A side dish that can be cooked ahead of time is such a huge help in getting all the food to the dinner table at the same time with minimal stress! This is especially true around the holidays, when you’re juggling more dishes than ever. And that includes make-ahead options for one of my family’s favorite sides: mashed potatoes.
When freshly mashed and mixed with loads of rich butter and cream, mashed potatoes are sheer perfection. Preserving that light and creamy texture in make-ahead mashed potatoes is a little trickier. So often, the reheated spuds just taste heavy and dry, their magic gone.
One ingredient, however, makes it possible to prep mashed potatoes in advance that still taste delicious and have a light, decadent texture: cream cheese.
Why Cream Cheese Does More Than Just Make Mashed Potatoes Tastier
The flavor, of course, is one reason to add cream cheese to mashed potatoes. The soft cheese has a slight tang that helps balance the richness of the other ingredients, giving the potatoes a more complex flavor.
Cream cheese also adds fat and moisture to the mashed potatoes, creating a rich but still light texture. And when the mashed potatoes are refrigerated and then reheated, that fat and extra moisture are still there. After as many as two days in the fridge, cream cheese keeps mashed potatoes tasting just as indulgent as they do when freshly prepared.
Mashed potatoes with cream cheese can even be frozen for up to two weeks, then thawed and reheated for a make-ahead Thanksgiving side or to go with weeknight dinners. Now that’s a timesaver!
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Tips for Making Mashed Potatoes With Cream Cheese
While it’s true that cream cheese is rather miraculous in making better make-ahead mashed potatoes, the basic rules for good mashed potatoes still apply.
Stick with starchy potatoes like russets or Yukon Golds; they break down easily when cooked. To prevent a gluey texture, cook off the excess moisture after draining the potatoes and mash or rice them while still hot.
The cream cheese (as well as the butter) should be very soft and cut into small pieces so that both melt quickly when added to the hot potatoes. Fold these ingredients in gently just until they’re incorporated. Vigorous stirring or blending will release too much starch from the spuds and give them that tough, rubbery texture that even cream cheese won’t help.
Read the original article on Simply Recipes