Name: Baked Mashed Potatoes
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 4 lbs. potatoes (yellow are best for mashed potatoes) (peeled and cut into small cubes); 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature; 1 cup sour cream; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon pepper; 1/4 cup fresh chives (or 1 1/2 tablespoons freeze dried chives); 1/2 teaspoon paprika; 1-2 tablespoons butter, to dot with; additional chives, to garnish

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These Baked Mashed Potatoes are the best mashed potatoes…ever. Once you have them they will become your favorite mashed potato recipe.

Baked mashed potatoes in a red bowl with a spoon. The potatoes are garnished with chives.

This recipe is one that my mom would make and they were always so good. Family recipes handed down are the best, aren’t they?

My mom would make these special for the holidays, but I don’t wait for a holiday to make them. My family loves them so much we make these potatoes to go with meatloaf or when we make a crockpot turkey breast (which is so easy to make!). Who can wait for a holiday when you have such a yummy mashed potato recipe?!

What makes them so good is adding in the sour cream, cream cheese, chives and paprika. Then baking them with butter on top takes them over the top as the best mashed potatoes! They are so creamy and delicious!

Grocery Shopping List:

Potatoes (Yukon Gold or Russet are best for mashed potatoes)
cream cheese
sour cream
salt and pepper
chives (fresh or freeze dried)
paprika
butter

Yukon Gold potatoes will give you creamy and flavorful mashed potatoes because they have a natural butter flavor. Russet potatoes are also great for mashed potatoes because they mash up light and fluffy. When buying your potatoes, I would suggest using one of these types of potatoes.

How to make Baked Mashed Potatoes:

How to prep and boil the potatoes:

Wash and dry the potatoes. Peel and cut the potatoes into small pieces. If they are cut smaller, they will cook quicker for you when you boil them. Try to keep them similiar in size so they cook evenly.

Once the potatoes are peeled and cut, place them in a medium to large pot and fill it with cold water. Fill the pot with water about one inch above the potatoes.

Recipe tip: Why use cold water? By doing this, the water and potatoes heat up together and the potatoes will cook more evenly.

Cook the potatoes in the pot on medium to high heat until the water comes to a boil. Once the water boils, turn the heat down to low to medium, place the lid over the pot and gently boil them until they are tender, about 20 minutes. (Do not cover the pot with the lid all the way; instead put it at an angle so steam gets out.)

Once you can easily slice through a potato with a fork or knife, they are done. When they are done, remove the pot from the heat and drain the water.

Adding the ingredients to the mashed potatoes:

Recipe Tip: Mash the potatoes first, then add in the rest of the ingredients. They will mix in better if you mash the potatoes first.

Recipe Tip: It is best to soften the cream cheese so it mixes in with the other ingredients better. I usually take it out of the package, cut it into a few pieces and place them on a plate. I leave it out on the counter for about 15-20 minutes. Here is a post on softening cream cheese.

Once the potatoes have cooked on the stovetop, mash them using an electric mixer or a potato masher. Once they are smooth, add in the softened cream cheese, sour cream, chives, salt and pepper. Use your electric mixer on low speed to mix the ingredients in with the mashed potatoes.

Butter your pan. This way the potatoes will not stick to the pan. Spoon the potatoes into your buttered baking dish and spread them out evenly. Sprinkle the mashed potatoes evenly with paprika.

Dot with butter. To do this, take small pieces of butter and place them evenly over the potatoes.

Mashed potatoes in a round pyrex dish dotted with butter and paprika sprinkled over them

Cover the pan with an oven safe lid or foil and place them on the middle rack of your oven. Bake them at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve immediately and garnish with chives if you like.

Baked Mashed Potatoes in a clear baking dish

Make ahead of time and save time! You can make the potatoes the day before. Prepare, cover and keep them in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake them. Then place the potatoes in the oven at 350 degrees to bake when you want to serve them with your dinner.

Make ahead tip: Check them at 30 minutes. If they don’t seem warm enough, leave them in the oven an extra 10-15 minutes. Since you took them from the refrigerator, they may need a little more time to fully heat up.

Recipe Tips:

Use Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes. The yellow potatoes are buttery potatoes that will give you the most flavorful and creamy mashed potatoes. Russet potatoes will mash up light and fluffy for you.

Slice the potatoes into small pieces so that they will cook quicker for you in the boiling water. Try to keep them equal in size so they cook evenly.

Use cold water in your pot so that the potatoes will cook more evenly. If you fill up the pot with hot water, the outside of the potatoes may cook faster than the inner part of the potatoes.

Take out the cream cheese before adding the ingredients to the mashed potatoes so that it will soften up a little. This way the cream cheese will mix into the warm mashed potatoes better.

Mash the potatoes first, then add in the ingredients. The other ingredients will mix in better if you mash the potatoes first.

Butter the baking dish so that the potatoes will not stick to the pan when baking in the oven.

Looking for more potato recipes?

These Baked Mashed Potatoes are one of our favorite side recipes to make. A few of our other favorite potato recipes are Baked French Fries, Oven Roasted Rosemary Potatoes and Potato Skins. Check them out and give them a try!

Please let me know how you liked this recipe or any of my recipes on my blog by leaving a comment and rating in the comment section below. I love to hear from you!

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4.84 from 6 votes

Baked Mashed Potatoes

Baked Mashed Potatoes are made with cream cheese, sour cream, chives and paprika to make the most flavorful potatoes. They are baked in the oven for the most delicious mashed potatoes.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword baked mashed potatoes, mashed potatoes with sour cream, holiday side dish

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings 8 servings

Author Jeannie Z

Ingredients

4 lbs. potatoes (yellow are best for mashed potatoes) peeled and cut into small cubes
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup fresh chives (or 1 1/2 tablespoons freeze dried chives)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1-2 tablespoons butter, to dot with
additional chives, to garnish

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Wash, peel and cut potatoes.
Place the potatoes into a medium to large pot and fill with cold water to just above the potatoes. Cook on medium to high heat until the water boils, then reduce to low to medium heat and cover. Cook potatoes until tender, about 20 minutes. They are done when you can easily slice through a potato with a fork or knife. Once done, remove from heat and drain.
Mash the potatoes with an electric mixer or potato masher until the potatoes are smooth. Add in the cream cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper and chives. Mix with your electric mixer on low speed until all ingredients are combined.
Spoon potatoes into buttered baking dish and spread out evenly. Sprinkle the paprika and dot with butter.
Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Serve immediately. Garnish with chives, optional.

Recipe Notes