Mashed potatoes are a delicious and satisfying dish, perhaps one of the world’s favorite comfort foods. But if you don’t want to spend time manually mashing potatoes or you just want to get them a little bit smoother, you may be wondering:
Can you mash potatoes in a blender?
Quick Answer: You can mash potatoes in a blender, but you need to be careful about over blending them. If you over blend mashed potatoes, you’ll release too much starch from the potatoes and they will end up extremely “sticky”. Also (very important) if you’re going to put hot potatoes in a blender you need to make sure your blender is suitable for heat and has a venting mechanism. If it doesn’t the blender could explode.
So how do you accomplish making mashed potatoes in a blender without ruining them?
Let’s explain below:
How to Make Mashed Potatoes in a Blender
- Start with Russet Idaho potatoes and boil until soft.
- Once you’re able to poke them with a fork, drain them in a sink with a colander.
- Then place back on the stove and turn the heat to low to get rid of any excess water.
- Place potatoes in a blender along with spices or fatty ingredients and spices if desired.
- Pulse the blender and stop it immediately.
- Use tamper (if your blender has one) to push potatoes down farther into the blades. If your blender doesn’t have a tamper, make sure the blender is completely stopped and use another utensil for this (be careful).
- Don’t pulse more than 18 times or you may end up releasing too much starch and creating gluey potatoes.
How to Make Potatoes Without a Potato Masher
If you don’t have a blender or decide that your blender is not a good candidate to make mashed potatoes then you can use any of these other tools.
Be sure to follow these two steps above first:
- Cook the potatoes until tender.
- Strain the potatoes
- Then cook off the rest of the moisture for 1-2 minutes by adding back to the pot and turning the heat to low.
After that, you can simply use the following to mash the potatoes – although it’s ideal to let them cool off a bit:
- A large fork
- A slotted spoon
- A heat resistant coffee mug
- Mason jar
- Hand mixer (careful not to over-blend)
- Anything round and sturdy!
Hey, I’m Joey. I’ve been cooking since I was a little kid and love everything about it. You can find my writing about food, kitchen appliances (such as blenders) and much more. Thanks for stopping by!
