Recipes Side Dishes Potato Dishes Mashed Potatoes 16 Creamy, Buttery Mashed Potato Recipes for a Side That Steals the Show Achieve the perfect mashed potato consistency with butter, cream, mayonnaise, and flavorings. By Food & Wine Editors Food & Wine Editors This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors. Many of our galleries curate recipes or guides from a variety of sources which we credit throughout the content and at each link. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on October 13, 2023 Trending Videos Photo: Sarah Crowder Whether you're making them for your holiday spread or just for dinner on a typical weeknight, mashed potatoes are a crowd-pleaser with the right consistency. Recipes for the velvety side dish range from simple to fancy, classic to reinvented. No matter how much you make, the best mashed potatoes will do the quickest vanishing act at the table. Here we've gathered our best mashed potato recipes to suit whatever kind of meal you're planning, from a luxe potato puree to a gussied-up casserole with sage and Fontina. 01 of 16 Garlic and Herb Mashed Potatoes Photo by Christopher Testani / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Prissy Lee These mashed potatoes are a speedy, nearly effortless dish thanks to a flavor-packed special ingredient: a garlic-and-herb-flecked spreadable cheese (such as Boursin). For a colorful twist, use purple Peruvian potatoes instead of Yukon Golds to make purple mashed potatoes. Get the Recipe 02 of 16 Rich and Creamy Mashed Potatoes Sarah Crowder A foolproof and perfect make-ahead dish, the secret to these velvety mashed potatoes is mayonnaise. Get the Recipe 03 of 16 Red Skin Potato Mash Julia Hartbeck Chopped scallions bring freshness to this rich potato mash. Leaving the skin on these potatoes gives this fluffy, creamy dish a nice added crunch, too. Get the Recipe 04 of 16 Mashed Potatoes, Kind of Robuchon-Style Diana Chistruga Chef Joël Robuchon is famous worldwide for his super-silky, super-rich, super-light and buttery mashed potatoes. This is Anthony Bourdain's version of those potatoes. Get the Recipe 05 of 16 Harissa Mashed Potatoes Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christine Keely Smoky harissa and tangy labneh give these spicy mashed potatoes gorgeous color and flavor. Get the Recipe 06 of 16 Herb-Scented Mashed Potatoes Con Poulos To make these next-level potatoes, F&W culinary director at large Justin Chapple first steeps fresh rosemary, sage, and garlic in a combination of milk and cream, then folds that fragrant mixture into boiled and riced potatoes. To make them even more irresistible, he brushes the mashed potatoes with butter and broils them before serving, creating a deliciously light and crispy potato crust on top. Get the Recipe 07 of 16 Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless Mashed potatoes get an elegant upgrade with this combination of Yukon Gold potatoes and cauliflower. Cauliflower lightens the mash, emulsifies beautifully into the potatoes, and keeps the mixture from turning gummy. The lightly browned butter infused with thyme, sage, and rosemary brings in nutty and subtle herbaceous notes; don't forget to save some for the garnish. Get the Recipe 08 of 16 Pommes Puree Con Poulos These sublime buttery, creamy potatoes are based on the version made famous by French culinary legend Joël Robuchon. Get the Recipe 09 of 16 Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes © Con Poulos Chef Michael Symon's four-ingredient potatoes get plenty of flavor from browned butter and crème fraîche. Reserve a little browned butter to drizzle on the potatoes just before serving. Get the Recipe 10 of 16 Chantilly Potatoes with a Parmesan Crust © Lucy Schaeffer The late cookbook editor Maria Guarnaschelli liked to joke that when you cook French food on a regular basis, you need a cow in the backyard to provide enough butter and cream. This dairy-rich recipe calls for whipped cream and cheese. Get the Recipe 11 of 16 Mashed Potato Casserole with Sage and Fontina © John Kernick To take mashed potatoes up a few notches, cookbook author Melissa Clark mashes them with a creamy, tangy mix of crème fraîche, butter, parsley, and sage, then tops them with cheesy breadcrumbs and bakes until crisp. Get the Recipe 12 of 16 Mashed Potatoes with Crispy Shallots © Frances Janisch For ultrafluffy potatoes, we press them through a ricer. To achieve a similar texture, pass the potatoes through a food mill or a fine-mesh sieve. If you choose to mash them by hand, be gentle; otherwise, the potatoes will turn gluey. Get the Recipe 13 of 16 Sweet Potatoes with Apple Butter © Lucy Schaeffer Apple butter adds even more natural sweetness to Marcia Kiesel's fluffy sweet potatoes. Get the Recipe 14 of 16 Mashed Potatoes with Butternut Squash © Frances Janisch Equal amounts of roasted butternut squash and Yukon Gold potatoes boiled with garlic are combined with half-and-half and butter for a golden, subtly sweet take on classic mashed potatoes. Get the Recipe 15 of 16 Mashed Potatoes with Manchego and Olive Oil © Lucy Schaeffer Instead of using butter, chef José Andrés prefers to add richness with olive oil and Manchego cheese. His tip: "Add the olive oil slowly to the potatoes because if you dump it in all at once, you'll get streaks of oil." Get the Recipe 16 of 16 Whipped Yukon Gold Potatoes © Max Kim-Bee These potatoes from chef Thomas Keller have a wonderfully fluffy texture because they're passed through a ricer or food mill to make them especially airy. But they're also nicely rich, thanks to generous amounts of butter and heavy cream. Get the Recipe The Best Potato Mashers, According to Our Tests Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit