These make ahead mashed potatoes are buttery, creamy, fluffy, and well-seasoned. They can easily be prepared a day or two before you plan to serve them, keeping your last-minute food prepping to a minimum. This makes them the perfect go-to dish when hosting events such as holiday dinners, family gatherings, dinner parties, and more!

Make ahead mashed potatoes served in an oval baking dish and topped with butter and chives. A few potatoes, a kitchen towel, and a wooden spoon are sitting nearby.

Mashed potatoes - it's one of those perfectly timeless side dishes that, when prepared and seasoned correctly, is a total crowd pleaser. I love how versatile they are! No matter the main dish - ham, beef, chicken - mashed potatoes is sure to pare perfectly.

For some holiday dinners, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, mashed potatoes are a "must have" side dish, for sure. But, if you've ever hosted a holiday dinner, you know that making them, along with all the other expected side dishes and desserts, is a lot of work and can feel overwhelming. Well, these Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes are here to make your life just a little bit easier!

This make ahead mashed potatoes recipe comes from my mom's kitchen. They were one of her go-to recipes when hosting Sunday dinner guests, family gatherings, etc. I've always loved them and now I'm happy to serve them up to my own little family, as well.

An overhead image of make ahead mashed potatoes. This side dish has been served in an oval baking dish and topped with butter and chives. A few potatoes, a kitchen towel, and a wooden spoon are sitting nearby.

One more thing to love about these make ahead mashed potatoes is, they are made with real ingredients. No from grainy, from-a-box, potato flakes here! Just real potatoes and other yummy things, like butter and cream cheese. Yum.

I welcome you to try these make ahead mashed potatoes and keep this as your recipe go-to recipe, as well!

More Timeless Recipes

Looking for other crowd-pleasing, timeless recipes to complete your dinner table? You may want to check these out:

Smoked Salmon Phyllo Appetizers

Old-Fashioned Baked Corn

Refrigerator Pickled Beets

Amish Honey Wheat Bread

Ingredients for Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes

5 lbs. Potatoes, Yukon Gold preferred

Water, (for boiling the potatoes)

6 oz. Butter, melted

8 oz Cream Cheese, softened

12 oz Sour Cream

2 c. Milk

½ tablespoon Dried, Minced Onion

2 tablespoon Salt, or to taste

1 tsp. Pepper

4 oz. Butter (goes on top later)

Make ahead mashed potatoes, a savory side dish, served in an oval baking dish and topped with butter and chives. A few potatoes, a kitchen towel, and a wooden spoon are sitting nearby.

Directions

Preparing Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes in Advance

To begin, peel potatoes and cut them into halves or quarter pieces. Add all of them to a large stock pot and fill the pot with water until the potatoes are fully submerged.

Yukon gold potatoes in a kettle that have been peeled, cut in half, and are now ready to be boiled until soft.

On the stovetop, boil the potatoes on a medium-high heat setting until the potatoes are softened. The way to just their softness is to prick/spear them with a fork. When the fork easily glides into them with little effort, they are cooked through and ready to be used!

Next, drain all the water from the potatoes using a kitchen strainer. Then, carefully transfer the steaming, hot potatoes to a large mixing bowl.

Now, mash the potatoes! I use the beater on my kitchen aid mixer for this. This can also be done by hand with a potato masher or using your own, preferred method. My method for mashing: Begin mashing the potatoes on a low speed and gradually increase it just until most of the lumps have disappeared. Then, immediately turn off the mixer. Try not to over mix, as beating them too long overworks and breaks down the potatoes' starch which leads to goopy potatoes. Nobody wants that.

A mixing bowl full of all the ingredients needed to make this side dish.

Next, add the melted butter, sour cream, and cream cheese and mix them into the potatoes until well combined.

Add the seasonings (dried minced onion, salt, and pepper. Then, add in the two cups of milk. A few tips: If using an electric mixer, I recommend slowly adding about half a cup at a time while mixing at a low speed. This keeps the milk from splashing out as it incorporates into the mashed potatoes. Once again, try not to over mix.

Scoop the mashed potatoes from the mixing bowl into an appropriately sized, oven safe baking dish. (A 9×13 baking dish or any baking dish that holds a similar volume will do nicely!)

Cover and refrigerate for 6 - 48 hrs.

Mashed potatoes in a baking dish, ready to be refrigerated overnight before being oven baked. Potatoes and a kitchen towel are resting on the counter beside the dish.

Heating and Serving Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes

When ready to prepare them for serving, remove them from the refrigerator, cover with foil or oven safe lid, and bake at 350° Fahrenheit for 1 hour. Top with 4 oz of butter (cut into 6 to 8 slices spread out over the top) when baking or wait until after the mashed potatoes are baked. Then, melt the butter and pour over the top before serving.

You can serve these make ahead mashed potatoes in the baking dish straight from the oven or transfer them into your favorite, easily passed around, serving bowl.

Optional: Garnish with fresh, chopped or dried herbs such as parsley or chives to give a little eye appeal.

Serve and Enjoy!