- Adding cream cheese to mashed potatoes makes them extra creamy and gives a slight tang.
- Use room-temperature cream cheese so it blends smoothly into hot, freshly mashed potatoes.
- This simple twist turns classic mashed potatoes into a rich, flavorful family favorite that feels extra special for the holidays.
With Thanksgiving nearing, there’s one dish that has been on my mind: mashed potatoes. Particularly, my mom’s mashed potatoes because they’re the best—no contest. If I’m heading home for the holidays, I know those potatoes will be there, and if I’m hosting, I’ll ask her to make them.
The fluffy, creamy spuds always come to the table piled high in a bowl, with little pools of butter speckled with bits of black pepper on top. Take a look around my family’s Thanksgiving table, and you will see a mountain of those potatoes on everyone’s plates—in greater proportion than the turkey or any of the other sides. Some of us eat them as is; others top them with my dad’s turkey gravy (which is also the best, but that’s a story for another time). What makes them so good? Her secret ingredient: cream cheese.
How My Mom Makes Mashed Potatoes
My mom starts by simmering a huge pot of potatoes (usually several pounds to serve a crowd) after they’ve been peeled and cubed (a great job for one of my brothers). She swears by using Eastern white potatoes, which always throws me because I feel like everyone else opts for Yukon Golds. But who am I to question perfection?
Once the potatoes are tender, she drains them and tosses them in the stand mixer, using the paddle to mash them, adding milk, salt and pepper along with hunks of butter and, of course, her signature ingredient, cream cheese, as they spin. She uses about a third of a brick of cream cheese for 5 pounds of potatoes. In order to get it to blend seamlessly with the potatoes, it’s best to let it sit at room temperature for a little bit before mixing it in. I advise the same for your butter.
When the potatoes have reached the perfect mashed consistency and all the other ingredients are mixed in, she’ll transfer the potatoes to a bowl, put a few more pats of butter on top, cover them and place them in the turned-off oven, which is usually still warm from roasting the turkey. This way they stay hot and ready to serve.
Why Cream Cheese?
The cream cheese adds this underlying richness to the potatoes, plus a little flavor beyond what salt, pepper and butter contribute. I describe this flavor as tangy but in a pleasant, subtle way. This addition won’t drastically change the flavor of your potatoes to the point that some family members might revolt. Instead, it will more likely give them a little something extra that may prompt them to ask you for your secret.
A Family Tradition
My mom learned how to make mashed potatoes, including the secret of adding cream cheese, from her mother (my grammie), and she has since taught my siblings and me how to make them. While I don’t feel like mine ever turn out quite as good as hers—maybe there’s just something about having her make them for me—I do use her trick of adding cream cheese and always find that it takes my potatoes up a notch. My sister also now makes them when she celebrates Thanksgiving with her husband’s family. Her father-in-law likes to say that he learned “that mashed potatoes are a dairy product” from my sister because of all the butter and cream cheese my family adds. You could definitely add less butter, if you like, but don’t skip the cream cheese!
The Bottom Line
If you’ve never added cream cheese to your mashed potatoes before, I encourage you to try it this Thanksgiving, or really any time you want a comforting dish of mashed potatoes. I think it really elevates the dish and gives it something special. See if your family can guess the secret.
