There must be something about February that makes me want mashed potatoes, because the last mashed potato post I did was in February too.
In that Truffled Mashed Potato Gratin post, I talked about how everyone has their favorite way to make mashed potatoes, and I wrote about how I made them with milk and just a little bit of butter. Oh, how things have changed in a year!
I've been making my mashed potatoes differently now. I happened upon Steamy Kitchen's Very Best Mashed Potatoes recipe last summer, and I gave it a try. I liked it a lot, but since I prefer my mashed potatoes a little bit chunky and with the skin on, I tweaked it a little.
Like the Steamy Kitchen recipe, I steam the potatoes instead of boiling them. I used to always boil, but steaming seems to keep the potatoes much lighter. I now omit the milk and mash the potatoes with more butter than I used to. (I mean, we only have mashed potatoes once every 2 or 3 months--a little extra butter is okay!) Instead of putting the potatoes through a ricer like the Steamy Kitchen recipe suggests, I mash them by hand--this keeps the mashed potatoes a little lumpy, which I like, and it lets me keep the skin on.
You can stop there and serve your mashed potatoes with some mushroom gravy, but I like adding in other crazy ingredients too. So with this particular batch, I added cheddar cheese, green onions, and a healthy amount of Cholula hot sauce.
Yes, Cheddar & Cholula Mashed Potatoes. Yes, these are totally like something you would order at TGI Friday's and they'd have a name like Blazin' EXXtreme Cheeze Smashed Taters. And then you'd order them and feel really embarrassed to say the name out loud.
"I'd like the Very Vegalicious Ooey Gooey Quesadillas, and on the side I'll have the Blazin' EXXtreme Cheeze Smashed Taters. And then I'll also have the Razz-A-Tazz-Tazzberry Mojito, thank you."
And a little bit of your dignity is lost that day.
So yes, they're a little bit over-the-top with the Cholula and the cheddar and the carbs, but they are worth every bit of EXXtreme cheezy carbiness. Chris and I quibbled a little bit about the amount of Cholula in the recipe; my personal opinion is that 2 tablespoons is plenty, but you can always serve Cholula on the side and add a little extra (like spicy, spicy gravy!) if needed.
This post was originally published on February 11, 2013.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes quartered
- 3 tbsp. salted butter
- 1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
- ¼ c. thinly sliced green onions
- 2 tbsp. Cholula Original hot sauce
- salt to taste optional--I didn't use any
Instructions
- Place potatoes in steamer basket set over about 2 inches of boiling water. Cover and steam over medium-high heat for about 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. (If water boils off before potatoes are done, add more.)
- Transfer steamed potatoes to a large bowl. Add butter and mash with a potato masher. Fold in cheese, green onions, Cholula, and salt. Serve with additional Cholula and garnish with extra green onions, if desired.
Samantha says
LOL! Blazin' XXTREME. I like how you used a Z in the cheese. We love Cholula around here. During breakfast we always comment on her stance and make guesses about her imaginary life. Weird? Probably. Fun. Yes! I think Joe will appreciate these SMASHED cheeze taters. Thanks Kiersten!
Kiersten says
Ha! I have a crazy, semi-related habit of anthropomorphizing people and characters on packaging. So when I throw away a bottle of Cholula or a container of Quaker Oats, I kind of feel guilty. I feel like I shouldn't be admitting this?
Janel Gradowski says
These would be a hit in my house. I'm always amazed at how much hot sauce we go through. Chipotle Cholula is our favorite. By the way, I agree with your steaming method. Once I tried it myself I have never gone back to boiling!
Kiersten says
I need to try the Chipotle Cholula! I'm sure that would be really good in this recipe too. 🙂
Elizabeth Atwood says
I must admit, I'm not much on the hot sauce, but otherwise those mashed potatoes look really good! I love the funny names you gave them ;-).
Kiersten says
Yeah, I like spicy, but not too spicy. But I have more tolerance for heat than I did a few years ago!
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl says
Oh, yum! These look so good. This recipe is definitely getting bookmarked :).
Rachel says
You potato masher is adorable.
I always leave the milk out and just up the butter content. We don't have them often so I too justify that as OK.
Kiersten says
It's so funny that people are commenting on the potato masher--I bought it years ago because it was the cheapest one at Target! 😀 I was a little bit embarrassed that I didn't have something fancier to photograph.
Jeanette says
I have to try steaming my potatoes next time - I love hot sauce on just about everything although I have to say I've never tried them with mashed potatoes...will have to give that a try next time!
katie says
Umm this looks fab! I love Cholula so I think we would definitely LOVE these potatoes!!
Maria Tadic says
Mashed potatoes are awesome. And they just aren't as good without butter! Who are we kidding! These look delicious...i so love cheese and potatoes!
Kiersten says
Yeah, I've tried making mashed potatoes with olive oil, but no. 🙂
Stephanie @ henry happened says
haha, I can totally imagine you ordering that and feeling embarrassed (tho that mojito sounds darn good). And I had no idea what cholula was from the title but of course I know that bottle! This sounds supper yum - anything with cheese and hot sauce works for me!
Kiersten says
I hate cutesy names for things. I think it's because of my background in taxonomy. CALL THINGS WHAT THEY ARE! Darnit!
Dara says
Yummy! I love mashed potatoes in winter, I am constantly finding excuses to make them. These look delish.
sara says
Yum! Love love love these...spicy mashed potatoes, wow! 🙂
mjskit says
I've never heard of steaming potatoes. Something I'm going to have to try. I usually microwave my potatoes which cooks them very fast. But then I am a lazy cook. 🙂 Oh I love Cholula sauce but have never used them in mashed potatoes. These potatoes sound and look awesome and will go great in my menu tomorrow night!!! Thanks!
Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen says
Cheese and potatoes are meant to be together!
TidyMom says
passing my plate for a BIG serving of these potatoes! they look and sound amazing!
Genevieve says
I didn't even know what Cholula was when I read the title of your post, but now that I know it's hot sauce, I think thats an awesome idea to add it to mashed potatoes! I don't think I've ever tried adding cheese to mashed potatoes either - these are just full of interesting additions!
Kiersten says
Cheesy mashed potatoes are so good. Not exactly the healthiest thing to eat, but very tasty. 😀
Kelly @ Texas Type A Mom says
Everything is better with hot sauce so I totally will be taking your advice on this one, although surprisingly I've never tried it before.
Shirley says
I've never heard of Cholula, but I rarely use hot sauces. I'm starting to love sriracha though (in small amounts!). These potatoes look awesome. Also, even your potato masher is pretty! 😉 And I'm in love with that cutting board.
Karly says
Well. Cheese, Cholulua, and carbs are my three favorite things, so I would totally risk my dignity for these! Seriously, these are the best looking mashed potatoes EVER.
Brenda Williams says
OH WOW these would make such great potato cakes...left over mashed potatoes, add egg and little bit of flour, mix and fry in tiny bit of oil until brown on both sides...yum!
Kiersten says
Yes, they would be! I wish we had some leftovers. 🙂
Sarah says
As someone who is FAMOUS for her mashed potatoes (I get requests every Thanksgiving for them) I've never tried them this way. Considering that Cholula is the state hot sauce of Colorado and I love cheese...I need to try this on my mashed potato eating boyfriend. Oh, and I use a bit of heavy cream to make them a bit creamier. The texture significantly improved over using milk.
Kiersten Frase says
I had no idea about the Cholula-Colorado connection! Well then, you really have to make this. 🙂
Sarah says
Well I'm not positive if it's the official hot sauce of Colorado but you see Cholula EVERYWHERE here. I've never seen it outside of the state but I'm sure it exists! We get requests to stock in our cafe at the Whole Foods I work at. Honestly, I've never lived in a place where there is hot sauce stocked at the table next to salt and pepper. Coloradans love their hot sauce!!!
Kiersten Frase says
Aw, I wish they had Cholula everywhere here. 🙂 Although we do have a restaurant that makes Cholula potato chips, which are insanely delicious.
Millie | Add A Little says
Looks delicious! Love the flavours!
Jennifer @ Delicious Everyday says
I am not even going to deny what an absolute sucker I am for mashed potatoes. And this one loooks really delish! Definitely trying!
Emily says
Holy crap these were fantastic. I also had never thought to steam potatoes and it was so much easier! I'll be steaming all of my mashed potatoes from now on. These turned out very creamy and I thought they would be a good substitute from cheesy grits or something similar. We ate these with sautéed kale and fake chicken sausages.