Classic Mashed Potatoes – A no-fail recipe you’ll want to have again and again.
I may have flops and flub ups on some things, but my mashed potatoes are one dish I make that EVERYONE loves. My secrets shall be revealed…
So, we all know how to make em. Boil the taters and whip em up with milk and butter. Right? Nope. Why? Because potatoes, simple as they seem can be finicky little fellers.
Depending on how fresh they are, what type they are, how you cook them and what you’re whipping them up with, you can end up with potato soup rather than the side dish you LOVE. I can’t tell you how many times that used to happen to me and it really is a disappointment. So, I did some studying about the problem and finally have a no-fail fabulous recipe.
Here’s the scoop…
1. The starch content of your potato is the key. For mashed potatoes or even baked, you want a high-starch potato like Russets (Idaho potatoes) because they readily soak up milk and butter and hold plenty of air when whipped. That means fluffy taters! You also want make sure your potatoes aren’t too old. If they’re soft and the skin is easily pressed into, pitch em and get some fresh ones.
2. How you cook them is important. First of all, after you peel them, cut them into thirds or fourths. We want our chunks to be fairly close in the same size so they’ll all cook and be done at the same time. And secondly, you don’t wanna be mean to em. Take the heat down to a gentle simmer after they come to a boil. Otherwise, you end up with too much water soaked up in your potatoes.
3. Use a good quality organic butter. Just trust me. And use sour cream (see Homemade Sour Cream) instead of milk. This will ensure a great consistency rather than soupy mashed taters. With milk, you can go too heavy even if you measure properly, according to your recipe.
4. Don’t mash them too heavily. We want em nice n fluffy and the only thing we’re going for is melting the butter and getting the potatoes broken apart before we blend them with a hand mixer
That’s all there is to it folks. Perfect and delicious mashed potatoes every time.
Have a beautiful day and as always, keep it delicious!
Till next time ~ much love, Connie
Classic Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 6 medium Idaho potatoes washed, peeled and cut into thirds
- 1/3 C Butter softened
- 1/4 C Sour Cream more if needed
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place the butter and sour cream out on a warm counter to get them to room temp before peeling and cutting up the potatoes.
- Put the cut potatoes in a large pot with cold, lightly salted water. Bring to a boil over med/hi.
- Turn heat down and simmer until the potatoes are soft.
- Drain and place the potatoes in a large bowl.
- Add the butter and mash with a potato masher until the butter is melted.
- Add the sour cream.
- Blend with a hand mixer.
- If needed, add more sour cream to get the desired consistency.
- Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
- Cover the dish with a lid or foil to keep hot until ready to serve.
Notes
What is Happy Belly Foodie all about? Keeping it delicious! 
After 50 years of using strictly Russets for mashed potatoes, I switched to golds (Yukon) instead of Russets. I boil them until they are soft enough to fall apart, add butter, seasoning, cream, and whip ’em up. No lumps! That is what my adult children, young grandchildren always request when we have special occasion dinners. I have to make a lot because they will eat leftover mashed potatoes 3 times if there are any left.