Your Thanksgiving dinner table isn’t complete without a dish of creamy mashed potatoes, and these Twice Baked Mashed Potatoes are the only mashed potatoes that you need! Made from tender russet potatoes, they’re just like the classic twice baked potatoes that you know and love, except made way simpler and easier. No twice-baking here! If you’re looking for a dish that is sure to impress your friends and family, this is it.
Friends, are you team “mashed potato” or team “twice baked potato?” For me, it’s all about… well, both! I am a firm believer that every Thanksgiving dinner table needs two types of potatoes. For my family, that usually looks like one bowl of creamy mashed potatoes and a side of something crispy, like my Crispy Garlic Parmesan Crusted Potatoes or my Ultimate Sheet Pan Potatoes Au Gratin. But growing up, there was one potato dish that we enjoyed every single Thanksgiving, without fail, and that was a cheesy twice baked potato.
Twice baked potatoes are a labor of love because they’re… well, baked twice! They are the definition of a dish that is cooked low and slow, and growing up, everyone was put to work making them. While I still love a twice baked potato from time-to-time, on Thanksgiving Day, I can’t be bothered to put in the extra work. Which is why, when I was dreaming up a new mashed potato recipe to share for this holiday season, I knew it was time to merge my two favorite potato dishes together. These mashed potatoes are light, fluffy, creamy, and have all of the elements of twice baked potatoes that you know and love… but, rolled into a mashed potato dish that is way easier to make – and, comes together in less time. Plus, these potatoes can easily be made ahead of time, so that you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time enjoying your meal with the people you love. What could be better than that?
What You Need to Make The Ultimate Mashed Potatoes
- 🥔 Russet Potatoes: The base of any good mashed potato recipe, in my opinion, begins with russet potatoes. These hearty potatoes hold up perfectly with the creamy butter, cream cheese, and milk, leading to a rich and creamy mashed potato!
- 🥓 Bacon: In my opinion, no twice baked potato is complete without a sprinkle of perfectly crispy bacon. You can use turkey bacon or a plant-based bacon if you prefer. For me, however, I prefer to use traditional bacon – it’s the holidays, after all!
- Cream Cheese: The secret to creamy mashed potatoes? It isn’t just in the butter, or the milk, but also… the cream cheese. Don’t knock it until you try it – the cream cheese makes these mashed potatoes light, fluffy, creamy, and delicious!
- 🧈 Unsalted Butter: Of course, it wouldn’t be a mashed potato recipe if it didn’t include heaps of butter! You can use dairy or non-dairy butter here.
- 🧂 Sea Salt & Ground Black Pepper: A pinch of salt and pepper adds the perfect flavor to these mashed potatoes – don’t skip it!
- 🥛 Half & Half: While I recommend using half & half, you can also opt to use traditional whole milk or non-dairy milk, in this recipe. As always, I recommend just using what you have!
- 🧀 Sharp Cheddar Cheese: Twice baked potatoes are known for their cheesy topping, so some shredded sharp cheddar cheese is the perfect addition to this recipe.
- Chives: This is optional, but I love topping these mashed potatoes off with a sprinkle of fresh chopped chives!
How to Make These Creamy and Cheesy Mashed Potatoes
To make these potatoes, start by preheating your oven to 400 F. Next, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and line the bacon up across it in a single layer. Transfer the tray into the oven and allow it to bake for 18-20 minutes, or until it’s golden and crispy. Once it’s done, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool before chopping it into pieces.
While the bacon is in the oven, prepare the potatoes. Clean and scrub the potatoes well and use a peeler to roughly peel them, leaving some of the skin on. Heat a large pot of water, on the stove, over high heat. Once the water is boiling, add in the potatoes and turn the heat down to medium. Allow the potatoes to cook until they’re fork-tender – this should take approximately 25 minutes. You don’t want the potatoes to be mushy, so be sure to keep an eye on them.
Once the potatoes are tender, drain the water from them and return the potatoes to the pot.
Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes into rough chunks. Then, add in the cream cheese, butter, sea salt, ground black pepper, and half & half (or milk of choice) and mash until there are no large chunks and the ingredients are fully combined. Once the potatoes are mashed, transfer the mixture to an 8×8 baking dish and use a spatula to smooth it out in an even layer.
Sprinkle the shredded cheese and bacon evenly across the top. Transfer the dish into the oven and allow it to bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubble. Once the potatoes are done, remove them from the oven. Garnish with chopped chives, then serve and enjoy!
How to Prepare These Potatoes Ahead of Time
Did you know that you can prepare mashed potatoes ahead of time? It’s true! While most people tend to think that mashed potatoes need to be prepared the day-of, this recipe is proof that you can make them ahead of time and still end up with the creamiest, dreamiest potatoes on the Thanksgiving dinner table!
To prepare these potatoes ahead of time, prepare the potatoes as directed below, following steps 1-10 on the recipe card. Then, cover the baking dish with foil and place the potatoes in the fridge, until you’re ready to serve them.
Once you’re ready to serve the potatoes, place them into the oven at 400 F, with the foil on, for 30 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake them for another 15 minutes, until the cheese is golden and bubbly and the potatoes are warmed through. Garnish with fresh chives and serve immediately – that’s it!
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a review and rating below! To see more recipes and behind the scenes, follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube! I’m also now on Pinterest, so stop by and take a look at what’s new.
** Photography by Tanya Pilgrim
Equipment
- Large Pot a large pot or dutch oven makes it easy to boil the potatoes.
- 8×8 Baking Dish a glass baking dish is perfect for making this recipe!
Ingredients
- 3 Pounds Russet Potatoes, scrubbed clean with the skins roughly peeled
- 8 Slices Bacon, cooked and chopped
- 4 Ounces Cream Cheese
- 3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
- ½ Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- ¾ Cup Half & Half, or substitute whole milk or a dairy-free alternative
- 1 Cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated
- 1 Bunch Chives, this is approximately 1/2 cup
Instructions
- To make these potatoes, start by preheating your oven to 400 F.
- Next, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and line the bacon up across it in a single layer.
- Transfer the tray into the oven and allow it to bake for 18-20 minutes, or until it's golden and crispy. Once it's done, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool before chopping it into pieces.
- While the bacon is in the oven, prepare the potatoes. Clean and scrub the potatoes well and use a peeler to roughly peel them, leaving some of the skin on.
- Heat a large pot of water, on the stove, over high heat.
- Once the water is boiling, add in the potatoes and turn the heat down to medium. Allow the potatoes to cook until they're fork-tender – this should take approximately 25 minutes. You don't want the potatoes to be mushy, so be sure to keep an eye on them.
- Once the potatoes are tender, drain the water from them and return the potatoes to the pot.
- Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes into rough chunks. Then, add in the cream cheese, butter, sea salt, ground black pepper, and half & half (or milk of choice) and mash until there are no large chunks and the ingredients are fully combined.
- Once the potatoes are mashed, transfer the mixture to an 8×8 baking dish and use a spatula to smooth it out in an even layer.
- Sprinkle the shredded cheese and bacon evenly across the top.
- Transfer the dish into the oven and allow it to bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubble.
- Once the potatoes are done, remove them from the oven. Garnish with chopped chives, then serve and enjoy!
Rate & review
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What others are saying
Loved these potatoes–everything about them! We used it for a pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving meal. Note: I doubled the recipe and it was very full in my 13×9 dish.
Tried this for Christmas dinner. Everyone loved this dish-kids through the adults. The recipe saves time from traditional twice baked potatoes but sacrifices nothing. The flavor was perfect! Will be adding to our holiday meals again next year for sure.