Make-ahead recipe for mashed potatoes

[GeorgiaXplant]

Here's another do-ahead recipe. Making them like this is nice for a big gathering, but you can make and freeze them, then thaw just enough for your own use, too. I do this a week or so before Thanksgiving because heaven knows there's plenty to do the day of, and getting potatoes out of the way is one more thing to be thankful for at dinnertime.

5 lbs potatoes
8 oz. pkg cream cheese
1 c. sour cream
2 tsp. onion salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
2 TBSP butter

Mash cooked potatoes until smooth and add remaining ingredients. Spray a bit of olive oil in muffin tins, fill tins, freeze. When frozen, wrap individually in plastic wrap and return to freezer.

One is about one serving.

Thaw first, then nuke for a few minutes, stirring halfway through. They'll be a little watery at first, but not to worry, they'll be fine when stirred and heated through.

Sometimes I throw in five or six cloves of garlic with the potatoes before cooking, and sometimes I add an envelope of ranch dressing mix. If adding ranch dressing mix, use onion powder instead of onion salt.
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[jujube]

I add a touch of horseradish to my mashed potatoes. I have to sneak it in, because if the Spousal Equivalent caught me putting horseradish in, he'd never eat the potatoes. If he doesn't know, he thinks they're great. Men....

 

[Ruth n Jersey]

GeorgiaXplant that is a great idea. I like the idea of the muffin tins,that way if you have a couple of no shows you can heat up less. I go to my daughters for the holidays but when I cooked a few years back I made the pies 2 days ahead. I figured we eat the left over pie for almost a week after anyway, 2 days isn't going to matter. My sister in law even makes the turkey a day ahead. I tried her method and it works fine. After the turkey is done she slices it and lays it out in a large pan and covers it with turkey broth or even chicken broth will work. It was really nice a juicy the next day and easy to heat the last minute. It freed up the oven, and no stressing over the turkey. The only thing I missed was the crispy skin, but I suppose I shouldn't eat that anyway.

 

[GeorgiaXplant]

I've heard of doing that with the turkey but never tried it. Hm. Wondering. Taking it under advisement. How to reheat?

It's possible that I'll be dog sitting from Wednesday morning until Sunday afternoon. It's only down the road about a mile, and I'd come home to perform cooking duties, and I have a full kitchen in my hovel, but on Thanksgiving it feels like we need three kitchens, not two! For the past couple of years, g'daughter has decided that making apple pie is something that she needs to do about an hour before dinner. Grrrr. At least if the turkey was already done, it would be one more thing out of her way.

 

[jujube]

If you want to see woes about cooking a turkey, watch the movie "Pieces of April".

 

[RadishRose]

Georgia and Ruth, both of you have great ideas here. Thanks. I'm not making turkey but I may be bringing those make-ahead mashed potatoes wherever I end up. Thanks, both.

 

[hearlady]

Is there a thread for make ahead? The potatoes sound great gxp. I have been looking for make ahead to lighten the holiday load!

 

[rkunsaw]

Making and freezing mashed potatoes is one of the ways I preserve what we grow in the garden. I don't add a lot of extras to mine, just lots of butter, milk, salt and pepper.

I cook whole potatoes ( usually some of the smaller ones ) until almost done, pour them into cold water then peel them and then finish cooking the peeled potatoes. I have recently discovered this and find it much easier than peeling raw potatoes.