Martha Stewart's Mashed Potatoes Are Unbelievably Creamy (And Here's The Secret Reason Why)

Mashed potatoes might be the perfect side dish. They work alongside almost everything: meat, fish, chicken, pork, and they are just as appropriate with a special, festive dinner like Thanksgiving, as they are with a midweek meal. They should be piping hot and buttery, with the earthy flavor of the potatoes still shining through, but most people would probably agree that mashed potatoes should be creamy. Even Martha Stewart thinks so, and to make hers extremely velvety, she makes her mom's recipe which features a whole block of cream cheese.

Like many mashed potato recipes, Stewart first boils russet or Yukon Gold potatoes whole until they are tender. She also suggests taking the time to dry out cooked potatoes to achieve the perfect texture. She then peels them and cuts them into chunks, and combines them in a mixer with soft butter, warm milk and cream, salt, and pepper — plus eight ounces of softened cream cheese for extra rich flavor. Of course, you can douse them in gravy, but truthfully, they are delicious just as they are. Growing up, I thought my mom made the best mashed potatoes in the world, and that I could never replicate them. Come to find out, she used cream cheese in her recipe, too. Aside from adding incredible richness, I think cream cheese gives potatoes a slight tanginess that's so subtle, you hardly notice it at first. Still, they're just not the same without it.

Standard blocks of cream cheese shouldn't be difficult to find at your local grocery store. You can use whipped cream cheese, as well, but it's important that you measure it by weight and not volume. This is because whipped cream cheese has air beaten into it and is less dense than regular cream cheese. Not weighing it could affect the mashed potatoes Martha Stewart loves so much. I recall one Christmas season when I couldn't find cream cheese anywhere so I picked up a box of Neufchatel cheese. It worked in the recipe I was making — and you could certainly use it in a pinch for potatoes — but it's worth noting that it contains less fat than cream cheese which you may or may not notice in the final flavor and texture of your mashed potatoes.

Another tasty cream cheese substitute is swapping in eight ounces of creamy goat cheese. This will change the flavor a bit, but if you're a goat cheese fan, you'll love it. For creaminess and extra flavor, you could also try a flavored cream cheese like Philadelphia brand garlic and herb or chive and onion; or Boursin, the cheese Costco customers say tastes "just like in France." Finally, if you want to one-up Martha, you could even make your own homemade cream cheese by combining sour cream, citrus juice or vinegar, and salt. Whichever creamy cheese you choose, you won't go back to lesser mashed potatoes again.