Creamiest Mashed Potatoes EVER

mashed potatoes in a bowl with melted butter on top

It's pretty standard to cook potatoes in boiling water, then drain them and add cream and butter and salt. And that way is good. But there's a MUCH MUCH better way.

Cooking potatoes IN cream and aromatics means you will get the creamiest, butteriest (not sure it's a word, but just go with me on this one) best mashed potatoes in the entire world.

Creamiest Mashed Potatoes EVER
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Serves: 4-6 Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

4 pounds Yukon potatoes (the golden ones), peeled and cut into quarters

1 bay leaf

1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary

1-2 sprigs fresh thyme, optional

1 clove garlic, peeled

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heavy cream (I always buy the 32 ounce size -- you won't use all of it, but there will be extra to use in other recipes)

1 stick unsalted butter (use European for extra creaminess)

Helpful kitchen tools

cheesecloth or tea infuser

ricer

Instructions

1

DO THE DAY BEFORE:

2

**If you want to get a head start -- peel and cut your potatoes the day before. Place them a large bowl, cover with water and store in your fridge. This will prevent them from browning. Before cooking, drain them in a colander placed in your sink, give them a quick rinse and then place them in a large pot.**

3

Place potatoes in large pot.

4

In a cheesecloth or tea infuser, place the bay leaf, garlic, rosemary and thyme. If you don't have either, add the aromatics directly to the pot with the potatoes.

5

Cover the potatoes with the cream. You want the cream to just barely cover the potatoes.

6

To prevent the cream from overflowing, don't cover the pot.

7

Cook over medium heat, at a gentle simmer (just a few bubbles here and there), until potatoes are cooked through. This should take about 10-15 minutes.

8

BE SURE YOU COOK AT A GENTLE SIMMER AND NOT A BOIL. IF THE CREAM BOILS IT'S LIKELY TO OVERFLOW AND CREATE A HUGE MESS.

9

Place a colander over a bowl in your sink. DON'T FORGET TO PUT A BOWL UNDER THE COLANDER TO CATCH THE CREAM.

10

When potatoes are cooked, carefully drain them in the colander.

11

Remove the cheesecloth or tea infuser. If you didn't use a tea infuser or cheesecloth, carefully remove the garlic and rosemary sprigs. Don't worry about removing the thyme (if you used it)- - the leaves are so small they will incorporate just fine into the mashed potatoes.

12

Using a ricer, rice the potatoes and put them back in their original pot.

13

**I usually place the ricer in the large pot and use a large spoon to transfer spoonfuls of potatoes from colander to ricer. You will need to do this several times, but it's SO worth it to get gorgeous fluffy mashed potatoes.**

14

Take the flavored cream and add it back to the pot with the potatoes about 1/2 cup at a time.

15

Stir in butter, 2 tablespoons at a time.

16

Keep adding cream and butter, stirring over low heat, until the potatoes are the consistency you like.

17

You WILL have extra cream. Save it to use when reheating the potatoes the next day.

18

Serve immediately, or store in your fridge.

Creamiest Mashed Potatoes EVER