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To me, there isn’t much more comforting than a big dollop of homemade mashed potatoes on a winter’s evening – accompanied by pie, toad in the hole, sausages or pretty much anything else. But, there is nothing quite as disappointing as lumpy mash – so I’m sharing our perfect mash potatoes recipe.

Dave and I endured years of making mashed potatoes – lumpy mash, never being able to get all the lumps out and no matter how long you boil potatoes for, how long you mashed the potatoes for, however hard you mashed, whatever potato masher you used and however much energy you used there was always a lump – even just one tiny lump, that would make the dream of lovely creamy mash come crashing to the ground around you.

But then something changed. Dave and I came across the most amazing invention – something everyone needs in their kitchen and yet something not many people have.

So what’s the secret to the best mashed potatoes?

A potato ricer.

Yes, the secret to perfect mashed potato is a potato ricer!

Like a giant garlic press, the stainless steel potato ricer pushes the potato through small holes, literally squishing every little lump from the potato! Amazing.

The one downside is it takes longer to fill the ricer with potato than it would take to simply mash the potatoes but it’s a small price to pay for amazing mashed potato every single time. I know, I’m literally raving about the potato ricer – and the mashed potato that we make with it – but it really is as good as it gets.

The home made mashed potatoes you make with a potato ricer is something that you will make you never look back. You can have easy mashed potatoes or you can have this beautifully creamy mashed potatoes recipe that just takes a little bit longer.

Which potato ricer should you use?

The best potato ricers for us has always been simple stainless steel potato ricers from Amazon which comes with different sized templates to push the potato through. Although we always end up using the same one! They’re dishwasher safe, easy clean and so much easier to use than potato mashers.

Can you use unpeeled potatoes with potato ricers?

With potato ricers we tend to use peeled potatoes but for a more rustic finish you can use unpeeled potatoes, giving potato ricer made mash that will be both rustic and delicious with no waste either.

You can also get a more traditional plastic potato ricer or even an electric potato ricer. There are so many options now! But, if you’re looking for potato ricer alternatives the only other option is either grating the potatoes or using a masher – and this whole post has pretty much weighed up riced potatoes vs mashed. Riced ones with every time for us!

Welcome to the world of lump-free mashed potato every time.

Dave is the king of creamy mashed potatoes in our house and here is how he makes our mash. Excuse the not very specific quantities, it really depends on how many people you’re making mash for and we always make too much!

How to rice potatoes?

You may be reading this thinking what even is a mashed potatoes ricer and how do you use a potato ricer! Well, it couldn’t be simpler. You just fill the void in the potato ricer with boiled potatoes and pressing down on the handle. It’s like a giant potato press and works so much better than a mash potato masher!

How do you make fluffy mashed potatoes with ricers?

The secret to getting the mash really light and fluffy even when using a potato ricer is to make sure you use a fork to stir and mix with. This creates a lot of air in the mash and makes sure it doesn’t turn out too dense.

We always make this mash potato recipe using unsalted butter and milk but you can try making mash potatoes with sour cream or even a garlic mashed potatoes recipe for a bit of variety.

Here’s our perfect mashed potatoes recipe – happy mashing!

Ingredients

Potatoes – Russet Potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes are apparently the best although we’ve never tried Yukon Golds ourselves.
Margarine/Butter – A good dollop
Milk – A glug If you’re feeling like it, you can go all out and use full fat milk or even single cream!

Instructions

Peel as many potatoes as you feel you’ll need and cut them into thick slices – these cook quicker than chunks and fit in the ricer better.
Put the potato chunks in a large pot. Cover them with cold water and bring to the boil. Season with salt if you like.
Simmer for as long as you can but around 45mins works for us.
Drain the potatoes.
Rice the potatoes. Put all the potatoes through the ricer and back into the saucepan you cooked them in.
Add a dollop of spread and mix well with a fork. Add some of the milk and stir. Keep adding milk until you get the desired consistency.

If you’d like to print or pin this perfect mashed potatoes recipe for later you can do so below. Enjoy!

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