If you have ever wondered if you can mix different types of potatoes together to make your mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving or any other time of year, the answer is yes! Let me show you what you need to know for the best results.
Mixing Up the Potatoes
Have you ever had this issue - you are preparing to make mashed potatoes and you know you have some potatoes in your pantry. But when you go to check to see how many you have, you notice that you have a small selection of a couple different types of potatoes. You don't have enough of any one type of potatoes to make mashed potatoes with.
What can you do?
Do you have to go to the grocery store now or can you make potatoes using more than 1 type?
Well I may not have had this issue before, I am sure others have. So instead of just researching it, I ran an experiment myself. I made mashed potatoes using Russet, Red, and Gold potatoes. I will share with you the ups and downs of my potato experiment and whether or not I think you should give it a try.
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Can You Use Different Potatoes for Mashed Potatoes?
The answer to the question of can you do it is a yes. But should you do it? I think if you are in a pinch you can for sure mix together different varieties without having to run out to the store to buy more of one kind. But there are some things you need to know.
Different Potatoes, Different Cooking Times
Here is the biggest issue you are going to encounter - different potatoes are going to cook at different rates. I tested this by boiling together gold, red, and Russet potatoes. To test for doneness, I pulled out my instant read thermometer. I found that the Russet potatoes were legging behind the other potatoes.
If you are going to cook different potatoes at the same time, you are going to have to do a little more work if you want to make sure they are all done and you don't have undercooked and overcooked potatoes going into your mashed potatoes. What I did was check each potato and then pull them one by one when they were done. Sure, it was a pain in the butt, however, it made sure that my potatoes were cooked right.
What you might be better off doing is have different pots going for different potatoes and save yourself the hassle.
If you are going to cook them together, make sure the potatoes are roughly the same size when you cut them up. I will be the first one to tell you that my knife skills aren't great but I aim for being as uniform with my cuts as my fingers will allow me to be.
Potato Texture Differs
Next you need to know that the texture is different. Red and gold potatoes are both waxy potatoes and are more similar. Russets are quite different. The potatoes fall apart more easily. You could end up with mashed potatoes that are part chunky and part smooth. That may not be a bad thing if you like a more chunky mashed potato but don't like too many chunks. If so, then mixing together Russet and red or gold potatoes would be perfect for you.
If you want your finished mashed potatoes to have a more creamy, smooth texture, consider getting a potato ricer. A ricer will help make it easier to mix the potatoes together when adding your butter and milk. If you are using Russet potatoes that have a tendency to turn gluey if you overmix them, this will help you not have to mix them as much.
What Potatoes Should You Peel?
This is a personal preference. When I make mashed potatoes with Russet potatoes I always peel them as I don't like the skin of those in my mashed potatoes. Russets have a tough, rough skin. For any other potatoes I always leave the skin on.
Pros of Mixing Potatoes Together
Besides doing so out of necessity there are some pros of mixing together different types of potatoes.
- There is the visual contrast of having red and gold skin like you see in the potatoes I made.
- Each type of potato provides a different flavor. Russet potatoes are more of an earthy flavor. Gold potatoes are more buttery. And red potatoes are more mild.
Beautiful Mashed Potato Swirls
There have been times when I wanted to swirl together different potatoes on purpose to make some really pretty mashed potatoes. I usually have done this by making two different batches of mashed potatoes and then swirling them together. Check out what it looked like when I swirled purple potatoes with gold potatoes.
You also can swirl together mashed potatoes made from any potato with sweet potatoes. Here is how that looked:
In this case I was doing it for appearance and flavor, particularly for the sweet potato swirl.
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