This recipe, although delicious, is still pretty basic. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a Thanksgiving meal that didn’t have mashed potatoes (not in the South, at least). So, this recipe isn’t so much to tell you what to put in your mashed potatoes, but rather to show you a great way to prepare them on a busy holiday-food-making day – for a lot of people at once. nd, I do tell you what to put in them…or, at least what I put in mine and they are pretty tasty. We also show you what they look like if you use purple potatoes instead of yellow/gold ones (see picture). Purple potatoes are delicious and are a more nutrient-dense variety than a white or yellow potato. They also boast a lower glycemic index which will be important to some of you. If you prefer a more traditional looking dish, use the little golden potatoes.
As mentioned, this recipe makes a LOT of mashed potatoes (feeds more than a dozen). If you want to scale this recipe down for fewer people I recommend cubing and boiling your potatoes until soft, as usual, and then proceeding with adding the rest of the ingredients and mashing them that way.
The reason this method is so great (and so “holiday”) is because you can make a lot easily and, as they cook in a crock pot, you can get them going and set them aside to do their thing early in the day – leaving your hands and kitchen free to tackle other parts of the menu. You don’t even have to peel the potatoes first so it takes no time to set this up. Last year Miki’s 14-year-old daughter was in charge of these potatoes and they came out perfectly.
This recipe calls for chicken broth. Remember this post? This potato recipe is one way having homemade, nutrient-dense chicken broth already in your freezer comes in very handy. If you don’t have any and don’t have time to make some you can purchase some. Look for a brand with recognizable ingredients, that says it’s low-sodium or has no added salt and if you can find one that says the hens were pasture-raised, that’s a big plus! This is a good brand. This one is better. Don’t forget to check out Thrive Market online as you’re making your holiday food shopping lists especially if you aren’t near a health food grocery store where you can find many of these things on the shelf.
ingredients
- -5 lb golden or purple potatoes halved or cubed
- -1 C chicken broth preferably homemade
- -1 C butter 2 sticks, cut into chunks
- -2 to 3 tsp garlic powder
- -1 Tbs sea salt plus more to taste later
- -3/4 tsp ground black pepper
- -3/4 C milk you can also use more broth if you don’t want to use milk, preferably grass-fed and raw
- -8 oz. sour cream leave out for dairy-free and potatoes are still delicious!
- -3 oz. cream cheese leave out for dairy-free and potatoes are still delicious!
instructions
- Half or cube all your potatoes so they are all in roughly 2-inch pieces.
- Place the potatoes in the crock pot and pour in 1 C of chicken broth.
- Place all your pats of butter on top of the potatoes.
- Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 7 hours – whichever is best for you and your time table for dinner.
- When your potatoes are done cooking turn off the crock pot and add all of the other ingredients directly in with the hot potatoes. Do not remove any excess liquid from the pot. You need this for creamy mashed potatoes.
- Stir and mash your potatoes and other ingredients until smooth. I use a combination of a large spatula, a potato masher (easily found at Walmart) and then an electric hand mixer to get the potatoes where I want them. Actually, I’ll have my husband do it sometimes so my arm doesn’t get tired.
- Now, you can leave the lid on and keep the crock pot on the “warm” setting. They’ll wait patiently in the wings until dinner is served.
- Enjoy!
