Mashed Potato
Cooking Skills: Potatoes 1
Chapter 2 · Mashed Potato
Skill goal
Make mashed potato that is fluffy, not watery or gluey.
Shopping list for this chapter
The basics
Mash is one of the best-loved dishes, but it is easy to get wrong in two opposite ways: watery and lumpy, or gluey and stretchy. Both come from how you handle the starch.
| Fault | Why | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Watery | Potatoes waterlogged or not dried | Cut in big chunks, drain well, steam-dry in the pan |
| Gluey | Starch cells broken open by too much force (blender, food processor) | Use a masher or ricer, and stop when smooth |
| Lumpy | Not cooked enough, or mashed cold | Cook until a knife meets no resistance; mash while hot |
| Stodgy | Cold milk or butter | Warm the milk, and add the butter hot |
| Bland | Water unsalted, or seasoning too light | Salt the water; season the mash at the end |
- Floury potatoes (Maris Piper, King Edward) give the fluffiest mash. All-rounders work. Waxy potatoes go gluey.
- Mash while hot. Cold potato goes gluey.
- A ricer is the best tool, a masher is fine, and never a blender or food processor.
- Butter then milk, warm, a little at a time.
Try it
Level 1 · Start here
Classic butter mash
Floury potatoes, cooked until soft, dried, mashed while hot, then butter and warm milk folded in. The drying step is what separates fluffy from watery.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 300 g floury potatoes (e.g. Maris Piper), peeled and cut into 4 cm chunks
- 1 tsp salt, for the water
- 20 g butter, diced
- 50 ml whole milk, warmed
- 1 pinch salt and white or black pepper
- Put the potatoes in a pan, cover with cold water, add the salt and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until a knife slides in with no resistance.
- Drain well and return them to the dry hot pan over a low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, shaking, so the steam escapes.
- Mash with a masher or push through a ricer, while hot, until there are no lumps.
- Beat in the butter, then the warm milk a little at a time, until it is smooth and holds a soft peak. Season to taste.
Warm the milk
Cold milk cools the potato and makes it stodgy. Warm it in the microwave or a small pan first.
Level 1 · Lighter
Olive oil and garlic mash
A looser, silkier mash that uses olive oil in place of butter and milk. Boil the garlic with the potatoes so it turns mellow.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 300 g floury potatoes, peeled and cut into 4 cm chunks
- 1 tsp salt, for the water
- 2 garlic cloves, left whole in their skins
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp cooking water, kept back
- 1 pinch salt and pepper
- Boil the potatoes and garlic cloves together in salted water for 15 to 20 minutes until tender. Scoop out 2 tablespoons of the cooking water, then drain and steam dry for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Squeeze the soft garlic out of its skins into the potatoes and mash until smooth.
- Beat in the oil a little at a time, loosening with the cooking water. Season well.
Level 2 · Irish
Champ (spring onion mash)
Champ is mash with spring onions softened in warm milk. Traditionally the butter is melted into a well in the middle, so each forkful picks up a little.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 300 g floury potatoes, peeled and cut up
- 1 tsp salt, for the water
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced
- 60 ml whole milk
- 20 g butter
- 1 pinch salt and pepper
- Boil the potatoes in salted water for 15 to 20 minutes until tender. Drain and steam dry.
- Meanwhile, simmer the spring onions in the milk for 2 to 3 minutes until soft.
- Mash the potatoes, then beat in the hot milk and spring onions until smooth. Season well.
- Pile into a bowl, make a well in the middle and drop the butter in. Eat from the outside in, dipping each forkful into the butter.
Level 2 · Hearty
Colcannon (cabbage mash)
Mash with cabbage or kale folded in. The greens must be cooked and well drained, or they add water.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 300 g floury potatoes, peeled and cut up
- 1 tsp salt, for the water
- 100 g green cabbage or kale, finely shredded
- 15 g butter, plus a knob to serve
- 50 ml whole milk, warmed
- 3 spring onions, sliced
- 1 pinch salt and pepper
- Boil the potatoes in salted water for 15 to 20 minutes until tender. Drain and steam dry.
- Meanwhile, melt 15 g of butter in a pan, add the cabbage and spring onions and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring, until soft. Season.
- Mash the potatoes with the warm milk until smooth. Fold in the cabbage mixture.
- Serve with a knob of butter melting in the centre.
Experiments
Experiment
Floury or waxy
Same method, different potato.
- Make butter mash with floury potatoes and again with waxy (new) potatoes, using the same method and amounts.
- Compare the texture.
Look for: The floury mash is fluffy and light. The waxy mash is denser and can be sticky. Both can be nice, but they are different dishes.
Experiment
Masher, ricer or blender
The glue test.
- Cook a batch of floury potatoes and divide into three. Mash one portion with a masher, push one through a ricer or sieve, and pulse one in a food processor for 30 seconds.
- Add the same butter and milk to each and compare.
Look for: The processor mash turns into a gluey, elastic paste. The ricer is smoothest and the masher is slightly rougher. (Don't skip this one: it shows why you never blend mash.)
Experiment
Hot or cold milk
Warm your milk.
- Make two small batches of mash. Add cold milk to one and warm milk to the other.
- Compare how easily it mixes and how it eats.
Look for: The cold milk is harder to mix in and leaves the mash cooler and heavier.
Experiment
Steam-dry or not
Does drying matter?
- Divide cooked potatoes in two. Mash one straight away after draining, and steam-dry the other for 2 minutes.
- Add the same amount of butter and milk.
Look for: The undried mash is looser and takes less milk; the steam-dried mash is fluffier and richer.
Tasting notes
| What I tried | Method or amount | What I saw | What I thought | Will I do it again? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Butter mash | ||||
| Olive oil and garlic mash | ||||
| Champ | ||||
| Colcannon | ||||
| Floury vs waxy | ||||
| Masher, ricer, blender | ||||
| Hot vs cold milk | ||||
| Steam-dried vs not |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Gluey, stretchy | Blended or overworked, or waxy potato | Use a masher or ricer; stop when smooth |
| Watery | Not drained or dried | Return to the pan on a low heat and stir for a minute |
| Lumpy | Undercooked, or cold | Cook longer next time; mash while hot, or sieve |
| Bland | Unsalted water, too little seasoning | Salt the water; season to taste |
| Too stiff | Not enough milk or butter | Add warm milk a spoonful at a time |
| Too loose | Too much milk | Stir over a low heat to steam off the excess |
Food safety: leftover mash
Cooked potatoes: cool them quickly (spread out, within 1 to 2 hours), keep them covered in the fridge, and eat them within 2 days. Reheat until steaming hot all the way through, and only once. (This is the general chilled-leftovers advice relayed by local-authority food-safety pages; unlike rice, potatoes have no special rule of their own, but they are starchy, so they are treated with the same care.) Mash cools slowly in a deep bowl, so spread it out in a shallow dish. Mash freezes well in portions.
Checkpoint: can you do this now?
- I can make smooth, fluffy mash from floury potatoes.
- I know to steam-dry and mash while hot.
- I know why a blender ruins mash.
- I can make mash without butter.
- I can make champ and colcannon.
Next chapter
Cooking Skills: Potatoes 1, chapter 3 is Roast Potatoes: a crisp shell and a fluffy middle.