Mashed potatoes, how much can be done ahead of time?

17 years ago

I posted this first in recipe exchange and realize I should have started here. I would like to prepare the potatoes as far as peeling, cutting and boiling them on Tuesday, but wait to mash them on Thursday for Thanksgiving dinner? Will this work? What gave me the idea is the new steam and mash frozen potatoes I've seen advertized on TV. I think they are not cooked though, just peeled and cut....

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!

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Comments (4)

arleneb
17 years ago
My daughter always makes them ahead . . . the recipe below is similar to what she uses, and they're great. Search on "Oven mashed potatoes" and you'll come up with other versions.

MAKE AHEAD MASHED POTATOES

14 potatoes, peeled and boiled
1 stick butter
1 (8 oz.) pkg. of cream cheese
1 c. milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mash all ingredients together. Place in casserole and bake for 30 minutes. This dish can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Bring back to room temperature before baking. It can also be frozen, thawed and baked, and will be the same as freshly made!

Arlene
grainlady_ks
17 years ago
Have you thought about making refrigerator (aka make-ahead) mashed potatoes? They keep very well for days in the refrigerator. I make them and freeze them in dollops for individual servings, then vacuum-seal them in FoodSaver bags. A great way to take advantage of potatoes when they are buy one bag and get one bag free...and you can't possibly consume that much - as another alternative use for the recipes.

There have been many recipes posted recently (so scroll down the pages), but here's the one I use, and you'll find many by Googling - refrigerator mashed potatoes or make-ahead mashed potatoes.

5# potatoes (washed and used whole, or peeled - your choice)
6 oz. cream cheese
1 c. sour cream
1/4 c. butter

Cook potatoes per usual, drain. Mash adding the remaining ingredients.

Some recipes say these potatoes keep 10 days. Other recipes add chives, garlic, onion powder, etc. I tend to add those just before serving since some of the strong flavors can change when frozen, or intensify when refrigerated.

-Grainlady
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Thanks all. Tib, I read that refrigerating the potatoes brings out the starch but it sounds like they are fine that way. If I could peel them the night before it would be a cinch to throw them together on Tday! Lvmadison, thank you for the recipe, they are very close to the ones I made last year. Ann, I was turned off by the cream cheese at first too but honestly they just taste like luscious creamy mashed. You would never know they were a casserole if you didn't see them in the casserole dish. Lars, I like the way you think using a pressure cooker, I don't have one but you are right about the peeling being the worst. The Ree Drumond potatoes do have cream cheese in them but my whole family said they were the best mashed potatoes they ever had so why mess with success? I will do the peeling tomorrow night stow them in the fridge and get them ready to bake.
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I haven't made mashed potatoes for a while since we tend to eat too much potato when they're mashed. But when I do/did make them I prefer them a little lumpy, as the too smooth texture reminds me of boxed potato purÃ© or cafeteria food. We don't get Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes here, so we use King Edwards grown locally and steam them, add a little evaporated milk, butter, salt & pepper and hand mash until they are the texture we like, a little lumpy and fairly dry. Now for his health I use olive oil drizzled on Wolf's potatoes rather than butter. Slightly OT...Beanthere.....we also love the little local cooked whole and chopped up a little. These in my photos are an antique variety and the most expensive potatoes one can buy here. They have a short growing season and are grown only in the higher slopes of Tenerife and in the Andes mountains of South America. Not available in Europe or North America. The inside of the potato is a golden yellow and the flavour is incredibly good. I just bought a handful of them the other day. SharonCb
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This is an interesting discussion! Jim Mat, for mashed, our process thus far: we have been peeling, cutting into big chunks, boiling til tender, draining, drying off water, then adding the other ingredients which thus far have been butter, sour cream, milk, and crushed fresh garlic. My husband does the mashing (I have carpal tunnel).He is good and fast. No lumps. I don't have a ricer. Last year he asked 30 year old our son to do it. We kept sending him back to the stove because they were lumpy. Husband was supervising the adding of ingredients. But they turned out to be heavy, so there is something to the hand of who is doing the mashing. They will be a vehicle for the gravy, and we don’t want to mask the flavor of that, so we don’t add too much more to them. But they do need to have good flavor on their own. There's never enough gravy.
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rachelellen
17 years ago
Make your mashed potatoes like you always do, then put them in a buttered casserole dish. Day of, take them out of the fridge and let them come to room temp, and then dot the top with butter and zap them in the microwave, then sprinkle a bit of paprika or chopped chives on top before serving. Or, top them with garlic-buttered bread crumbs and grated Parmesan and warm them in the oven.

Mashed potatoes are very forgiving.
User
17 years ago
Mashed potatoes are the easiest part of the dinner. Potatoes made a day in advance do not taste the same as fresh cooked potatoes. Not something I want made in advance. Just have them peeled and cut and covered with water earlier in the day or even the day before. But don't cook them until shortly before you intend to eat them. I always put them on to cook after the turkey comes out of the oven and is resting. Mashed potatoes are really easy, especially if you have a potato ricer.

Ann

Mashed potatoes, how much can be done ahead of time?

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arleneb

grainlady_ks

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