Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Can I prep potatoes for mashing ahead of time? ›

You can do nearly everything — boil, peel, and mash; stir in milk and salt — up to two days ahead.

Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.

Add more cream and butter: More moisture and fat are the two secret ingredients to reheating any leftovers. For potatoes, reach for half-and-half or broth and butter. Cover and heat low and slow: Cover the baking dish and set it in a 350°F oven alongside any turkey leftovers you might be reheating too.

In short, yes—if you soak them in water after you prep them. Read up on this trick, which will save you time and prevent your spuds from browning.

Peel potatoes using a vegetable peeler. It's best to leave them whole, but you can go ahead and cube or dice them if you want — just don't slice them too thin. Fill a bowl with cool water, submerge the potatoes, then cover with plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator overnight.

They can sit for an hour, or two, like this, Foster says. When you are ready to continue, set the pot over low heat and the simmering water will heat the potatoes back up so you can mash them. Mashing with the wrong tool. Once you've got hot potatoes, you're almost ready to mash.

The main way we combat this problem is by rinsing away starch, both before and after cooking potatoes for fluffy mashed potatoes. Rinsing off starch means that there is less of it that can end up in the dish.

For most potato dishes it's important to add the potatoes to cold water and allow the water to come to a boil with the potatoes in the water. The potato starch can react as soon as it comes in contact with hot water, which will promote uneven cooking and mealy potatoes.

The secret ingredient is just ice-cold water.

You soak the potatoes in iced water before they are cooked. This eliminates much of the starches in the potatoes, resulting in a super light and fluffy mash.

Reheating in the Oven

If you are reheating them in the oven, stir in the liquid and butter pieces, then spread the potatoes out in a baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil to keep the potatoes from drying out. Reheat at 350˚F for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the potatoes reach 165˚F.

Should you add milk when reheating mashed potatoes? ›

Reheat in the Oven

Here's her method for reheating mashed potatoes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Add a dash of cream or milk, and some more butter to the dish before baking. To further avoid dryness, don't skimp on butter and other dairy products.

Do not add cold milk or cream to the pot of piping hot potatoes. Not only will this cool the dish down, but the cold liquid will not absorb into the hot potatoes very well. Warm the liquid in a saucepan on the stovetop or in a glass measuring cup in the microwave.

Season with salt and pepper. Plan on 1/3 to 1/2 pound potatoes per person for your feast.

Restaurants prepare the potatoes ahead by boiling and mashing just the potato, then just before serving, it is mixed into boiling cream (or milk or even broth or a combination thereof) to reheat it and make it nice and creamy.

How Long to Boil Potatoes for Mashed Potatoes. Peeled and quartered potatoes should be perfectly boiled after about 15-20 minutes. If you leave your potatoes whole, it will take a bit longer.

You can store peeled potatoes in water in the refrigerator for about 24 hours. Peeled potatoes left out by themselves at room temperature, on a refrigerator shelf or wrapped in foil or plastic wrap will still get dark overnight, so submerge them in a bowl of water, cover and refrigerate.

Parboiling – You can also save time by boiling potatoes beforehand. Then, keep the boiled potatoes in the fridge for 1-2 days before roasting.

Transfer the mashed potatoes to a large microwave-safe bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for up to 2 days. To reheat, poke lots of holes in the plastic wrap with the tip of a knife and microwave at medium-high (75 percent) power for about 14 minutes.

How long can peeled and cut potatoes sit in water before cooking, before they begin taking on too much water? A: We usually recommend no more than 24 hours. You can keep the potatoes from absorbing the water by making sure the water is not salted, and is chilled (you can even add ice to the water).