Silver Palate's Thanksgiving Potatoes

Author Notes

Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso's mashed potatoes have a cult following, though it's unclear whether this is due to their ease, their make-ahead friendliness, or the three kinds of dairy (butter, sour cream, and cream cheese). Adapted slightly from Silver Palate Cookbook (Workman Publishing Company, 2007) —Food52

Test Kitchen Notes

There's nothing like a tried-and-true mashed potatoes recipe, especially when the holidays roll around and you find yourself hosting or having to bring over a dish. Yet another star on the Thanksgiving table, you better be sure that this classic yet comforting side dish is a guest-favorite. No better vessel to soak up all of that gravy, after all! This recipe, which features not only butter, but cream cheese and sour cream, will result in the creamiest, most luxuriously textured potatoes you'll ever make and taste. You and your guests won't be able to get enough. And you don't need any fancy equipment either, plus you can make them ahead of time. They just need to be reheated for 20 minutes before serving, but you can do all of the hard work well before dinnertime.

Probably the most time-consuming thing you'll have to do is finely chop the potatoes, but chopping them significantly decreases the cook time and will result that they all cook evenly. You can mix the potatoes with the butter, cream cheese, and sour cream by hand, but we found that using an electric mixer gives you the smoothest results. You can also use a ricer if you have one handy. And if you find that the potatoes are a little too thick for your liking, you can drizzle in some cream, milk, or more melted butter. You can also adjust the seasonings, but we find that this simple preparation with minimal ingredients is the way to go when it comes to go-to mashed potatoes. —The Editors