Name: Microwave Mashed Potato Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 5
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3 large potatoes; 1/3 c milk or half-n-half; 4 T butter; Salt and Pepper to taste

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Yes, you can make mashed potatoes in the microwave. What’s more, you can make mashed potatoes in the microwave for only about 15 minutes.

Yes, you’re reading it right: that’s the total time.

What I love about mashed potatoes in the microwave is that it requires very little cleanup. You can mash the potatoes in the same bowl that you microwave them in.

This means that cleaning the kitchen after dinner will go much easier.

If you have time you can always use our recipe for creamy mashed potatoes on the stovetop.

Remember, salt can always be added to your potatoes in the microwave to taste at the end, but you can’t remove too much salt. Use sparingly at first.

If you have any leftover mashed potatoes you can follow our easy instructions on how to reheat mashed potatoes.

Recipe variation ideas

Add chives
Mince fresh green onion and sprinkle them on top
Sauté spinach and fold into the potatoes (we didn’t like the texture, but it seems to be popular)
Add in a tablespoon of sour cream and combine
For a rustic texture, don’t peel the potatoes
Use half-and-half instead of milk for richer potatoes

No potato masher?

No problem.

If you don’t have a potato masher don’t worry about it, there are other options. You can use a fork and mash the potatoes.

You can also use a stiff whisk to mash your potatoes. Just press down on the potatoes and then start stirring them with the whisk.

Can you use a microwave-safe bowl or do you have to use a special container to cook mashed potatoes in the microwave?

When making mashed potatoes in the microwave, we use a glass microwave-safe bowl. You don’t need special equipment to make microwave mashed potatoes other than a microwave-safe bowl.

Our biggest tip is to use a large bowl so that nothing boils over in the cooking process.

How do you make mashed potatoes in the microwave without lumps?

One of the best tips for avoiding lumps with mashed potatoes is to ensure your potatoes are fully cooked. Undercooked mashed potatoes will not mash as well and turn into lumpy mashed potatoes.

Another tip to avoid lumpy mashed potatoes is to start with a high-starch potato. Russet potatoes are high in starch and mash smoothly when properly cooked. Yukon gold potatoes are also excellent potatoes for mashed potatoes.

Finally, mash the potatoes while they are still hot. As they cool down, the starch will become rigid and cause the potatoes to lump up.

Ingredients

You don’t need many ingredients to make mashed potatoes in the microwave. You can add spices and flavors to mix it up as desired but the foundations of mashed potatoes is generally the same.

🛒 Potatoes – We used russet potatoes for our recipe but you could also use Yukon potatoes. The key is to use a high-starch potato.
🛒 Milk – You can use milk or half-n-half. We keep half-n-half in the house and love to use it in our mashed potatoes. Half-n-half just adds an extra level of creaminess. However, milk is still the most common ingredient in mashed potatoes.
🛒 Butter – Butter serves many purposes in mashed potatoes. The first is flavor. Mashed potatoes without butter are bland and, dare I say, boring. Next, butter adds moistness to mashed potatoes and helps them from becoming dry.

How to make mashed potatoes

One – Bring the butter and milk to room temperature. One of the biggest mistakes with mashed potatoes is not bringing the ingredients to room temperature. This step alone is one of our biggest tips for creating creamy mashed potatoes.

Two – Prep the potatoes. Potatoes generally come home dirty and dusty. Wash and scrub your potatoes before you peel them. This may seem silly since you will peel the potatoes, but this keeps you from spreading around dirt or bacteria.

Next, peel the potatoes and dice them into ¼” chunks. Then place the potato chunks in a bowl and cover them. See our recipe below for complete details.

Three – Cook the potatoes in the microwave. The potatoes should be fork-tender when done.

Four – Mash the potatoes with a hand mixer until they are smooth. Then add in the final ingredients.

Serve hot.