Mashed Potatoes Recipe with Bacon & Caramelized Onions (2024)

FAQs

Why add butter before milk in mashed potatoes? ›

By adding butter before the milk, we are coating the starch molecules in fat to impart a smooth, silky feel. The rich butter has a moment by itself to meld with the potatoes for a noticeable butter-forward taste. The warmed milk then comes in to give a finishing, creamy touch—loosening things up in the process.

There is no need to soak your potatoes before making mashed potatoes. Soaking is best prior to frying or roasting.

The yolk emulsifies water and fat to create a cohesive, velvety bite, while providing a little fat and body of its own. What is this? You can add an egg yolk to nearly any existing mashed potato recipe.

Heavy Cream - While you, hypothetically, could use whole milk or something, I don't recommend it. Part of what makes these the creamiest mashed potatoes is the CREAM! Use the cream, we aren't eating mashed potatoes for our health. Sour Cream - This recipe is rich and it needs some tanginess for balance.

A word about butter: Don't melt butter before stirring it into the potatoes because the milk solids and fat will separate. You can add cold butter to your hot potatoes since the butter will melt as a whole and distribute the fat and milk solids evenly.

For most potato dishes it's important to add the potatoes to cold water and allow the water to come to a boil with the potatoes in the water. The potato starch can react as soon as it comes in contact with hot water, which will promote uneven cooking and mealy potatoes.

In a large pot, add potatoes, 1 tablespoon salt, and cold water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and cook uncovered until potatoes are tender and can easily be pierced by a knife, about 10 to 15 minutes (20 to 25 minutes for larger potatoes).

Method. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the potatoes and boil for about 15 mins or until tender. Transfer to a colander and drain well, then return to the pan and set over a very low heat for 2 mins to dry completely.

Mash potatoes with half-and-half or milk using a potato masher. Add in the cream cheese and smash until the cheese melts into the potatoes. Add chives or scallions. Season with salt and pepper, to your taste.

Why do restaurant mashed potatoes taste better? ›

Instead of regular milk, pro chefs generally use a generous helping of buttermilk and plenty of half-and-half or (even better) heavy cream in their potatoes. If you think the bartenders up front are pouring heavy, they've got nothing on the cooks in the back who are in charge of the mashed potatoes.

Sour cream adds a little bit of tangy flavor and a boost of richness to mashed potatoes. It's a fun change from the standard milk or cream and butter combo usually flavoring mashed taters. You can even try your hand at making homemade sour cream from heavy cream!

The addition of a mildly acidic vinegar to a starchy veggie like potatoes not only deepens the flavor profile, but it also helps to tenderize the tubers.

Due to its high fat content, comparable to that of heavy cream, the milk butter mixture will have the ability to capture air bubbles and generate a stable foam when whipped. To summarize, if a recipe calls for heavy cream in the batter, it can be substituted with a mixture of 75% milk and 25% butter.

For the very best result every time, always gently warm the butter and milk before adding to the potatoes, rather than adding cold dairy straight from the fridge. Here's why: Warm dairy is absorbed faster and more easily, with less stirring than its cold counterpart.

Milk and butter

It's an easy substitute that'll work for most recipes. The butter adds extra fat to the milk, making its fat percentage similar to that of heavy cream. Combine 1/4 cup (57 grams) of melted butter with 3/4 cup (178 mL) of milk and mix thoroughly to make 1 cup (237 ml) of heavy cream.