Amish Style Mashed Potatoes

These mashed potatoes are rich and creamy- making a great side to your Holiday meal or any occasion! After having these, instant potatoes will never be the same!

serves 5
Prep time 15 min.
Cook time 40 min.

⦁ 4-5 large potatoes
⦁ 1 teaspoon salt
⦁ Water to cover potatoes.
⦁ 3/4-1 1/4 cup milk (see note*)
⦁ 4 oz cream cheese
⦁ 1/4 cup butter
⦁ 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt (optional)

1 Peel the potatoes, removing any blemishes and spots, then chop roughly.
2 Place potatoes in a 5 quart stock pot and add enough water to ensure all potatoes are covered.
3 Stir in salt, then bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce temperature to medium heat and cook without a lid for about 40 min, or until the potatoes are very soft. See note*
4 Drain water from the potatoes and mash lightly until all large chunks are gone.
5 Add the cream cheese and butter, cubed into small chunks, then add garlic salt. Add 1/2 cup milk and blend with a hand mixer for a few minutes until milk is well incorporated. Add the next 1/4-1/2 cup(depending on how thick you like them.) and keep blending for a few more minutes. If the potatoes are still too thick and somewhat lumpy; add the last 1/4 cup of milk. Serve with gravy (recipe here) and enjoy!

Note #1 Potatoes vary in size so the amount of milk you need will vary slightly as well. Feel free to adjust the amount of milk to make the consistency of the potatoes according to your preference.
Note #2 I find that the softer the potatoes are the less lumpy they will be. If you prefer even less lumps I would suggest investing in a ricer and ricing your potatoes after cooking.

The Amish are masters at making mashed potatoes, I never sat down to an Amish meal with mashed potatoes and found them clumpy or lacking in creaminess. One of their tricks is to mash them by hand until the cows come home.
When my Mom had her catering business, she would often have groups of 30-40 people. That requires a lot of potatoes! I remember watching her enveloped in a cloud of steam faithfully “shtomping” (mashing) her potatoes. She also grew up on a farm, helping with making hay and milking the cows. Yes, my Mom had some muscle!
I haven’t acquired the strength or patience to mash all of my potatoes by hand so I simplified the recipe by using a hand mixer. However, if you are looking to add a quick arm workout while making dinner feel free to utilize that potato masher! 🙂