Learn how you can make brilliantly, beautiful mashed potatoes using purple skin and flesh potatoes.
Mashed potatoes are often not seen as the prettiest dish on the table on Thanksgiving. The turkey is the star of the show of course and the pies get alot of attention too. But if you change it up and use purple potatoes instead, you can change the narrative and show that mashed potatoes can be an eye catcher as well.
Ingredients
Here is what you will need:
- 4 lbs purple potatoes
- 4 tbs butter
- ¼ to ½ cup whole milk or half & half
- salt to taste
These ingredients will make your basic mashed potatoes. If I were to add anything additional it would be some roasted garlic, which you can do in the air fryer by the way.
If you aren't already familiar with purple potatoes, you will want to read through my extensive guide on How to Cook Purple Potatoes, where I talk about different ways you can cook them.
One thing I want you to know right away about purple potatoes is that you don't need to peel them to make mashed potatoes. They have a skin more like a red or gold potatoes than they do Russet potatoes. Peel them if you want, but it's definitely not necessary.
I have a mashed potato recipe on the blog that uses Russet potatoes that you bake and then peel off the skin.
Tips
Do you hate when you overcook your potatoes and they become waterlogged? I have a great tip for preventing that, that I would say is unexpected - check the temperature of the potatoes. That's right you use an instant read thermometer to see when the potatoes are done.
🌡️ What is the ideal temperature? 2 degrees below the boiling point of water in your area. That is when the potatoes will be cooked through perfectly. The boiling point of water is 212 degrees Fahrenheit at sea level. If you go up to 5000 feet where I was at when living in Utah my boiling point was around 203 degrees. You can check the temperature of the boiling water before you put the potatoes in.
If you don't have an instant read thermometer, I recommend ThermoWorks. You can learn more about them in my podcast episode - Why a Thermometer Will Save You Money.
When the potatoes are done I first like to take a moment and smash them up so they are ready to be whipped with a hand mixer.
In the recipe I give you a range of how much milk to use. I whip the potatoes for 10 seconds, then add some of the milk, whip for a few seconds to see if that's enough milk, if not add more until right consistency. My goal is to get it right in about 30 seconds or so of whipping. No more than 1 minute. If you overwhip the potatoes, they can turn gummy.
You also can make purple mashed potatoes and gold mashed potatoes and swirl them together. Or you don't like purple? Why orange mashed potatoes made with smoked paprika. Here are those recipes:
Need gravy? Check out my Smoked Turkey Gravy recipe, that starts with a smoked turkey stock that is made in the Instant Pot.
Purple Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 lbs purple potatoes
- 4 tbs butter
- ¼ to ½ cup whole milk or half & half
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Place the potatoes in a pot large enough to fit 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.
- Place the potatoes into a large bowl. Just smash them with a potato masher to break them up. Then begin whipping them with a hand mixer. Whip for 10 seconds. Then add a little bit of milk at a time until you get the right consistency and continue whipping. Try not to over whip them - no more than 1 minute total with 30 seconds being ideal.
- The final step is to salt to taste
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