Loaded Mashed Potatoes

PIN this recipe for Loaded Mashed Potatoes now… So you can make it later!

Hey there, mashed potatoes! I will happily admit that I could eat mashed potatoes and only mashed potatoes for dinner and be 1000% happy.

One of my favorite lunches is a warmed up bowl of mashed potatoes with a poached egg on top. SO. GOOD.

So of course I decided to mess with success and see if I could make a perfectly perfect side dish even more perfect, and as it turns out, adding bacon and cheese to mashed potatoes turns them into Mashed Potato Paradise…so if you are starting to work on your Thanksgiving menu (or if you are just a mashed potato super-fan like I am)…well, you gotta.

What is the best way to mash potatoes?

This recipe of course starts with a batch of mashed potatoes, and you have a few mashing options.

If you want to be old school (which I usually am) you use a potato masher or a potato ricer. The masher is just what it sounds like – an old-fangled kitchen tool that mashes the soft cooked potatoes. If you like your mashed potatoes a little lumpy and rustic, this is the way to go.

Or, you can use a potato ricer, which involves putting the potatoes into something that looks like a giant garlic press and squeezing until the smooshed potatoes come out the other end. It’s just the ticket if you like smooth mashies.

If you don’t have the energy for either of these hand-help options, you CAN use a hand mixer. You will definitely have some lumps (which is not bad) and the potatoes will be a little more dense.

Whatever you do, don’t be tempted to use your food processor. This is a sure-fire way to end up with gluey, sticky, gummy potatoes and NOBODY WANTS THAT. (The only food processor potato recipe I know that works every time is the one for Aligot Potatoes, for mysterious reasons.)

How to make loaded mashed potatoes!

You start out (as so many of my recipes do!) by making bacon.

Cook 8 ounces of chopped bacon in a skillet over medium heat until it is nice and crispy.  Scoop it out and drain on paper towels.

Put five pounds of scrubbed and quarter Yukon Gold potatoes into a large pot of water (no, you don’t have to peel them unless you want to!).

Bring the water to a simmer and let them cook until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes (they are done when a paring knife slides into them easily).  Drain and return ’em to the pot.

Add ¾ cup of butter, 8 ounces of cream cheese, and a half cup milk (and it is always good to have these three things at room temperature so they don’t cool down your potatoes too much).

Mash the potatoes with a potato masher until they are the consistency you like.  You can add in a little more milk if needed.

Stir in a pinch of salt and black pepper and mash the potatoes one more time to mix in the seasoning.

Stir in the cooked bacon, 2 cups of finely shredded cheddar cheese and a few chopped scallions until everything is nice mixed through.  Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed. Taste again just to be sure.

Now pass the loaded mashed potatoes around the table and watch everyone take an extra helping!

Oh, and on the extremely thin chance that there are any leftovers, hide them in the very back of the fridge and warm them up tomorrow, and pop a poached egg on top. Trust me.