Make your holidays or entertaining easier with this make ahead mashed potatoes with sour cream and cream cheese. Can be made several days ahead and refrigerated or up to a week ahead and frozen.
There are only a few things that are constants at our family Thanksgiving celebration. The turkey and stuffing, of course, my Mom’s pumpkin pie and this make ahead mashed potato casserole. Not only are these absolutely delicious potatoes, they are made to be made ahead!
As most have us have discovered, regular mashed potatoes are not something that’s easily made ahead, as they have a tendency to become mealy, crumbly, gluey or just plain un-delicious when made ahead and re-heated. This mashed potato casserole is enriched with cream cheese, sour cream and eggs, so they bake up in to a flavourful mashed potato dish, without any worries or last-minute potato boiling and mashing.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Potatoes – Russet baking potatoes are recommended, for best results. Be sure to boil the potatoes until tender and mash really well (or use a potato ricer) to avoid lumpy potatoes.
Sour Cream – Full fat sour cream is highly recommended! Lower fat sour cream has a higher water content and may make the potatoes runnier.
Cream Cheese – Likewise, use a full fat cream cheese here, for the same reasons as above.
Step-by-Step Photos
Making ahead, storing and freezing
- This potato casserole can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated or can be made up to 1 week ahead and frozen! Be sure to take it out of the freezer and pop it in to the fridge a day ahead (it takes a surprisingly long time to thaw).
- On the big day, just pop in to the oven for 45-50 minutes and serve. No fuss, no-muss and a big-batch of delicious potatoes to grace your holiday table.
- Store left-over potatoes in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Get the Recipe: Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 lbs russet (baking) potatoes
- 8 oz full fat cream cheese, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup full fat sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 2 Tablespoon butter, melted
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon salt, to taste (I generally use 1 teaspoon)
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Peel and half or quarter potatoes, depending on how large they are. Place in a large pot of cold, salted water. Bring water to a boil. Cover, reduce heat slightly and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until tender. Drain. Using a ricer or potato masher, mash potatoes well and place in to a large bowl. *Tip: Make sure your potatoes are smooth or you will have lumpy potatoes!
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer (or the bowl of a stand mixer or by hand with a sturdy whisk), mix together the potatoes, cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, melted butter, salt and pepper until smooth and fluffy. Spoon into a greased 11×7-inch or similar sized baking dish. **Can be prepared up to this point and covered tightly and refrigerated for 2 days or frozen up to 1 week. To thaw, thaw in refrigerator for about 24 hours, then let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.
- Bake in a preheated 350F (not fan assisted) oven, covered with foil, for 45-50 minutes or until heated through. (can uncover for the last part of baking to brown a bit).
Notes
More Potato Recipes to Love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Hi…this recipe looks wonderful! I have a logistics question for you…will there be room in the oven for the turkey roasting pan, the stuffing casserole pan, and this pan of mashed potatoes? Thanks for any ‘same day co-ordination of getting everything heated at the same time’ tips!
Hi Anne, in short, no. So you’d need either cook the turkey earlier and get it out of the oven to make room for the side dishes OR heat the side dishes in the microwave (which I never love myself). For an average sized turkey, you could put it in the oven early morning (7-ish) and it would be out of the oven by noon. You can make the gravy while the sides are in the oven and you’re good to go. Another option is to cook the turkey the day ahead. I’ve done this many times, when it’s just too much to do the turkey on the day. I let cool a bit, then wrap and cover with a damp tea towel and refrigerate. Next day I slice and heat briefly on the plate. Hope that helps a bit :)
These mashed potatoes look incredible, so perfect for the Thanksgiving meal!
Thanks so much, Laura :)
great idea instead of traditional mashed. love those browned edges and of course the make-ahead component for entertaining!
Thanks Cathy and it really is nice to have these potatoes ready on the big day :)
Love this recipe, Jennifer! My sister-in-law makes a garlic mashed potato recipe that converted me to a potato lover after a lifetime of not eating them, lol.
I will try this one at Christmas because we’re finding it more and more convenient to create make-ahead dishes. Can’t wait!
Hope your day was fabulous and delicious. Loved the video! Happy Thanksgiving :)
Thanks Robyn! These really are delicious and a great time saver, which is always good :)
I love your recipe and the video was very moving. I just love family! Thanks for the make-ahead recipe – I can use all the help I can get. Happy, happy, happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! I can’t wait for ours too.
Thanks Tricia :) Looking forward to a great weekend of food and family here!
I LOVE make ahead potatoes for Thanksgiving – they save SO much time. I usually use goat cheese in mine but I really like the idea of using sour cream & cream cheese – YUM! Will have to do some experimenting – thanks for the inspiration!!!
Thanks Stephanie :) I think you’d like the flavours in these, too!
Love these potatoes Jennifer. You’re getting me pumped for Thanksgiving!
Thanks Mary Ann and yes, I’m getting excited for the Thanksgiving eats just writing about them :)
This is absolute genius, I can’t tell you how many Thanksgivings I’ve spent trying to organize all the sides at the last minute, this is a must make this year!
Thanks Sue! These potatoes are absolutely perfect for holidays, as they whole boiling and mashing process is removed from the day of. Makes time for other things, for sure :)
I love “the potatoes”! What a wonderful idea to make this part of the meal ahead when there’s so much else to do. Happy almost Canadian Thanksgiving! Such a sweet video…
Thanks so much, Chris :)