Fluffy Buttermilk-Mashed Potatoes

Fluffy Buttermilk-Mashed Potatoes
Jim Wilson/The New York Times
Total Time
About 20 minutes
Rating
4(802)
Notes
Read community notes

Buttermilk and a smidge of baking soda work together here to create an impossibly fluffy potato side dish. We like to finish ours with an extra pat of butter that melts into a golden pool while we set the table.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • pounds potatoes (like Yukon Gold), peeled and sliced
  • 1teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • ½cup buttermilk
  • ½teaspoon baking soda
  • 2teaspoons unsalted butter
  • Freshly ground pepper to taste
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

140 calories; 2 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 27 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 409 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place the potatoes and 1 teaspoon of salt in a medium saucepan and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes can be pierced easily with a fork, about 10 minutes. Drain, reserving a few tablespoons of the cooking liquid.

  2. Step 2

    Place the potatoes in a large bowl and mash partly. Cook the buttermilk in a saucepan over low heat to just barely warm it; do not let the buttermilk get too hot or it will separate. Add it and the baking soda to the potatoes and mash completely.

  3. Step 3

    Stir in the butter, additional salt and the pepper to taste. If you like very creamy mashed potatoes, add the reserved cooking liquid. Serve immediately.

Ratings

4 out of 5
802 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

I didn't bother with moving the potatoes to a separate bowl and warming the buttermilk, I just dumped it all in the pot together after draining the potatoes. Added 2 tablespoons instead of teaspoons of butter. And it was fantastic! Very fluffy, light, and creamy. Ideal mashed potatoes.

It came out a little more cement-y/thick than some of my guests preferred, especially when cooled. The flavor was nice, but I suggest using a ricer or something to fluff them up.

Yukon Gold potatoes are not good for mashing. They don't "dry out" the way the brown baking potatoes do...

I've noticed in Houston, many restaurants prepare their mashed potatoes with buttermilk. In theory, I presume to lower the calories. However, I used Borden's whole milk Bulgarian cultured buttermilk, doubled the butter because I like butter. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly and the mashed potatoes were a smashing hit!

Here is an Irish girl's recipe for perfect mashed spuds: Take 4 Large floury potatoes Cut the potatoes up so that each piece is about 2 in X 1.5 in approx Steam them until soft in the middle Heat up about 1 cup whole milk and about 1.5 oz butter with a little salt in a saucepan until almost boiling. Tip in the soft steamed potatoes, and mash - adding more milk and butter and salt to taste Put mash in a shallow ovenproof dish, fork over, dot with a little butter, and bake at 325F for 20-30mins

Delicious and easy. I cooked the potatoes in water with some chicken bouillon instead of salt. And doubled the buttermilk. Perfect mashed potatoes.

Loved this! Thank you, Molly!

These potatoes were bland and a bit gluey. They also had a green hue much like others who wrote notes. I have a recipe from Pioneer Woman that is my go to mashed potato recipe. I’ll stick with that in the future.

Really enjoyed the flavor with the tang of the buttermilk, but mine turned out far from fluffy - much denser and paste-like. I'll stick to my usual no recipe method next time I want mashed potatoes.

These were nice, particularly if you have the buttermilk in the refrigerator. Flavor was good.

i made this in a food processor, as me and my brother are both recovering from wisdom teeth surgery. i added: another potato, 1 TBS miso, 1 TBS nutritional yeast, 1/2 tsp white pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp rosemary, 1/3 cup sour cream & 1 green onion. it was delicious, but if i was remaking it for a normal occasion i’d make it in a stand mixer to avoid a soup-like consistency.

I could taste the baking soda. I did not like that.

Here is an Irish girl's recipe for perfect mashed spuds: Take 4 Large floury potatoes Cut the potatoes up so that each piece is about 2 in X 1.5 in approx Steam them until soft in the middle Heat up about 1 cup whole milk and about 1.5 oz butter with a little salt in a saucepan until almost boiling. Tip in the soft steamed potatoes, and mash - adding more milk and butter and salt to taste Put mash in a shallow ovenproof dish, fork over, dot with a little butter, and bake at 325F for 20-30mins

When it came to boiling the potatoes, I salted 1 qt water with 2 tbsp Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt (thanks Samin Nosrat!) and added the potatoes once the water reached a boil. I checked after 10 min, found them still hard, then forgot about them for maybe 5 min when they were a little past fork tender. I didn’t heat the buttermilk (didn’t really see a point) and used low-fat buttermilk. I then used a hand mixer to mash, added in 1 tbsp unsalted butter, and a dash more of salt. Perfection!

Everyone found these potatoes bland, and I added more buttermilk and butter. Very disappointed.

Very easy to prepare and delicious. I used a ricer because I couldn't find my masher and was really pleased with the results. One strange thing, though... They turned a sickly green color as they cooled after dinner. Could the baking soda have something to do with that?

Buttermilk is added for its zippy flavor.

These were very easy and delicious! I added an additional ounce of buttermilk (just my preference), and they were perfect.

This is more involved than I thought it would be.It would simply if I would take the time in the morning or afternoon to mis en place, but since I didn’t, and was handling a long phone call from a dear friend right in the prep time, I used a bag of small mixed potatoes from TJ’s and ended up with green mashed potatoes! Not particularly off-putting but entirely novel! This recipe is very good, but I think I still prefer my thirty year old recipe that is a riff on someone else’s original. ***

I doubled the recipe, except for the baking soda, I kept it at 1/2 t. It really does fluff up the potatoes. The only thing different I would do next time is use a ricer- there were just too many lumps for our taste using the masher. I also adder an extra dollop of butter as I plated.

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