Homemade Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Buttery Yukon Gold mashed potatoes made creamy with warm milk and sour cream, plus a from-scratch brown gravy that works with or without drippings.
- Full Meals
- Cast iron / Dutch oven
- Veggie
- Side
- 45 min total
- Serves 8
Ingredients
Ingredients for servings
Enter a number of at least ½, in steps of ½.
Original recipe serves 8. Ingredient amounts adjust automatically. Cooking times and pan size may need adjusting separately.
Mashed potatoes
- 4 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut in 2-inch chunks
- 1 tbsp kosher salt, for the water
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Gravy
- 4 tbsp butter, or pan drippings
- 1/2 yellow onion, very finely diced
- 4 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 3 cups beef broth, or chicken or turkey broth
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Steps
Step 1: Put the potatoes in a big pot and cover with cold water by an inch. Add the tablespoon of salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer 15 to 20 minutes until a fork slides through a chunk with no resistance.
Step 2: GRAVY (while potatoes cook): Melt the butter in a saucepan or skillet over medium. Add the onion and cook 4 minutes until soft. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking, 3 to 4 minutes until it's the color of peanut butter.
Step 3: Slowly whisk in the broth so there are no lumps. Add the Worcestershire, soy sauce, thyme and pepper. Simmer 5 to 8 minutes until it coats a spoon. Taste for salt. Keep warm on low, adding a splash of broth if it thickens too much.
Step 4: Warm the milk and butter together in a small pot or the microwave until the butter melts.
Step 5: Drain the potatoes well, then put them back in the hot pot over low heat for 1 minute to steam off extra water.
Step 6: Mash with a masher or press through a ricer. Stir in the warm milk mixture a little at a time, then the sour cream, salt and pepper. Stop as soon as they're smooth.
Step 7: Pile into a bowl, make a well in the top and fill it with gravy.
Game plan
For a 4:00 PM holiday dinner:
- 2:30 PM: Peel and cut potatoes. Hold them in a pot of cold water so they don’t brown.
- 3:15 PM: Bring the potatoes to a boil.
- 3:20 PM: Start the gravy. If the turkey or roast is resting, use its pan drippings instead of some of the butter.
- 3:40 PM: Drain and mash.
- 3:45 PM: Keep the potatoes warm, covered, in a slow cooker on Warm or in a bowl set over the pot of simmering water.
- 4:00 PM: Serve.
Swaps
- Potatoes: Russets make fluffier mash; Yukon Golds make creamier, more buttery mash.
- Garlic mash: Boil 6 peeled garlic cloves with the potatoes and mash them in.
- Make-ahead: Mash a day early, refrigerate, then bake covered at 350°F for 30 minutes with a few extra pats of butter and a splash of milk.
Tips
- Starting potatoes in cold water cooks them evenly. Dropping them into boiling water cooks the outside before the middle.
- Warm the milk and butter. Cold dairy cools the potatoes and makes them gluey.
The story
HAM Cooking. Let’s fire it up.
Mashed potatoes are the foundation every holiday plate is built on. They’re also the reason the gravy boat needs a refill every five minutes, because some of us build a potato dam and fill it like a reservoir. Engineering.
The big mashed potato mistake is overworking them. Potatoes are full of starch, and the more you mash and stir, the more starch you release, until they go gluey and sticky. A gentle hand with a masher or ricer keeps them fluffy. Warm dairy helps too, since it mixes in faster, so you stir less. Steaming off the extra water after draining gives you a richer mash that soaks up more butter. That’s not a bad thing.
The gravy is built on a roux, which is just fat and flour cooked together. Cooking it to a peanut butter color adds toasty flavor, and a dash of Worcestershire and soy sauce gives it that rich, savory, meaty taste even when you don’t have drippings.
HAM out.
Related recipes
AI illustrationAir fryerSideAir FryerAir Fryer Baked Potatoes
Russet potatoes with crispy, salty skin and fluffy insides in less time than the oven. Load them with butter, sour cream, cheese and bacon.
50 min · serves 4 · Veggie
AI illustrationAir fryerSideAir FryerAir Fryer French Fries
Crispy homemade fries from russet potatoes using a quick soak, a light coat of oil and two temperatures. Golden outside, fluffy inside.
55 min · serves 3 · Veggie
AI illustrationAir fryerSideAir FryerAir Fryer Hush Puppies
Golden cornmeal hush puppies with green onion, a little jalapeño and a touch of sweetness, air fried crisp outside and tender inside.
35 min · serves 6 · Veggie
Cooked this? Tell us how it went.
Loading reviews…