Mashed potatoes are an all time favorite for many people and when it is time for the traditional Thanksgiving dinner they must be on the table right there next to stuffed turkey and gravy. So if you are new at cooking and want to try your hands at some traditional Thanksgiving cooking – start with an easy one like this Thanksgiving mashed potatoes recipe to gain confidence and then move on to more complex ones. And you still have a few days to practice so there is no better time to start than now :).

And to help you with your Thanksgiving cooking career there will also be links to some other recipes that are a part of almost every Thanksgiving dinner at the end of this one. OK, now to the mashed potatoes recipe for beginners.

Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes Recipe
 
Serves: 4
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
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Ingredients
  • 1lbs (1/2kg) of golden potatoes, cleaned up and peeled
  • 4 Tablespoons of fresh cream (heavy or non fat)
  • 2 Tablespoon of butter
  • 1 Tablespoon of milk
  • ½ Teaspoon of salt to taste
  • ¼ Teaspoon of pepper (white or black)
  • Water
  • You will also need a manual potato smasher
Instructions
  1. Chop the peeled potatoes into cubes
  2. Place them in a saucepan and put water in it till the potato cubes are covered with water.
  3. Add some salt to taste and bring the water to boil. Then simmer and cover the saucepan and cook the potatoes for about 15-20 minutes.
  4. Remove the cover and put a fork in one of the pieces of the potatoes and check if cooked and soft.
  5. Drain out the remaining water from the saucepan and let the potatoes sit for some while so that any remaining water evaporates.
  6. In a pan take the butter and melt it. Then add the cream to it and stir and mix with the butter.
  7. Once the cream and butter mix well, add this to the potatoes in the saucepan.
  8. Using a potato smasher, smash the potatoes into a fine paste.
  9. Add the milk, salt and pepper as per liking and blend in.
  10. Blend until the right consistency is achieved but not too gluey.
  11. Serve these fluffy and smooth mashed potatoes in a bowl with fresh or dried parsley.
Notes
To make garlic mashed potatoes you can add 2-3 cloves of garlic when the potatoes are boiling. Then mash them up with the potatoes. Dried parsley or coriander gives a great flavor to otherwise rustic tasting potatoes. When adding milk to the mashed potatoes, add warm milk to make a better blend. Cold milk can make potatoes gluey. Do not add too much milk, or else the consistency will become thin and you would have to add more potatoes. When you mash the potatoes when they are really hot and add warm milk to them and mash well, you can add less butter and make them more healthy.

Different varieties of potatoes

You can of course take this basic mashed potatoes recipe and add all sorts of things to make it better and different. You can add chives, garlic (here is a full recipe for garlic mashed potatoes), parsley, dried herbs, mushrooms or about anything which tastes well with them and you have a recipe of your own.

Maybe Thanksgiving dinner is not the best time to start experimenting so try the new version alone before making it for the “big” night. OK, so this is it when it comes to making Thanksgiving mashed potatoes.

As promised, here are a few more recipes that are quite simple to make and are a part of most of the traditional Thanksgiving dinners. Apart from the turkey, cranberry sauce and gravy you also want to offer:

  • some bread rolls which can be made using your leftover mashed potatoes,
  • another thing to do with potatoes and can be included in your thanksgiving dinner are different potato salads,
  • then there are the desserts and this is when various pies are usually served. Try these:
  • apple pie,
  • sweet potato pie.

And most of all – enjoy your time with your family – Happy Thanksgiving!

Related posts:

  1. Leftover Thanksgiving Casserole Recipe
  2. Thanksgiving Potato Rolls Recipe
  3. Leftover Mashed Potatoes with Baked Eggs and Bacon
  4. How To Make Mashed Potatoes