At our house, mashed potatoes are a staple on our dinner table. Whether it’s for Thanksgiving or Christmas, whatever the holiday or just a good comforting home cooked meal. That’s why I love this easy make ahead mashed potatoes recipe! It’s so convenient to stock up the freezer, making it even easier to serve a delicious meal on busy evenings or big holiday get togethers. You can serve this recipe plain or load it up, making it an extra special side dish. Either way is dee-licious!
As many of you know, I’m all about them make ahead freezer meals. And this one is a real time saver – because we all know how crazy it gets trying to prepare all that holiday food. Gotta make the turkey, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, and my great grandmothers’ homemade pumpkin pie. It can be overwhelming! So to save time, you can make ahead mashed potatoes that I promise taste just as good as the day you made them!
Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes
First, start a big pot of boiling water on the stove. And while you are waiting for the water to boil, peel and cube about 12 large potatoes (I love Yukon Golds for this recipe, but any potato should work just fine).
Next, put your cubed potatoes in the pot, reduce the heat to medium-high and boil for about 10-12 minutes or until they almost fall apart when stabbed with a fork.
Drain almost all of the water from the pot, leaving about 4 tablespoons in with the potatoes.
Add your cubed butter to the pot and cover with a lid for about 2-3 minutes or until the butter is melted.
Then, take your potato masher (or potato ricer if you have one) and hand mash the potatoes getting as many big lumps as possible. They should mash down easily for you.
Once you have them all mashed, add in the milk, salt and pepper and keep on mashing and stirring. They will be just slightly lumpy…remember these are “mashed” not “whipped” potatoes. Don’t they look so heavenly?!
Then, after they have cooled, put them in a large, freezer safe zip lock bag, label it and flatten the bag out so it will take up less space in your freezer. You can also add them to a baking dish too if that works better for you. I like the freezer bag because it takes up less space in the freezer.
To Cook: When you are ready to heat, just thaw the bag overnight in the refrigerator. Once completely thawed, pour into an oven safe dish, cover, and heat at 375˚ for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. OR, you can pour them into a microwave safe dish and heat at 3 minute intervals, stirring in between, until heated all the way through, about 10-15 minutes total time.
For Loaded Potatoes: Thaw the same as above (overnight in the refrigerator). Pour mashed potatoes into an oven safe dish and mix in cheeses, sour cream, chives, garlic powder and onion powder…stir well. Cover and bake at 375˚ for 25 minutes or until heated all the way through. You can top with a little extra cheese and chives at the end, if desired. **I do NOT recommend microwaving loaded potatoes**
I can’t wait to dig in! These make-ahead mashed potatoes is sure to be a big help on your next holiday dinner table, or better yet…TONIGHT on your dinner table! YUM!
Below is a printable recipe card for your convenience! Enjoy!
Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes Recipe
Creamy, delicious make-ahead mashed potatoes that taste as fresh as the day you made them.
Ingredients
- 12 potatoes, large peeled and cubed, preferred yukon golds
- 1 cup butter cubed
- 1/2 cup milk little more or less depending on texture preference
- salt and pepper to taste
Loaded Mashed Potatoes (add after they thaw)
- reduce above butter to 1/2 cup
- 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 cup parmesan cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1-2 tbsp chives dried or fresh
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
Instructions
- In a large pot, bring your peeled and cubed potatoes to a full boil. Reduce heat to medium high and continue to boil until the largest pieces of potato are very tender and almost fall apart when stabbed.
- Drain the water, leaving about 4 Tbsp. of it in with the potatoes.
- Add the butter to the potatoes and cover with a lid and let rest for 2-3 minutes.
- Remove the lid. With a hand masher, throughly mash your potatoes, getting as many big lumps as possible. If you have one, you can use a potato ricer instead.
- Once mashed (or riced), add milk, salt and pepper and continue to mash until all the lumps are out. Once you have it mashed to your preferred texture (remember these are mashed, not whipped), bag it and freeze.
Recipe Notes
To Cook: Thaw completely, pour into oven safe dish, cover, and heat in oven at 375˚ for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. OR: Pour into a microwave safe bowl and heat at 3 minute intervals, stirring between, until heated through, about 10-15 minutes.
For Loaded Potatoes: Thaw completely, pour into oven safe dish and throughly stir in cheeses, sour cream, chives, garlic powder and onion powder. Cover and bake at 375˚ for 25 minutes, or until heated through. **I DO NOT RECOMMEND MICROWAVING LOADED POTATOES**
YUM! These look great 🙂 I love mashed potatoes!
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I never knew this was possible. I thought the big box frozen potato had a lot of chemicals that allowed them to freeze.
Is it possible to freeze and serve these in smaller sized portions? Could I freeze them in individual scoops for future single servings for lunches, and if so, how would I reheat a smaller amount? Thank you. This is a great recipe.
Yes, you can free in small amounts – to reheat just warm in microwave for 15-20 seconds to see if they are warmed through.
I’m excited to make these for my papa, since Mom recently left us. Poor Dad; he’s not doing well since she passed. He doesn’t eat good-for-him stuff, unless it’s already prepared. [And, of course, he lives 50+ miles away.]. So, I’m trying to make him some better-for-you, home-cooked meals that he can just heat up, much like store bought, but healthier, to take to him. It’s such a time saver to cook in larger batches — some for my hubby and me, and some for my dad, at the same time. Thanks much for your website / post / blog [whatever] info.! Very helpful, since most of what I’ve been making for Dad has been Mexican or Italian food (only because I know it freezes well). I’m sure he’s getting tired of those fares, by now! Mom’s elders were from Missouri, so she cooked a lot of “Southern” type foods. Chicken with ‘taters (always with a veggie and salad) was THE Sunday dinner at our house when I was growing up. Of course, we had meatloaf, stuffed peppers, fish, casseroles, etc., other days of the week …. Always home cooked. Dad obviously doesn’t miss Mom’s cooking as much as he just misses HER. Your info is ssssooooo very helpful. It just might help pull him through. Thanks again!!!! Love and hugs to you and yours ….
Sounds super easy. I however stick to making mash potatoes in crock pot making sure to make double to freeze for another time when microwave be quicker lol. Thanks though for the ideas!