Make creamy mashed potatoes with yellow potatoes, cream, and butter. Delicious side dish recipe perfect for weeknight meals and holiday dinners.
Creamy Mashed Potatoes with ham drippings gravy is the quintessential side for every holiday dinner and even some weeknight meals. We used to eat potatoes a lot more than we do now; but we still have our favorite mashed potatoes recipe that's pretty basic but oh so creamy delicious.
Only 5 ingredients… That's all it takes to make these simple potatoes. You know how we like to keep it simple.
Now I do suggest being picky about which potatoes you use. And maybe this topic is for another post at another time.
But our favorite type of potato for the most flavorful mashed potatoes is the yellow potato or Yukon Gold. We like red potatoes too, but I find myself going for the gold whenever we buy potatoes.
Whether you're cooking a roast or putting together a holiday meal, Creamy Mashed Potatoes are the one side dish you'll definitely want to make sure is on the table. You can even set up a fun mashed potato bar to go with your celebration!
If you enjoy potatoes, you may also enjoy our Instant Pot Baked Potatoes, our copycat version of the KFC mashed potato bowl, and scalloped potatoes with cheese recipes!
Tips for how to make Creamy Mashed Potatoes
- Gather your ingredients… You'll need yellow potatoes, salted butter, heavy whipping cream, salt, and pepper.
- Wash, peel, and chop the potatoes.
- Cook the potatoes until they're soft enough to easily jab with a fork. We usually cook ours by boiling them on the stove in a medium to large saucepan for about 30 minutes, but sometimes we use our Instant Pot.
- Drain the water off your boiled potatoes, leaving your potatoes in the saucepan.
- Add the butter and heavy whipping cream to the potatoes.
- Use a hand mixer to whip the potatoes, adding salt and pepper to taste. You can also use a potato masher if you don't have a hand mixer; your potatoes may just be a little bit chunky.
- Once they're all whipped up, they're ready to serve. They taste so good with a spoonful of homemade chicken gravy, ham gravy or turkey gravy. And they make the best sloppy joe casserole with mashed potatoes too.
Looking for more potato recipes?
The Ultimate Mashed Potato Bar
Slow Cooker Green Beans, Potatoes, and Sausages
Looking for more delicious side dish recipes?
Instant Pot Southern Green Beans
Fresh Cranberry Sauce with Orange
Honey Glazed Carrots with Rosemary
You may also want to check out my list of The Best Thanksgiving Recipes for Your Holiday Menu and The Best Christmas Recipes for Your Holiday Celebrations for plenty more inspiration. If you're planning for Easter, here are over 50 Easter dinner menu ideas.
Kitchen Tools you may need to make Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Vegetable Peeler or Paring Knife – I prefer to use a knife, but my guys prefer a veggie peeler for peeling potatoes.
Vegetable Knife – to chop the potatoes.
Saucepan with Lid – for boiling the potatoes.
Strainer – You'll need this to drain the potatoes.
Hand Mixer or Potato Masher – A hand mixer will enable you to get smooth, creamy mashed potatoes; a potato masher will allow you to mash the potatoes, but they'll have a chunkier texture.
Print the recipe for Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 8 potatoes medium size
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash, peel, and chop the potatoes.
- Boil the potatoes in a large saucepan on the stove, until they're soft enough to easily jab with a fork, about 20-30 minutes.
- Drain the water off the boiled potatoes, and leave them in the saucepan.
- Add the butter and heavy whipping cream to the potatoes.
- Use a hand mixer to whip the potatoes, adding salt and pepper to taste. You can also use a potato masher if you don't have a hand mixer; your potatoes may just be a little bit chunky.
- Once they're whipped, they're ready to serve.