Take your mashed potatoes to the next level by making these Creamy Baked Mashed Potatoes! Sour cream, cream cheese, garlic, and paprika are stars for this dish that is flavorful with a crisp topping.

THE INGREDIENTS: 

Potatoes: The key part for any mashed potato recipe! We like to use russet potatoes, but you can use white, yukon gold, or just about any large potato you have on hand! Obviously, this is no recipe to break out the fingerling potatoes for. When we say 4 medium potatoes, we mean ones that aren’t large but are definitely a good size. If you were eating just 1 baked potato, this would probably be the size you’d pick. You can use around 6 smaller potatoes if that is what you have or 3 larger potatoes. 

Garlic: The family version of this recipe originally used garlic salt, but what isn’t better with whole cloves of garlic? This creamy baked mashed potatoes recipe is a “go big or go home” version of classic mashed potatoes, and we’re going big! It may seem like a lot of garlic to boil in, but trust us! We’ve tried with less cloves and the flavor just isn’t apparent. If you don’t have fresh garlic on hand, we’d use about 1 teaspoon of garlic powder. Or, you could omit the salt and the fresh garlic by using 1.5 teaspoons of garlic salt. 

Cream Cheese: The tang of cream cheese does not have to be reserved only for cheesecake. Here, it pairs well with the sour cream to make a unique dairy flavor that is noticeable, but not overwhelming. We’ve reduced the cream cheese and the flavor just isn’t apparent. We’ve also gone higher on our dairy and it stands out a little too much, so we think the amount we have stated is the sweet spot. As always, you know your tastes best, so do what you think! If you don’t have enough cream cheese on hand, just add a bit more sour cream. Full fat or low fat cream cheese works well here. 

Sour Cream: As much as we love the tang of cream cheese, sour cream in mashed potatoes is just so classic! To not miss out, we added both ingredients. Sour cream is much more liquidy than cream cheese, so it also helps to soften our mashed potatoes. Baked mashed potatoes should be looser than regular stovetop mashed potatoes, so this is important! We’ve gone higher with the sour cream and it’s been enjoyed by some and not by others, so know your audience! If you love sour cream mashed potatoes, you can increase the sour cream to ⅔ of a cup at most. We wouldn’t decrease the sour cream beyond ⅓ cup or else you won’t be able to taste it much. You may need to decrease or increase how much milk you add to make up for this. 

Milk: The original family recipe varied a lot, with some batches being just right and others being quite soupy. Our recipe, on the other hand, has a bit more firmness! In fact, without milk, dare we say a little too much. To ensure that loose texture before baking and a fluffier overall mashed potato, we like to add milk. You can increase or decrease the milk as needed, how wet your potatoes are is all dependent on what size of (and how many) potatoes you used! 

Salt: Mashed potatoes without salt are so noticeable it’s sad. Avoid disaster and add the salt! Also, know your preferences! You can reduce the salt a bit or increase it a bit and still have a successful batch. We’d say to change the salt only by ¼ teaspoon in either direction for best results. 

Black Pepper: A common ingredient in mashed potatoes, and this recipe is no exception! Add as much black pepper as you like, everyone has different tastes. We think this is a great recipe for freshly cracked black pepper, but we think that about most recipes. Ground black pepper works great here, too! 

Onion Powder: Not the most common ingredient, but so worth it to add! When garlic makes a recipe better, that usually means onion flavor can, too! We wouldn’t decrease the onion powder in this recipe or else it gets lost in the overall dish. 

Butter: We’ve successfully made this recipe without melted butter and the top still got firm, but it gets so much better with butter! It adds that lovely flavor of course, but fats also help make things crunchier. Think of duchess potatoes or even food that’s fried up in oil (a kind of fat), after all! We normally use unsalted butter, but salted butter works just fine here. If you have flavored butter (such as garlic butter), this is a great way to use it! Plus, then you won’t have to add any extra garlic to it.

Paprika: Paprika may not be a necessary ingredient to most, but we dare say it is! It makes this meal feel (and look) like home. The flavor is not overly strong, but really it adds a lovely finishing touch. Just sprinkle on as much as looks right. 

KEY INFORMATION: 

Can You Make Mashed Potatoes In Advance? Mashed potatoes are just not as good the next day. We recommend making these mashed potatoes all in one go! 

What Goes With Creamy Baked Mashed Potatoes? Baked mashed potatoes are a versatile side dish that pairs well with vegetarian meals, meat, and seafood. They also go well with just about any veggie side dish. Let us give you some examples! A good meatloaf with these mashed potatoes and green beans almondine is sure to be a success. Otherwise, make a roasted turkey or chicken and a lovely green bean casserole with mushrooms.  You could also pan fry up some fish and roast some lemon garlic asparagus to go well with these mashed potatoes.

For those looking for vegetarian options, make mashed potato breakfast bowls or serve them with a vegetable stew. Poach eggs, make a little toast, and cook up some cherry tomatoes and bell peppers for a nice breakfast bowl. For the vegetable stew, cook a mixture of (picking and choosing what you want) chickpeas or other beans, eggplant, bell peppers, tomatoes, and onion in oil. Any “wetter” vegetable works well here. Season as you like and put it on top of the potatoes or on the side. Serve with bread or even with a fried egg on top.