French Onion Mashed Potatoes add a savory spin to a classic holiday side dish! Your family will be fighting for seconds!
Have you guys started thinking about your Thanksgiving side dishes yet? I know it sounds early, but this is important stuff! Maybe I’m just (unapologetically) obsessed with holidays that involve copious amounts of delicious food. And while this embodies pretty much every holiday for our family, I think we can all agree that Thanksgiving takes the cake pie!
One Thanksgiving staple in our family is Mashed Potatoes. My husband, Justin takes his mashed potatoes super seriously. Part of that is because he’s a super picky eater, so his holiday eating options are always pretty limited. But also because mashed potatoes are pretty darn good – our Thanksgiving Feast just doesn’t feel complete without it.
Sometimes it’s fun to add an interesting twist to traditional dishes like this. Kick things up a notch, if you will. And since I love the savory, mouthwatering flavor of French Onion soup, I figured, why not combine that with creamy mashed potatoes to add a bit of pizzazz to the usual holiday fare?
Now I’ll admit, this is a bit more time consuming than my typical recipes. I’m usually all about quick recipes, but I assure you these are totally worth the extra time involved. You can even caramelize the onions the night before and reheat them before adding them to the potatoes.
I also went ahead and added some French Fried Onions on top of these for a flavorful crunch. If your family is anything like mine, you’ll find yourselves battling for those perfectly crispy French Fried onions and for that reason I strongly encourage you to have some extra on the side.
How to make French Onion Mashed Potatoes:
French Onion Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
Caramelized Onions:
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 Tbsp. salted butter
- 4 cups diced white onions around 2 large onions
- 1 heaping tsp. granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup white wine
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 heaping tsp. beef soup base I used Better Than Bouillon Roasted Beef base
Mashed Potatoes:
- 8 cups diced red skin potatoes
- 4 Tbsp. salted butter
- 1/2 cup milk warmed up (I microwaved it for 30-40 seconds)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- French fried onions garnish
- Fresh chopped parsley garnish
Instructions
- Melt oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium heat.
- Add onions and sugar.
- Mix well.
- Cover the pan for 15 minutes, stirring periodically.
- Remove the cover and keep cooking the onions stirring periodically until they're nicely caramelized and deep brown, about 45 minutes.
- Add the white wine to the pan and scrape the pan with a wooden spoon to deglaze.
- Stir in the beef soup base and reduce for 5 minutes.
- Half way through the caramelizing time, boil the potatoes until fork tender.
- Drain the potatoes and place them into a stand mixer (you can also used a hand mixer, ricer, or potato masher).
- Add butter, milk, salt and pepper to the bowl and mix until just combined (there may be a few lumps at this point).
- Add the caramelized onion mixture to potatoes and mix until combined.
- Taste the potatoes and if necessary, add more salt and pepper until it reaches the desired level of flavor.
- Garnish with french fried onions and parsley and serve immediately.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- The onions can be made ahead and reheated right before adding them to the potatoes. I simply microwaved them for around a minute.
- I left the skins on the potatoes because I like the texture, but you can always peel them first if you prefer to leave the skins out.
- I find the stand mixer to be the easiest way to get quick and delicious mashed potatoes- I use the whisk attachment. If you don't have a stand mixer, you can always use a hand mixer, ricer or standard potato masher.
Other great holiday side dishes include:
Grandma’s Baked Artichoke Hearts
And for even more Thanksgiving Side Dishes, visit our Ultimate Thanksgiving Side Dishes Collection!
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