How to Make Best Mashed Potatoes – Easy Recipe for You

Mashed potatoes are one of the most popular side dishes that comes with many sizzler and platter dishes to make them a wholesome meal. And, the best part is anyone can just make it at home. It is an easy recipe to make. Perfect mashed potatoes are so very simple to make but still, there is a real art in getting them perfect. And, in this blog post, we will discuss how to make best mashed potatoes, but before that, we need to know about potato boiling.

Processes of boiling potatoes for mashed potatoes recipes:

Before we move forward to the best mashed potatoes recipes, you should know there are three ways you can boil your potatoes. Here are the ways you can do that,

1. The first process is about boiling the potatoes in water. You need to boil the potatoes for an allotted time which is about 10 minutes. You must use cold water and bring the heat to a simmer. Then add the potatoes and boil for another 3 – 5 minutes. It is as simple as that. And when you know how to boil potatoes you will be aware that it is simply boiling your potatoes in water.
2. One of the most basic ways to prepare a recipe is by starting with cold water and then heating it up with hot water. This works when you are boiling potatoes for making soup or stew. You can also use room temperature water and bring it to a boil. Then just add your recipe ingredients along with potatoes and boil for the given time.
3. Another way of getting started with a mashed potato recipe is to add any liquid (preferably milk) and cook it. For that, you will need hot water to mix with the hot liquid. This will give you a mixture that is hot enough to mix the ingredients together but not so hot that it causes burning. Also, there are other reasons for doing so, such as,
   • The idea here is that if you use hot water it will make your food soggy. The combination of hot liquid and hot food will make your food soggy.
   • The combination of hot liquid and hot food is referred to as the Maillard reaction. This is the way that food becomes tasty. In the beginning, your food will taste good. However, if you keep on adding hot liquid, your food will continue to cook and it will end up tasting bad. This is the basis of how foods become bland.
   • When you start with cold water and add hot liquid, your food will be tastier and softer. When you add hot liquid to cold water, your food will taste better and more firm.

Ways to boil potatoes perfectly for mashed potato recipes:

Before you wonder about how to make best mashed potatoes, know that there are 2 ways of preparing food for cooking. You can either boil the water or boil the liquid you are using with the water. In both scenarios, you have to place the food in boiling water or the liquid and boil it for the given time. The time you use for boiling the water will be the same for boiling the liquid as well. However, you can add a little water into the liquid during boiling.

You can use either the traditional way or the electric cooker for this. The traditional way is the way that is commonly known. It involves placing the food inside the pot and boiling it for the given time. The traditional way can cause problems because the food can stick on the bottom of the pot if not thick enough. The traditional way also requires you to stay over the pot to stir the food. The way that uses the electric cooker instead does away with these problems. You just need to place the food inside the pot, and in no time, your food is ready to eat.

Recipe for making the best mashed potatoes at home:

The potatoes need at least 2 hours of cooking time to be perfect. You can have as much time as you need. The longer you tine you will take, the better the mashed potato will be. It is very easy to mash the potatoes – it is a slow cooking food so you don’t need to be in a kitchen with a stove running. Just a hot burner or microwave oven works fine for this side dish.

First, select some good potatoes for the dish and put them into a bowl with cold water. Then boil the water in a boiling pot. It will take about 10 minutes for the water to start boiling. Once the water starts to boil up, turn the heat down to a simmer, and keep checking to ensure that it never comes to a boil. It happens by turning over or heating so that the bubbles begin to form and thus make the water more viscous. The longer you keep the water at a simmer, the better the mashed potato texture will be. Do this for about 20 minutes, then drain the water and put the boiled potatoes into a bowl with cold water. You can even follow this step every time you cook potatoes, even not for mashing purposes.

Now make sure that the potatoes are nice and moist. You can do this by keeping the potatoes inside the refrigerator or putting them at room temperature or in a warm place with warm water. But regardless of the place you put the potatoes in, make sure that the pot is covered with a lid or a kitchen towel. Leave them like this for about 30 minutes, and then take the potatoes out and place them on a tray that you’ve pre-heated in the microwave. You can even use hot water as well for this further process. Put the potatoes in any of the hot places for at least 10 seconds. The steam will moisten the potatoes and make them softer to mash whenever you need. The other alternative is to mash them right away which will take less time, but you might burn yourself with the hot potatoes.

During the mashing-up process, you can season the potato mixture with some herbs such as parsley, rosemary, and thyme or spices such as smoked paprika and turmeric for better taste.

With the last seasoning,

Last but not the least, you have to keep in mind that to make the best mashed potatoes, all you need to do is to ensure that the potatoes are boiled up appropriately and moisten up. I hope this blog post will help you understand how to make best mashed potatoes and queries related to this. Please share your reviews in the comment box below and let us know what you think about our recipes. Thank you for reading!!