With flavors of a loaded baked potato, these loaded mashed potatoes will rock your side dish world!

I love potatoes, don’t you? I grew up in the age of dinner meant three things on your plate: Meat, Vegetable and Starch. The hubby grew up the same way. So to me, if there isn’t a starch on the plate, I feel like I am forgetting something!

I love baked potatoes, and sometimes we load them up and make a meal out of them by themselves. The other day we had BBQ Pork Ribs for dinner, and I needed a quick side dish to go with them and the corn I had made. I was wishing I had made baked potatoes, but alas, I wasn’t that “with it” that day. I had instant mashed potatoes in the pantry, and decided to do a little doctoring. You could totally make these with “real” mashed potatoes, but in a pinch I will grab those flakes in the pantry every time! 😉

find the recipe for the BBQ Pork Ribs here

I loaded them up with sour cream, bacon, onions, chives and cheese. They were heavenly.

Give them a try next time you need a really good, and yet really easy side dish.

Easy loaded mashed potatoes

For this recipe, I used some instant mashed potatoes. Sometimes quick and easy is the best way to go. When you have a few forlorn faces looking at you with those hungry eyes, don’t you agree?

It isn’t like they are going to look at you and wonder why you waited for a pot to boil some water. And, it isn’t like they are going to wonder how long the potatoes will take to cook.

The only thing that matters at those times? FOOD NOW PLEASE.

So, sure, if you have the time and inclination, you can easily do this same recipe with fresh potatoes instead of instant. But don’t beat yourself up if you have to go with the instant option.

At the end of the day, they are just as delicious. In fact, most people won’t even know the difference unless you tell them. Shhh… I won’t give you away.

Raw potatoes vs potato flakes

Potato flakes just need hot water and some stirring to be ready to go. You can’t beat that when it comes to convenience. You can even use the microwave to heat your water quickly.

Using raw potatoes is more time consuming, but it does have advantages too. First, nutritionally speaking, a raw potato is better than using flakes. However, of course the trade off is the extra work to prep them.

If you are going to use raw potatoes, then I recommend the Yukon Golds or Russets, also known as Idaho potatoes. These big taters work great for baked potatoes, but they also serve well for mashed potatoes too.

They contain less water to starch ratios so they tend to make fluffier and lighter mashed potatoes.

Some folks like to peel their potatoes completely. Others like the partial peel. And of course, some want the entire skin left on.

If you do want to use the skin, then score the skin with a bunch of knife cuts. It will make it easier to deal with when you get to the mashing part.

Also, I recommend using a potato ricer. This device works wonderfully for creating super light and fluffy potatoes. With a potato ricer, your days of worrying about making dense, gluey, pasty loaded mashed potatoes are over!

If you do use a ricer, and you like to keep the skin on, then definitely score the skin. It will make it way easier to push through the potato ricer.

Why is it called a potato ricer?

A potato ricer pushes cooked potatoes through a small grate. It forms little kernels or “rice grains” of potatoes. Why is that great for loaded mashed potatoes? Well, you never want to stir mashed potatoes too much. Stirring makes them gluey.

But you have to stir a little to make loaded mashed potatoes. So, a potato ricer makes it easy to mix in the other ingredients without much stirring. The riced potatoes have plenty of surface area to take on the flavors you load in. Voila! Perfect loaded mashed potatoes every time.

My favorite loaded mashed potatoes

In my case, I love the classics. So I loaded them up with sour cream, bacon, onions, chives and cheese. They were heavenly.

Give them a try next time you need a really good, and yet really easy side dish.

Of course, if you need a few more great side dish suggestions, then I am happy to suggest a few.

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Potatoes in a white serving dish with text "Loaded Mashed Potatoes"

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