To Die for Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes

By Addie

"These are the BEST mashed potatoes EVER! And they are so user-friendly because you can make them the night before. I never take these anywhere without people begging me for the recipe. Once you make these, you will never want to make them any other way. Also great in twice-baked potatoes. And, if you need really easy, buy pre-cooked mashed potatoes, add from these ingredients, stir, and re-heat in microwave. Tastes almost as good as home-made! My favorite way to cook these are in the crockpot! EDIT: Please note that I have always cooked these in the crockpot and have never baked them; I have gotten new feedback that they taste FAR BETTER if cooked in the crockpot, so this is now my only recommendation for cooking source."

Ingredients

• 8 medium potatoes
• 1 cup sour cream
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup chives
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 pinch marjoram (optional)
• 1/2-1 cup thinly sliced green onions
• Bacon bits or 2 slices cooked crumpled crisp bacon
• Milk
• Paprika

Preparation

Step 1

Boil potatoes until tender. Beat softened cream cheese and sour cream in mixing bowl. Add hot potatoes and beat until smooth, adding small amounts of milk as needed. Add butter, chives, salt, pepper and onion powder and beat until well-mixed. Add garlic, green onions, and marjoram and beat until well-mixed. Pour into either casserole dish or crockpot. Dot with additional butter and sprinkle with paprika.

Bake for 25 minutes in 350°F oven or cook on low in crockpot for 2-3 hours. If cooked in crockpot, add a few additional drops of butter and stir, just before serving.

Sprinkle with Bacon Bits or crumpled bacon just before serving.

NOTE: Can be refrigerated overnight in either casserole dish or crockpot.
............................

REVIEWS: (106)

Brilliant recipe - very tasty and creamy. Best part was being able to make earlier in the day along with the turkey stuffing and then letting them stay piping hot in the slow cooker until Christmas dinner was ready to be served. Added a bit of butter just before serving - still smooth and creamy even after hours on warm in the slow cooker. Made my day in the kitchen so much easier - thank you!

These are to die for! I've made them several times and always have rave reviews and requests for the recipe. It's Red, White & Green for Christmas! I double the recipe. I boil whole red potatoes (2- 3lb. bags) in a stock pot and then drain them and mash them right in the pot with the skins still on. Then I mash the other ingredients into them. I add extra garlic, chives, marjoram, green onions & bacon bits (hormel real crumbled picnic bacon). I add some cream along with the milk and more sour cream until it's extra creamy. I put it into a removable crock from my crock pot and refrigerate it until 1-2 hours before the event. Then I bake it at 350 until heated through. I bring it to the event, put it into the crockpot set on low, dot it with butter and paprika & Wowee, it all disappears! Yummy! Thank you for this recipe.

These are the most AMAZING tasting mashed potatoes and perfect to make when having company over. I made these (along with my hubby :) ) in the morning around 10am and put them in the crock pot on the warm setting all day. They formed a nice crust on top, but underneath they were nice and moist. Just before serving around 8pm, I put a dab of butter on top, stirred them, and whola! I actually put them in a serving bowl w/ a lid, and they stayed on the table for about 15 minutes before eating them, and they were still piping hot. Everyone was in awe!

My family loves mashed potatoes! One could say they are connoisseurs as they are very picky on the type and "add-ins" for the potatoes. I was a little nervous trying this but because I was going to be under a time crunch for preparation, I decided to give it a whirl. First off, I didn't tell anyone I was doing anything different to see if I could get a reaction. I didn't want to taint their views by knowing they are trying a new recipe. I just put it out there just like every year. They were delicious!! Making them in the crock pot is brilliant as these are always the last thing I prepare for any meal. Using the crock pot enables me to prepare them ahead of time and then not take time away from the guests/family right before meal time. I prepared them the night before exactly as written in the recipe. The next morning, I plugged in the crock pot. I was afraid they might be dry so I added a thin layer of chicken broth (about 1/2 inch) on top. As the potatoes warmed, I stirred in the broth. I would caution those who aren't onion/chive fans. This has a strong onion flavor. If you rather not have the onion, just use plain cream cheese. This is our new staple for mashed potatoes. I must admit that I am not crazy with the added calories but the taste is outstanding! Thanks for sharing!

Made these for Thanksgiving as an experiment for a work potluck next month, only omitting bacon (purposely) & green onions (forgot). WONDERFUL! I was afraid 3-1/2 hrs in a low slowcooker might burn them, so I did stir every hour or so, but they came out perfect. Thank you!

Made these today for Thanksgiving dinner and everyone was asking for the recipe. Made a few modifications to the recipe which turned out in our favor. Omitted chives, green onions, marjoram, and onion powder since the 8 oz of chive cream cheese provided plenty of onion taste. We added another 4 tablespoons of butter to help soften the onion taste and it turned out perfectly. After making the mashed potatoes, we put them into the crock pot with liner and cooked at high for 2.5 hours and low for .5 hours. YUM.

Absolutely delicious, thanks for sharing it. Like most cooks, I "fiddled" with it. Used half plain cream cheese and half garlic/herb, both fat free. I also added the salt while cooking the potatoes rather than after. I omitted the garlic, green onions and bacon. I added about 1/4 cup hot milk and another knob of butter before stirring and serving. Still got a thumbs up from the whole family. I also used one of those crock pot liners to make an even easier clean up. My other make ahead potato recipes have now been discarded. This is a keeper.

Delicious! And definitely company-worthy. I followed the recipe as listed (didn't peel potatoes), minus the marjoram and bacon. They were a hit at Thanksgiving and so easy to make. I did have to add a few extra potatoes at the end because they were a little too creamy at first. I love that they can be made ahead and reheated in a crockpot. I'll be making them again in a few weeks for a potluck at work. Thanks for the recipe!

These are fantastic. I peeled the potatoes the day before,kept them in the fridge in water,cooked them the following morning mixed them and then kept them in the crock pot,and turned on the crockpot a couple of hrs. before the meal to reheat a bit. I skipped the chives and the bacon. This recipe is placed in my Tried and true cookbook. Thank you so much for a wonderful recipe.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! This is a life saver recipe. I had a holiday lunch at work this past Monday and since I live about 30 mins away from my office, I needed something that I could keep warm in a crockpot. I made these mashed potatoes the night before omitting the marjoram, bacon and paprika and put it the fridge. The next morning I took my crockpot to work and plugged it in. Right before serving I placed some butter on top, stirred it and added it to the buffet table. Everyone loved it! Thank you for making me look so good.

Every time I make these people fight for any leftovers to take home. Mostly, there are no leftovers. For that occasion when taste, not calories count.

These were great mash potatoes. The green onion really gave a special touch. Thanks for posting this recipe.

So - potatoes, cream cheese, butter, sour cream, chives, green onions and a bit of other things?! What is not to like? These were, of course, yummy. Convenient to be made ahead and brought to a party and reheated (microwave....) They were even good being made into potato patties in the skillet the next day.

I make these at least twice a year, the only thing I do different is instead of cream cheese I add Boursin cheese. Makes wonderful leftovers....... we like to fry them up into potato cakes.