Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Butter, warm milk, and properly cooked potatoes — the classic mash, lump-free and luxurious.
Ingredients
- 5 Potatoes
- 80 g Butter
- 150 ml Milk
- 1½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Black pepper (optional)
- 1 tbsp Chives (optional)
Method
- Peel the potatoes and cut them into quarters.
- Start the potatoes in a large pot of COLD salted water and boil until a fork slides through easily, about 18 minutes.
- Warm the milk gently in a small saucepan over low heat while the potatoes boil.
- Drain the potatoes well and let them steam-dry in the hot pot for 2 minutes — wet potatoes make gluey mash.
- Mash the potatoes with the butter first, then beat in the warm milk until fluffy, and season with pepper.
- Serve in a warm bowl topped with chives and a butter crater.
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About Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Creamy mashed potatoes are an American table staple, the reliable side that anchors everything from a weeknight roast chicken to a holiday spread. What defines a good mash is less about the recipe than the handling: properly cooked potatoes, plenty of butter, and warm milk beaten in to create something smooth and luxurious rather than heavy or gluey. The flavor is clean and buttery, the texture cloud-like, and a scatter of chives cuts the richness with a mild oniony freshness.
Several small techniques here do the real work. Starting the potatoes in cold salted water lets them cook evenly from the outside in, steam-drying them in the hot pot after draining drives off the water that would otherwise turn the mash pasty, and mashing with butter before adding warm milk keeps the starch from seizing into glue. It's a thirty-five-minute side that rewards patience over shortcuts. Serve it in a warm bowl with a crater of melting butter on top, alongside gravy, roasts, sausages, or anything that benefits from a soft, savory cushion underneath.
Creamy Mashed Potatoes: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Creamy Mashed Potatoes?
A serving has about 313 calories — 5.3g protein, 35.1g carbs, 17.7g fat, 4.1g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is Creamy Mashed Potatoes gluten-free?
Based on its ingredients, Creamy Mashed Potatoes has no gluten-containing components, so it's naturally gluten-free — as always, check that any packaged ingredients you use are certified gluten-free to be safe.
Is Creamy Mashed Potatoes dairy-free?
Not as written — it uses Butter, Milk. Swapping those for a plant-based alternative makes it dairy-free.
How long does Creamy Mashed Potatoes take to make?
About 35 minutes start to finish, but only around 17 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
Do I need every ingredient to make Creamy Mashed Potatoes?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out black pepper, chives — they're optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Creamy Mashed Potatoes make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.