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These buttery, fluffy, cheesy mashed potatoes are perfect for the holidays — or just because! Made with cream cheese, milk, sour cream, and butter, and topped with melty shredded cheddar cheese, they’re the perfect baked side dish to accompany turkey, a comforting meatloaf, or sweet and smoky grilled ribs.
See recipe card below for full list of measurements, ingredients, and instructions.
Why These Are The BEST Mashed Potatoes
- This is not a recipe simply for mashed potatoes with cheese. They’re cheesy mashed potatoes, combining starchy, fluffy potatoes with tangy cream cheese and sour cream, creamy milk, and bold cheddar cheese for layers on layer of creamy, rich and delicious cheesy flavor.
- Usually with mashed potatoes, you just boil the potatoes, add some butter and a little milk, and mash them until you get your desired consistency. We’re taking things one step further, baking the mashed potatoes to ensure they’re nice and warm, that everything’s smooth and fully incorporated, and the cheddar on top is perfectly melty.
- These potatoes are one of those dishes that is fancy enough for guests or your holiday table, but also works pretty much anywhere you’d serve regular mashed potatoes to level up a family dinner. You’re welcome!
What I Learned Testing This Recipe
- For the very best cheesy mashed potatoes, you need to peel the potatoes completely. You can leave the skins on, and believe me, I love mashed potatoes both ways. But to get really smooth, creamy, fluffy potatoes here, you don’t want to include any of the potato skins.
- You can use mild, sharp, or white cheddar, but whichever you choose, heed this advice. Take the extra time to shred your cheddar cheese yourself, especially if you’re making this dish for the holidays or a special occasion. Prepackaged shredded cheeses use starches and fillers to keep the cheese from clumping in the bag, but those fillers keep the cheese from melting like it should. Freshly shredded cheese melts SO much better.
- Be careful not to overwork the potatoes. If you mash them too much, they’ll start to get gummy and gluey rather than creamy and fluffy. This is a common side effect of mashing them using an electric mixer, instead of a hand held masher or ricer. There’s not a lot you can do to salvage them at that point, short of turning them into mashed potato pancakes.
Ingredients
Yukon gold potatoes – Or russet potatoes, peeled, and cut into 2-inch cubes. These are the best varieties for the smoothest mashed potatoes.
Cream cheese – Softened, so it melts evenly into the potatoes. Full fat is best for this recipe as it will give the creamiest finish, but low fat varieties will also work.
Milk – It doesn’t matter what kind you use, just make sure it is either near to or at room temperature.
Sour cream – Again, this should be at or close to room temperature to ensure smooth results, and while full fat is best, low fat will still work.
Butter – I prefer unsalted as I can control the amount of salt I add to the potatoes myself.
Shredded cheddar cheese – Make sure you shred it yourself as pre-shredded cheese is coated with anti-caking agents which can make your potatoes gluey. I like cheddar best in this recipe, but you could sub other similar hard grating cheeses.
Serving & Storage Suggestions
Aside from Thanksgiving dinner, these potatoes go great with my Sous Vide Prime Rib with Au Jus, Garlic Herb Butter Chicken, and my Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf.
As for any leftovers, they will keep for up to 3 days and can be re-heated at 350°F with a splash of milk to loosen. Or, if you want to use the microwave do so in short bursts, stirring each time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Make the dish right up to baking up to 2 days ahead, adding the cheese topping just before putting it in the oven. You might need to add an extra 10 minutes of cooking time to make sure you’re heated through if it is cold from the refrigerator.
Obviously! I’ve just kept them plain so they can work with the maximum amount of other dishes. Crumbled bacon, crispy onions and breadcrumbs would all be good ideas, as would sliced green onions scattered over just before serving.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions or variations listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
Cheesy Mashed Potatoes
Equipment
- Large pot no lid needed
- Fork
- colander
- large mixing bowl
- Potato masher
- Small microwave-safe bowl
- Oven
- 2-quart baking dish
- Silicone spatula
- Aluminum Foil
Ingredients
- 4 pounds Yukon gold potatoes or russet potatoes; peeled, cut into 2-inch cubes
- cold water enough to cover potatoes
- 1 big pinch salt plus more to taste
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- ½ cup milk of choice at or near room temperature
- ½ cup sour cream at or near room temperature
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese divided
Instructions
- Add cubed potatoes to large pot, then fill pot with enough water to fully cover potatoes. Waterline should sit approximately 1-inch above top of potatoes. Salt water with 1 large pinch salt.
- Heat pot over high heat. When water begins to boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer 20 minutes or until potatoes are very tender. Use fork to check doneness – tines of fork should pierce potatoes with no resistance.
- Carefully pour water and potatoes out of pot and into colander. Drain well, then transfer potatoes to large mixing bowl. Use potato masher to lightly mash potatoes.
- Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Place butter in small, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave 30 seconds or until butter is melted but not bubbling or burnt.
- Add melted butter, cream cheese, milk, sour cream, and ½ cup shredded cheddar to mixing bowl with potatoes. Resume mashing until potato mixture is light and fluffy, being careful not to overwork potatoes. Taste potato mixture and add salt if desired.
- Transfer mashed potato mixture to baking dish. Spread potatoes out to cover bottom of dish evenly and smooth top of potatoes. Sprinkle remaining cheddar cheese over top of potatoes, then cover dish with aluminum foil.
- Place baking dish in preheated oven and bake potatoes, covered, 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, carefully remove foil and return dish to oven, baking potatoes another 10 minutes or until cheese on top is melted and bubbly.
- Carefully remove baking dish from oven. Let stand 5 minutes then serve warm.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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