Our Top Mashed Potatoes Recipes, All in One Buttery Pile

The holidays would benefit from a playbook, wouldn't they? We partnered with Braun Household to arm you with resources for cooking like you wrote it yourself, with a little help from their MultiQuick 9 Hand Blender whose ACTIVEblade technology makes intimidating tasks a cinch.

My mother is particular about her mashed potato preferences: No skins, as fluffy and melt-in-your-mouth as possible, butter on butter, and maybe some chives. She does not waffle, she does not stray. This is her truth. I could not be more different: Give me your chunky, your skins, and your sour cream. Our mashed potato preferences may differ, but we make do.

You'll notice that Food52 users' preferences are vastly different, too. It's like when everyone in your family has differing and unshakeable ideas and favorites—that fun thing! If there is one thing about mashed potatoes that's consistent, though, it's that you gotta smash 'taters somehow, whether you like them silky or sporting some chunks. Don't touch a food processor during the process, for let it be known you will end up not with mashed potatoes but with starchy gloop. Some people go for a mash-by-hand approach and some people use a potato ricer, but I don't play that way. For me, it's hand blender or bust. The hand blender gives you control over your potato texture and fluffiness—and no gluey potatoes to boot. But be sure to move slow and steady, and consider whipping in additional ingredients after you've mashed with the blender.

And then comes the fun part: It's a toss up on additions, toppings, and technique. And that's the beauty of the mashed potato. It takes to so many flavors that'll please all kinds. And you can switch it up during the holidays when the same old-same old can start to taste too familiar. Or just make the mashed potato everyone looks forward to because they're just that good.

Here are all of our favorite ways to a better mashed potato:

We partnered with Braun Household to arm you with resources for cooking during the holidays, from the simple to the complex, with a little help from their MultiQuick 9 Hand Blender. Want to get serious with your mashing techniques? Try the masher attachment to control your consistency.