Although it is arduous 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 nearly simply as simple to make them some of the scrumptious components of the meal. As an alternative of settling for mediocre spuds on Thanksgiving, wow your friends this yr with potato recipes like pommes aligot (a.ok.a. super-gooey mashed potatoes filled with cheese), the crispiest roast potatoes you have ever had, or a phenomenal hasselback potato gratin.
Mashed Potatoes
Extremely-Fluffy Mashed Potatoes
In order for you fluffy mashed potatoes, simply know that starch is your greatest enemy. The key is dicing the potatoes and rinsing them nicely earlier than and after cooking, which can do away with that extra starch and go away the mashed potatoes tremendous mild. Even in the event you normally want creamier mashed potatoes, as I do, this recipe is the most effective 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 try pommes aligot. This conventional French dish packs potatoes with a lot melted cheese, it virtually appears to be like like fondue. For essentially the most attention-grabbing taste profile, use a mixture of Alpine cheeses, corresponding to Swiss, Gruyère, and Comté.
Roasted and Pan-Fried Potatoes
The Finest Crispy Roast Potatoes Ever
We have now 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 may find yourself with potatoes which might be mushy and creamy on the within and beautifully crispy on the skin.
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 would like 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 essentially the most simple 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 outcome are nicely value 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, due to an intense Cajun-style blackening rub made with smoked paprika, cumin, garlic and onion powders, brown sugar, oregano, and cayenne. To steadiness 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 ought to 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 combination of cream and milk slowly bubbles and cooks down because the potatoes bake. A crispy golden crust of further Gruyère and Parmigiano-Reggiano is the final touch.
Hasselback Potato Gratin
Bear in mind the Hasselback potato pattern? The images at all times seemed terrific on Pinterest, however the gimmicky recipe by no means appeared to work nicely sufficient in actual life to be helpful. This recipe retains the most effective a part of the thought (the abundance of crispy potato edges) by making what’s basically a sideways gratin. We prepare the potatoes, sliced on a mandoline, in a baking dish and canopy them solely partially with a combination of cream and cheese. That leaves the tops uncovered, permitting them to crisp up nicely.
Crispy Mashed Potato Casserole With Bacon, Cheese, and Scallions
Mashed potatoes do not are inclined to reheat nicely, which means you have to time your Thanksgiving prep exactly in an effort 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 must do earlier than serving is prime the casserole with diced bacon, cheese, bread crumbs, and scallions and bake till it is scorching.
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. Certain, most probably your Tater Tots will come frozen from a bag (although you’ll be able to strive making your individual in the event you’re actually hardcore!), however combining them with a flavorful do-it-yourself mushroom sauce and punctiliously seasoned floor beef makes this model additional particular.