Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
Updated Nov. 4, 2024

- Total Time
- 40 minutes, plus 30 minutes’ reheating, if desired
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- Salt and pepper
- 5pounds russet potatoes
- 10tablespoons butter, sliced and at room temperature, plus more for reheating
- 1cup whole milk, warmed, plus more for reheating
Preparation
- Step 1
Fill a large pot with 8 cups cold water and 1 tablespoon salt. Peel and quarter the potatoes, adding each to the cold water as you cut to prevent them from discoloring. The potatoes should be immersed. If they’re not, add enough water to cover them, along with a pinch of salt.
- Step 2
Bring to a boil over high heat and continue boiling until a knife slides through the potatoes very easily, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Step 3
Drain well, then return the potatoes to the pot. Some should be falling apart. Heat over low, shaking the pot occasionally, until the potatoes are mottled and very dry, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat.
- Step 4
Mash in the pot, adding the butter a few pieces at a time, until smooth, then stir in the milk and season to taste with salt and pepper. Or transfer to a stand mixer and beat with the paddle on low, adding a few pieces of butter at a time, until smooth, then add the milk with the machine running. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Step 5
You can serve the potatoes right away or hold them for up to 3 hours: Transfer the hot potatoes to a large, wide metal bowl and evenly smooth the top. Set the bowl over a large saucepan of steaming water (or in a skillet of steaming water) over low heat. Add just enough milk to barely cover the potatoes and partly cover the bowl. Stir gently but well before serving so they’re evenly hot and creamy.
- Step 6
You also can transfer the potatoes to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. To reheat, use the setup in Step 5, but add an ⅛-inch layer of milk over the cold, flat top of the potatoes and stir the potatoes every 10 minutes to help them reheat evenly. The whole batch should be steaming hot within 30 minutes. If the mash is still stiff when hot, stir in more milk (or butter, if you’d prefer). Season to taste with salt and pepper again before serving.
Private Notes
Comments
I reheat my potatoes in a slow cooker. One less thing I have to fuss over at the last minute.
This title is a bit misleading. To make ahead, cook potatoes as directed, but put thru a ricer or food mill then refrigerate until ready to use. Then heat milk and melt butter, add in riced potatoes and heat through. That’s how we did it in a well respected restaurant. Works great and you can make single servings on up to a bunch.
We skip the milk and use sour cream instead. Full-fat sour cream, plenty of butter, and salt. I don’t want to hear anything about the amount of fat and salt! We’ll enjoy thanksgiving our way, and you do yours. See how easy that was? When our kids were younger, we made ‘party potatoes,’ by adding a few tablespoons of really tiny minced carrots and broccoli into the mashed potatoes, giving them a festive look. They were thrilled when I made them again during our first pandemic Thanksgiving. :-)
I don’t even like mashed potatoes haha. But I needed a good recipe as I was making Thanksgiving dinner for the first time for my boyfriend’s family! Eek I know, talk about pressure! This recipe is so good that I not only liked them but was in love with them. I didn’t think potatoes could taste this good! I’ve already raved about this recipe to everyone that would listen. Definitely make these potatoes!
I made mine as in the recipe and then froze them which really must do a number on the starches in the potatoes. Took forever to defrost, warmed them up in the oven along with everything else but they were soupy. Had to put them in a pan and just keep stirring them for a long time, ended up having to add instant potato flakes to the mashed potatoes to finally get the correct consistency. It wasn’t any easier or faster on Thanksgiving Day than just making them fresh like I usually do.
Always warm milk...or half-half. And cream cheese with sour cream. Go all in! It's a holiday and we have a lot to be grateful for....!
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