This is THE perfect recipe for the creamiest mashed potatoes ever! People absolutely rave over them!

How do you make the perfect mashed potatoes?
To make perfect mashed potatoes you need the perfect recipe and right ingredients. The secret to this recipe is that it uses the right proportions of cream cheese, butter, and buttermilk to create the most buttery and delicious mashed potatoes. When the recipe is followed correctly you will end up with perfect, creamy, and delicious mashed potatoes that you will be wanting to eat every night.
What can you add to mashed potatoes?
Wanting to add some other ingredients to your mashed potatoes? Here are some of my recommendations.
Bacon Mashed Potatoes – Cook between 1/4 to to 3/4 of a pound of bacon until crispy. Replace half the butter in the recipe below with 1/8 cup – 1/4 cup bacon grease.
Cheddar Mashed Potatoes – Add in about 3 of shredded cheddar cheese. Then add in 1/4 cup of parsley or chives for some some great tasting cheesy cheddar mashed potatoes.
Other Possible Flavor Additions: Dill, red bell peppers, pesto, Parmesan cheese, Italian sausage, or garlic.
How can I fix my lumpy mashed potatoes?
If you end up with lumpy mashed potatoes that probably means the potatoes were undercooked. Don’t worry though there is a simple fix. All you need to do is add a little bit more cream or milk to the potatoes and cook the potatoes over a low heat until those lumps start to soften. You should be able to mash again to create smooth and creamy mashed potatoes.
Are red or white potatoes better for mashing?
Russet or other high starch potatoes like Yukon golds are the best potatoes to use for mashed potatoes. These high starch potatoes will absorb the flavoring of the butter and cream better, and end up more fluffy and velvety smooth. That being said you can use red potatoes or types of white potatoes, but they will require more mashing to become creamy and may be a bit more gummy.
PRO TIP: I find this to be the perfect recipe for absolutely creamy mashed potatoes. On special occasions like Thanksgiving, where calories and fat are plentiful, I like to double the cream cheese and butter for an extra special creamy treat.
Chef’s Note: After being cooked, these mashed potatoes can be placed in a crockpot on the low or warm setting for up to 4 hours before serving. This comes in quite handy for large and demanding meals like Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter.
The Creamiest Mashed Potatoes

- 5 pounds russet potatoes washed and peeled
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- Peel and rinse potatoes. Cut into 1-inch cubes or chunks. Place the potatoes into a large pot. Pour in chicken broth. Potatoes should be just covered with liquid.
- Place the pot on the stove over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
- Strain the potatoes from the broth and put the cooked potatoes into a large mixing bowl.
- Add in the butter, cream cheese, buttermilk, and salt. Use a hand mixer to whip the potatoes and other ingredients until light, fluffy, and creamy (3-5 minutes), or use a potato masher or a potato ricer. Serve hot.
We have added cream cheese to our mashed potatoes for a long time and LOVE it – recently we tried using the Chive and Green Onion Cream Cheese – YUM!!!!
I love this recipe I use cream cheese with chives I t adds a nice flavor my friends and family love it and I love all your recipes! Happy Thanksgivings no!
I made these for Thanksgiving dinner tonight, it was a hit! I had lots of positive comments. (I also used your roll recipe and it had the same results!) Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Rachel, Made these this week (to go with your potato abd cheese and pierogi recipe). DELICIOUS! Thanks for the great recipe!! Blessed and Happy New Year to you and your family!
How many servings does this recipe make? I usually only cook for 2… I tried your mozzarella stuffed meatloaf and it came out delish! Looking forward to trying more of your recipes!
It serves about 4-6 so you may want to cut the recipe in half.
I’m bit the greatest cook but these mashed potatoes are AMAZING
These are so wonderful, I just made them for late breakfast. I accidently added black pepper out of habit, might have been prettier without it.
I checked out your blog because of your “Be That Person” video (which I LOVED, btw). And also because I love food too. After seeing this post, I’m sure we’re actually kindred spirits because my mother, sisters, and I always joke about how the mashed potatoes are so creamy – While You Were Sleeping is a favorite! We always loved that scene because it mirrored so many of our own family dinners – overlapping conversations and people picking up snippets of what others said. Now that we have our own families and gatherings are even larger, it seems even more… Read more »
Caesar Romero was tall. ?
Caesar Romero was not Spanish. bahahahaha!
"Mary mashed them." 🙂
I love that movie! We say that line too, to which someone else usually replies with the next line typed above.
I've never added cream cheese to my mashed potatoes, although I have added it to mashed cauliflower. I may have to try that sometime.
WHY can't this be printed in a reasonably??
Below the post is a light green button that says "print friendly." When you click it a printable format should come up. Let me know if you have problems with it. Everything looks like it is working on my end.