You Can Get the Creamiest Mashed Potatoes Ever with This Super Simple Method

published May 20, 2022
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A bowl of buttermilk mashed potatoes with green garnish.
Credit: Laura Rege
Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

What’s more comforting than a side of mashed potatoes? Ultra-creamy, melt-in-your mouth mashed potatoes. Poppy O’Toole, a Michelin-trained chef and self-proclaimed potato enthusiast, recently shared her secret for the creamiest (and dreamiest) mashed potatoes ever — and you won’t need to add any ingredients to your recipe. Instead, O’Toole swears by running the potatoes through a sieve for an extra dose of smoothness. 

In case you’re not familiar, a sieve — also sometimes called a strainer or sifter — is basically a finely woven mesh bowl. When you sieve any food, from sauces to dry ingredients, only the tiniest particles make it through the mesh, while the largest ones stay inside the sieve. The goal? In this case, smooth and velvety taters.

O’Toole doesn’t share step-by-step instructions for her process, but if you want to add creamy mashed potatoes to your dinner menu, follow your usual recipe and add the sieve step. Chop and boil your potatoes — we recommend adding a bit of half and half in the water — then drain them, and add them while they’re still hot to the sieve. O’Toole uses a spatula to both mash the potatoes and push them through the sieve, which appears to result in exactly what she promises. You can also opt to mash the potatoes separately if you’d prefer, then transfer them to a sieve for optimal smoothness. 

Once your potatoes reach a consistency you can’t wait to eat — which shouldn’t take too long, thanks to the sieve — you can add any extra ingredients you like, from cream cheese or sour cream to chives or chopped-up bacon. Then, revel in the satisfaction and ease of your new go-to starchy side!