Sides / Potatoes & sweet potatoes
Fluffy, Buttery Mashed Potatoes
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Rinse, dry, rice, then a whole stick of melted butter before the warm milk. Yes, a whole stick. It serves eight and somehow empties like it serves four, with the dog sitting exactly where the spoon drips.
The short version
Peel and chunk 3 pounds of Yukon Golds, rinse them, and simmer in salted water until a knife slides in with no resistance, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain, dry them in the hot pot for a minute, rice or mash, then stir in a stick of melted butter and ¾ cup of warm milk. Don't skip drying the potatoes.
What makes ours better
what we fixed so you don’t have to
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Rinse off the starch, then dry the potatoes. Loose surface starch is what turns mashed potatoes gluey. A cold rinse before cooking washes most of it away, and a minute in the empty pot after draining steams off the water that would otherwise thin out the butter.
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Butter first, then warm milk. Melted butter coats the potato starch before any watery liquid reaches it, which keeps the texture light and the flavor forward. Warm the milk; cold milk cools the potatoes and tightens them.
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Rice them, or mash by hand. Never blend. A ricer or food mill breaks the potatoes into fine, fluffy grains with almost no stirring; a hand masher is fine if you like a little texture. A blender, food processor or stand mixer overworks the starch into paste in seconds.
What you need
the usual suspects
- Yukon Gold potatoes3 pounds
- Unsalted butter8 tablespoons
- Whole milk or half-and-half¾ cup
read it twice. buy it once.
Steps
nobody opens the oven door. looking at you, Dad.
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Cut and rinse
Peel the potatoes and cut them into even 1½-inch chunks so they cook at the same rate. Put them in a colander and rinse under cold running water, tossing, until the water running out is clear instead of cloudy, about a minute.
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Simmer until tender
Put the potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water by an inch and add the tablespoon of salt. Bring to a boil, then lower to a steady simmer and cook until a paring knife slides into the biggest chunk with no resistance, 15 to 20 minutes.
Boiling hard breaks up the outsides before the centers are done. Keep it at a simmer.
About 15 min. Cook mode has a timer for this step.
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Drain and dry
Drain well and return the potatoes to the empty pot over low heat. Shake and stir for about a minute, until the surfaces look dry and floury and steam stops rising. Meanwhile melt the butter and warm the milk, in a small saucepan or the microwave; the milk should be hot to the touch, not boiling.
About 1 min. Cook mode has a timer for this step.
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Rice or mash
Take the pot off the heat. Press the potatoes through a ricer or food mill back into the pot, or mash with a hand masher until no lumps remain. Work quickly while they're hot.
Not a blender, not a food processor, not a stand mixer. They turn potatoes to glue.
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Butter, then milk
Pour the melted butter over the potatoes and fold it in with a rubber spatula until it disappears. Then stir in the warm milk a splash at a time until the potatoes are creamy but still hold a soft peak on the spoon. Stir only as much as it takes; every extra stroke makes them heavier.
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Season and serve
Stir in the salt and pepper, taste, and add more salt or a little more warm milk if they're stiff. Pile into a warm bowl, make a well on top for gravy or another pat of butter, and scatter the chives over.
Good to know
the stuff I’d tell you over the phone
- Yukon Golds taste buttery and mash creamy; russets come out fluffier and drier and take a bit more milk. Red or waxy new potatoes turn gluey, so skip them.
- For a richer bowl, swap half-and-half or heavy cream for the milk. For tang, use buttermilk or stir in ¼ cup sour cream at the end, and add those cold, since heating them can curdle.
- Add-ins that work are the peeled cloves from 2 heads of roasted garlic mashed in, 4 finely chopped green onions or ¼ cup chives warmed in the milk, or up to 1 cup (4 ounces) grated Gruyère, sharp cheddar or Swiss stirred in at the end.
- To hold them, cover the bowl with foil and keep it in a 200°F oven for up to 30 minutes, or set a covered bowl over a pot of barely simmering water for longer.
- Storage. Refrigerated, covered, 3 to 4 days. Reheat in a saucepan over low heat or in the microwave with a splash of milk, stirring until smooth. They freeze for 2 months when they're this buttery; thaw and reheat the same way.
Questions, answered
the questions my cousins text me
Why are my mashed potatoes gummy?
Overworked starch. Either they went through a blender or mixer, got stirred too long, or the surface starch never got rinsed off. Rice or hand-mash, add the butter first, and stop stirring the moment they come together.
Can I make mashed potatoes ahead?
Yes. Make them up to 2 days ahead, refrigerate, and reheat over low heat or in a slow cooker on low with a splash of milk, stirring until hot and smooth; a knob of butter at the end brings back the shine. Or hold a fresh batch covered in a warm oven for 30 minutes.
Should I leave the skins on?
You can with Yukon Golds. Scrub them well; a ricer leaves the skins behind in the basket, and a hand masher mixes them in for a rustic, flecked mash. For the smoothest result, peel.
How many potatoes per person?
About ½ pound per person as a side, a little less at Thanksgiving when the table is crowded. This recipe's 3 pounds serves 8; scale it up or down in the same ratio.
Can I use a hand mixer?
Briefly, on low, once the butter is in, and stop the moment they're smooth. It's easy to overshoot into paste, so a masher or ricer is safer.
Which potatoes are best for mashing?
Yukon Gold for flavor and a creamy mash; russet for the fluffiest, lightest texture. Both work here. Avoid red and new potatoes, which go gluey.
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Published October 26, 2026.