Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes — 🥔⏰🙌🏻 Make your life easier by preparing your mashed potatoes in advance! This is an EASY recipe that uses just 5 ingredients! Great for holiday dinners and busy weeknights alike! Learn all my tips and tricks for preparing CREAMY mashed potatoes up to three days in advance, plus how to reheat them so they stay PERFECT!
Whether you’ve got a turkey or ham roasting or pie dough to roll out, and guests to entertain, it’s easy to forget about the pot of potatoes you’ve got simmering on the stove. Next thing you know, you’ve got water-logged, gloopy mashed potatoes on your hands.
This year for the holidays, make a big batch of creamy mashed potatoes up to three days before your big meal so you can get out of the kitchen earlier and enjoy more time with your loved ones.
This make ahead mashed potato recipe uses my Classic Mashed Potatoes as a jumping off point, but I employed a few tricks of the food blogging trade to ensure the potatoes reheat perfectly every time.
Keep reading for detailed instructions on how to make mashed potatoes in advance and how to reheat them so they don’t lose their delicious texture!
Hint: You can’t just toss them into a slow cooker or nuke them in the microwave!
Ingredients for Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes
Making mashed potatoes in advance doesn’t require any special ingredients — it’s all about technique!
Gather the following FIVE pantry staples:
- Russet potatoes – see FAQs for other potato varieties you can use
- Unsalted butter
- Half and half – whole milk will work in a pinch, but the potatoes won’t be as rich and creamy and I found that heavy cream made them too thick. If you don’t have half-and-half in your area use 3/4 cup whole milk + 3/4 cup heavy cream = 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
- Kosher salt – if you only have table salt, use less to achieve the same level of saltiness
- Freshly ground black pepper
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Mashed Potatoes in Advance
Preparing mashed potatoes ahead of time is very similar to a making traditional mashed potatoes. Below is an overview of the recipe steps:
To assemble:
- Add the potatoes to a large pot, cover with water, then drain.
- Cover the rinsed potatoes with water, salt the water with 1 teaspoon salt, pop on the lid, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork-tender. Drain well.
- Warm the butter and half and half in a small saucepan over medium heat, with salt and pepper to taste.
- Turn the potatoes out into a colander and rinse the drained potatoes under cold water. Drain well before proceeding. Add the melted butter mixture.
- Mash the potatoes with a potato masher or potato ricer (whichever you prefer!). Do NOT use an electric mixer or food processor.
To store and reheat:
- Let the mashed potatoes cool to room temperature, then transfer to a 9×13-inch baking dish or similar casserole dish that’s about 3 quarts.
- Cover tightly with aluminum foil and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
- When ready to eat, remove from the fridge and let rest on your counter for 15 minutes while your oven preheats to 350F.
- Add extra half and half and butter to the top of the mashed potatoes but do NOT stir.
- Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 20-25 minutes or until heated through. Then stir before serving. If desired, add gravy, or garnish with chives, parsley, rosemary, a sprinkling of Parmesan, etc.
Recipe FAQs
Starchy potatoes like Russet or Idaho potatoes are my top choice for making mashed potatoes – in advance or otherwise. I’ll sometimes use half Russet potatoes and half Yukon Gold potatoes for more buttery mashed potatoes but because Yukon golds are waxier, they aren’t ideal as the sole potato choice for mashed potatoes.
If using Russet potatoes, you need to peel them before boiling. If using Yukon Gold, you can leave the more delicate skins on or peel them — your choice, although I personally would peel them.
Boil the potatoes in the pot of water until they’re fork tender. I dice them into 1-inch chunks and they usually take 15 to 20 minutes. If your potatoes are cut into larger pieces or left whole, they’ll take much longer to boil.
Warming the butter and half-and-half helps the mixture absorb more easily into the warm potatoes. It also prevents the warm potatoes from seizing up or becoming gluey, which is what happens when you add cold milk and butter to hot potatoes.
I know lots of recipes call for it but I promise you don’t need it for my recipe. While mashed potatoes aren’t exactly health food, they’re at least a bit healthier without adding cream cheese, and more budget-friendly too since it’s one less ingredient to buy.
You’ll need to warm the half and half mixture, as stated above.
You should also rinse the potatoes before and after boiling them. This helps remove any excess starch, which can lead to a gluey texture. By rinsing the potatoes twice, you’re setting yourself up for creamy and fluffy mashed potato success!
Lastly, mash the potatoes until they reach your desired consistency and no further. Overmixing will create gluey mashed potatoes. This is also why you should not use a hand mixer, food processor or any small electric device that would whipping them vigorously.
The make ahead mashed potatoes are topped with additional butter and half and half just before being reheated, which helps keep them moist and creamy. For added insurance against them drying out, reheat the potatoes covered, and no hotter than a 350F oven, which is a fairly modest oven temp, and will prevent them from drying out.
What to Serve with Mashed Potatoes
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Add the potatoes to a large stockpot, cover with water, and then drain to remove some of the starch. Do not skip this step. This helps create a fluffier mashed potato texture because you’re removing some starch.
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Add fresh water to the pot, about two inches above the potatoes, cover the pot with a lid, and bring to a boil. Tip – I like to add 1 teaspoon kosher salt to the water for better flavor later on, but it’s optional. Once the water begins to boil, remove the lid and boil the potatoes for 15-20 minutes over medium-high heat, or until the potatoes are fork tender and done.
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While the potatoes are boiling, in a separate small saucepan, add the butter, half-and-half, salt, pepper, and heat over medium heat to melt the butter. Set aside until the potatoes are done. Tips – Make sure just to get the butter melted, don’t boil it or allow the heat to get too high. You don’t want to boil the dairy proteins in the half-and-half. I recommend using half-and-half. Not whole milk, nor heavy cream. Half-and-half is perfect here. If you don’t have half-and-half, you can make it by combining 3/4 cup whole milk with 3/4 cup heavy cream, and now you have 1 1/2 cups half-and-half.
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When the potatoes are cooked, drain the remaining cooking liquid. I find it easiest to just flip the potatoes into a colander over the sink and allow the cooking water to run out.
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If they’re not already in one, place the potatoes into a colander and briefly rinse them under cold water after draining. Shake the excess moisture off. Do not skip this step. This helps create a fluffier mashed potato texture because you’re removing some starch.
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Transfer the potatoes to a large mixing bowl and pour the melted butter mixture over the potatoes.
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Using a potato masher (or potato ricer, or even just a large fork), mash the potatoes. Do NOT use an electric appliance like a mixer, blender, food processor, etc. Do this by hand for the best texture otherwise the potatoes could turn gummy or gluey.
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Transfer the potatoes into a 9×13-inch baking dish or similar sized casserole dish and allow the potatoes to cool completely. Cover tightly with foil and refrigerate the potatoes for up to 3 days.
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Reheating – When ready to reheat the mashed potatoes, remove the dish from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 15-30 minutes while the oven preheats to 350F.
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Add ½ cup of half-and-half and 2 tablespoons of butter to a small saucepan, heat over medium heat to melt the butter, and lightly warm the half-and-half.
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Pour this mixture on top of the mashed potatoes, do NOT stir it in. Just let it sit on top.
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Cover the casserole dish tightly with the foil and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the mashed potatoes have heated through. Stir, fluff, and serve warm.
- Cooling: Allow the mashed potatoes to cool completely before covering them and storing them in the refrigerator.
- Freezing Option: These mashed potatoes can also be frozen for up to 2 months. Let them cool completely, then transfer them to an airtight freezer-safe container. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before following the reheating instructions as outlined in the recipe.
Reheating Tips:
- Adding Moisture: Make sure to add the half and half and butter during reheating as outlined above to mashed potatoes from drying out. Just allow it to pool on top.
- Room Temperature: Letting the mashed potatoes sit at room temperature for 15-30 minutes before reheating helps them reheat more evenly.
- Low and Slow: Reheating at 350F helps prevent the potatoes from drying out. Even if you’re short on time, I do not recommend using a hotter oven temp.
Storage:
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2-4 days. This means that if you made the potatoes 3 full days in advance, you really should consume them on day 4. You could potentially stretch this to 5 days but use your judgment. If you know you’re going to freeze them, freeze them as soon as you can, meaning don’t wait until day 4-5 to decide you’re going to freeze them.
- With leftover potatoes that I have in the fridge, I reheat individual servings in the microwave for about 30 seconds, or as needed. If they seem dry, a pat of butter or splash of half-and-half will help rectify that.
- It’s generally not recommended to reheat mashed potatoes multiple times. Each time food is reheated, it increases the risk of bacterial growth, so if you are going to reheat them, reheat only what you’ll consume and not the entire batch of leftovers.
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 423kcal, Carbohydrates: 36g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 30g, Saturated Fat: 19g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 8g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 80mg, Sodium: 425mg, Potassium: 851mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 913IU, Vitamin C: 11mg, Calcium: 76mg, Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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