Sour Cream & Onion Mashed Potatoes

Have you ever sat down for Thanksgiving dinner, eaten a bite of mashed potatoes and just wished they were more interesting, flavor-wise? Us too. Buttery, creamy, standard spuds are amazing, don't get us wrong. But we think there is a perfect way to dial up the classic side dish.

Enter our cream and onion mashed potatoes! Obviously this recipe calls for both sour cream and onions, but there are a few tricks we discovered for making mashed potatoes taste exactly like our favorite flavor of potato chips.

Trick 1: Take the time to caramelize your onions

You could cook raw onions in the pot potato mixture (they’d taste like classic sautéed onions), but to really capture the sweetest, most onion-y flavor, we caramelize the onions in a separate skillet before stirring them into the mashed potatoes. Toss chopped onions with butter in a hot pan and let them do their thing. We caramelize them for 10 minutes so you can get on with the recipe, but for caramelized onions with the most flavor, if you have the time you’ll want to cook them low and slow for at least 40 minutes.

Trick 2: Use milk and sour cream

Using just sour cream will make a rich potato salad for sure, but to achieve the creamiest possible texture in mashed potatoes, you’ll need to stir in some milk along with the sour cream. It won’t take away from the sour cream’s tang, we promise.

Trick 3: Onion powder is your friend

We always suggest you use fresh herbs instead of dried if you can, but when it comes to nailing that sour cream and onion potato chip flavor, you must reach for the jar. That concentrated, almost pungent onion flavor is what we associate we the chips, and when you fold the powder into potatoes, you’re well on your way to the most exciting mashed potatoes of your life.

Gave this recipe a try? Let us know how they added to your holiday feast in the comments below!