VOL. I · NO. IEST. 2026

Tremendous Mashed Potatoes

Tremendous Mashed Potatoes

Prep

15m

Cook

25m

Total

40m

Bigly says

Pay attention. The day has finally come. The mashed potatoes. THE mashed potatoes. The ones I have been telling you about — and I have been telling you, in recipe after recipe, intro after intro, 'wait until you see the mashed potatoes,' I said, 'the mashed potatoes are coming,' I said, and people wrote in, they emailed, they begged, big strong men, tough men, weeping at their keyboards saying 'Bigly, where are the mashed potatoes' — and today, today is the day. The mashed potatoes are here. I am giving them to you. For free.

These are the GREATEST mashed potatoes in the history of mashed potatoes. And there's been a lot of mashed potatoes — many people don't know this, but the potato was domesticated in the Andes, very high up, very cold, the Incas had potatoes, more potatoes than they knew what to do with, and then they figured out: mash them. They mashed them. With rocks, probably. It was a different time. But MY mashed potatoes, the ones you are about to make, beat every single mashed potato that has ever come before. Every one. The Andes mashed potatoes, the French mashed potatoes — and the French THINK they know mashed potatoes, they call it 'puree,' they put a little sprig of something on top, it's a joke, it's an embarrassment — every single one of them. It's not even close. It's a slaughter.

The secret — and listen carefully, because the other so-called recipe sites will NEVER tell you this, they're hiding it from you behind seventeen banner ads and a cookie consent form that takes forty-five minutes to dismiss, who designed that, who said yes to that, somebody got promoted for that and they shouldn't have — the secret is THREE things. Yukon Golds. WARM cream. And you push the potatoes through a ricer, you don't beat them, you don't mix them, you don't pulverize them like a maniac with a hand mixer, you RICE them. Gentle. Like a feather. Like the wind. And the result is silk. Pure silk. The texture of a cloud that has been to finishing school. Believe me.

Ingredients

  • 3 lbYukon Gold potatoes(Yukon Golds. Not russets. Not red. Yukon. Golds.)
  • 2 tbspkosher salt(for the cooking water)
  • 1 cup (2 sticks)unsalted butter(two sticks, do not flinch, this is the way)
  • 1 cupheavy cream
  • 1/2 cupwhole milk
  • 3garlic cloves, smashed(optional, but you'd be insane not to)
  • 2fresh thyme sprigs
  • 1.5 tspkosher salt(for finishing, plus more to taste)
  • 1/2 tspwhite pepper(white pepper, not black, this matters)
  • to tasteflaky sea salt (for serving)
  • 2 tbspchopped chives (for serving)

Steps

  1. 1

    Peel the potatoes and cut into 1.5-inch chunks. Try to keep them roughly the same size so they cook evenly.

  2. 2

    Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water by 2 inches. Add 2 tbsp kosher salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a steady simmer.

  3. 3

    Cook 18-22 minutes, until a knife slides through a potato chunk with no resistance. Do not undercook — this is the number one mistake.

  4. 4

    While the potatoes cook, combine butter, cream, milk, smashed garlic, and thyme sprigs in a small saucepan. Warm over low heat until the butter is melted, then remove from heat and let infuse. Do not boil.

  5. 5

    Drain the potatoes thoroughly. Return them to the empty pot and set over low heat for 30-60 seconds, stirring, to drive off excess moisture. Watery potatoes are sad potatoes.

  6. 6

    Set a potato ricer over a large bowl. Working in batches, press the hot potatoes through the ricer. (If you don't have a ricer, a food mill works. A hand mixer does not. Step away from the hand mixer.)

  7. 7

    Strain the warm cream mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the garlic and thyme. Discard the solids.

  8. 8

    Pour about three-quarters of the warm cream mixture over the riced potatoes. Fold gently with a rubber spatula until just combined. Add more liquid as needed until silky and luxurious but still able to hold a soft peak.

  9. 9

    Season with 1.5 tsp kosher salt and the white pepper. Taste and adjust. They should taste seasoned, not just buttery.

  10. 10

    Transfer to a warm serving bowl. Top with flaky sea salt, chives, and an extra knob of butter melting on top. Serve immediately.

One more thing

So there it is. The mashed potatoes. The ones I promised. The ones the people demanded. Put them next to your turkey, your meatloaf, your roast — anything, doesn't matter, mashed potatoes go with everything, that's their JOB, that's why they're tremendous — and watch what happens. Watch your family go quiet. Watch the conversation stop. That is the sound of greatness. That is the sound of mashed potatoes doing the work. Cream cheese, sour cream, ranch powder — the so-called experts will tell you to add all of it, all of it sad, all of it wrong. You don't need any of that. You have the ricer. You have the Yukon Golds. You have ME. It's just a fact.

★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★

Ask Bigly about Tremendous Mashed Potatoes.

Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.

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