Easy mashed potatoes are the creamiest, dreamiest side dish out there! Made with fresh potatoes, cream, and lots of melty butter, this recipe is pure deliciousness in every bite. Make these mashed potatoes as a part of your holiday meal or every day.

Side dishes are absolutely necessary to make main dishes shine! For more amazing side dishes, definitely need to check out these delicious recipes brown sugar carrots, roasted parmesan asparagus, and lemon butter rice.

An above view of a square dish filled with mashed potatoes swirled with butter and a sprinkling pepper and seasoned salt. With a white and black striped towel.

Best Mashed Potatoes

A good, basic mashed potato recipe is one that every home cook needs to have in their repertoire. These potatoes are the perfect side dish for those Sunday dinners. They are soooo buttery and creamy,

This is a great recipe to make if you are looking for just plain and simple potatoes that aren’t overly jazzed up or use a bunch of ingredients, (like these cheesy garlic mashed potatoes). Still good for holidays, just a little easier.

It may take a while to wash the potatoes, peel, cut, and boil them. But, the final product is completely worth every bit of work that goes into them!! Mash them with a potato masher, a food mill, or potato ricer for the potato texture you are looking for. Add seasoning (and a lot of butter) and voila! you have achieved greatness!

A big spoonful of mashed potatoes over a big dish of buttery, peppered potatoes.

Why You’ll love this Recipe

No oven needed: All you do is boil the potatoes and then smash them, you don’t even need an oven. Especially great when the oven space is limited during the holidays.
Simple ingredients: Only a handful of ingredients are needed for this classic family favorite recipe.

Recipe Ingredients

Potatoes: To make the best mashed potatoes, you want to use russet potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes. I have also found that a combination of the two works out really well. We will be using large potatoes here.
Butter: Unsalted butter works best here so that you can adjust the amount of salt added to the recipe.
Cream Cheese: I like to use full fat block cream cheese or neufchâtel cheese.
Half and Half: The half and half provides creaminess and loosens up the potatoes a bit. More or less may be used depending on how you like your potatoes. You can also use whole milk or heavy cream.
Seasoning: pepper, salt or seasoning salt.

All of the ingredients needed to make mashed potatoes.

How to Make Mashed Potatoes

Here are the basic instructions for how to make the best mashed potatoes. Check out the recipe card at the bottom of this blog post for full instructions and ingredient amounts.

Step one is potatoes sliced in half. — **STEP 1:** Clean and scrub potatoes. Pat them dry, then peel them. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise.

Step two is a pot of cut potatoes in salted water. — **STEP 2:** Add the cut potatoes to a large soup pot and cover with cold water. Salt heavily, around 2-3 tablespoons for 5 potatoes. Place on high heat and bring up to a boil. Then reduce heat to medium low. Cook until potatoes are tender all the way through when pierced with a fork.

Step three is to smash up the cooked potatoes. — **STEP 3:** Drain the potatoes completely. To dry the potatoes, place them back in the pot and put over high heat, this will help get rid of any excess moisture. Mash each of the potatoes with a potato masher.

Step four add the butter and cream cheese to the slightly mashed potatoes. — **STEP 4:** Then add butter and cream cheese, continue mashing.

The final step is to add seasonings, dairy, and smash until the potatoes are creamy. — **STEP 5:** Add in half and half, salt or seasoned salt and pepper, mash until well mixed and creamy. Taste to see if more seasonings are needed. Since the potatoes were cooked in salted water, you may not need to add more salt.

Recipe Variations

Add some shredded cheese.
Mix in your favorite chopped herbs.
Switch up the cream cheese for sour cream.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can mashed potatoes be made in advance? Yes, they can be made up two days in advance. When you are ready to eat them, just heat them up on the stove and mix in some cream or milk to help loosen them back up.

How to Store & Reheat

How to store leftovers? Let the mashed potatoes cool and put in an airtight container. They should last about 3-4 days in the fridge.

Try these other side dish recipes!

If you’ve tried this easy mashed potato recipe, don’t forget to give me a star rating and leave me a comment below in the comment section. I love to hear from people who have made my recipes.

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