Mashed Potatoes

This post may contain affiliate links. Learn more about my disclosure.

Mashed Potatoes are my daughter's favorite food, so I have had lots of opportunities to fine tune this recipe. We have these at least a couple times a month. I think she would have them daily if they were readily available. The ingredients are very simple:

Mashed Potatoes

5 large russet potatoes

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup milk (give or take for desired thickness)

1/3 cup sour cream

1 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

(I probably use around a tsp of salt)

*if you were really desperate to make these dairy free, you could use margarine instead of the butter and substitute the milk for chicken broth

So to get started, you want to grab a large pot and fill it about half way with water. Then peel and wash your potatoes.

I like to peel my potatoes before I wash them so they aren't as slippery. After washing and peeling, slice them up and put them in your pot of water.

Put your pot on the stove and turn your heat to medium high- high heat. Bring to a boil. As your water is heating up, add in your garlic powder. I add the garlic powder to the water to give the potatoes a hint of garlic flavor without over powering them. (I am a huge fan of strong garlic, but my family is not.)

Boil the potatoes about 20-25 minutes until they are fork tender. (That just means if you stab it with a fork, it's tender and isn't resisting the fork.)

Grab a strainer (or colander), and over the sink, pour the pot of potatoes into it to get all the water out. Dump your potatoes back into a mixing bowl, and add the rest of the ingredients. 

Grab a mixer (or your potato masher if you're patient to mash for awhile), and mix together to the consistency that you like. I'm not a fan of big lumps, so I mix ours until just the beginning of creamy. If you mix it too long your potatoes will get really starchy and be more like a glue. It isn't a very nice consistency. 

I love these served with pretty much any meat: ham, turkey, chicken, beef. And it pairs wonderfully with a green vegetable or salad. I rarely make gravy with these potatoes because they stand up on their own.

If you, by chance, still have some hanging around after dinner, keep your eyes peeled for our potato cheese soup recipe (coming soon!!) to roll over those leftovers.