Every Mashed Potato Recipe You'll Ever Need, From Anthony Bourdain's Pommes Puree to Spicy Harissa Spuds

We've got every mashed potato recipe you'll ever need, from Anthony Bourdain's pommes puree to José Andrés rich cheese mash.

Rich and Creamy Mashed Potatoes Recipe
Photo: Sarah Crowder

Whether you're making mashed potatoes for your holiday spread or just for dinner on a weeknight, they're always a crowd-pleaser. Recipes for the velvety side dish range from simple to fancy, classic to completely reinvented. No matter how much you make, the best mashed potatoes will do the quickest vanishing act at the table. Here we've gathered our best mashed potato recipes to suit whatever kind of meal you're planning, from a luxe potato puree to a gussied-up casserole with sage and Fontina. And it's all with a little help from Joël Robuchon, Anthony Bourdain, Melissa Clark, Michael Symon. Massimo Bottura, and the F&W Test Kitchen.

01 of 18

Justin Chapple's Garlic and Herb Mashed Potatoes

Garlic-and-Herb Mashed Potatoes
Photo by Christopher Testani / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Prissy Lee

F&W culinary director at large Justin Chapple's mashed potatoes are a speedy, nearly effortless dish thanks to a flavor-packed special ingredient: a garlic-and-herb-flecked spreadable cheese (such as Boursin). For a colorful twist, use purple Peruvian potatoes instead of Yukon Golds to make purple mashed potatoes.

02 of 18

Rich and Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Rich and Creamy Mashed Potatoes Recipe
Sarah Crowder

A foolproof and perfect make-ahead dish, the secret to these velvety mashed potatoes is (gasp!) mayonnaise.

03 of 18

Red Skin Potato Mash

Red Skin Potato Mash

Julia Hartbeck

Chopped scallions bring freshness to this rich potato mash. Leaving the skin on these potatoes gives this fluffy, creamy dish a nice added crunch.

04 of 18

Anthony Bourdain's Mashed Potatoes, Kind of Robuchon-Style

A large bowl of Robuchon-style mashed potatoes topped with melted butter

Diana Chistruga

Chef Joël Robuchon is famous worldwide for his super-silky, super-rich, super-light and buttery mashed potatoes. This is Anthony Bourdain's version of those potatoes.

05 of 18

Harissa Mashed Potatoes

Harissa Mashed Potatoes

Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christine Keely

Smoky harissa and tangy labneh give these spicy mashed potatoes gorgeous color and flavor.

06 of 18

Herb-Scented Mashed Potatoes

Herb-Scented Mashed Potatoes
Con Poulos

To make these next-level potatoes, Justin Chapple first steeps fresh rosemary, sage, and garlic in a combination of milk and cream, then folds that fragrant mixture into boiled and riced potatoes. To make them even more irresistible, he brushes the mashed potatoes with butter and broils them before serving, creating a deliciously light and crispy potato crust on top.

07 of 18

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes
Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless

Mashed potatoes get an elegant upgrade with this combination of Yukon Gold potatoes and cauliflower. Cauliflower lightens the mash, emulsifies beautifully into the potatoes, and keeps the mixture from turning gummy. The lightly browned butter infused with thyme, sage, and rosemary brings in nutty and subtle herbaceous notes; don't forget to save some for the garnish.

08 of 18

Rich Torrisi's Pommes Puree, also Robuchon-Style

Pommes Puree
Con Poulos

These sublime buttery, creamy potatoes are 2012 F&W Best New Chef and Carbone co-founder Rich Torrisi, based on the version made famous by French culinary legend Joël Robuchon.

09 of 18

Michael Symon's Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes

Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes
© Con Poulos

1998 F&W Best New Chef Michael Symon's four-ingredient potatoes get plenty of flavor from browned butter and crème fraîche. Reserve a little browned butter to drizzle on the potatoes just before serving.

10 of 18

Maria Guarnaschelli's Chantilly Potatoes with a Parmesan Crust

Chantilly Potatoes with a Parmesan Crust
© Lucy Schaeffer

The late cookbook editor Maria Guarnaschelli liked to joke that when you cook French food on a regular basis, you need a cow in the backyard to provide enough butter and cream. This dairy-rich recipe calls for whipped cream and cheese.

11 of 18

Melissa Clark's Mashed Potato Casserole with Sage and Fontina

Mashed-Potato Casserole with Sage and Fontina
© John Kernick

To take mashed potatoes up a few notches, cookbook author Melissa Clark mashes them with a creamy, tangy mix of crème fraîche, butter, parsley, and sage, then tops them with cheesy breadcrumbs and bakes until crisp.

12 of 18

Mashed Potatoes with Crispy Shallots

Mashed Potatoes with Crispy Shallots
© Frances Janisch

For ultrafluffy potatoes, we press them through a ricer. To achieve a similar texture, pass the potatoes through a food mill or a fine-mesh sieve. If you choose to mash them by hand, be gentle; otherwise, the potatoes will turn gluey.

13 of 18

Sweet Potatoes with Apple Butter

Sweet Potatoes with Apple Butter

© Lucy Schaeffer

Apple butter adds even more natural sweetness to Marcia Kiesel's fluffy sweet potatoes.

14 of 18

Mashed Potatoes with Butternut Squash

Mashed Potatoes with Butternut Squash

© Frances Janisch

Equal amounts of roasted butternut squash and Yukon Gold potatoes boiled with garlic are combined with half-and-half and butter for a golden, subtly sweet take on classic mashed potatoes.

15 of 18

Mashed Potatoes with Manchego and Olive Oil

Mashed Potatoes with Manchego and Olive Oil
© Lucy Schaeffer

Instead of using butter, chef José Andrés prefers to add richness with olive oil and Manchego cheese. His tip: "Add the olive oil slowly to the potatoes because if you dump it in all at once, you'll get streaks of oil."

16 of 18

Thomas Keller's Whipped Yukon Gold Potatoes

Whipped Yukon Gold Potatoes

© Max Kim-Bee

These potatoes from 1988 F&W Best New Chef Thomas Keller have a wonderfully fluffy texture because they're passed through a ricer or food mill to make them especially airy. But they're also nicely rich, thanks to generous amounts of butter and heavy cream.

17 of 18

Creamy No-Fail Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes

Creamy No-Fail Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes

Chris Simpson / FOOD STYLING by MARGARET MONROE DICKEY / PROP STYLING by AUDREY DAVIS

Recipe developer Ann Taylor Pittman relies on russet potatoes to create a fluffy, smooth mashed potato that’s a guaranteed crowd favorite. Crème fraîche and cultured butter, as well as baking the potatoes instead of boiling them helps make these the creamiest, most luxurious make-ahead mashed potatoes.

18 of 18

Massimo Bottura's Velvety Onion Soup with Whipped Potato

Velvety Onion Soup with Whipped Potato
© Simon Watson

The only thing better than mashed potatoes is when they come dolloped in a sumptuous onion soup. And the only thing better than that is when the recipe is by a culinary legend like Massimo Bottura.

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