Thanksgiving Day Make Ahead Freezer Mashed Potatoes

Thanksgiving is always a busy day in our house. With a big family to feed, I found that making some foods days ahead of time really helps cut down the cooking chaos on Thanksgiving Day. The best recipe I found that helps is freezer mashed potatoes. You can make them 6 months ahead of time if you really want. Instead of milk, you add sour cream when you are mashing them. Some people add cream cheese to their mashed potatoes, but I preferred this recipe much better.

Ingredients

5 pounds potatoes (about 10 large)

1 stick butter, softened

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

Wash, peel and cut the potatoes into chunks. This also tastes great if you leave the skin on the potatoes.

Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat and cook until tender.

Drain the potatoes but don't rinse them! I have found that they taste better is they are not rinsed when you drain them.

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together then let them cool before you freeze them.

Delicious Ideas that add zest to your dish

If you want to make the potatoes a little more festive for your Thanksgiving Day Feast, you can add any or all of these extra ingredients for a mouth watering taste.

1 Tbsp McCormick's Vegetable Seasoning

1 cup grated cheese, try a Colby/ Monterey Jack mix or add cheddar

½ cup diced onions, you can also sauté them for a mild onion taste

3 tsp onion powder

3 tsp garlic powder or minced garlic

Freeze Directions for your mashed potatoes

These mashed potatoes freeze well for up to six months. Place them in Ziploc containers or other freezer friendly containers. If you fill the container to the top so there is as little air in the container as possible, it will help them last longer in the freezer and keep them from getting freezer burn.

Reheating Freezer Mashed Potatoes

The best way I found for reheating your frozen mashed potatoes:

Start microwaving them in the container they were frozen in for about 5 minutes.

Take them out and scoop them into a large microwave safe bowl.

Continue microwaving for 2 minutes. Take then out and stir. Repeat until they are thick and heated through.

Warning

When you take them out of the microwave they will start to look very watery. This is normal. Continue microwaving and stirring them and they will look like regular mashed potatoes when you are finished.

I hope this helps you have a smooth Thanksgiving Day meal prep. Enjoy!