Herb Butter Mashed Potatoes

Mashed Potatoes are everyone’s favourite comfort food and side dish, which is what makes it the most common side dish in many homes and on many occasions. But, boring mashed potatoes are a thing of the past!  Add lots of fresh herbs and butter to make them extraordinary!

Even though mashed potatoes are common and easy, we don’t actually prepare them that often for our everyday, regular meals.  I love mashed potatoes, but they’re heavy and starchy.  But, on special occasions, heavy and starchy is just what the doctor ordered. And, my Herb Butter Mashed Potatoes are the best! Seriously, I can’t get enough!

Herb Butter Mashed Potatoes are not for the dieter in your life.  There’s a lot of butter in this dish and I’m not about to apologize for it.  I make potatoes like this once or twice a year, so I think the extra extravagance of the butter is totally forgivable.

Now, in most cases, the starchiness, along with the butter, and the milk, is what makes the common mashed potato side dish feel so heavy in the stomach.  But, the fresh herbs in this particular version keep the dish tasting light and delicious.

FRESH HERBS FOR THE WIN

It’s very important to use fresh herbs for this recipe and not the dried herbs you keep in glass jars at the back of your pantry.  The freshness and lightness of this recipe rely heavily on the use of fresh chopped herbs.  Using dry will result in a mediocre mashed potato – still good, but not delicious.

Also, it’s important to keep in mind that dried herbs are much more potent than fresh herbs. For example, when it comes to thyme, a teaspoon of dried thyme is equivalent to about a tablespoon of fresh thyme. Using that as an example, your mashed potatoes would have quite a strong thyme flavour if you used that much of the dried stuff.

It’s not only about the flavour either. Fresh herbs light up and add freshness to the mashed potatoes. I’m not saying that dried herbs are bad, in fact, I use them all the time and dry my own herbs too. But, in the case where I am developing a recipe that relies heavily on herbs for flavour, fresh herbs are the way to go.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare these Herb Butter Mashed Potatoes. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Potatoes – Use white flesh potatoes for this recipe. Normally, I don’t peel potatoes when making mashed potatoes, but because I wanted the fresh herbs to be very visible, the peel was removed and discarded.
• Thyme – Use fresh time and remove the thyme leaves from the stems. You can easily do this by holding the top inch firmly and using your thumb and index finger on the other hand to run down the stem, stripping the leaves off.
• Parsley – Freshly chopped. Be sure to have extra for garnish.
• Summer Savoury – Roughly chopped as well.
• Garlic – I like to use freshly minced garlic, but you can use a quarter teaspoon of garlic powder instead.
• Salt & Ground Black Pepper
• Milk – I always use full-fat milk in mashed potatoes, after all, they’re usually prepared for special occasions, so we want them to be the best!
• Butter – You can use salted or unsalted butter, but be careful to not over salt your mashed potatoes if you are using salted butter. Extra butter for garnish is always a nice touch too.

HOW TO MAKE HERB BUTTER MASHED POTATOES

Everyone who likes to cook, or has ever prepared a holiday meal, knows how to make mashed potatoes. But, just in case you are new to cooking, or trying a different potato recipe, I’ll walk you through the process so that you have the best mashed potatoes ever!

Peel the potatoes and chop them in one-inch cubes. This will not only speed up the cooking time but will also make mashing more manageable. Rinse the potatoes under cold running water to wash away the excess starch and transfer them to a pot. Add enough cold water so the potatoes are covered by one inch of water. Over high heat, bring the potatoes to a boil. Add a generous pinch of salt to the pot – about half a teaspoon – and stir. Lower the heat to medium-high and continue to cook the potatoes until they are fork-tender – about 20-25 minutes.

Remove the potatoes from the heat and drain well. Set them aside to cool slightly while you prepare the other ingredients. Chop the parsley and summer savoury, and get the thyme leaves ready. If using fresh garlic, mince it extremely well. Finally, place the butter into a bowl and microwave it for fifteen seconds to make it extra soft.

Transfer the potatoes back to the pot. Mash them using your favourite mashing technique. That could be with a hand-held masher or a potato ricer. I always use a hand mixer to mash potatoes; try it – they are always light and fluffy. Once the potatoes are mashed, add all of the remaining ingredients to the pot and either use your hand mixer to combine or stir well with a wooden spoon.

At this point, the mashed potatoes are ready to serve. You can plop them right onto individual plates or you can transfer them to a serving bowl and top them with extra melted butter and fresh parsley for garnish. To keep the potatoes warm, leave them in the pot and cover with a lid. Keep the potatoes on a burner of the lowest heat setting. Stir regularly to avoid burning the potatoes or drying them out.

CHANGE THE HERBS, CHANGE THE FLAVOUR

I’ve made this particular version of Herb Butter Mashed Potatoes a few times throughout my adult life, and the truth be told, I have used a variety of fresh herbs.  This particular combination works best for me and my family, but you can certainly change it up to make the taste your own.

If you keep the quantity of potatoes, milk and butter the same, but switch up the herbs and seasonings, you’ll keep the consistency right, and change only the flavour. A good example is the summery savoury.  Not everyone will like it or be able to find it.  If you find yourself in that situation, try fresh sage or marjoram.  The flavours are quite similar.

I’ve made this dish with lots of thinly sliced green onions, chopped fresh parsley, and finely chopped mint too.  I’ve also made it common Italian herbs, like oregano and basil.  In that particular version, I added some fresh parmesan cheese and extra black pepper as well.

The possibilities are endless, really!  As I said before, just keep the quantity of the milk, butter, and potatoes the same and the rest is up to you.  If you don’t have any fresh herbs, and you simply must use dried, then go ahead and do so.  Let’s face it, mediocre mashed potatoes are still good!