Mashed potato is one of my favourite side dishes. It’s a classic which is great alongside so many meals – my favourites being chicken casserole, steak and ale pie, or simple family favourites like sausage and mash!
If you have a Kitchenaid mixer, I recommend making your mash in there using my Kitchenaid Mashed Potato recipe.
All you need to make a quick and easy version is potatoes, milk, butter, salt and pepper. It’s quite a forgiving dish to make, so once you’ve done it a couple of times, you’ll be a pro with no need for a recipe!
Whenever I have too many potatoes in, I make a large batch of mash and freeze it in freezer bags. It defrosts lovely and is worth making in bulk I think!
I am to do 1.5 potatoes per person, roughly. The volume of mash isn’t too dissimilar to the volume of the raw potato, so judge how many potaotes you’d need from that.
How to make quick and easy mashed potatoes (mash)
Scroll down for printable recipe card and ingredient list
1. Begin by heating a large saucepan of water to boil
2. Whilst the water is heating, peel your potatoes and cut them into equal sizes. I tend to cut large potatos into 8s, and medium ones into quarters. You’re aiming for them all to be uniform in size.
3. Then add the cut potatoes into the boiling water and then immediately turn it to a high simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender (aka when you insert a fork there is no resistance and they feel soft – try this with any bigger pieces of potato
4. Then, drain the potatoes of any water
5. Return the drained potatoes into the dry pan, turn the heat to low and mash with your potato masher. Then add in the milk, butter and seasoning and continue to mash until there are no lumps and it’s smooth. Add more milk to make it smoother. Add more butter to make it richer.
6. Once you’re happy with the smoothness, serve and enjoy! This can keep in the fridge for 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
Easy Mashed Potato
A simple, no-fuss mashed potato recipe that’s creamy, comforting and ready in under 30 minutes. Perfect as an everyday side dish.
Ingredients
- 500g potatoes (Maris Piper or King Edward) - this is about 4 potatoes or 2 potatoes each
- 20g butter
- 60–80ml milk, plus extra if needed
- Salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large saucepan of well-salted water to the boil.
- Peel the potatoes and cut into evenly sized chunks so they cook evenly.
- Add the potatoes to the boiling water and simmer for 15–20 minutes, until completely tender and easily pierced with a fork.
- Drain well, then return the potatoes to the hot pan. Place over a low heat for 30–60 seconds to allow excess moisture to evaporate.
- Mash until smooth, then add the butter, milk, salt and pepper. Continue mashing until creamy and lump-free. Add extra milk for a looser mash or extra butter for richness.
- Taste, adjust seasoning if needed, and serve immediately.
