How to Freeze Mashed Potatoes
I’ve been busy making our Thanksgiving meal. Yes, two weeks in advance. It’s easy when you know how to properly freeze everything it takes for your Thanksgiving feast. Read on if you want to know how to freeze mashed potatoes. Not only is this great recipe easy, but it also produces the best mashed potatoes you’ve ever served. This might be the perfect side dish!
For the last four or five years, I’ve cooked almost everything (except the turkey) in advance and stored it in the freezer.
It makes Thanksgiving dinner so much easier for me! I just transfer the prepared Thanksgiving sides to the fridge a couple of days before to defrost, and then reheat it in the oven on Thanksgiving afternoon. The only things I prepare on Thanksgiving day are the turkey and the deviled eggs. Using make ahead recipes for your side dishes makes the Thanksgiving prep easier for you.
Usually, you can’t freeze potatoes whether they are raw potatoes or cooked and mashed in a standard recipe. They get grainy and gross since freezing can change the texture of the unprotected potato molecules. The trick to freezable mashed potatoes is to coat every molecule of potato in luscious, full-fat dairy. I imagine the dairy duo of butter and sour cream blanketing and protecting the fragile starches.
My usual mashed potatoes are made with Yukon Gold potatoes or red potatoes. I love the firmer, waxier texture of Yukon Golds because I like the potatoes a little rustic, and more smashed than whipped. But for this recipe, I used russet potatoes – those big Idaho potatoes that are so good as baked potatoes – which have a drier consistency and whip up light and fluffy. So fluffy!
Since this recipe is for Thanksgiving, forget about the calorie count. Also, if you are going to freeze this, ALL DAIRY MUST BE FULL FAT.
I said full fat. Think of it as insulation. For the potatoes, not you.
FREEZE-AHEAD MASHED POTATO RECIPE
serves 12
5 pounds russet potatoes
8 ounces cream cheese
8 ounces sour cream
8 Tablespoons butter, unsalted
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Bring cream cheese, sour cream, and butter to room temperature (very important!)
Peel and cube potatoes and cook until tender in a large pot of salted water. I put in a tablespoon or two of salt before I add the potatoes.
Use a little bit of the soft butter to grease a casserole dish. This dish should be able to go in the freezer and in the oven.
Once the dish is buttered, use a tablespoon or so of the grated Parm to dust the inside of the dish. Set aside.
Prepping a baking dish is completely optional, but a great way to go from freezer to oven to table. Another great option is to let the finished recipe cool and then store it in a large freezer bag until it’s time to reheat. This might be the best way to save oven space because you can warm the mashed potatoes in a crock pot or instant pot on Thanksgiving Day.
When potatoes fall apart when you press on them, drain and return to the pan on the stove. Make sure the stove is off now.
Add the cream cheese, sour cream, and all but one tablespoon of the butter.
Using a hand mixer, whip until smooth. Don’t over-mix, since that can create gummy potatoes.
You can add splashes of whole milk if a tablespoon at a time to adjust the consistency.
For the last few years, I’ve become a convert to the potato ricer. You just press your cooked potatoes through the ricer and you get always-fluffy, never gummy mashed potatoes. Let a kid help with this part. It’s full for them and gets them involved with the meal.
Also, it’s fine to use your standard potato masher, just slightly less festive. Again, let the kids help mash potatoes.
.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Put potatoes into a baking dish, sprinkle with the grated Parmesan and dot the top of the potatoes with the reserved tablespoon of butter. Feel free to use extra. On this many pounds of potatoes, you can use plenty of butter
Cover tightly with plastic wrap and freeze.
Reheating Instructions for Frozen Mashed Potatoes
(If you don’t want to freeze this, you can make it a day in advance and store it in the fridge.)
The day before Thanksgiving, transfer frozen mashed potatoes to the refrigerator to thaw.
About an hour before dinner, set the dish out to come to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Remove plastic wrap and bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Make sure the center is fully heated.
I turn the broiler on for five more minutes if it’s not browned enough.
I think this recipe is smooth and rich and perfect for the Thanksgiving table. I’ve made it for years and it is a much-anticipated part of our annual dinner.
You can’t have Thanksgiving without mashed potatoes!
If there are leftovers, I mix with a little cheese and egg and fry up potato pancakes on Friday or Saturday.
This recipe is from an old favorite cookbook, “Happy Holidays from the Diva of Do-Ahead” by Diane Phillips.
It’s a wonderful book for entire make-ahead meals for every holiday throughout the year, and I highly recommend it. It’s on Amazon for about ten dollars.
Next, make-ahead gravy! Get it done in advance almost completely so you don’t have to sweat it on Turkey Day.
Drippings from a smoked turkey make awesome gravy. 😆
Doing stuff like this ahead of time makes the day so much more enjoyable.
Careful! You’re going to make me look bad!
Please! I make you look gooood!
We make the same…almost…we put 2 eggs in instead of sour cream. My family loves these…so do all our Mexican friends!
fern
Eggs-interesting! That must help it set up nicely.
Here’s another endorsement for how well these potatoes turn out. Nobody can tell they were frozen. They’re perfect.
One thing: That recipe makes 4 servings in my house – not 12.
That’s more than a pound of potatoes each. Y’all are my kind of people!
Oh, can’t wait to learn how to make gravy in advance! That’s the part I hate since everyone’s ready to eat and I’m making gravy and it takes forever!
I will definitely be making these potatoes this year! Thanks!!
Gravy is like a magic trick when you do it right. Really, it’s more of a science experiment, but that’s like magic, right? 😉
I make a similar recipe. I’ve never done the parmesan part – that looks yummy! I add chopped chives (or green onions), garlic powder and sprinkle with paprika. So pretty and yummy.
* I noted the Penzey’s black pepper in your photo. Best black pepper EVER!
It was hard for me to keep the garlic powder out of these, or some roasted, pureed garlic. Garlic makes everything good.
Yes, Penzey’s pepper is the best and usually cheaper than what you can buy in the grocery store.
Do you freeze it in the corning dish also? I am definitely doing this for Thanksgiving! I love the idea of make ahead sides!!!
Any make ahead glazed carrot recipes? lol
Yes, right in the dish I’ll serve them in, although I have transferred them to another container.
No glazed carrot recipes, though you can roast any root veg and store in the fridge a day or two.
Sounds deadly and delicious 😀
Your mouth will thank you–but your hips won’t!
Just finished mine! I used one of those “use and throw away” casserole dishes that are made out of this weird paper (I got it at Costco in a six pack). Since it took 1/2 hour to prepare, over an hour to boil, then 1/2 hour to assemble, MAN am I glad I did it today and not next week when I’m trying to do so many other things! Looking forward to eating it.
Ok I love this idea but have a couple of questions:
1) my hubby (my biggest critic and one who needs to be happy most in my book – lol) hates parmesan cheese. Can I delete this?
2) Can I substitute butter cooking spray in a my casserole dish instead of the butter and parm on the sides?
3) you said this dish could be stored in fridge a day ahead – how about a couple of days ahead?
Sorry to nit-pick but just want to make sure some minor detail doesn’t ruin this yummy sounding dish.
Thanks!
No trouble, Gloria! Yes, the Parm is totally optional.
I don’t know about the butter cooking spray. I think it would work to reduce sticking, but the butter in the recipe itself helps preserve the texture of the potatoes if you freeze.
With any food stored in the fridge, I would only consider it really safe for three days, so you’d want to consider that in the timing of serving for T-day and the leftover potential.
Good luck! I’ve made these potatoes for years now and they are a real crowd-pleaser!
Sounds good Anne – thanks so much for your quick reply. I’ll probaby just go ahead and make this weekend and freeze them. Thanks again and have a happy T-day!
Totally making these — but WHY no garlic? I *want* to add some — I always do. Is there a reason? I have a make-ahead potatoes recipe that allows for a 3-day refrigeration, but I have time NOW. We LOVE garlic…whaddya think?
Hey Anne – I made this today and it was so creamy almost like pudding!! I let my hubby like the pot clean – haha! Hey do I need to let it cool completely before freezing? So good to have one less thing to cook on T-day.
Thanks again for an amazing recipe!
Yay! So glad it passed the husband test! Yes, do let it cool before freezing.
I meant lick the pot clean – lol!
You said you used to make this with Yukon Golds. Did you make it fresh or make-ahead like the recipe? I wasn’t clear on that and was hoping to do this with Yukon Golds. Thanks!
I’ve done it both ways, both make-ahead and fresh.
I’m going to “test” this, this Thanksgiving. If I’m sitting on my porch the day after, then you konw why.
I don’t even know the way I ended up right here, however I thought this post used to be good.
I don’t know who you are but certainly you’re going to a well-known blogger when you
are not already. Cheers!
I have this book and have not been able to find it….Thanks so much. I have done this for a few years and I add garlic with no problem. I also use Yukon gold since I love them with garlic. Thanks for posting. Happy Cooking Everyone!
Enjoy, Chris! This is one of my favorite recipes!
The recipe says 8 oz. of butter, but you show 1 stick in the picture , which is 4 oz., 8 T. Which is correct?
More butter, always!
That’s a full, 8 oz stick of butter in the picture. You can see half of it, with 4 hash marks, but it’s all 8 oz.
Any thoughts on how this might work being reheated in a crockpot? Last year I made mashed potatoes in the morning and left them in the crockpot until dinner (so they were warm whenever everything else was ready), I’d like to do the same except make ahead and freeze in the crock, then defrost and reheat in the crockpot…
Your mashed potato recipe sounds great, but I’m in agreement with the person who asks about the amount of butter – is it one stick (8 tablespoons) or 8 ounces ( 1/2 pound) which would be 2 sticks? I think 2 sticks would be too much, don’t you agree?
Ah ha! I had misunderstood. Yes, you are both correct. It’s 8 TABLESPOONS of butter. I’ll change the recipe, with thanks!
Thank you for sharing your recipe, Anne! I’m going to try this for TG this year!
Enjoy!
I made these today for Thanksgiving. I didn’t read the directions completely, so I ended up putting the parm cheese in the potatoes with the butter, sour cream and cream cheese. They are to die for as I put them in the dish. I ended up putting more parm on top and dotted with the butter. Can’t wait to see how everyone likes them. Thanks for the delish recipe!
I’m still waiting for the reply on the question about the crockpot.
Yes, you can reheat in the crockpot. I’ve done it. Just watch out for condensation collecting inside the lid and dripping down. Leave the lid slightly ajar so moisture can escape, but not so much that it dries out.
Can you use a fat free cream cheese and sour cream to save on calories? And how about adding chives and garlic salt?
Hi Regina! You CAN use fat-free dairy or even non-dairy substitutes, but if you do, you cannot freeze it for later. It’s the fat that protects the potato starch from changing texture after it thaws. Also, the taste is not as rich. For once-a-year potatoes, I do splurge.
Chives, garlic salt, or any other preferred seasoning can be added to your taste!
I make my turkey ahead of time, too, Nanargood@gmail.comand it’s very moist. Everyone loves it. I’d be happy to share, if anyone is interested.
I just found your recipe for these potatoes. I made enough for my dinner and froze the rest. This will be great for a busy person like me
My husband hates sour cream, can I use ranch dressing instead?
Enjoy! Cooking ahead is always a good idea!
I peeled and mashed 30# of potatoes and froze them using this recipe. They were 99c for 10lbs, so I spent a whole whopping $3 on potatoes. After a week I checked the freezer and they are still white! No discoloration! Yay! That has been my biggest problem with freezing potatoes. Thawed a package yesterday for dinner and they were perfect! Thank you for teaching me how to freeze mashed potatoes the correct way!
Food science is the best science! That little starch molecule needs to be coated in sweet, creamy full-fat dairy so it doesn’t oxidize!
I’m glad to find you can freeze make ahead mashed potatoes,thanks.