Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
Make it easy on yourself with this make-ahead mashed potatoes recipe! So fluffy & buttery, and they can be made up to 2 days ahead!
The Thanksgiving countdown is on!
Have you started planning your menu yet? I know mine will definitely include a few year-after-year favorites, like this Thanksgiving stuffing recipe, this homemade cranberry sauce, and this perfect apple pie (my nephew’s favorite!).
And as of last year, we have a new favorite: make-ahead mashed potatoes!
I know the idea of not serving mashed potatoes freshly made may sound a little crazy, but I promise you- it really works!
I was very dubious last year when I tried this method, but honestly, it blew me away. The mashed potatoes cook up so incredibly fluffy, velvety-smooth, and buttery tasting.
Never again will I stress myself out waiting until the last minute to make mashed potatoes! These keep for up to 2 days and reheat beautifully, without a trace of gumminess!
CAN MASHED POTATOES BE MADE AHEAD?
For the longest time, I would never even consider making mashed potatoes ahead of time. I was convinced that in order to have fluffy mashed potatoes, they would have to be made just before serving. I had seen first-hand how they stiffen and clump up as they sit, becoming heavy and leaden.
Then last year I was invited to a Thanksgiving dinner at a relative’s house. I asked them what I could bring and they said mashed potatoes.
Uh-oh.
What do I do? Do I tell them that mashed potatoes should never be made ahead? That would seem so rude!
So I started searching around and discovered a make-ahead mashed potato recipe on Bon Appetit. I gave it a try, and guess what? It worked! Brilliantly!
For the recipe you see here, I made a few tweaks to the original, to accommodate my own family’s personal tastes. It’s a little less runny and it contains a bit less fat (but still tastes so incredibly rich and flavorful!). I’ve also halved the recipe because we always end up with a ridiculous amount of leftovers, especially on Thanksgiving when there are so many other side dishes to sample. That said, feel free to double this recipe if you’re serving a really big crowd!
HOW TO MAKE THIS MASHED POTATO RECIPE
It’s all about the method with this recipe. Normal mashed potato recipes would clump up as they sit and become gummy and heavy, but because of this special technique, these stay velvety and light for days.
The most important thing to remember is to work quickly, so everything stays hot as it’s being mixed together. I’ll explain more as we move along through the steps!
Start by filling a large pot with cold water. Then add a handful of salt and slip in the potatoes.
Make sure you’re using lots of water and plenty of salt! It should taste like seawater.
Place the pot over medium-high heat and allow it to come up to a simmer.
While that is going, pour milk and cream into a small pot and keep it warm over the lowest possible heat.
Cook the potatoes until the tip of a sharp knife slides in and out easily, without any resistance. They should be tender but not falling apart or crumbly. This typically takes about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on how big they are.
Drain the potatoes and return them to the heated pot to keep warm (off the heat).
Now this is key: pass them through a ricer. If you don’t have a ricer, I highly recommend you invest in one. They only cost about $20, and they will yield THE MOST light and fluffy mash you’ll ever taste. I promise you!!
A ricer serves a 3 in 1 purpose: not only does it mash but it also aerates and removes the skins. Trust me, this is a must-have kitchen tool! Here’s a link to buy one, if you don’t already have: ricer.
Now here is another key: you don’t just want to rice all the potatoes at once. You want to alternate, a few potatoes, then a hunk of butter, then a few potatoes, and another hunk of butter. This way, the butter is stacked between layers of potato. The hot potatoes melt the butter, and every particle of potato gets coated in butterfat. This layer of fat sort of “seals” the potatoes from the liquid, preventing them from swelling up and becoming overly thick and gluey.
Once you’ve got all the potatoes and butter riced together, give it a toss to combine and make sure that every molecule of potato is coated with melted butter.
Then add the warm milk and cream mixture along with a little bit of sour cream. Season with salt and pepper. I like 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of kosher salt for this amount of potatoes, but feel free to tweak that to your own personal taste.
Stir it gently together until combined, and that’s your make-ahead mashed potatoes made!
These can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 days, OR if you’re making them the morning of, you can just slip them into a crockpot (set to the lowest heat) and keep them warm until you’re ready to serve them.
WHAT KIND OF POTATOES TO USE
I used Yukon gold potatoes for what you see here. They have a pretty butter-yellow color, a rich taste, and a nice, glossy quality.
You could probably substitute another type of potato, such as red-skinned or russets, but I honestly haven’t tried that myself so I can’t say for sure how they would turn out.
TROUBLESHOOTING
The most disappointing mashed potatoes tend to be:
- gluey
- sticky
- gummy
- grainy
- lumpy, or
- heavy
I can assure you, you won’t have any of these issues with this recipe.
- Because the ricer mashes so finely, while also aerating the mixture.
- Because when every particle of potato gets coated in butterfat before adding the liquid, it “seals” the potato from absorbing too much and becoming heavy or sticky.
Just be sure to boil the potatoes until tender, or else it will be really hard to pass them through the ricer and they could come out grainy. You also want to work quickly and get everything mixed together while still hot.
HOW LONG WILL THEY KEEP?
Keep these make-ahead mashed potatoes warm in the slow cooker for several hours, or refrigerat them for up to two days.
They also freeze very well. They’ll last in the freezer for several months. Thaw them in the fridge the day before you plan to serve them.
HOW TO REHEAT MASHED POTATOES
To reheat, place the make-ahead mashed potatoes in a large pot over medium-low heat. Warm them gently, stirring, until heated through.
You may need to add a little more milk and/or cream to thin them back out, as they do tend to become stiffer as they sit.
A FEW MORE OF MY FAVORITE THANKSGIVING RECIPES:
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Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (907.18 g) Yukon gold potatoes
- 4 tablespoons (59.15 g) kosher salt, , divided
- 3/4 cup (183 g) milk, (whatever kind you keep on hand)
- 1/4 cup (59.5 g) cream
- 8 tablespoons (118.29 g) butter, , softened
- 1/4 cup (57.5 g) sour cream, (buttermilk can be substituted)
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.23 g) ground black pepper
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with cold water and add about 3 1/2 tablespoons of salt.
- Add the potatoes (unpeeled) to the pot and place it over medium-high heat (covered) until it comes to a simmer.
- While the potatoes are cooking, warm the milk and cream in a small pot over low heat.
- Simmer the potatoes until very tender but not waterlogged or crumbly (approx. 30 to 40 minutes), drain, and return to the heated pot to dry.
- Pass the hot potatoes and softened butter through a ricer (alternating potatoes and butter so the butter melts over each layer of riced potato), removing the potato skins in the process (see video).
- Toss the riced potatoes together with the butter, allowing the fat to cover every particle of potato.
- Pour in the hot milk & cream mixture, add the sour cream, and season with the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt and the pepper.
- Stir the mashed potatoes until all the liquid is incorporated.
- Mashed potatoes can be kept warm in a crockpot (if serving later the same day) OR refrigerated for up to 2 days. To reheat, place them in a large pot over medium-low heat, stirring constantly and adding additional milk/cream as needed to achieve the desired consistency.
Made this for our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. I steamed the potatoes because I always seem to overcook boiled potatoes-so when I riced them I sprinkled some salt on the layers. I used whole milk. I made them several hours before our meal and put them in my Instant Pot on warm. I did put a few pats of butter on top of and poured a little of the reserved milk/cream mixture around the edge of the mash (because I didn’t butter or spray my pot before putting in the mash so I was worried it would stick-it did not). They were perfect and a big hit – delicious. I am throwing away/deleting all other mashed potato recipes! Thank you!
So happy you were pleased Carla! TYSM for the awesome feedback!
You just described the Salt Potato recipe I use regularly. We stop at boiling them and coat them in butter in the pot and serve whole. Leftovers make gr8 home fries or just reheated in the mickey. I always boil a smaller one for me to eat speared with a fork over a plate. They are the absolute best spuds imaginable. Many thanks to New England Irish who created them. (Reportedly)
Sounds great! My mom used to make them like that too. She would sometimes sprinkle on some freeze-dried parsley flakes. 😛
Can these be made the day before and reheated in the slowcooker?
Yes!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I struggled so much with making mashed potatoes before. This recipe made it a breeze!
Can these be frozen?
Yes there’s info on that towards the bottom of the post, under the heading “How Long will They Keep.” Please give it a read.
EXCELLENT! I made the recipe exactly as written and they were beyond my expectations. Everyone loved them! Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for the positive feedback!
I was confused about salt measurements. Tbl in one place tsp in another. 🤔
You want to add several tablespoons of salt to the cold water you boil the potatoes in, then season the finished product with the remaining salt at the end. Hope that clears things up for you!
I just got the recipe for the mashed potatoes and will try it out and let you know.
I have used a ricer for many years and absolutely love it. It’s great for breaking up egg yokes when you make large numbers of deviled eggs.
A word of caution though…if you buy a rice for purposes of peeling potatoes you will be sorely disappointed ! It is not (repeat, not) a potato pealer.
It does, however, help make wonderfully fluffy mashed potatoes!
That is a great tip! It is not a potato peeler but if you use thin-skinned potatoes it does remove the skins very well.