Enjoying Creamy Mashed Potatoes on a Diet???!!! I know, it's impossible to stay on a diet during the holidays... or any time as far as that goes. But there are ways to cut back and not feel guilty. Creamy mashed potatoes should not ever go into the column of cutting back on calories. I mean, I'll skip a glass of wine for a serving of mashed potatoes. Haha.
Easy Creamy Mashed Potatoes
I believe every meal should be enjoyable and it's always fun to find ways to cut back without cutting the flavor of our favorite foods. I have to say, we really have not figured out a way to cut calories on these easy mashed potatoes. I know milk and butter can be replaced with Chicken Broth and, yes, that will cut a ton of calories, but they don't taste the same and the flavor is not there!
So, what we have done is to make mashed potatoes that "special dish". You guessed it, we only have potatoes during the holidays or sometimes, for those occasional days, when you just feel down and need something comforting.🤷♀️
My Moms Recipe
If you've read many of our posts, you know I grew up on a dairy farm. So, meat and potatoes were usually what we had at every meal. The "vegetables" we had were potatoes and corn. I really never remember having green veggies except for once a year my Mom would make a pea dish with ham. It was not a favorite, especially since my Dad didn't like it!!!
I have to say, my mom made some great food!!! Yes, all comfort food, and she baked some of the best pies and loaves of bread. She made everything look so easy to make.
When it comes to easy mashed potatoes. There are 3 primary ingredients - Potatoes, Milk, and BUTTER!!!! They are so easy to make and impossible to stop eating!
Things we have changed in her recipe
Ok, I'm kind of lazy! Usually, we use Yukon gold potatoes so we don't have to peel them. The peeling on Yukon gold is very thin and mixes in when mashing the potatoes. Plus, it's extra nutrition. Now, if we use russet potatoes I usually prefer to peel them, but it isn't necessary. It's just the mashed potatoes won't be as pretty and creamy.
The other thing we changed is my mom always mashed the potatoes by hand. Again, I'm kind of lazy! We use a hand mixer. I know all the TV shows say the potatoes turn into "paste" if you use a mixer. What I have found, is if the potatoes are mixed with a hand mixer they turn out nice and creamy! We tried mixing them with the stand mixer and they didn't turn out as creamy. So, from my experience, I recommend using a hand mixer for potatoes.
TIPS:
- Add the cut potatoes to cold water
- Add salt when cooking the potatoes
- Don't skimp on the butter.
- We use 1% milk - hey, cut calories any place we can haha
- Soften the butter. Bring to room temperature or soften in the microwave. Don't use melted butter.
- Using a mixer whips up the potato and is a lot less work than mashing by hand .
- Make this one of the last dishes on Thanksgiving. The potatoes have to be hot!!!
- Don't forget the Gravy!!!!
Easy Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 Pounds Russert Potatoes (or Yukon Gold)
- 1 Tablespoon Sea Salt
- ½ Cup Milk We use one percent milk
- ¾ Cups Butter (Softened) 1 ½ Sticks of butter
Instructions
- Peel Potatoes
- Cut Potatoes in ¼ in. chunks. Place in a large pot and cover with cold water. Add 1 Tablespoon of Sea Salt. Bring Potatoes to a boil. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes. The potatoes are done when a fork easily slides into the potatoes with no resistance and they should almost fall apart.
- Drain Potatoes
- Add Butter. Mix together then add milk.
- If needed, add additional milk. Add ¼ cup milk at a time. Mix until creamy. Taste to make sure it has enough salt. If salt is needed, add ½ teaspoon of salt at a time. Remember, everyone can add more salt if they want, but they can't remove it!
- Enjoy!!!!
Please let us know what you think