Copycat Cheesecake Factory's Mashed Potatoes Recipe | CDKitchen.com (2024)

FAQs

Why do people soak potatoes before making mashed potatoes? ›

Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes.

The Mistake: Using the Wrong Kind of Potato

Thick-skinned varieties like russets will give you the fluffiest results. Steer clear of waxy red-skinned potatoes, which turn gluey when mashed.

Sour cream adds a little bit of tangy flavor and a boost of richness to mashed potatoes. It's a fun change from the standard milk or cream and butter combo usually flavoring mashed taters. You can even try your hand at making homemade sour cream from heavy cream!

Instead of regular milk, pro chefs generally use a generous helping of buttermilk and plenty of half-and-half or (even better) heavy cream in their potatoes. If you think the bartenders up front are pouring heavy, they've got nothing on the cooks in the back who are in charge of the mashed potatoes.

Adding egg yolks to a pot of mashed potatoes is an easy, dairy-free texture and taste upgrade that doesn't require any special techniques. The yolks harbor all the flavorful fats and emulsifying components and will thus effectively unify the fat and water in potatoes, translating to a smoother, uniformly creamy pot.

The secret ingredient is just ice-cold water.

You soak the potatoes in iced water before they are cooked. This eliminates much of the starches in the potatoes, resulting in a super light and fluffy mash. It's also like when you make rice.

Drop a whole russet into the pot and by the time the outside has cooked through, the inside will still be raw. Larger potatoes should be cubed to ensure they cook evenly (peeled first if desired). Smaller potatoes tend to have thin skins and can be boiled whole, no peeling required.

Set potatoes over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook until potatoes are completely tender, about 15 minutes after reaching a simmer. Drain potatoes in a colander and rinse under hot running water for 30 seconds to wash away excess starch.

The best potatoes for mashed potatoes are a starchy varieties like russet, Idaho or Yukon gold. Starchy potatoes are best for mashed potatoes because they have a fluffy, almost airy texture that breaks down easily.

Regardless of the technique, remember not to overwork the potatoes. Starch is released when potatoes are mashed, smashed, or whipped, and, if too much starch is released, the potatoes are gummy and unappealing.

What to do if you put too much milk in mashed potatoes? ›

Add a Thickening Agent

This is the most common way to thicken mashed potatoes. You can use what you have on hand: Flour, cornstarch, or powdered milk are all solid options that are probably already in your pantry. Potato flour and potato starch would work as well.

The addition of a mildly acidic vinegar to a starchy veggie like potatoes not only deepens the flavor profile, but it also helps to tenderize the tubers.

Sour Cream: The sour cream helps keep the mashed potatoes fluffy. Cream Cheese: This adds a bit of creaminess without being too overpowering. Heavy Cream: Increases the creaminess and helps thin out the potatoes a bit.

Just a pinch of baking soda is all you need to create mashed potatoes as soft as clouds. When you add baking soda, it reacts with the heat of the dish and the acid in the milk or cream to create small air pockets throughout the mash. These air bubbles translate to light and airy bites. Yum!

The secret weapon, a good potato ricer (affiliate). This pushes the potatoes into strings, which helps them soak up every bit of the cream and achieve maximum fluffliness.

If you're looking for a fluffy, dry texture in a potato, especially for mashed, roasted, or fried potatoes, Gordon Ramsay suggests you opt for a floury type of potato like a King Edward, with a smooth, creamy flesh, a Desiree, which comes with red skin, or a Heritage potato, which comes in several different colors, ...

Made with fresh real potatoes, butter, and milk, Bob Evans Mashed Potatoes tastes like homemade.