Load your mashed potatoes with flavor by mixing in the perfect amount of caramelized onions. These are so good on their own no gravy is needed, but gravy is always welcomed!
I am of the theory that you can never had too many mashed potatoes recipes. No sir! That's why I am adding yet another one to this very blog. And this one is for the onion lover. Let me show how to incorporate caramelized onions into your next batch of mashed potatoes.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients that you are going to need:
- Potatoes
- Half & Half
- Salt
- Butter (1 stick)
- 2 Onions
What type of potatoes do you use? That's up to you. If you are looking to go cheap, than Russet potatoes are going to be your cheapest option. The downside of them is that the skin has to come off as it's not great in mashed potatoes. If I am cooking red or gold potatoes then I don't mind the skin at all.
You can use whole milk instead of half and half if you want, they will be a bit creamier with the half and half. As for butter if you want them to taste extra rich go with a quality grass-fed butter like Kerrygold.
As for the onions, I like to pick out a sweet onion or a yellow onion. If they are in season, I always opt for Vidalia Sweet Onions.
Tips
I am not a fan of using vegetable peelers, so I don't! I have a couple different methods for removing the skin if I need to, which I always do when using Russet potatoes. I have two methods for doing this, the first one involves just baking the potatoes and then removing them from the skin after they have been cooked.
Check out my recipe for Making Mashed Potatoes from Baked Potatoes for more.
Or you can remove the peel after boiling. You can use a towel and it "wipes off" pretty effortlessly.
I cook the potatoes whole and use a thermometer to check the temperature to make sure they are cooked to the right temperature.
Read more about this in my blog post - Do You Have to Peel Russet Potatoes for Mashed Potatoes.
Now let's talk about the onions.
Youi want to have them done and ready to use before you start on the potatoes as it's best to add them to the mashed potatoes right when they are done, not later.
To do it well it takes a while, 60-90 minutes. You want to cook them at a low temperature so that the onions softened all the way through, you don't want brown on the outside yet still crunchy inside. You want them to be soft, so they just melt right into the potatoes. Imagine roasted garlic (which would be great in mashed potatoes as well!)
Check out this post to see all of my tips on how to caramelize onions to perfection.
Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
For the caramelized onions
- 2 large onions your choice of type
- 2-3 tbsp oil
- salt to taste
For the mashed potatoes
- 3 lbs potatoes (Russet, Gold, or Red)
- 4 tbsp butter melted
- ¼ to ½ cup whole milk or half & half room temperature
- salt to taste
Instructions
To make the caramelized onions
- Dice your onion if you are planning to use them mixed into recipes. Slice your onions if you are planning to use them on a burger or something you want large onions for.
- Add the oil and onions to the cast iron pan. Add salt to taste. You are cooking the onions for a long time so not need to wait for the pan to heat up.
- Cook over medium heat for 60-90 minutes. The amount of time it will take depends on the moisture content of the onion. You could even go lower if your stove top runs hot. You want them to just be barely cooking so that the onions break down slowly and gets brown.
- Stirring the onions every once in a while. If they seem too dry, add a little more oil.
- Once the onions look completely solid brown, they are done. They should be the same color brown all the way around.
- Use immediately in a recipe or store in the fridge for 5 days or freeze for 6 months.
To make the mashed potatoes
- Place the potatoes in a pot large enough to tit them all and cover them with just enough water. Bring to a boil.
- Cook the potatoes until they reach an internal temperature of 2 degrees below the boiling point of water in your area (that changes based on elevation). If you don't have a thermometer then the potatoes need to be tender enough that a fork goes through them, but a thermometer is going to be most accurate. If cook the potatoes too long past this point they will become waterlogged and fall apart eventually.
- Remove from water. If you are removing the skins, then rub the potatoes with a towel to remove the skin as soon as you can handle them.
- Mash the potatoes in a large bowl. Add the butter and milk (or half and half) mix to combine, You can whip them with a hand mixer to help it all incorporate faster.
- The final step is to salt to taste and fold in your caramelized onions.
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