14 Ingredients That Will Make Your Mashed Potatoes Extra Fluffy

When it comes to side dishes, though virtually any kind of spud is a great contender for "best in show," as a professional chef, I am prepared to declare that mashed potatoes reign supreme, especially as an accompaniment to include on your Thanksgiving dinner table or alongside a steak for a fancy meal. In my nearly 18 years running a fine dining restaurant, I cannot tell you how many thousands of batches of mashed potatoes I have made, but it is a lot. And, if there is one thing I pride myself on, it is producing incredibly creamy, flavorful, and, most of all, fluffy mashed potatoes.

There are a number of keys to obtaining fluffy mashed potatoes, including the type of potato selected (starchy versus waxy), not over or under cooking them, using a rice mill or potato masher versus a food processor to purée them, and not overmixing them. That said, the ingredients you add to them are also integral to boosting the texture of mashed potatoes.

While there are some obvious ingredients for producing fluffy mashed potatoes, like butter and cream, there are some more obscure options that can be equally as effective. I'm here to share not only what these are, but how and why to select the specific type of each ingredient to maximize the airiness of your next batch of mashed potatoes.

While it is true that butter makes everything better, not all types are made equally. As a general rule, I always opt for European-style butter, like Kerrygold or Lurpak, when making something like mashed potatoes. There's a good reason for this. European butter typically has a higher fat content and lower moisture percentage, giving it a richer flavor and more satisfying, airy mouthfeel. I also always use unsalted butter versus the salted variety. This enables me to control the salinity of the mash.

To obtain top tier mashed potatoes, the quantity of butter used also matters. Though some chefs, like Anthony Bourdain, would go as high as a 4-to-1 ratio of butter to potatoes, a 3-to-1 proportion works equally as well. Just make sure to add room temperature butter so that the potatoes don't become overly gummy.

To add flavor without sacrificing the inherent superpowers of butter, swap the plain variety with a compound butter mixture. An herb or roasted garlic compound butter will add complexity, while elevating the texture. For a toasty, nutty, umami-rich flavor that can still lend an airy texture, opt for brown butter that has been infused with fresh sage.

If you have ever wondered why the mashed potatoes at your favorite steakhouse always taste better than homemade, look no further than the amount of heavy cream used in the recipe. Along with butter, restaurants use copious quantities of luscious, rich, heavy cream to help add a velvety flavor and loosen up the starches of the potatoes, which helps to make them impossibly light and voluminous.

When it comes to cream, fat content matters, which is why it is always prudent to select heavy versus light cream when making mashed potatoes. Not only does heavy cream taste richer, the higher fat content will enable the dairy product to be added to the hot potatoes without clumping or separating, which can make them gooey, instead of fluffy.

For reference, according to the FDA, heavy cream is defined as having no less than 36% milk fat. Light cream, by contrast, only contains 18 to 30% milk fat, per the FDA, making it significantly less stable, especially when you are attempting to incorporate air into it.

Another ingredient that is incredibly effective at lightening up mashed potatoes is sour cream. Sour cream is produced by incorporating lactic acid bacteria into pasteurized cream with a milk fat percentage of no less than 18% and allowing this mixture to ferment until it is tangy and viscous.

The natural acidity in sour cream will help to provide a brightness in flavor and make them less dense and airier. If the tanginess is too bold for your taste buds, try diluting the sour cream with some heavy cream or milk to temper its acidity.

When adding sour cream to mashed potatoes, it is always important to use full fat sour cream. Because of its relatively low fat percentage, even full fat sour cream can curdle when added directly to hot potatoes. The lower the fat content of sour cream, the more likely it is to separate. To further prevent the sour cream from congealing, add it to warm potatoes after it has come to room temperature.

Cream cheese is another tangy ingredient that can give mashed potatoes a texture and flavor boost. Similar to sour cream, it is made by infusing pasteurized milk and cream with lactic acid bacteria and allowing the curds to separate from the whey before homogenizing and pressing them into blocks.

According to the FDA, cream cheese must have a fat content of at least 33% and a moisture content of no more than 55% by weight. This makes it more stable than sour cream for use in mashed potatoes, as the higher fat content will ensure the dairy will not curdle when incorporated into the hot potatoes. That said, you will still want to use room temperature cream cheese for best results.

For added lift, consider using full-fat, whipped cream cheese in mashed potatoes, rather than blocks. Because it is already aerated, whipped cream cheese can make mashed potatoes less dense and enhance their fluffiness. Just be sure not to overmix whipped cream cheese, as it can easily be deflated, nullifying any potential benefits using it may have. As with sour cream, if you find the cream cheese to be too pungent in acidity, consider cutting it with another form of dairy to help mellow its sourness.

When it comes to using cheese in mashed potatoes, it pays to be a bit discerning with which type you choose. Though you can gain great flavor from a number of varieties, meltability is key. Just as with macaroni and cheese, if the cheese doesn't melt into the hot potatoes well, the entire dish will become gummy. That said, even some of the best melting cheeses can yield a dense result if you aren't careful. For this reason, I tend to lean into soft cheeses, like boursin, for mashed potatoes, which help to fluff up the potatoes, rather than make them stringy.

Boursin is a mild, cow's milk cheese that hails from the Normandy region of France. This chameleon-like fromage resembles American cream cheese in texture and flavor, though it is typically softer and has a slightly less tart flavor. It is often combined with various seasonings, including fresh herbs and garlic, black pepper, or truffles, all of which would be a fine addition to creamy mashed potatoes.

As with other dairy products, I recommend bringing boursin to room temperature before adding it to mashed potatoes. This will enable it to melt rapidly without overworking the potatoes, which can make them gooey, rather than light and airy.

In the canon of creamy dairy products that can amplify the texture of mashed potatoes, you cannot do much better than crème fraîche. This cousin of sour cream has a lot going for it that makes it ideal for stirring into spuds. Not only does it have a high fat content, around 30%, its flavor is more delicate with a milder tanginess. This makes it less detectable in mashed potatoes, while still conferring that creamy texture.

Directly translated to "fresh cream" in French, crème fraîche is produced in a similar fashion to sour cream, by adding a bacterial culture, usually in the form of buttermilk, to heavy cream and allowing the mixture to ferment. This cultured cream develops a slightly thickened texture that is easy to whisk into cooked potatoes.

When it comes to crème fraîche, fat makes all the difference in its capacity to transform potatoes. Its naturally high milk fat content enables the room temperature dairy product to be incorporated directly into hot potatoes without coagulating. This yields a much creamier and airier mash that won't be clumpy.

When it comes to making creamy mashed potatoes the French way, look no further than a recipe for pommes de terre Chantilly. This bougie baked side dish takes advantage of a secret weapon — whipped cream. Whipped cream not only makes desserts festive, but it also levels up mashed potatoes, transforming them into something so impossibly light and fluffy that even a cloud would appear dense next to it.

The key here is taking advantage of the high fat content of heavy whipping cream and incorporating air into it. The high fat content will enable the whipped cream to be added to the potatoes without separating, while the air will help the dish puff up when it is baked in the oven.

That said, there is one hitch in the giddy up — how to add the whipped cream without deflating the air bubbles. This takes a delicate hand and a spatula, as the whipped cream should be carefully folded into the mashed potatoes before being transferred to the baking dish. Care needs to be executed every step of the way to ensure the final dish remains puffy.

If adding mayonnaise to mashed potatoes sounds like something someone did when they forgot to buy heavy cream or another more suitable dairy product, you would be wrong. There are a number of reasons you should be making mashed potatoes with mayo, least of which is because they taste amazing.

Mayonnaise is an emulsification of egg yolks, oil, and an acid, like vinegar or lemon juice. This yields a creamy base for mashed potatoes that helps to bind together the spuds, keep them moist, and give them a luscious texture that cannot be beat. Additionally, if you plan to make mashed potatoes in advance and reheat them before an event, mayonnaise will help to produce a more palatable result, as it will remain loose when refrigerated, rather than solidifying.

Though you can technically use the mayonnaise of your choice, I happen to be a Hellmann's snob. The flavor and texture of this mayo is, in my opinion, superior to all others. You can also make your own, which is relatively easy to do. Just be sure to use high-quality, fresh eggs and refrigerate immediately after making.

When it comes to emulsifiers, one of the best in the world is the lowly egg yolk, which is why you should consider adding one to your next batch of mashed potatoes for the creamiest results. Egg yolks add body to mashed potatoes by drawing together hydrophilic, water-loving ingredients, like the starchy potatoes, with hydrophobic, water-fearing ones, like the milk fat in butter. The result is extra fluffy, ultra moist, super rich mashed potatoes that are extraordinarily decadent.

The key to adding egg yolks to mashed potatoes is to not overdo it. Though you need enough for the eggs to do their magic, too many can cause the dish to taste eggy, while sacrificing that buttery, spud-forward taste. Approximately one egg yolk per pound to pound-and-a-half of potatoes should suffice.

Additionally, be sure to incorporate the egg yolks carefully so as not to scramble them. This can be done by whisking them together with a couple of tablespoons of milk or heavy cream before mashing them into the hot potatoes. If you are concerned about consuming a raw egg, keep in mind that the heat of the potatoes will essentially cook them. Just use high-quality, fresh, pasteurized eggs.

If you want to make ultra-creamy mashed potatoes the Barefoot Contessa way, you may want to start using goat cheese in them. Like boursin, goat cheese is a soft fromage that works well in mashed potatoes to help add flavor and moisture without too much heft or gooey-ness.

Though you can use any kind of goat cheese, I tend to prefer the young, unaged variety. These generally have a softer texture and milder, less grassy flavor that is better-suited to mashed potatoes. Goat cheese comes in domestic and imported varieties, both plain and seasoned with various add-ins, including fresh herbs, garlic, lemon zest, peppercorn, and truffles, all of which work fabulously with mashed potatoes.

Despite its low fat content, fresh goat cheese is a pretty prolific melting fromage, thanks to its high moisture content. That said, it is always recommended that goat cheese be brought to room temperature before it is added to mashed potatoes. This will expedite the melting process, preventing the cheese from separating and ensuring that the potatoes are not overmixed, which can produce a glutinous, rather than fluffy, texture.

Another particularly popular add-in to mashed potatoes to help give them richness and a luxurious body is buttermilk. Contrary to popular belief, buttermilk is not, in fact, a combination of butter and milk. Historically speaking, it was a byproduct of the butter making process, though today it is most frequently produced by adding live bacterial cultures to milk or cream and fermenting it.

While similar to sour cream in terms of how it is produced, buttermilk has unique properties that make it highly desirable for mashed potatoes. It is generally somewhat less tangy than sour cream, having more of a mild tartness that is less discernible. It is also thinner, making it easier to incorporate into potatoes.

That said, it is far lower in fat, making it highly susceptible to coagulating when added to hot potatoes. The best way to combat this is by bringing the buttermilk to room temperature before adding it to the hot potatoes. Always opt for full versus low-fat buttermilk options when making mashed potatoes. This will optimize the texture and flavor of your mash.

Though starchy potatoes are better for mashing than waxy ones — because they have a tendency to fall apart more easily, which makes them conducive to puréeing — too much starch can lead to gummy spuds. There's a delicate balance between creamy, fluffy mashers and ones that may require a hammer and chisel to consume. Enter ice water for the win.

Indeed, ice water is the secret to the fluffiest mashed potatoes you have ever eaten. Most of us know to start cooking potatoes in cold water when mashing them to reduce the amount of excess starch released during the softening process. Soaking them in ice water before cooking them is just another step that can help mitigate the amount of residual starch present in peeled and cut potatoes before they are cooked.

Simply peel and cube potatoes the way you normally would and toss them in a bowl of ice water for at least 30 minutes before rinsing them, covering them in fresh cold water, and cooking them. You may notice that the surplus starch has settled to the bottom of the bowl of ice water. Do not stir this back into the bowl, otherwise the starch will re-coat the potatoes, nullifying the ice bath effect. You can soak potatoes overnight in the refrigerator if you prefer, just be sure not to soak them for longer than 24 hours or they will become mealy.

For those looking for a non-dairy option to make fluffy mashed potatoes, there is a magic ingredient that has been there all along that you may have been discarding without a care in the world — the water the potatoes were cooked in. Indeed, potato water is a powerhouse in the kitchen for a number of reasons. As the potatoes cook, they leach flavor, vitamins, minerals, and starch into the water. This makes the water capable of thickening, binding, enhancing, and seasoning a number of dishes, including the very potatoes from which it was produced.

Though it may be tempting to use other vegan dairy substitutes to make mashed potatoes, these can leave a lot to be desired. They often have a strange mouthfeel that is gritty and almost chalk-like in nature, which isn't particularly appetizing. They also can have assertive flavors, which may overpower the natural earthiness of the potatoes.

When opting to incorporate potato water, make sure to mash it into the potatoes while they are still hot to maximize the fluffiness and avoid the potatoes becoming gluey. It is also advisable to add some fat, which can help to bind the water to the potatoes and give them more of a velvety texture.

If you are seeking to add moisture, flavor, and a luxurious texture to mashed potatoes without the dairy, but still want a complex and delicate flavor, consider adding heart-healthy olive oil to them. Olive oil is the secret to success for many recipes across Italy, Spain, Greece, and more. Its distinctive flavor and mouthfeel makes it ideal for brightening up and sophisticating dishes, including a humble batch of mashed potatoes.

The key to using olive oil in mashed potatoes is deciding which kind to incorporate. This is the time to opt for a quality extra-virgin variety, rather than a regular or light olive oil. The primary difference between the two types of olive oil is how they are extracted. Extra-virgin olive oil is cold-pressed from mashed olives without the use of any harsh chemicals or heat, giving it a smoother flavor and texture that makes it best enjoyed in its natural, unadulterated form, which is ideal for mashed potatoes.

As the hot potatoes hit the olive oil, the fruity, often grassy fragrance of the fat will open up, producing potatoes that are both velvety to eat and that smell almost exotic. Be sure not to overdo the amount of oil used in mashed potatoes, and always take care not to overmix them so as not to make them gummy.