Mashed potato story time! When I lived at home we used to make mashed potatoes from the box. It wasn’t a regular part of our cuisine and when we did want to add it in that was all we knew. Well, once I was at a work meeting with my boss and our volunteers, and somehow the topic turned to mashed potatoes. In almost unison they all said they never ever make mashed potatoes from the box (ever!) because it is so easy to make from scratch. I smiled and nodded and vowed to myself to never make it from the box again. I went home and told my mother and we agreed to try to make them from scratch.
Lo and behold, four years later and I, too, think mashed potatoes from scratch are actually pretty easy, especially if you make them my lazy way without peeling the potatoes. It takes roughly 20-25 minutes for the potatoes to cook via boiling but you don’t have to watch them so you can easily work on something else in the meantime.
You can sub out the green onions for crushed garlic and it tastes great as well. Other additions can include Parmesan cheese, shredded cheese, or bacon (turkey bacon for me!). Also plain mashed potatoes are quite the treat.
This recipe makes 4 side servings.
Ingredients
- 2 large potatoes (russet, yellow, or red skinned)
- 1 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon green onions, finely chopped
- Salt to taste (I barely use any, two shakes of a small salt shaker)
Instructions
- Peel or do not peel potatoes (I rarely peel them, sometimes I will peel half)
- Dice potatoes into medium sized cubes (slice each potato lengthwise, then again lengthwise, then 3-4 times the other way)
- Place in pot on high heat and allow to come to a boil, keep cooking until potato is soft (easily crushed when pressed by fork)
- While potato is cooking place butter, milk, green onions, and salt in small sauce pan; allow to come to a boil and remove from heat (this step is optional but helps incorporate onion flavor throughout potatoes better)
- Once potatoes have cooked, remove from heat, and drain. Crush with large spoon or fork to preferred consistency (I personally like some of the potato to be formed)
- Mix in the butter sauce and enjoy!
Sahtain all!
PS. These mashed potatoes will be a bit more formed but still full of flavor and maintain the nutrient density of potatoes.