Easy Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes Recipe
Rich, creamy and decadent, these Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes are the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas or any special occasion. Impress your family or friends with a delicious sour cream mashed potatoes recipe. Transform your mash into restaurant style mashed potato quickly and easily!
Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes
I just love these velvety smooth, full of flavour sour cream mashed potatoes. I almost want to make them the main dish in a meal! It’s not your run of the mill, everyday potato dish. It’s really what you hope to see in a restaurant, but without a complicated cooking process.
Mashed potatoes are a classic comfort food, and a very important seasonal dish for Thanksgiving and Christmas season. They’re also becoming stylish in high end restaurants.
So I wanted to share this recipe with you that steps your mashed potato up a few notches to be restaurant-like, while still being straightforward to make. These easy mashed potatoes are a bit decadent, super creamy and delicious!
I took sometime on this one friends, trying and testing different options. I even learnt online from Joël Robuchon, a French master chef, to make restaurant quality mashed potatoes at home. While he uses butter, I used a similar technique for mashed potatoes made with sour cream.
But fear not friends! I kept the process simple. I hope you enjoy this recipe of mashed potato with sour cream like I do!
Bring joy into your life and share it with loved ones. Read on!
Is sour cream good in mashed potatoes?
Making mashed potatoes with sour cream is a life changer! When sour cream meets potatoes, it’s magic! Rich creaminess, a gentle tang, and refined mashed potato – delicious!
Why does sour cream taste good with everything?
I think the thick, creamy tang complements so many flavours. Sour cream potato salad is an example of how well it goes with a lot of vegetables and egg, all mixed together in one dish. It’s one of the most popular side dish recipes on MIKLIA, and sour cream is one of the stars of the show!
For this sour cream mashed potato recipe, I experimented with heavy cream for mashed potatoes, but it just can’t match sour cream.
I have to admit to getting a bit obsessed and making homemade sour cream recipe. It’s a lot easier than you think, so give it a try. It takes one minute of preparation and no cooking. You just have to leave it to ferment. It’s fresh, additive free and delicious, much better than shop bought!
How to make mashed potatoes extra creamy
I drew inspiration from Joël Robuchon’s cooking technique, and his secret is to mash the potato with a food mill rather than a hand held potato masher. A potato ricer also works. Even after seasoning the mashed potato using sour cream and butter, he uses a tamis (strainer).
This is one more process, but it really elevates your mash. The texture improves dramatically, and is super creamy! This is why this creamy mashed potatoes is so good!
How to make it extra fluffy?
I used a whisk to add air after I added the mashed potato into the warm milk.
Best potatoes for this mashed potato recipe
Joël Robuchon uses Ratte and BF 15, French potatoes, and they are not regular high starch ‘floury’ potatoes.
For the similar potatoes in the US and Canada, you can use Yukon Gold and Yellow Fin. In Australia, Kipfler can be used.
These potatoes have a creamy and buttery texture and flavour, with less starch and more moisture contained.
Variation
Once you master the basics, the variations are endless. Be creative and experiment with herbs and garlic. Here are some ideas:
- sour cream garlic mashed potatoes
- mashed potatoes with chives and sour cream
- mashed potatoes with sour cream and cream cheese
I dressed the mashed potato with chive.
How to Make Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes
Here’s a few tips and guides for how to make mashed potatoes with sour cream.
Cooking potatoes
I usually remove potato skins to save time, but for this recipe, you need to keep them. It’s also important to start cooking the potatoes from cold water. If potatoes are cooked from boiling water, the surfaces are over cooked. Also add sea salt (at least 1% of the amount of water). I often add one tablespoon of sea salt.
How long to boil potatoes
It depends on the size of the potatoes but usually takes around 30 – 35 minutes when you cook them with the skin. So prepare and cook your main dish while you cook the potatoes. Keep low – medium heat. Simmering the potatoes results in a better flavour and taste.
Removing the skins
How do you peel the skin off the cooked potatoes? Remove the skin and the eyes of thee potatoes with a knife while holding the potato with a fork.
Mashing
Use the food mill or potato ricer, and mash potatoes while they are still hot. I’ll show you how to mash potatoes with a tamis (strainer), in case you don’t have them. I’ll also share a simple cooking technique to avoid making the mashed potato gummy in texture.
Place a tamis on a chopping board, and put the cooked potato on it. Break the potato with a spatula by pressing it down. Just press down vertically to avoid creating extra starch. This is a pro tip!
Seasoning
We all know that butter works with mashed potatoes! The more you add, the more the flavour becomes rich and intensified! Joël Robuchon uses a lavish amount of butter. I reduced and replaced it for sour cream.
Add mashed potatoes into a warmed milk in a large pan. Combine them until consistent and creamy.
Cut the butter into cubes, and add them to the mash not at once but in three times. This helps emulation go smooth, and can avoid separating.
While you combine the mashed potatoes with warm milk and butter, it’s very important to keep a low heat and keep mixing constantly. Then add sour cream in the mashed potatoes. Add sea salt to taste.
That’s it! Serve immediately. Enjoy!
FAQs
How to store sour cream mashed potatoes
This mashed potato are best enjoyed straight after cooking. But you can save it in an air-tight container for three days in the fridge.
How to freeze sour cream mashed potatoes
All at once
Make sure the potatoes are completely cooled down. Place them in a freezer bag, flatten them and squeeze out the extra air as much as you can. Label the bag with the date and amount. To ensure the best flavour and texture, enjoy this sour cream mashed potato within a month.
Single
For single saving, scoop up the mashed potatoes with a scooper, and place it on a baking sheet. Freeze them until solid, place them from the baking sheet to a freezer bag, remove the air as much as you can. Save them in the freezer for a month.
How to defrost them
Leave the bag in the fridge over night. Then warm them up on the stove top. Place them into a bowl, and add low heat. Let them slowly warm by stirring occasionally. Add milk if they start to dry.
Will sour cream thicken mashed potatoes?
Yes. So it’s a great solution for how to fix watery mashed potatoes. Sometimes defrosted mashed potatoes become a little watery. Whisk the potatoes with a fork a bit, and add a tablespoon of sour cream.
How do you fix undercooked mashed potatoes
Gather the parts of uncooked mashed potatoes, put them in a cling film wrap and cook it for one minute in the microwave.
Why sour cream in mashed potatoes?
I love sour cream. I even make sour cream at home. It works well with potato dishes, making the potatoes extra creamy, rich and moreish. Also it can replace butter in many dishes. I love butter, but it has a much higher fact content than sour cream.
More side dishes
Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
Cooking potatoes
- 2 lb potatoes (900g, note 1)
- 1 tablespoon salt (1% of water)
Sour cream mix
- ¾ cup whole milk (177ml and more)
- 4 oz butter (half slick, ½ cup, 113g)
- ½ cup sour cream (123g or homemade sour cream)
- salt (to taste)
- 1 tablespoon chive
Instructions
Cooking Potatoes
- Clean the potatoes and place them with skin on in a medium size pan. Add water and salt. Add medium heat until the water boils, then reduce heat to a simmer, and simmer potatoes until they’re soft. (note 2)
- Check potatoes are softened with a knife. Hold the potato still with a folk with one hand, and remove the skin with a knife with your other hand. Remove potato eyes if any. Repeat the same with the other potatoes.
- While potatoes are hot, use a potato ricer or food mill to make them smooth.
- Or use a tamis, fine mesh trainer. Push down the potato with a spatula and mash it. Avoid pulling or drawing the spatula across the potatoes. Simply push them down. (note 3)
Sour cream mix
- Add low heat to warm up milk, and add mashed potatoes. Whisk until the mix becomes consistent. Avoid burning the mix.
- Add a third of the butter in wait until it melts and combine completely. Repeat these two more times.
- Once all the butter is well combined with the mix, add sour cream. If the sour cream mashed potatoes need to be softened, add more milk.That's it! Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
- Not high but less starchy potatoes best work for this recipe. Yukon Gold and Yellow Fin. They are widely available in the US and Canada. In Australia, Kipfler can be used.
- Start cooking potatoes from cold water. If they are cooked with boiling water, the exterior of the potatoes are cooked excessively while inside are not yet cooked.
- Drawing potatoes with a spatula creates excessive starch and the texture becomes gummy.
