Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes (Small Batch for Weeknights)
These mashed potatoes are creamy and flavorful. I love that they're quick and easy enough to make on a weeknight. Most mashed potato recipes are scaled up for a crowd (and I love those, too, don't get me wrong), but this one is just the right size for a regular family dinner.
Calories: 255kcal
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (900 grams) Yukon Gold potatoes
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fine sea salt divided
- ¾ cup (175 ml) whole milk
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) salted butter
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Peel the potatoes and cut into rough 1-inch cubes.
- Place in a medium pot and fill with water to cover by an inch.
- Add 1 tablespoon of the salt.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until tender but not waterlogged, about 10 minutes.
- Drain and place back in pot.
- Mash with potato masher until smooth.
- Heat milk and butter together in a small pot or in the microwave until butter is melted and milk is just shy of boiling.
- Pour liquid into pot with potatoes, add remaining 1 teaspoon salt and the pepper, and stir together until creamy.
Notes
- Yukon Gold potatoes or a similar gold-fleshed potato variety have just the right ratio of creaminess to waxiness to starch to yield unfussy mashed potatoes that everyone will love.
- Whole milk gives mashed potatoes just the right consistency, so we like to use a good organic whole milk rather than a lower-fat version.
- I love Kerrygold salted butter, which comes from grass-fed cows and is cultured, both of which contribute so much deliciousness. It's available at most grocery stores and isn't particularly expensive.
- Contrary to what you may have heard, it's perfectly fine to make mashed potatoes in advance. The starches will relax a bit as mashed potatoes sit, and this is a perfectly good thing. If you've used a heavy pot, you can pop a lid on it and expect the potatoes to stay hot for quite a while as you finish up other tasks. If not, you can easily reheat mashed potatoes in the microwave. We love our good old Corningware lidded casserole for this purpose, but really any microwave-safe serving bowl will do.
- Leftovers will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for a week and can be reheated per the microwave instructions above.
Nutrition
Calories: 255kcal | Carbohydrates: 42.2g | Protein: 6.2g | Fat: 7.5g | Fiber: 4.9g