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    Home » SIDES

    Perfect Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

    December 17, 2015 4 Comments

    I've made mashed potatoes dozens of times, and somehow always find a little lump or two. Or 50. Or 500. I needed (desperately) a fail-proof way to make perfect mashed potatoes. And because my family LOVES cheese, I needed a recipe for perfect cheesy mashed potatoes.

    Don't Use a Food Processor to Make Mashed Potatoes

    Before I knew better, I figured I just needed to whip the potatoes up harder and longer.

    Wrong.

    I even threw them in the food processor once, and ended up with a gluey substance perfect for wallpapering the kitchen.

    How is it that I could grow my own sour dough starter, bake bread, roll up a pumpkin roll well enough to impress Martha, break down a duck for God's sake, but be defeated by the humble russet?

    It was embarrassing

    Perfect Mashed Potatoes Means Using the Right Kind of Potatoes

    I knew there were different kinds of potatoes out there, but never appreciated just how different they were until I started playing with Frieda's Butter Babies. They look like baby Yukon's with their yellow creamy flesh, and are so buttery you might not even miss it if you decide not to add butter. Frieda's Butter Babies come in a very fun, recognizable package, and are exclusively grown for Frieda's Specialty Produce. Frieda's sources an impressive array of produce that you should check out.

    If you don't see them at your market, use Yukon gold potatoes. They're much creamier than russets. 

    But the BEST approach is to use a COMBINATION of equal amounts of Yukon gold and russet potatoes.

    Frieda's Butter Baby Potatoes

     

    Equipment for Perfect Mashed Potatoes

    You need only one thing for perfect mashed potatoes that don't have any lumps. And that's a Potato Ricer. The one I like best is pictured below. I like that it has 3 different size holes for ricing.

     

    Cook's Notes

    I like to add cheese to mashed potatoes, but it's strictly optional.  I use cheddar cheese, but any melty cheese works great. If I have truffled goat cheese on hand, it's another winner in these mashed potatoes.

    There are affiliate links in this post, which help support the cost of running this blog without any additional cost to you.

    Print Recipe
    5 from 2 votes

    Fail-Proof Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

    Prep Time10 mins
    Cook Time30 mins
    Total Time40 mins
    Course: Vegetable Side
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Miso mashed potatoes, Thanksgiving Sides
    Servings: 4
    Author: Susan Pridmore

    Equipment

    Potato Ricer

    Ingredients

    • 2 lbs Frieda's Butter Babies Potatoes
    • ⅓ cup half-and-half, or vegetable broth
    • 2 ½ tablespoon unsalted butter
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
    • ½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
    • ⅔ cup grated cheddar cheese, or other melty cheese
    • Parsley, optional garnish

    Instructions

    • Add the potatoes to a well salted pot of water, cover the pot, and bring to a simmer. Cook until very tender, about 25 minutes.
    • Coming the half-and-half, butter, salt and pepper in a small pot over medium heat. Bring just barely to a simmer and melt the butter.
    • Push the potatoes through a potato ricer into the pot of hot milk and butter, and discard the skins from the ricer. Add the cheese to the pot and stir with a large metal spoon. Serve warm with a final flourish of freshly ground pepper, and chopped parsley, if desired.

    Want more vegetarian and vegan dish ideas? I can help you. I have three newsletters for different topics: 1) Weekly Recipes, 2) Vegetarian Meal Plans, and 3) Monthly Vegetarian Tips for helping you to move to a more vegetarian diet. Choose which newsletters are most relevant to your lifestyle, and unsubscribe at any time. The last thing any of us needs, is more emails that don't help us in some way.

     

    « Snickerdoodle Cookies with Figs
    Cauliflower Apple Cheddar Melts »

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Barbara | Creative Culinary

      December 17, 2015 at 9:26 am

      I could quite simply eat this entire bowl all by myself. They look SO good!

      Reply
    2. Oakley @ Frieda's

      December 18, 2015 at 2:01 pm

      5 stars
      I'm so glad you like the Butter Babies as much as I do! And now I want that truffle cheese.

      Thanks for sharing the recipe!

      Reply
    3. mjskitchen

      December 21, 2015 at 8:22 pm

      Oh I can taste the butter and the cheese. What a delicious bowl of potatoes!!! Great dish for the holidays and any day. 🙂
      So are you ready for the holidays? Hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday!!! See you in 2016!

      Reply
    4. Chef Rossi

      December 22, 2015 at 5:42 am

      5 stars
      love this, simple gorgeous glory, now I am hungry!!

      Reply

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    I'm a mostly vegetarian married to a mostly carnivore and am on a constant hunt for healthy, delicious recipes we'll both like. Most recipes here are vegetarian with tips for adding meat or fish for the meat-eaters at the table. Whether you're vegetarian, or just wanting to eat less meat, I hope you'll find inspiration here to try something new for your own table, even if you're sharing it with someone with different eating preferences.

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