Although it is onerous to discover a Thanksgiving desk that does not have potatoes on it, all too typically meaning a bowl of dry mashed potatoes or bland roasted ones. However as simple as it’s to mess up potatoes, with somewhat know-how, it is virtually simply as simple to make them some of the scrumptious components of the meal. As a substitute of settling for mediocre spuds on Thanksgiving, wow your friends this yr with potato recipes like pommes aligot (a.okay.a. super-gooey mashed potatoes filled with cheese), the crispiest roast potatoes you have ever had, or a good looking hasselback potato gratin.
Mashed Potatoes
Extremely-Fluffy Mashed Potatoes
If you would like fluffy mashed potatoes, simply know that starch is your largest enemy. The key is dicing the potatoes and rinsing them properly earlier than and after cooking, which can do away with that extra starch and depart the mashed potatoes tremendous gentle. Even should you normally choose creamier mashed potatoes, as I do, this recipe is one of the best for making gravy volcanoes.
Pommes Aligot (Tacky Mashed Potatoes)
If our ultra-fluffy mashed potatoes nonetheless aren’t fairly luxurious sufficient for you, you have to take a look at pommes aligot. This conventional French dish packs potatoes with a lot melted cheese, it virtually seems like fondue. For probably the most attention-grabbing taste profile, use a mixture of Alpine cheeses, equivalent to Swiss, Gruyère, and Comté.
Roasted and Pan-Fried Potatoes
The Greatest Crispy Roast Potatoes Ever
Now we have plenty of roast potato recipes, but when you are going to strive only one, make it this one. Right here, we parboil the potatoes in water spiked with baking soda to make it alkaline, then toss them roughly in fats earlier than roasting; the aggressive dealing with batters the potatoes’ exteriors barely, which builds up a starchy slurry. You will find yourself with potatoes which are comfortable and creamy on the within and beautifully crispy on the surface.
Extremely-Crispy New Potatoes With Garlic, Herbs, and Lemon
One of many hardest components of roasting potatoes is coping with the skins (assuming you are leaving them on). We wish our potato skins good and crispy, but they typically come out papery or robust. To keep away from these outcomes, we parboil the potatoes in vinegar-spiked water—the acidity helps construct up a layer of starch that will get crusty within the oven—and toss the potatoes with loads of fats earlier than roasting.
Crispy Smashed Potatoes
This is not probably the most easy potato recipe in our assortment—parboiling the potatoes, smashing them with a skillet, and frying them slowly in small batches is a minor ache. However the extremely crispy potatoes that consequence are properly price it. Plus, you are able to do a lot of the work Wednesday night and reheat the potatoes within the oven, with out sacrificing crispness.
Skillet Potatoes With Cajun Blackening Spices and Buttermilk-Herb Sauce
On the lookout for a potato recipe that may actually stand out in your Thanksgiving desk? These potatoes make a critical assertion, because of an intense Cajun-style blackening rub made with smoked paprika, cumin, garlic and onion powders, brown sugar, oregano, and cayenne. To stability out the spice and warmth, we serve them with a creamy buttermilk-based sauce flavored with garlic, dill, chives, and parsley.
Casseroles and Gratins
Traditional Wealthy and Silky Potato Gratin (Scalloped Potatoes)
That is potato gratin the best way it must be: wealthy, melt-in-your-mouth creamy, and loaded with taste. We layer russet potatoes with Gruyère cheese so as to add earthy nuttiness, whereas a mix of cream and milk slowly bubbles and cooks down because the potatoes bake. A crispy golden crust of extra Gruyère and Parmigiano-Reggiano is the of entirety.
Hasselback Potato Gratin
Keep in mind the Hasselback potato pattern? The pictures at all times regarded terrific on Pinterest, however the gimmicky recipe by no means appeared to work properly sufficient in actual life to be helpful. This recipe retains one of the best a part of the concept (the abundance of crispy potato edges) by making what’s primarily a sideways gratin. We prepare the potatoes, sliced on a mandoline, in a baking dish and canopy them solely partially with a mix of cream and cheese. That leaves the tops uncovered, permitting them to crisp up properly.
Crispy Mashed Potato Casserole With Bacon, Cheese, and Scallions
Mashed potatoes do not are likely to reheat properly, which means you could time your Thanksgiving prep exactly as a way to end them proper earlier than serving dinner. There’s a workaround, although: Combining the mash with plenty of bitter cream offers the potatoes sufficient additional moisture to permit them to maintain within the fridge for as much as 5 (!) days. All you will have to do earlier than serving is prime the casserole with diced bacon, cheese, bread crumbs, and scallions and bake till it is sizzling.
Tater Tot Casserole (Hotdish)
Tater Tot casserole—or “hotdish,” because it’s known as in its Midwestern birthplace—is nice for gatherings any time of yr, and Thanksgiving isn’t any exception. Positive, most definitely your Tater Tots will come frozen from a bag (although you’ll be able to strive making your personal should you’re actually hardcore!), however combining them with a flavorful home made mushroom sauce and thoroughly seasoned floor beef makes this model additional particular.