days!

One of our favorite ways to use up leftover mashed potatoes is Shepherd’s Pie. This is what our mom would always make when we had leftovers and we always loved it. Another way to use up the leftovers is to make our Cheesy Potato Cakes (pictured below). This is a delicious crispy appetizer or side dish for any occasion! You will love the creamy sauce to dip them in. If you have leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner, try our Thanksgiving Leftover Casserole. You can use up all those leftovers in one easy one-dish meal!

Cheesy Potato Cakes

Thanksgiving Leftover Casserole

Easy Shepherd's Pie

More Potato Recipes

We are big fans of all kinds of potato dishes. It’s kind of a requirement if you live in Idaho. Here are some of our other favorite potato side dishes that go great with any meal.