If you’re used to mashed potatoes made from dehydrated flakes, then you may not know the joy of properly salted, liberally buttered, homemade mashed potatoes. Truly a classic, but usually made halfheartedly – likely due to the amount of butter and salt you need for the real deal.
Thankfully, this post won’t be holding back. If you find yourself balking at the amount of butter used, know that it’s absolutely necessary, and that some people would use even more. This also goes for the amount of salt used; it seems like a lot, but it’s all necessary.
As far as technique goes, it’s pretty straightforward. However, there’s a fairly contentious point I want to address. Some people prefer boiling their potatoes with the skin on and then peeling them. I personally prefer to peel, then boil; I find peeling cooked potatoes both messy and annoying. I’ve also never noticed the potatoes being “watery”, a common reason people say to boil-then-peel.
If you boil them first, you also have to wait for them to cool. Peeling them first lets you strain them lightly, then add them straight to the melted butter. Since I find the peel-then-boil method less fussy and more efficient, it’s what I recommend.
The milk/cream/butter for thinning is labeled “as needed”. I think having a specific amount would be detrimental, since people like their potatoes thicker/thinner. It probably wouldn’t be consistent either, due to the starch difference per potato, type of dairy using, and many other factors.
This might go without saying, but I highly recommend a potato masher here. You could use a ricer as well, but I’ve never used one and didn’t include steps for one in the directions. You could use a fork, but that sounds tedious and physically painful. If nothing else, don’t use a food processor, blender, etc. They will likely result in overworked gluey potatoes, and no one wants gluey potatoes.
If you like this how-to on mashed potatoes, consider checking out my how-to on crunchy oven-roasted chickpeas. If you’d like something a bit more meal-worthy, you can check out my recipe for sloppy joes.
Ingredients
1 lb russet potatoes, about 2 medium or 454 grams, peeled
1 stick unsalted butter*, about 1/2 cup or 113 grams, melted
2 tsps kosher salt, 12 grams, for boiling
Water, as needed**, for boiling
Milk, cream or butter, as needed
More kosher salt, to taste
Makes 3 moderate servings
Preparation
Add your water and salt to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, add your peeled potatoes and boil, covered, for 15-30 minutes or until fully tender.
While your potatoes are boiling, melt*** your butter and set aside. Once your potatoes are done, strain them to remove excess water, then add to the butter along with a large pinch of kosher salt.
Mash with a potato masher until broken up. Add milk/cream/butter as necessary to achieve a desirable consistency. Remember to taste for salt and add more as needed. Once it’s tasting great, you’re ready to serve.
Notes
* I’ve mentioned this already, but this amount of butter is crucial. You could use less butter, but that would make them worse. This isn’t meant to be eaten often, so I really recommend going all-out. If you find the amount of butter lacking still, you can add even more, as some people do.
** You’ll want enough water to fully cover the potatoes. I’ve tried going halfway up them with water, but it takes much, much longer.
*** You can melt the butter in several ways. One being the microwave, which is fast and easy. If you have a heatproof mixing bowl, like stainless steel, you can place the butter in the bowl and place the bowl on the sauce pan of boiling potatoes. It’s basically a double boiler for melting the butter.
What’s more, you have a large enough bowl to add the potatoes to once they’re cooked. Then you just mash away. You can also use another sauce pan for this if you happen to have one. If you really hate dishes, you can wait until the potatoes are done, strain them, and melt the butter in the potato boiling pan; then just add the potatoes back in and proceed as normal.
Comments