Last Updated November 21st, 2021 at 09:22 am by Lisa
Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes are creamy smooth, buttery, fluffy, and melt in your mouth. I am sharing several ways to reheat and keep them warm for dinner, or the holidays like Thanksgiving.
We all want creamy classic buttery warm goodness, right? No one wants mashed potatoes that are gummy, lumpy, and cold. So today I am sharing all my secrets and tips.
We will master this side dish with all the techniques. And any dish that you can have ready to go for dinner or entertaining is always a winner...
↑ Mashed Potato Video Tutorial ↑
TRUE CONFESSION: I didn't make mashed potatoes, as in I didn't want to make them at all...and if I did, I was never happy with how they turned out.
My Sister-In-Law Krisztina makes the most perfectly creamy mashed potatoes ever, and mine seemed sticky and lumpy-not what you want. I had almost given up until I learned a couple of neat tricks from a Chef and my cooking mentor in a professional cooking school.
I became determined to master this "simple" dish, and made them over and over until I loved how they turned out. So I bought two 15 pound bags of potatoes and got to work.
How To Make Mashed Potatoes
How To Make Mashed Potatoes
In a large pot, fill ½ way with water and add ½ teaspoon sea salt.
Peel and slice the potatoes into 1" pieces. Put the cut potato pieces into the large pot of water as you peel and slice so they don't turn brown.
Be sure water covers the potatoes by 2 inches, bring to a boil on medium-high heat.
Cook the potatoes for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are soft and fork-tender. They should easily break apart by smashing with a fork.
Drain well in a colander. Discard the water.
Hold the potato ricer over a large empty pot, and load the ricer full in batches, and press all the potato pieces into the large pot. Or, place your drained potatoes back in the pot once drained and mash with a potato masher. If you want airy fluffy creamy mashed potatoes, the ricer really works.
PRO TIP: A masher will work, but it never gets all the little lumps out completely. Whichever way you mash your potatoes, the key is to get them well mashed before adding the cream and butter mixture.
In a small saucepan, add the butter, heavy cream, salt, and pepper. Stir and don't boil, once those ingredients are melted together you can add the cream cheese if you desire. It makes them super creamy!
Pour the creamy butter sauce all over the well-mashed potatoes, and mix well with a large spatula.
Transfer to an oven-safe casserole dish and cover with the lid of the dish or a large piece of aluminum foil. Keep in a warm oven or place in the refrigerator until ready to reheat.
5 Ways To Reheat And Keep Mashed Potatoes Warm
- Reheat in the oven: cover mashed potatoes with foil and reheat at 375 for 30-40 minutes.
- Reheat in a slow cooker on medium low, add them to your slow cooker and mix in a little more cream and butter to keep them moist. Stir every 15 minutes until hot.
- Place in a double gallon zip lock bag (put one inside of the other), seal well and place carefully in a pan of water on low simmer.
- Place in a heat-safe bowl over a pot of water to reheat and keep warm on the stove.
- Reheat the potatoes in a method you choose and keep hot on an electric warming tray or a heating pad covered with a pretty towel.
Warming Trays
Warming Trays are a great way to free up space in your oven, keep food warm, and set up a nice buffet for holidays and parties.
You can set up a table with all your dishes, and serve and keep food warm all during your party without it taking up kitchen counter space.
By the way, the warming tray in the picture was my parents. It was a wedding gift in 1960. It still works perfectly to keep food warm at parties. I took it to my cousin's house for Christmas, and he loved it. He found one just like it at a garage sale!
More Side Dishes
This mashed potato recipe is a perfect side dish for family dinner, potlucks, and holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter.
For more great side dish ideas try my Roasted Vegetables, Pineapple-Orange Cranberry Sauce, Sausage Stuffing, or Sweet Potato Casserole.
More Potato Recipes
Smashed Potatoes served with melted herb butter are one of the most heavenly potato recipes. These crispy potatoes are a beautiful side dish for a family dinner, romantic date nights, holidays, or a dinner party.
Bake your Hash Browns in muffin tins and skip the frying on your stovetop altogether. NO MESSY STOVETOP TO CLEAN! This recipe is so popular for holidays and special occasions.
Wondering what to do with leftover mashed potatoes and other holiday dishes? After the holidays, try this leftover turkey recipe for shepherd's pie. Use turkey leftovers, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and more from Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas.
Tater Tot Casserole is an easy breakfast recipe that takes 15 minutes to prep and bakes golden brown in just 50 minutes.
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Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes: Reheated 5 Ways
Ingredients
- 5 lbs russet potatoes - peeled and sliced into 1" pieces (6-7 large potatoes)
- 2 ½ teaspoons sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup salted butter
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream - heated (whipping cream or half and half)
- 8 ounces cream cheese (optional)
Instructions
- In a large pot, fill ½ way with water and add ½ teaspoon sea salt.
- Peel and slice the potatoes into 1" pieces. Put the cut potato pieces into the large pot of water as you peel and slice so they don't turn brown.
- Be sure water covers the potatoes by 2 inches, bring to a boil on medium-high heat.
- Cook the potatoes for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are soft and fork tender. They should easily break apart by smashing with a fork.
- Drain well in a colander. Discard the water.
- Hold the potato ricer over a large empty pot, and load the ricer full in batches, and press all the potato pieces into the large pot. Or, place your drained potatoes back in the pot once drained and mash with a potato masher. If you want airy fluffy creamy mashed potatoes, the ricer really works. A masher will work, but it never gets all the little lumps out completely. Whichever way you mash your potatoes, the key is to get the well mashed before adding the cream and butter mixture.
- In a small sauce pan, add the butter, heavy cream, salt, and pepper. Stir and don't boil, once those ingredients are melted together you can add the cream cheese if you desire. It makes the mashed potatoes super creamy!
- Pour the creamy butter sauce all over the well mashed potatoes, and mix well with a large spatula.
- Transfer to an oven-safe casserole dish and cover with the lid of the dish or a large piece of aluminum foil. Keep in a warm oven or place in the refrigerator until ready to reheat.
5 Ways to reheat and keep mashed potatoes warm
- Reheat in the oven: cover mashed potatoes with foil and reheat at 375 for 30-40 minutes.
- Reheat in a slow cooker on medium low, add them to your slow cooker and mix in a little more cream and butter to keep them moist. Stir every 15 minutes until hot.
- Place in a double gallon zip lock bag (put one inside of the other), seal well and place carefully in a pan of water on low simmer.
- Place mashed potatoes in a heat-safe bowl over a pot of water to reheat and keep warm on the stove.
- Reheat the potatoes in a method you choose and keep hot on an electric warming tray or a heating pad covered with a pretty towel.
I love that you gave so many great ideas for reheating and using mashed potatoes! Such a great article and informative!
Nice article. I happened to watch America's Test Kitchen (ATK) where potato-mashing methods were discussed. Their top-score method was the ricer, and I've been doing it ever since. Hand-held ricers are fine, but it's really challenging to get scoops of hot potato chunks into the strainer chute, but once done, they whip and blend to perfection.
Agreed JJ! And I LOVE ATK, obsessed would be a better description. I love their equipment reviews. I just made mashed potatoes last week, and agree they are tough to get in the ricer but worth it. I am making more potatoes tomorrow for Thanksgiving, and I will think of you when I am struggling to get them in the dang ricer! Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for the nice comment.
Hi Lisa, great article. I heat my cold mashed potatoes in a heat-proof bowl over a gently, simmering pot of water. I cover the bowl with the pot lid & stir occasionally until potatoes are heated through. Works like a charm & the potatoes don’t form a crust on top, the way they do when you bake them.
Overall a good article EXCEPT one reheat approach. Do NOT heat in a ziptop bag in hot water. All of the manufacturers of bags that I have checked explicitly say this is not food-safe due to plasticizers leeching from the bag into the food.
Hey Dave, I know it would seem to be the case, but I learned this technique in a professional-level cooking school taught by a French chef who also teaches at the International Institute of Culinary America. I just pulled this from Ziploc bags website: FDA Requirements
"All Ziploc® brand Containers and microwavable Ziploc® brand Bags meet the safety requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for temperatures associated with defrosting and reheating food in microwave ovens, as well as room, refrigerator and freezer temperatures." I feel safe to do this technique, but understand if you don't no worries!! Happy Cooking and thanks for the comment.
Thanks for your suggestions they are all good ones. I have been doing this for some years. I place in a shallow roasting pan, and cover with foil. Then place in the oven for approx hour and a half. I use my Bosch mixer to mash with melted butter, cream cheese and hot milk. The most difficult thing is making sure they are hot all the way through when reheating. I will pull the pan out of the fridge to bring to room temp, good suggestion.
Thanks, Ruth for your comment, I will try using cream cheese...heard it makes them really creamy. Appreciate your comments so much and happy cooking.
These are SO good. Turned out beautiful and no one knew I had made them the night before. I used a ricer and reheated them in a crockpot. I added extra cream and butter during reheating and stirred about every 30 minutes. Thank you!
Yay Jo!!!! Thank you so much for leaving your comment, this is how I make them every year. It took me years to figure out how to get them smooth and creamy. So glad everyone loved them. Happy Holidays Jo, keep on cooking!
If I reheat in the oven,do I not need to add additional butter and cream, as you say to do in the crock pot method? I am making this recipe for Thanksgiving.
Hello Linda! What I do is pull from fridge for an hour of so, keep covered with a lid or heavy foil, and pop into the oven. You can always add some butter or cream if them seem a bit dry, but I have never had to do that! Happy Holidays...
I see that you do not mention microwaving the potatoes to reheat them...Have you ever done that, and if you don't, is there a reason why it would be a bad idea?
Karen, I haven't tried the microwave (but it might work just fine!) I do like how the oven crisps them right up...they are yummy leftovers.
So I can make mashed potatoes the night before and then reheat the night before?
Hi Nancy, you can make the make the mashed potatoes ahead, and reheat the day of your party!
I followed your recipe exactly and they turned out perfect! I even picked up a potato ricer at Bed Bath and Beyond ($12.00 with coupon). Thank you for sharing your recipe and tips. There are tons of recipes out there, but yours is the one (complete with so many options for reheating). I'm so thankful I stumbled across your blog. Happy Thanksgiving
Thank you SO much Pamela! : D That was my thought when I wrote the recipe, is people want some different ways to reheat them. (As my hairdresser had asked me one day) Happy Thanksgiving, I appreciate your kind thoughtful comment, and thanks for finding Delicious Table!
How long should the mashed potatoes be reheated in the crockpot?
Hi MJ, Great question! Well, that will depend on a couple things. The amount of mashed potatoes you are reheating and the brand of slow cooker (some slow cookers actually reheat faster than others!). What I would plan on is at least 2 hours, I would pull the mashed potatoes out ahead of time to start bringing them up to room temperature. Then I would load the mashed potatoes into the slow cooker on low with extra cream and a little butter, and make sure to stir them every 30 minutes or so. Then turn the heat up 30-45 minutes before serving to med-high. Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you for spelling out how long it takes for them to reheat. I never know how long and would hate to have cold mashed potatoes for everyone! Happy thanksgiving!
Hi Malia, You are welcome! Timing and reheating is the hard part of Thanksgiving Day cooking, glad it is helpful...Happy Cooking and Happy Thanksgiving!
I'm going to make these for Thanksgiving. What is the serving size? I'm having 12 people, so not sure whether I should make more than the recipe calls for.
Hello Peggy, This recipe will make 10 servings (so 10 people) each serving is 8 oz. You might want to double the recipe for your party? I always like to have extra sides for Thanksgiving because people tend to eat more than a regular portion. You can make little sandwiches with rolls and all your leftovers, or even Thanksgiving empanadas. I have a recipe for you if that sounds good to you. Happy Thanksgiving Peggy, and happy cooking!
How am I 45 years old and have never heard of a potato ricer? I made these without one and they were still amazing with all that heavenly cream and butter, but I am hopping online to order a ricer and see first hand the difference that makes. I love an experiment!