These mashed red potatoes are tender potatoes combined with garlic, butter and seasonings to make a simple yet totally satisfying side dish. Pair your mashed potatoes with roasted chicken, grilled turkey breast, braised short ribs or seafood and watch the rave reviews come in!
You can never go wrong with potatoes, whether it’s baked potato wedges, hasselback potatoes, or these rich and creamy mashed red potatoes.
Mashed potatoes are a dinner time staple for good reason – they’re flavorful, easy to make and an inexpensive side dish. These mashed red potatoes are a twist on the classic recipe, but are equally as delicious and versatile. Pair your potatoes with slow cooker short ribs, chicken francese or beef brisket for a memorable meal.
Table of Contents
Mashed Red Potatoes Ingredients
To make mashed red potatoes you will need red potatoes, butter, garlic, cream, salt, black pepper and parsley.
How Do You Make Mashed Red Potatoes?
Start by boiling chunks of red potatoes in salted boiling water until tender. While the potatoes are cooking, cook garlic in melted butter to make the flavoring base for the potatoes. Drain the potatoes, then add the garlic butter to the pot along with heavy cream and seasonings. Mash the potatoes until fairly smooth; I like to keep this dish with a few chunks of potato for texture. Add more garlic butter on top along with a sprinkle of parsley, then serve and enjoy.
Tips For The Perfect Potatoes
- The easiest way to mash potatoes is with a potato masher. If you want super smooth potatoes, you can also try using a potato ricer, be sure to peel your potatoes if this is your goal. Another alternative is you can beat your potatoes with a hand mixer.
- Be sure not to mash your potatoes in the food processor. If you try it that way, you’ll end up with gluey potatoes that aren’t pleasant to eat.
- Mashed red potatoes can be made up to 2 days in advance and reheated on the stove top or in a covered casserole dish in the oven.
Quick Tip
Cut your potatoes into similar sized pieces so they cook evenly.
Recipe FAQs
I prefer to leave the skins on my red potatoes when I boil them. It’s less work, the skin adds a nice color to the final dish, along with some texture and nutritional value. If you’re looking for ultra smooth potatoes, feel free to peel your potatoes prior to cooking them.
You can freeze mashed red potatoes. To freeze the potatoes, you can place individual scoops on a sheet pan, and then store the frozen scoops in an airtight container. To reheat, thaw the scoops in a refrigerator and then microwave them until hot, about 2-3 minutes per scoop. Stir the potatoes occasionally for even heating.
You can also freeze mashed potatoes as a single batch in a container. To reheat a batch of mashed potatoes, thaw them in a refrigerator. Then put them in a covered baking container and reheat them at 350 degrees F until hot, about 20-30 minutes. You should stir the potatoes to make sure they are evenly heated.
Red potatoes are better for creamy mashed potatoes while Russet and certain white potatoes are generally better for fluffier mashed potatoes. Red potatoes are better for skin on mashed potatoes because they have skins with a milder taste than varieties like Russet potatoes.
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Mashed Red Potatoes Flavor Variations
These potatoes are fabulous as-is, but you can add other ingredients to customize this dish to your tastes.
- Cheese: You can never go wrong by adding cheese! Try adding 1 cup of shredded cheddar, mozzarella or Monterey Jack to the mashed potatoes. Alternatively you can use 1/2 cup of grated parmesan or Romano cheese. Cream cheese is also a great addition to your potatoes.
- Toppings: Finish off your potatoes with a sprinkling of cooked crumbled bacon, green onions or sauteed mushrooms.
- Flavorings: Amp up the flavor of the mashed potatoes with add-ins such as pesto, smoked paprika, onion powder, seasoned salt, or sun dried tomatoes.
If you’re a potato fan, you’ll adore these mashed red potatoes! They’re the perfect blend of flavors and can be on your table in no time.
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Mashed Red Potatoes Video
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Mashed Red Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 pounds red potatoes cut into 2-3 inch pieces
- 1/2 cup butter I use salted butter
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream warmed
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Add the potatoes and cook for 20 minutes or until tender.
- Drain the potatoes.
- In the potato pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 45 seconds, stirring continuously. Stir in the cream.
- Return the potatoes to the pot.
- Mash the potatoes until they're creamy and mostly. Stir in the salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parsley, then serve immediately.
Notes
- The easiest way to mash potatoes is with a potato masher. If you want super smooth potatoes, you can also try using a potato ricer, be sure to peel your potatoes if this is your goal. Another alternative is you can beat your potatoes with a hand mixer.
- Be sure not to mash your potatoes in the food processor. If you try it that way, you’ll end up with gluey potatoes that aren’t pleasant to eat.
- Cut your potatoes into similar sized pieces so they cook evenly.
These mashed potatoes were SO creamy and delicious — they make an amazing side dish!
I make these when I serve air fryer steak for dinner. Everyone loves them!
Yum! That looks delicious! I can’t wait to try making this at home. Thanks for sharing!
The garlic butter in these mashed potatoes is so good! (chefs kiss!!)
A favorite side dish of mine! Always so delicious. This was a great addition to our dinner last night!
Oh boy were these great! I read a comment about using roaster garlic and I did that too! Thanks for easy directions and a great recipe!
These look fantastic! I wish I could reach through the screen to have some right now. Mashed potatoes are one of my most favorite foods ever.
These mashed potatoes are our go to potatoes for the holidays! They are perfectly creamy and delicious. The perfect side dish.
Never mind serving these as a side. I could sit with a spoon and eat the whole bowl.
These mashed red potatoes look so easy and flavorful! I really like the variations that are possible too.
A classic side dish made better. Really like that you sautee the garlic in the butter and warm the heavy cream. Totally fabulous potatoes!
This recipe is really amazing! Perfect for the holidays!
This looks so delicious! My family is going to love this recipe!
These are our go-to every holiday dinner. They just go perfectly with anything you serve them with. We even had some roasted garlic at times to change things up.
I love these beautiful mashed potatoes! Tasty side dish
These mashed red potatoes are mouth watering!
Look at those mashed potatoes! They look perfect for so many meals. I love the tip about freezing them.