Last updated on December 17th, 2021
A recipe for ‘homestyle skin-on mashed potatoes’? Say it ain’t so! Well, I’m sure there are a million recipes out there on the internet about potatoes, mashed; so what’s wrong with one more?
The event which inspired me to write out the recipe for my favorite dish down and share it on this blog is a discussion on Reddit of all places. There was a major debate about people preferring skin on or off of their potatoes when making mashed potatoes. I will always, always prefer skin on my cooked potatoes. My reasons for that are threefold.
One: Potato skins taste good. They are delicious and provide a texture and flavor you wouldn’t otherwise have with ‘bareskin potatoes‘. (bearskin? skinless?)
Two: Skins tell me that the potatoes aren’t instant. I will sum up my “dramatic food blogger life story” with this: I grew up poor and was raised on instant potatoes, but I can doctor instant potatoes up to taste close to ‘real thing’. However the one thing you can’t fake with instant potatoes is “skins”. End of story.
Three: I’m admittedly very lazy about certain things. I will never peel a potato for anything that I don’t need to. I may publish more “skin-ful” potato recipes. They are as delicious as their skinless counterparts, if not more so.
Tips & Tricks for making Homestyle Skin-On Mashed Potatoes
Choose your potatoes wisely. I usually use Yukon Gold variety you can find in any grocery store, they’re tasty and have thin skins.
My second favorite for mashing are red potatoes. My very last choice are russet potatoes. While those are better for baking due to their texture, they are have great flavor and are good for when you want to punch up your mashed potatoes with mix-ins like cheese or bacon.
Boil the potatoes rapidly in plain salted water until they are just fork-tender but not more than that; about 25 – 30 minutes.
Drain potatoes and place back into cooking pot away from heat. Dump all remaining ingredients in pot with potatoes before mashing. This is my go-to technique to ensure all ingredients are well incorporated.
Mashing technique: For this recipe my instructions say to use a hand masher. However, there are as many ways to do this as there are types of potatoes. The technique you choose for mashing your potatoes will determine the texture and quality of your mashed potatoes. You can use a potato ricer, a hand mixer or even a fork. Use what you have, what you’re familiar with.
Related Recipes
Homestyle Skin-On Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 6 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, diced into 2-inch pieces
- 8 tbsp. butter (1 stick), cubed (see first note)
- 1/2 cup half and half (see second note)
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring six quarts of moderately salted water to a boil in a large pot.
- Add diced potatoes (you can add potatoes to water before it reaches a boil if you prefer).
- Cook until fork-tender.
- Drain well and return to pan, removing from heat.
- Add butter, half and half, salt and pepper (to taste) to cooked potatoes.
- Mash firmly with hand masher until few lumps remain (it’s a texture I like for “homestyle”).
- Serve immediately.
- Refrigerate leftovers for up to five days in tightly sealed container.
