Best Mashed Potatoes Recipe • Two Purple Figs

Let’s talk about this Mashed Potatoes Recipe. This is my all time favorite and crowd  pleaser wow mashed potatoes, and they deserve all the glory! Creamy, silky smooth, rich with a hint of roasted garlic, and super easy to make. A secret ingredient and trick is KEY to this absolutely BEST mashed potatoes recipe, so read along 🙂

I’m excited to share this mashed potatoes recipe, like seriously everyone should have a GO TO mashed potatoes. A recipe that. you can rely on with all the tips, tricks and make it your own. For so long I relied on my Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
as it was the quickest recipe. 

For today, I wanted to share something different. Not necessarily the quickest, but the absolute BEST mashed potatoes recipe. And WE mean it 💛 This recipe has been a family and friends favorite for years and I am finally sharing this essential side dish with you. Just try it and you’ll taste the difference!

Why Is This the Best Mashed Potatoes Recipe?

• When we say RICH, this is the one. Creamy, this is the one. TASTY, this is the one!
• The Potatoes are boiled low and slow in a mixture of milk and cream, so it’s extra creamy and tasty!
• They don’t taste as bland as those boiled and cooked in salted water! 
• We don’t discard the cream mixture actually, it’s used as a thickener and later mashed with the potatoes.
• The Roasted Garlic adds a rich flavor and sweet garlic taste. While you can skip this, we highly recommended it!
• The potatoes are mixed using a hand mixer or kitchen machine for an airy super fluffy mashed potatoes recipe.
• You can add Parmesan, herbs or any flavoring here, make it your own!
• This is the only mashed potatoes recipes where you actually TASTE the richness of the potatoes because it’s not boiled in water. 

Ingredients You’ll Need 

• Potatoes. The type potato you use is CRUCIAL for the best mashed potatoes. We love Russet potatoes, however we also have tried Yukon gold and they were amazing. Even better, you can use a combo of both! While I know some prefer not to peel the potatoes, we feel that the creamiest texture requires peeling.
• Milk. We use the good old 2%, but whole milk would work too. 
• Cream. While it is not common, but adding cream is the secret to super rich and creamy mashed potatoes. You can use the 18% or 35%.
• Garlic. We start by roasting our garlic, and they’re done when the potatoes are ready. Roasted Garlic has an impeccable sweet and deep garlic taste, which don’t over power the potatoes at all. 
• Salt and Pepper. Lots of those!
• Butter. Unsalted butter is what we use here, and we use it in the mix and slightly on top. That topping is optional however.
• Cream Cheese. YES that’s another secret to utterly divine mashed potatoes. Just a couple tablespoons is all you need, and you can see we use them in our Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
.

How to Make the Best Mashed Potatoes

Roast The Garlic

1. You can get the full comprehensive article on Roasted Garlic & How to Roast Garlic. If you’re familiar with it, basiclly you’ll trim off the top of a whole head of garlic. It sounds like alot but it doesn’t have an overpowering taste, rather a sweet one. 
   
2. Drizzle the garlic with olive oil and salt, then wrap the foil around it. Bake or air fry it until golden and super soft. Then unwrap it and it should look like that photo above. 

Prep the Potatoes

1. We are team peeled potatoes. Like all the way. Peeling the potatoes makes them super creamy when mashed and that’s what we’re aiming for here. 
2. Cut the peeled potatoes into 1 inch cubes appropriately. Now it doesn’t need to be perfect since they will get mashed anyway, but keeping them the same size is important. This insures the potatoes all cook at the same time. 

Boil the Potatoes

1. This is THE trick. We have tested over so many years boiling the potatoes in water, stock, milk alone and milk with cream. It’s key to stick to the recipe here since we don’t want to throw away excess milk or cream if you add too much. 
   
2. You’ll add just enough to cover the potatoes, and not even fully immersed. Boiling the potatoes in this creamy mixture ensures they soak up all that creaminess with their existing starch to create utterly luscious mashed potatoes!
3. Cover the pot and let the potatoes cook low and slow. Avoid increasing the heat as it will scorch the milk. 
   
4. When ready, the potatoes will soak up all that milk and cream, and the remaining liquid will be super thck. The thickness comes from the starch in your potatoes. 

Fluff the Potatoes or Mash the Potatoes 

1. You’e going to use a slotted spoon to remove the boiled potatoes in a large bowl. To that bowl, you’ll add the roasted garlic cloves. Simply squeeze them out of the garlic head and they will be soft and come right out. 
2. Then you’ll season the potatoes, and add in butter and cream cheese. 
   
3. We love a hand held mixer or kitchen machine for this job. You can use a potato mashed as well if you prefer. We have found that using a mixer creates FLUFFY, airy and seriously divine mashed potatoes instead. So we go for that. 
4. Keep mixing until the potatoes are soft to your liking. 

Serve the Mashed Potatoes 

1. Spoon the fluffy mashed potatoes onto the serving plate using a large spoon. Swirl the surface around to create a small dent where you can add the butter if using. 
   
2. Add in a teaspoon of butter on top and watch it melt away! So divine! You can add in some fresh herbs, parmesan, parsley , chives, chilli flakes, extra black pepper or any topping you like here!

Tips for the Best Mashed Potatoes 

1. Choose the right type of potatoes with a balance of starch and wax. Our favorite is Russet potatoes, or Yukon gold. You can even have a mix of those two. 
2. Peel the potatoes for a smooth finish.
3. Cut your potatoes to an equal size so they cook evenly. 
4. Add the correct amount of milk and cream to boil the potatoes. This avoids wasting excess of the liquid when they potatoes are boiled and soft. 
5. Boiling the potatoes in milk and cream infuses them with a rich and creamy taste compared to using water.
6. Season the cream and milk so the potatoes are salted while cooking.
7. Make sure to cook on low heat.
8. Roasting the garlic is a great way to add a subtle sweet taste without overpowering your dish. 
9. Cream cheese add the perfect tang, texture and creamy finish to mashed potatoes. 
10. Using a hand mixer creates a fluffy and airy mashed potatoes recipe. 

How to Serve Mashed Potatoes

Naturally they’re a great side dish, and even greater with steak! Try our Ribeye Steak or perfect NY Strip Steak recipes here. They’re also perfect served with our Braised Lamb Shanks .

How to Store, Freeze and Reheat Mashed Potatoes

• Our favoirte way to store leftovers is in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Try our popular Mashed Potato Pancakes using leftovers–SO GOOD!!!
• To make in advance, simply soak the peeled and cup up potatoes in a bowl of ice cold water for 4 hours. Then boil and proceed with the recipe. 
• To Reheat the mashed potatoes you can microwave it with a plastic wrap on top. Make sure to make a few dents on the wrap on top to allow steam to evaporate. 
• We prefer to reheat the mashed potatoes in a small pot with a 2-4 Tablespoons of milk and heat that on low. The amount of milk depends on how much leftover you have. 
• To cook in a Crock-Pot, proceed with the recipe and milk and then heat on high for 1 hour. 
• If you’re heating in an instant pot, select the warm setting with the extra milk for 45 minutes. 

Variations of Mashed Potatoes

• Make this recipe using sweet potatoes–SO GOOD! 
• Try our quick and delicious Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
.
• Add cheddar, gruyere or any cheese to the bowl before mixing. 
• If you’re making this vegan, use a dairy free milk and butter alternative. 
• make zesty and refreshing mashed potatoes by adding the zest of 1 lemon.
• Spice up the potatoes with Italian seasoning, Greek seasoning, Cajun, Taco seasoning and more! 

Potato Recipes To Make

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Baked Potato Soup
Scalloped Potatoes
Potato Pancakes
Air Fryer Baked Potato
Pan Fried Potatoes
Mashed Potato Pancakes