My family's favorite mashed potatoes recipe! These mashed potatoes are creamy, rich and tangy, thanks to the cream cheese and sour cream. You can make these mashed potatoes ahead of time, too (see the final step for details). Recipe yields 8 large or 12 medium servings; I believe you could successfully halve the recipe for a smaller crowd.
Recipe by Cookie and Kate on November 8, 2017
Prep time: PT15M
Cook time: PT20M
Total time: PT35M
Rating
4.9 stars ( reviews)
Keywords
Mashed potatoes, Thanksgiving, Christmas, fall, winter, make ahead
Ingredients
5 pounds Russet potatoes, preferably organic*
3 teaspoons salt, divided
6 ounces cream cheese (that’s ¾ of one brick)
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ teaspoon onion powder
Optional garnishes: Finely sliced fresh chives, pat of butter, sprinkle of mild paprika (not the smoked kind) and/or freshly ground black pepper
Categories
Side
Cuisine
American
Steps
To prepare your potatoes, you can either scrub them clean and leave them unpeeled (like I did) or rinse and peel them (for smooth, skin-free mashed potatoes). Then cut the potatoes into even chunks about 2” in size (see photos).
Place the potato chunks in a large Dutch oven or soup pot. Add 1 teaspoon of the salt, and enough water to cover the potatoes by 1 to 2 inches.
Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Continue cooking, reducing the heat as necessary to prevent overflow, until the potatoes are easily pierced through by a fork, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Carefully drain off all of the water and return the potatoes to the pot. Mash the potatoes until they reach your desired consistency (I like mine a little chunky, but you can mash them completely smooth if you prefer).
Add the cream cheese, sour cream, butter, the remaining 2 teaspoons of salt and the onion powder. Stir until everything is mixed together evenly. You can serve the mashed potatoes immediately at this point, with garnishes of your choice.
If you’re making these mashed potatoes in advance, transfer them to a casserole dish with a lid (my Dutch oven is oven-safe so this was unnecessary). Smooth the top, cover, and store the mashed potatoes for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. To serve, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the mashed potatoes, covered, until warmed through, about 30 to 35 minutes. Serve with garnishes of your choice.
Nutitrion
Calories: 254 calories
Carbohydrates: 35.9 g
Protein: 5.4 g
Fat: 10.7 g
Saturated Fat: 6.1 g
Trans Fat: 0.2 g
Cholesterol: 30.7 mg
Sodium: 641.6 mg
Sugar: 2.4 g
Reviews
Lori on 2025-04-21 (3 stars): I have absolutely loved every recipe I have made of yours, Kate! For this recipe, I’m thinking I might have done something wrong. The potatoes came out more pasty and heavy than creamy. I followed the directions written and used full fat cream cheese (6 oz.) and sour cream. Used a potato masher and then a hand mixer as we like our potatoes smooth. I made them the day before and took them out of the refrigerator to sit for 30 minutes before baking the following day. After being in the oven for about 30 minutes they were not cooked through, so I took the lid off and continued to bake for about an additional 15 minutes. I’m not sure if I over mixed them or if I should have used a more shallow dish as the dish I used was round and the potatoes were filled to the top. Any helpful insight would be welcome as I’d like to try them again!
Also, I apologize if this is a repeat comment as the first time I attempted to comment the page disappeared and was not sure if it was sent!
