Easy Creamy Mashed Potatoes Recipe full flavoured with butter, sour cream, garlic and parmesan cheese. Perfect for the any time of the year!
With a table full of food, the most loved and devoured foods are side dishes. Specifically, these Easy Creamy Mashed Potatoes. The secret to this mash though is not an abundance of butter, but SOUR CREAM! Half butter, a good amount of sour cream and HOT MILK make the most perfect and best Creamy Mashed Potatoes!
MASHED POTATOES
Perfect for any occasion, whether it be after a hectic day at work, or a festive dinner like Easter, Christmas or Thanksgiving! With only 5 main ingredients, you guys will love these just as much as we do!
These creamy mashed potatoes have been in our family for years. We don’t normally measure anything, so imagine how hard it was to add ingredients while measuring them at the same time to make sure I could give you guys the BEST potatoes of your life.
WHAT GOES IN HOMEMADE MASHED POTATOES?
- Make sure you start with the best potato possible. In America, go for Yukon golds or Russet potatoes. In Australia, choose Dutch Creams, Creme Gold or Creme Royale.
- Salted water for boiling — not adding salt to the water will yield bland tasting potatoes.
- Softened unsalted butter — using unsalted ensures you have full control of how salty your mash comes out.
- Sour cream — makes them EVEN CREAMIER when compared to regular potatoes.
- Garlic — use fresh where possible.
- Fresh shredded parmesan cheese — adds incredible flavour.
- Hot milk — why hot milk? To ensure your potatoes are still warm after mashing.
HOW DO YOU MAKE THE PERFECT MASHED POTATOES?
Cut your potatoes into the same sized pieces to ensure they all cook evenly and at the same time.
Boil potatoes in salted water until JUST fork-tender. Try not to over cook too much as they can become quite sticky or gluey when overcooked.
Sauté garlic in some butter until fragrant.
Drain potatoes and add in the hot milk, cooked garlic, remaining butter and sour cream.
Mash the potatoes with a potato masher until smooth, adding a little extra milk if needed. You can also use an electric hand mixer beaters to ensure a smoother consistency. Beat just enough for them to smooth out while being extra careful not to over beat as they may become gluggy.
What can you add to mashed potatoes?
You can add almost anything and they will taste amazing! Some optional ingredients:
Onions: green onions, shallots, red onion (again, add to the water with the potatoes and cook together).
Chives
Fresh herbs like thyme, parsley or rosemary
Cream cheese
Bacon
WHAT TO SERVE WITH MASHED POTATOES?
Garlic Herb Butter Roast Chicken
Slow Cooker Barbecue Ribs
Garlic Herb Prime Rib Roast
Roast Turkey
Turkey Gravy Recipe
ORIGINALLY POSTED DECEMBER 17, 2017. POST UPDATED WITH IMAGES.
Easy Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (1kg) potatoes, (Russet, Yukon Gold, Dutch Creams, Creme Gold, Creme Royale)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup hot milk, or more
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened (close to room temp is best)
- 6-8 cloves fresh garlic finely chopped
- 1/4 cup sour cream (reduced fat)
- 1/4 cup fresh shredded parmesan cheese, optional
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley to garnish, optional to garnish
Instructions
- Peel and cut potatoes into quarters lengthwise. Remove any spots, lumps or knots.
- Place potatoes in a large pot (6-quart) and cover with cold, salted water by an inch. Bring to a boil, reduce heat down to medium-low and allow to simmer until fork tender (about 15-20 minutes).
- When potatoes are just about done (nearly fork-tender), heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a small pan over medium-high heat. Sauté garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute. Set aside and keep warm.
- Drain cooked potatoes, add in the remaining butter, cooked garlic, hot milk and sour cream.
- Mash the potatoes with a potato masher until smooth, adding a little extra milk if needed. (OPTIONAL: Use a strong wooden spoon OR electric beaters to beat further until smooth. Be careful NOT to over beat or they will become gluey.)
- Add in the parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Mark S Fisher says
Very smooth, tasty, and creamy. A Thanksgiving hit. Thanks.
Anila says
Best mashed potatoes I ever made! Delicious!
Audrey says
I made it exactly as followed and hands down the best mash potatoes I have ever had! I also tried the recipe with cauliflower and heavy cream instead for low carb and it was perfect. These will now be a holiday staple in our house.
Agnes says
I tried the recipe and it was delicious . I put garlic powder instead of garlic cloves. It will be one of my dishes at my family gatherings
Keyara says
Hey , do I use the entire bag of potatoes ?
Florence says
Hi,
Instead of sour cream, can I use yoghurt?
Karina says
Yes you can as long as it is plain
Marquita Sozio says
I would be sure to drain the plain yogurt before adding to the semi-mashed potatoes. Then season and serve.
Michelle says
These were delicious and easy to make. This will definitely be my go to recipe!!
Anne Bakerim says
Karina, thanks! This looks so simple to make, yet looking really satisfying and tasty!
Lynda says
What a great tip to heat your milk so the potatoes don’t get cold. So simple. I usually put a little sour cream in my mashed potatoes, but I like your recipe with less butter and more sour cream to make the dish even creamier. Of course, garlic…lots of garlic. My husband doesn’t like Parmesan cheese so we use sharp cheddar cheese to give the potatoes some depth. Sometimes for seasoning, I add a little cayenne pepper for a little kick or ancho chili pepper or chipotle chili pepper.
Robin says
I look forward to making these on Christmas eve to go with Maryland lump crab cakes, big green salad and brussell sprouts. Thank you for sharing!
Moni says
Substitute a big splash heavy cream vs sour cream.
Alisha says
I haven’t made these yet but I’m planning on using this recipe for my thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.. I’m not that big of a sour cream fan, if I were to substitute it with cream cheese would I use the same measurements?
Neil says
When I make simple baked potatoes, I like to serve them with cream cheese. I believe your “riff” on the recipie will work well.
When I made the recipient for roast beef dinner I added horse radish to the recipie. Tastes great.
Maricela Padilla says
I have never made mashed potatoes so I’m looking forward to trying out your recipe for Thanksgivings
Kathy says
These are the best mashed potatoes I have EVER made!! The only thing I did different was not add the garlic. Everything else I followed the measurements exactly and they were wonderful!!
Bebo says
Give the potatoes more time to boil
Tyra says
You probably used spoiled milk or sour cream. There’s no other reason for them to taste sour.
Bee says
@Claudia – Some people are very sensitive to the taste of sour cream. As much as I want to try this recipe as written, my son is one of those who will taste it if I add even a tablespoon of sour cream, much less a 1/4 cup. Fresh, uncooked garlic also has a very sharp flavor which some people find off-putting, and may even read as sour. Maybe try sauteing the garlic in some butter before adding it to the potatoes and/or omit the sour cream (add a touch more milk/butter if omitting sour cream). Good luck!
Shelky Sibert says
You You can You us0e mayonnaise instead of sour cream with hot milk and your differentan use Mayonnaise
Bernie says
Take a whole head of garlic and cut off the tip. Wrap with foil but before closing drizzle olive oil into the cut end with it facing up. Put in the oven at 350 for half an hour. Once unwrapped cool and squeeze the cloves into the potato mixture. Very mild on the stomach this way.
Colour Maestro says
These are fantastic…I substituted extra sharp cheddar instead of parmesan and roasted garlic instead of chopped. I also added shallot to the water while the potatoes cooked. So creamy and scrumptious! A++
Mark says
This.. turned out amazing. Just used a little more butter in mine. 😉
Jenny says
I just had oral surgery and was looking for the “right way” to make mashed potatoes. This is definitely it! Very fluffy and delicious – plus I’m a sour cream lover! I used heavy cream instead of milk. Just what I needed to get some sustenance in my system. Thank you for this article!
Chante says
These are fantastic!!! So fast, super easy to make, and very tasty. I know it’s a hit when my 5 and 2 year old will eat them without debate.
Farina says
Tried this mashed potato recipe for tonight’s steak dinner and it was so goooddd even without the parmesan and herbs. I steamed the potatoes instead of boiling them so it would absorb less water. Good proportions on the liquids and the sour cream just added that extra yumminess. ? Thanks for this!
Karina says
YAY! That is great! I am so glad that it turned out well and you enjoyed it for dinner! Thank you for sharing and following along with me! XO
Ellie says
I make my mash this way also, yum. One variation I make when available is adding some shredded kale stirred through just before serving.
Terry Johns says
I finally made these creamy mashed potatoes this week, and they were wonderful! Dinner included meat loaf and fresh corn that from the freezer, corn on mashed potatoes, an all time favorite.
Tymeron Smith says
That sounds like a delicious meal! I need to come to your house;)!! Thanks so much for sharing!