Loaded Mashed Potatoes
Skin-on russets mashed with warm half-and-half and butter, then loaded like a baked potato with crisp bacon, cheddar, sour cream and chives.
"Loaded" borrows the American steakhouse baked potato, split and piled with bacon, cheddar, sour cream and chives, and stirs all of it straight into the mash. We could not find a reputable source dating the loaded potato itself (see What we could not source). America's Test Kitchen's Cook's Country built its loaded version on its rustic mash, which keeps the russet skins on and skips peeling entirely.
🇺🇸 This one is American
Skin-on russets mashed with warm half-and-half and butter, then loaded like a baked potato with crisp bacon, cheddar, sour cream and chives.
🇮🇪 The original
Ireland's colcannon is floury potatoes mashed with butter and milk and folded with cooked cabbage or kale, a well of melted butter in the middle. See the Irish Colcannon recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Skins on, sliced thin
Leaving the skins on saves peeling and adds a baked-potato flavor, and slicing before boiling cooks the potatoes quickly and evenly (ATK).
Russets for fluff
Starchy russets mash up light and absorb the dairy, so the heavy add-ins do not make the mash dense (ATK).
Step by step
- Step 1
Put the potatoes and 1 tbsp salt in a large saucepan, cover with water by 1 inch and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower to medium and simmer 18 to 22 minutes, until a paring knife slides in and out easily.
- Step 2
While they cook, cook the bacon in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat 5 to 7 minutes, until crisp. Lift it onto a paper towel-lined plate with a slotted spoon.
- Step 3
Combine the half-and-half and butter in a 2-cup glass measuring cup, cover and microwave about 2 minutes, until the butter melts and the mixture is warm.
- Step 4
Drain the potatoes, return them to the saucepan and mash until smooth with no lumps.
- Step 5
Stir in the warm half-and-half mixture, the pepper and 3/4 tsp salt.
- Step 6
Stir in the cheddar, sour cream, chives and bacon, keeping a little bacon and chives to scatter on top. Taste for salt and pepper and serve.
Loaded Mashed Potatoes
Serves 4 · about 5 cups · 40 min total
Potatoes
- 2 lb russet potatoes, scrubbed, unpeeled, sliced 1/2 inch thick
- 1 tbsp table salt, for the cooking water
Loaded
- 4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 2 oz cheddar, shredded (1/2 cup)
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup minced fresh chives
Dairy
- 3/4 cup half-and-half
- 8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
- 3/4 tsp table salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Method
- Put the potatoes and 1 tbsp salt in a large saucepan, cover with water by 1 inch and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower to medium and simmer 18 to 22 minutes, until a paring knife slides in and out easily.
- While they cook, cook the bacon in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat 5 to 7 minutes, until crisp. Lift it onto a paper towel-lined plate with a slotted spoon.
- Combine the half-and-half and butter in a 2-cup glass measuring cup, cover and microwave about 2 minutes, until the butter melts and the mixture is warm.
- Drain the potatoes, return them to the saucepan and mash until smooth with no lumps.
- Stir in the warm half-and-half mixture, the pepper and 3/4 tsp salt.
- Stir in the cheddar, sour cream, chives and bacon, keeping a little bacon and chives to scatter on top. Taste for salt and pepper and serve.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen, "Loaded Rustic Mashed Potatoes" by Matthew Fairman (January 29, 2019), as written for 4. America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (1)
Tips
- Grate the cheddar from a block; pre-shredded cheese has anti-caking starch and melts less smoothly.
- Let the sour cream come to room temperature so it does not cool the potatoes.
- Mash by hand; a mixer or food processor makes it gluey.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Peel the potatoes. Disputed: classic recipes peel (our Classic American Mashed Potatoes recipe); ATK's rustic mash keeps the skins for flavor and speed. Both are mashed potatoes.
- "Loaded" started in steakhouses. Folklore: often said; we found no reputable source for when or where.
Every other mash
Pommes Purée (Robuchon-Style French Mashed Potatoes)
Waxy yellow potatoes boiled in their skins, milled, dried over the heat, then beaten with cold butter, a quarter of the potatoes' weight, and loosened with hot milk until glossy and almost pourable.
Irish Colcannon
Floury potatoes steamed in their jackets, mashed with hot milk until fluffy, then folded with an equal volume of buttered Savoy cabbage and served with butter melting in the middle.
Irish Champ (Scallion Mashed Potatoes)
Potatoes boiled in their skins and mashed with milk that has simmered with chopped scallions, then beaten with butter and served in warm bowls with more butter melting in a well on top.
Scottish Clapshot (Orkney Potatoes and Rutabaga)
Floury potatoes and rutabaga ("neeps") boiled together, dried in the pan so the mash is not watery, then mashed with butter, salt and pepper and finished with chives.
Dutch Boerenkool Stamppot with Rookworst
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