Potato Recipes & Ideas

Pommes Anna is a French side dish made of just three simple ingredients: potatoes, butter, and salt. It’s classic and elegant all at the same time; potato slices are arranged in overlapping concentric circles, creating layers upon layers into a round cake that resembles a flower. The outside is golden-brown and crispy — like the fanciest hash browns you’ll ever have — and makes a satisfying crunch when you slice it into wedges.

I like to think sweet potatoes eagerly await Thanksgiving every year, knowing it’s their time to shine. Whether it’s a tradition to bake them into a pie for dessert or turn them into a casserole with marshmallows as a side dish, sweet potatoes are a holiday classic. However, there are so many more ways to serve them than these fan-favorite dishes.

Pommes aligot is more than just a cheesy twist on mashed potatoes. This incredibly magical blend of creamy potatoes and cheese was born in the French region of Midi-Pyrénées, and it is a celebration of regional cheese, served on special occasions alongside sausage or roasted meat.

Crispy outside + ultra-creamy inside = your new signature sweet potato.

These creamy, caramelized coins are almost too good to be true.

Hot dogs and french fries are the perfect match.

They're not the same as gratin.

One bite and you’ll say “Yee-haw!”

I knew absolutely nothing about the glories of a good baked potato until the day I ordered one at a local restaurant in my town that was known for them. Before that, my primary “baked” potato experience involved a microwave. What I tasted was so revelatory I still remember it: ridiculously crisp on the outside and oh so fluffy inside. I realized what we’d been doing at home was very, very wrong.

Is there nothing more comforting and delicious than mashed potatoes? This warm, creamy, dairy-laden starch might be more of an indulgence than everyday fare these days, but even if you only have them once a year (Thanksgiving!), I say go all out and do it right. Read on for our method for classic mashed potatoes, with recommendations for potato type, dairy additions, and mashing methods. Potatoes: The best potatoes for mashed potatoes are Russets and Yukon Golds.

You don't even have to boil water.

Sweet potato casserole is one of the most popular Thanksgiving side dishes for a reason: It serves up the vegetable in a creamy, sweet, and decadent way, and as we pile it onto our plates, it makes us feel like a kid again. Unfortunately, it’s often overthought and over-complicated, riddled with too many unnecessary steps and ingredients (I’m guilty of it, too, although this classic, meringue-topped version is delish).

Baked potatoes are incredibly easy to make – you can walk in the door, throw a few potatoes in the oven, and carry on with your after-work routine until they’re ready to eat. Cracked open and still steaming, baked potatoes are ready to receive anything from a pat of butter, a sprinkle of cheese, or last night’s beef chili. Baking a potato in the oven does require a little more time than zapping it in the microwave, though.

There's more to it than you think.

I could eat potatoes every day for the rest of my life. At their core these spuds are so humble, but with a little finesse, they suddenly blossom into a comforting side which turns out to the best thing on the plate (no offense to the main dish!) Mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, baked potatoes — sign me up as interested for all of the above.

A potato salad that isn’t “potato salad.”

Pumpkin and butternut squash seem to get all the attention this time of year, but when it comes to orange-hued vegetables, I actually prefer the humble sweet potato. I’ll take sweet potatoes any which way, but at my Thanksgiving table I prefer mashed sweet potatoes. Some mashed sweet potato recipes call for baking the them in the oven first, then slipping them out of their skins and mashing them. Other recipes call for boiling the sweet potatoes in water.

A big bowl of classic mashed potatoes make any meal a little better. Sadly, I come from a long line of mashed potato forgetters. A familiar cry heard each Thanksgiving was, “The mashed potatoes!” This could mean one of three things: Someone forgot to start them, someone forgot they were cooking, or someone forgot them in the kitchen and they were cold by the time they hit the table. This always bummed me out. I mean, we’re talking mashed potatoes here.

The sweet potato is arguably the most versatile veggie in the produce department. It can easily be the star of any meal, from pancakes for breakfast to the main event of dinner and can even do dessert. While baking sweet potatoes in the oven can take up to an hour, microwaving a sweet potato takes a mere five minutes. Here’s the very best way to do it, so that you can dig into your tender, steaming sweet potato ASAP. It’s lightning fast.

Of all the things I make in my Instant Pot, there’s nothing more convenient (or versatile!) than a batch of sweet potatoes. Topped with a pat of butter and flaky salt, Instant Pot sweet potatoes are a quick side dish to partner with whatever I’m cooking. They’re also incredibly versatile. Loaded with beans and greens, they make a wholesome vegetarian dinner. Filled with Greek yogurt or nut butter, and fruit, I have a nutritious breakfast.

Pronounced poh-taazh, potage is a fancy term for a thick and comforting soup cooked in a pot. Typically, it also infers that the soup is made of vegetables and is puréed until smooth. Like many French dishes, it originates from peasants and farmers who were using the ingredients they had available — in this case, any mix of vegetables. Potage is often enriched at the end with some kind of dairy.

So crunchy you can’t hear your own thoughts.

Save room for seconds.

It's probably in your pantry.

You’ll never guess these aren’t fried.

It's bursting with corn flavor.

They’re flavored from the inside out.

For all your potluck and BBQ needs.

Meet my soulmate potato.

People can't stop raving about them.

The humble spud does it again.

We're not kidding when we say they taste like potato mac and cheese.

The perfect make-ahead meal.

Buttery, cheesy, crispy goodness.

If you love creamy mashed potatoes, you’ll love colcannon, a traditional Irish dish. Keeping with tradition, we didn’t mess with the potatoes or cabbage, but swapped the plain melted butter that is typically served in a pool on top for fragrant browned butter. We just couldn’t help ourselves! The nutty browned butter is a wonderful warm contrast to the sharp green onions that get scattered before serving, giving this dish an easy, elegant twist.

There are a lot of ways to cook up a hearty, comforting pot of beef stew, but if you ask me, absolutely nothing compares to Guinness beef stew. It also happens to be my favorite dinner to cook for St. Patrick’s Day. In this version, thick chunks of chuck roast are seared and then simmered low and slow in a Guinness-spiked sauce on the stovetop.

Bubble and squeak, with its cutesy name, is a classic British day-after-holiday dish. It is incredibly versatile, as you can throw in any leftover vegetables or mashed potatoes into this comforting recipe — perfect for a relaxing meal after a hectic holiday. Usually made to use up leftovers after a Sunday roast dinner, or a major holiday like Easter or Christmas, bubble and squeak is quintessentially British and makes for a hearty breakfast, lunch, or even a quick weeknight meal.

You’re destined to love this dish.

All the pickle girls out there — this one’s for you.

And there isn't even heavy cream.

Crispy outside + fluffy inside = perfection.

These are too good.

On their own, baked potatoes are one of the absolute best foods. They’re cheap, filling, and require practically zero effort to make. All you really need is salt, pepper, and a pat of butter. You could be satisfied — no, delighted — by this simplest of preparations. But let us indulge, if you will, in what a humble baked potato could become.You don’t even need a recipe.

It features the crispiest potatoes of all time.

This recipe is a game-changer.

So you’re making Thanksgiving dinner for 20 people and you’re wondering whether you can make the mashed potatoes ahead of time and keep them warm. The answer is yes! Here are four foolproof methods to keep your mashed potatoes warm (or reheat the mashed potatoes you made yesterday). The method you use is up to you; use the one that works best for you and your schedule.

What's a bowl?

You had me at crispy bacon and gooey cheese.

Fondant potatoes look like a dish you’d order in a fancy restaurant. But don’t be intimidated by their appearance — they take less than one hour to make and use humble ingredients you might already have on hand. They also come together using just one pan, making cleanup a breeze. Serve them with seared steak or roast chicken for a restaurant-quality dinner at home. Or serve them alongside prime rib for an impressive holiday meal.