Classic Mashed Potatoes – Emily Bites

I’m so excited to share this simple, delicious recipe for Classic Mashed Potatoes today. You’ll need just 6 ingredients and in my experience, it results in perfectly fluffy, creamy, smooth mashed potatoes every time! This recipe makes a lot of potatoes, so it’s great for a crowd or if you’d like leftovers (who doesn’t?). I’ve also successfully halved or 2/3’d the recipe before, so feel free to play around with it to make less if you’re cooking for one or two.

I originally discovered this preparation method for mashed potatoes on Carlsbad Cravings (one of my absolute favorite food blogs), and I’ve been making them this way for a couple years now. Her recipe is quite a bit more decadent, but she has great tips so definitely check out her post as well! My lightened up version uses skim milk and light butter, but still results in a side dish you’ll love! I’ll honestly be shocked if you don’t make them this way from now on. Not only is the flavor and texture totally craveable, a 2/3 cup serving is just 122 calories or 4 Green, 4 Blue or 1 Purple WW SmartPoints on myWW.

Looking for some tasty lightened up main dishes to pair with these Classic Mashed Potatoes? I’ve got you covered! Check out my Swedish Turkey Meatballs, Cheesy Bacon BBQ Chicken, Stuffed Turkey Bundles with Gravy, Baked Chicken Tenders, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Slow Cooker Meatloaf, Pimento Cheese Stuffed Chicken, Spinach and Feta Stuffed Flank Steak, Raspberry Chipotle BBQ Pork Tenderloin, Bacon Wrapped BBQ Meatloaf, Slow Cooker Balsamic Beef, Skinny Spinach & Artichoke Chicken, Chicken Piccata, Chicken Marsala and more in the Main Dishes category of my recipe index!

Classic Mashed Potatoes

Yield: 11 (2/3 cup) servings

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs peeled russet potatoes, chopped into 1 1/2 “ cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• ¾ cup skim milk
• 4 tablespoons light butter, sliced (I use Land O’Lakes)
• 1/8 – ¼ teaspoon garlic powder (add to taste, my one year old prefers less garlic so we usually do 1/8, but ¼ tastes great too)
• 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper

Directions:

1. Place the cubed potatoes into a 5 QT saute pan or walled skillet with a cover and add cold water until it’s about an inch deep in the pan. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of salt. Place the cover on the pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are very tender and a fork slides right through. Transfer the potatoes to a colander and drain until no water remains. Transfer the drained potatoes to the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl (if using a hand mixer).
2. Combine the milk and butter in a microwaveable dish (I usually use a liquid measuring cup) and microwave on high for 1 ½ minutes. Begin to beat the potatoes on low speed while slowly adding the milk/butter mixture. Once the liquid is combined, add the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, the garlic powder and black pepper and continue to beat on low until just combined. You won’t need to beat for a long time and you don’t want to over-mix or the potatoes won’t stay fluffy! Take a taste and add more seasonings if needed.

MYWW SMARTPOINTS PER (2/3 cup) SERVING: (SP calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)

Green: 4 SmartPoints/ Blue: 4 SmartPoints/ Purple: 1 SmartPoints

Weight Watchers Points Plus:
3 per (2/3 cup) serving (PP calculated using a Weight Watchers PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition info below)

Nutrition Information per (2/3 cup) serving:
122 calories, 23 g carbs, 1 g sugars, 2 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 3 g protein, 2 g fiber (from myfitnesspal.com)