Seriously Amazing Cheddar Mashed Potatoes
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These are some seriously AMAZING cheddar mashed potatoes! Loaded with garlic, sour cream, and chopped chives. The perfect side to make for Thanksgiving or any night of the week!
Call me the loaded mashed potato queen, wouldja? 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
Cheddar mashed potatoes.
I imagine heaven to have mountains made out of this stuff. Sprinkled with fresh chives on top. Soft and fluffy potatoes blended together with sharp cheddar, mashed garlic cloves, sour cream, and chives. As a complete foodie, this is the kind of stuff I dream about. For me to have a magic carpet ride through the sky. Just grabbing a handful of these cloud-like potatoes whenever I want. My mouth is salivating at the thought. We are definitely polishing off the leftovers at dinner tonight.
I promise you, these aren’t just the easiest mashed potatoes to make, they’re also the most delicious. And we all know that Thanksgiving is more about the SIDES than the actual turkey. Those are what we all really look forward to, right? Make ’em count.
I first tested a batch of these cheddar mashed potatoes last year around this time. Within seconds of the first bite, I was ready to put the recipe on the blog. Ultimately, I decided to hold off as it would’ve been the second mashed potato recipe shared in a months time. And i’m pretty sure you guys would’ve been convinced that I was onto another food obsession. Remember the garlic mashed potatoes? THOSE.
But don’t you dare think for a second that this recipe isn’t just as good as the garlic mashed potatoes. In fact, if you aren’t completely obsessed with garlic the way Anees is, you may even think it’s better. I know I did. Come on! There’s still that hint of garlic, don’t worry! Then there’s also sour cream, and chives, and did I mention, shredded CHEDDAR. I’ll take my cheese with a side of potatoes, please! ??
My cheddar mashed potato recipe is stupid easy. First, let’s talk about the potatoes. Use whatever kind of potatoes you like, red potatoes, baby yukons, even a couple of big old russets will do. You want to just cut them down into 2-inch pieces. Next, you’re also going to add in whole, peeled garlic cloves to the water. This will help make the garlic cloves nice and tender so they’ll get mashed right along with the potatoes in the next step. Then, make sure to salt the water generously because bland potatoes are not on the Thanksgiving menu – no ma’am. Finally, let them boil until they are fork tender.
Once you cook the potatoes through, drain and add them back to the pot. Now, I could tell you that you can use hand beaters to blend the potatoes, because the truth is you can. But I’m starting to become a litttttttle bitttt particular about my mashed potatoes (I know right, just add it to the list). I like to use a potato masher and *just* mash until they’re broken down. Actually, mash them however you like, don’t even listen to my nonsense.
Once the potatoes are mashed, all that’s left to do is add the butter, sour cream, half and half, cheddar cheese, and chopped chives. The heat from the potatoes will melt the cheddar and butter right in. If you like your mashed potatoes on the thicker side, you can use ½ the half and half first and adjust to your preference.
One of the things I love about this cheddar mashed potatoes recipe is that you can make it ahead of time. Potatoes are super forgiving! So if they start to tighten up on you in the refrigerator, just add a little milk or cream to thin them out to your preference.
Seriously, someone hand me a spoon! I may just eat this whole batch all by myself. Wanna join me? Make a batch!
Love ya, but I’m not sharing .?
Seriously Amazing Cheddar Mashed Potatoes
These are some seriously AMAZING cheddar mashed potatoes! Loaded with garlic, sour cream, and chopped chives. The perfect side to make for Thanksgiving or any night of the week!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. red, yukon, or russet potatoes, peeled, cubed into 2 inch pieces
- 1-4 whole cloves of garlic, peeled
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 4 tablespoons butter, cubed
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1- 1 ½ cups cheddar cheese
- ⅔ - 1cup half and half or milk (room temp)
- 3 tablespoons chopped chives
Instructions
- Place the peeled potatoes in a large pot or dutch oven. Add cold water to the pot so that the potatoes are completely submerged and the water is about 2 inches over the potatoes. Add ¾ teaspoon of salt and the peeled garlic cloves to the water. Turn the heat on high and bring the potatoes to a boil. Cook the potatoes for 15-20 minutes or until they are fork tender.
- Drain the potatoes, but do not rinse. Add the potatoes back into the pot and add the cubed butter in. Using a potato masher or a hand beater, mash/beat the potatoes to desired consistency. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the sour cream, and cheddar cheese. Add ⅓ cup of half and half and stir to combine. Continue adding half and half until the potatoes reach your desired consistency. Sprinkle with the chives. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
- I used a total of three cloves of garlic and it was perfect for our taste buds. For less garlicky flavor, I suggest 1-2 cloves. For LOTS go with 4-5!
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17 Comments on “Seriously Amazing Cheddar Mashed Potatoes”
Served these this past weekend and NO LEFTOVERS! Everyone wanted seconds of the potatoes! Never had that happen with regular mashed potatoes. Never serving it any other way.
This was delicious. The family really enjoyed the potatoes. I used a 5 yr. old cheddar which gave a nice sharp taste.
Can you use avocado oil instead if butter and almond milk instead of half and half?
Hello! Can you use minced garlic in the jar? If so how many teaspoons you think? Thank you
Absolutely! It’s 1 teaspoon of preminced garlic for each clove depending on how garlicky you want the potatoes to be. Fresh garlic is more potent so if you really like garlic, I’d add a little more than your usual amount!
Super easy to make my kids loved it!!!
Is it possible to use 2% or heavy cream in this potato recipe?
If you’ve got both heavy cream and milk Regina, you can make half and half. Equal parts of 2% and HC will make something similiar to half and half. But yes, either of those will work; 2% won’t make these super creamy but you can up the sour cream by another tablespoon or so to give you that luxuriousness!
Do I mash the garlic cloves up with the potatoes or throw them out when I drain the potatoes?
Totally your call Cara! We love garlic so I left them in but you can certainly toss them if you don’t want it to have a super garlicky flavor!
Making these right now for the first time. With meatloaf and green beans. I’m not sure who is more excited…me, my husband, or the kids lol either way, we are looking forward to it!
That sounds like an amazing combination of food!
Making these right now- tripled the recipe- only have added 1 cup of half and half and it looks watery- will it thicken up? Thanks!
Hi Kay! Yes, the potatoes should soak up all the liquid and thicken up. If for any reason it doesn’t, you can always heat them over the lowest setting on the stove and that should help evaporate some of the liquid but I don’t think you’ll need to do this, they should thicken up on their own! 🙂
If I make them ahead how do you best suggest reheating?
I just reheated them in the microwave. You may need additional milk to thin them out (if you like your mash potatoes a little smoother) but they reheat just fine!
These look and sound delicious. Thanks for the inspiration Marzia!