🥔 ? Let’s Settle the Debate! 🧈🥛
Few side dishes are as comforting as a bowl of perfectly creamy mashed potatoes. They’re simple, familiar, and incredibly versatile—but there’s one debate that can divide a dinner table:
Should you use milk or butter? 🤔
The truth is, you don’t necessarily have to choose. Butter brings richness and flavor, while milk adds moisture and helps create that smooth, creamy texture. Used together, they can make wonderfully fluffy mashed potatoes.
Here’s a classic recipe you can make for a family dinner, Sunday roast, holiday meal, or whenever you’re craving something comforting.
🥔 Classic Creamy Mashed Potatoes
🛒 Ingredients
Serves 4–6
- 1 kg (2.2 lb) potatoes, preferably Yukon Gold or another floury/all-purpose variety
- 60–100 g (4–7 tbsp) unsalted butter
- 120–180 ml (½–¾ cup) whole milk
- 1–1½ tsp salt, plus more for the cooking water
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1–2 cloves garlic, optional
- 1–2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley or chives, optional
🥛 The important part: milk or butter?
Butter: 🧈
Adds richness, a silky mouthfeel, and that unmistakable buttery flavor.
Milk: 🥛
Adds moisture and helps loosen the potatoes so they become soft and creamy rather than dry.
Both: 🧈 + 🥛
For classic creamy mashed potatoes, using both gives you the best of each.
👩🍳 Step 1: Prepare the Potatoes
Peel the potatoes and cut them into pieces of roughly equal size.
Try not to make the pieces wildly different in size. Small pieces can become overcooked while larger pieces are still firm.
Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover them with cold water.
Add a generous pinch of salt.
Starting the potatoes in cold water helps them cook more evenly from the outside toward the center.
🔥 Step 2: Cook Until Tender
Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a steady simmer.
Cook for approximately 15–20 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces.
They’re ready when a fork or knife slides easily through the center.
Don’t rush this step.
Undercooked potatoes can leave you with lumpy mashed potatoes no matter how much butter or milk you add.
🧈 Step 3: Warm the Milk and Butter
While the potatoes are cooking, gently warm the milk and butter together in a small saucepan.
Don’t let the milk boil.
You simply want everything warm and the butter melted.
Why warm them?
Adding cold milk and butter straight from the refrigerator can cool the potatoes down and make it harder to achieve that smooth, creamy consistency.
🥔 Step 4: Drain the Potatoes
Once the potatoes are tender, drain them thoroughly.
Return them to the warm pot and let them sit over very low heat for about a minute, stirring gently.
This helps excess moisture evaporate.
That’s important because watery potatoes aren’t going to become magically creamy by adding more dairy.
🥣 Step 5: Mash!
Now it’s time for the fun part.
Add the butter first and mash the potatoes until they’re mostly smooth.
Then gradually add the warm milk.
Don’t pour it all in at once.
Add a little, mash, taste, and continue until you reach the texture you like.
Some people want mashed potatoes so creamy they practically fall off the spoon.
Others prefer them thick, fluffy, and slightly rustic.
There is no single correct texture.
🧂 Step 6: Season Properly
Add salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Taste.
Then taste again.
Potatoes can absorb quite a bit of seasoning, so don’t be afraid to adjust the salt gradually.
For extra flavor, you can add:
🧄 Roasted garlic
🌿 Chives
🌿 Parsley
🧀 Parmesan
🥛 A splash of cream
🧈 Extra melted butter
🌶️ A little black pepper
🧈 The Secret to Extra-Buttery Potatoes
If you’re firmly on Team Butter, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with increasing the butter.
For an especially rich version, use around 100–125 g of butter per kilogram of potatoes.
Add it gradually and allow it to melt into the hot potatoes.
The result?
Rich, silky, buttery mashed potatoes. 🤤
🥛 What If You Only Have Milk?
No problem!
You can absolutely make mashed potatoes with milk.
Use whole milk if you have it because its higher fat content gives you a richer result.
If you’re using lower-fat milk, you may simply want to add a little extra butter to compensate for the reduced richness.
🧈 What If You Only Have Butter?
You can also make mashed potatoes without milk.
Add butter gradually and use a little of the reserved potato cooking water to loosen the mash.
The starchy water can help create a surprisingly smooth consistency without adding dairy.
🚫 Avoid This Common Mistake
Don’t overwork the potatoes.
Once potatoes become mashed, excessive mixing can release more starch and turn them from fluffy and creamy into something sticky and gluey.
A potato masher or ricer is ideal.
If you’re using an electric mixer, be extremely gentle and avoid beating the potatoes for a long time.
🥔 Restaurant-Style Mashed Potatoes
Want to take them up another level?
Try this combination:
- 1 kg potatoes
- 120 g unsalted butter
- 150 ml whole milk
- 1 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 2 roasted garlic cloves
Mash the hot potatoes with the butter first, then gradually incorporate the warm milk.
Finish with freshly cracked black pepper and chopped chives.
Serve immediately with another small pat of butter melting on top. 🧈
🍽️ What Goes With Mashed Potatoes?
These potatoes are perfect alongside:
🥩 Steak
🍗 Roast chicken
🍖 Roast beef
🍖 Pork chops
🌭 Sausages
🥘 Beef stew
🍲 Gravy
🥕 Roasted vegetables
🧅 Caramelized onions
And let’s be honest…
Sometimes mashed potatoes don’t need an excuse.
A bowl of creamy potatoes with a little butter and gravy can be dinner all by itself. 😋
🏆 So… Milk or Butter?
Here’s the real answer:
Milk gives you creaminess and moisture. Butter gives you richness and flavor.
But if you’re trying to make truly indulgent mashed potatoes, there’s no reason they can’t work together.
Start with good potatoes, cook them properly, season generously, use warm dairy, and avoid overworking them.
That’s the recipe for mashed potatoes that disappear from the dinner table very quickly. 🥔🧈🥛
👀 Now it’s your turn…
Are you Team Milk 🥛, Team Butter 🧈, or Team BOTH?
And the really important question:
How much butter is too much butter in mashed potatoes? 😂
