The Ultimate Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes

Thanksgiving is only a few days away. Many of you are preparing to cook one of the largest meals you will cook all year. You will spend hours and hours, if not days, planning and preparing to create a delicious feast for your family and loved ones. It is a daunting task. That is why I wanted to share this recipe for The Ultimate Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes. Not only are they delicious, but they are simple to make. You do not need to strain them. You do not even really need to mash them. How can that be possible? You will have to keep reading to find out.

Jump to:

• Preparing the Potatoes
• Rinse the Potatoes
• Making The Ultimate Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes
• Whisking The Potatoes
• Serving and Variations
• Tips for the Best Mashed Potatoes
• Recipe

What makes these mashed potatoes truly special is that they are cooked directly in chicken stock with garlic and butter, which means every bite is packed with savoury flavour. There is no cream or milk in this recipe, which keeps them surprisingly light. The chicken stock reduces as the potatoes cook, concentrating all that beautiful flavour right into the potatoes themselves.

Preparing the Potatoes

For this recipe, I suggest using yellow potatoes. Yukon Golds are my favourite variety for mashing because they have a naturally buttery flavour and creamy texture. If you do not have yellow potatoes, you can use russets, though you will want to use half as many because russets are generally larger than yellow potatoes. Keep in mind that russets also have a higher starch content, which can make the potatoes slightly fluffier rather than creamy.

Peel and dice the potatoes into roughly equal-sized pieces, about one inch across. Keeping the pieces uniform ensures they cook evenly. Once diced, put them in a 3-qt pot.

Rinse the Potatoes

Because of the way the potatoes are cooked, it is crucial to rinse off the excess starch. If you skip this step, the starch will cause the potatoes to become gummy and gluey when whisked, which is the opposite of what we want.

Rinse the potatoes by filling the pot with room temperature water, swirling the potatoes around, then draining the water. Do this at least three times or until the water is completely clear. You will notice the water is quite cloudy the first time, which is all that excess starch washing away. Drain off the last bit of rinsing water before moving on.

Making The Ultimate Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes

Cooking The Potatoes

To maximize the flavour of the potatoes, they are cooked in chicken stock rather than plain water. You can use turkey stock if you have some, but chicken stock is a great all-purpose alternative. Pour enough chicken stock into the pot to cover the potatoes.

Next, mince four cloves of garlic and add that to the potatoes. Put a quarter cup of butter in the pot, then a big pinch of pepper. Do not add salt until the potatoes are cooked. The stock and butter have salt in them already, and that salt flavour will become more concentrated as the stock evaporates. Adding salt at the beginning is a risk because the potatoes may end up too salty.

Boiling The Potatoes

Put the pot on the stove on high. Bring the potatoes to a boil and cook for about ten minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes or until the liquid comes no more than halfway up the potatoes. The key here is that you are not draining the cooking liquid. All that flavourful stock is going to stay right in the pot and become part of the finished mashed potatoes.

You will know the potatoes are done when they are very soft and starting to fall apart. A fork should slide through them with virtually no resistance. If you are unsure, it is better to cook them a little longer than to pull them too early. Undercooked potatoes will result in lumps that no amount of whisking can fix.

Whisking The Potatoes

At this point, the potatoes should be very soft. Take them off the heat and start beating them with a firm whisk. Continue to beat the potatoes until they are smooth and creamy. The whisk does all the work here, and because the potatoes were rinsed and cooked until very soft, they break down beautifully without any need for a masher or ricer.

Stir two tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley into the potatoes. Taste and season the potatoes with salt and pepper as needed. If the potatoes are a little too runny, you can put them back on medium heat and continue to cook them for a few more minutes. Just make sure to keep stirring them as they cook because they may stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.

Serving and Variations

These mashed potatoes pair beautifully with just about any Thanksgiving main course. Serve them alongside your turkey with plenty of gravy, or let them stand on their own as the star side dish they deserve to be. If you would like to add even more flavour, you can add additional herbs like thyme or savoury. You can even add about a tablespoon of dried onion flakes when adding the butter and stock for a subtle onion flavour throughout.

If you are looking for other side dishes to round out your holiday table, try my perfect roasted carrots or a loaded baked potato casserole alongside these mashed potatoes. The point is that this is an easy way to add tonnes of flavour to make those same old mashed potatoes the star of your Thanksgiving dinner.

Tips for the Best Mashed Potatoes

Here are a few extra tips to make sure your mashed potatoes turn out perfectly every single time:

• Do not skip the rinsing step. This removes excess starch and prevents your potatoes from becoming gluey.
• Use a whisk, not a food processor or blender. Mechanical mixing will overwork the starch and give you a gummy, paste-like texture.
• Season at the end. Because the stock reduces and concentrates, adding salt too early can result in overly salty potatoes.
• Make them ahead if needed. You can keep these warm in a covered pot on the lowest heat setting for up to 30 minutes. Add a splash of stock if they thicken up too much.
• Use good quality stock. Since the stock is doing the heavy lifting for flavour, a homemade or high-quality store-bought stock makes a real difference.

These mashed potatoes are honestly one of my favourite things to make during the holidays. They are comforting, flavourful, and so much easier than people expect. Once you try cooking your potatoes directly in stock like this, plain boiled-and-drained mashed potatoes will never quite measure up again. If you are looking for other holiday side dishes, my steakhouse creamed spinach is another crowd-pleaser that comes together with very little fuss.

I have been making these for years now, and they earn a spot on my Thanksgiving table every single time. Give them a try this year and see for yourself just how much flavour a few simple changes can bring to such a classic dish.

Recipe