4 Ingenious Spins on Mashed Potatoes

YumSugarSource: 4 Ingenious Spins on Mashed Potatoes

While few things can beat classic no-frills mashed potatoes, it can be a lot of fun to experiment with variations on the classic comfort food. Here are four of our favorite versions, from the baked-potato-inspired (bacon, scallions, and cheddar) to pesto-flecked.

• Mashed Potatoes With Bacon, Cheddar, and Scallions: Start with basic mashed potatoes, then fold in three strips crumbled thick-cut bacon, the thinly sliced white and green parts of three scallions, and 3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar, reserving some of each to sprinkle on top.
• Garlic-Thyme Mashed Potatoes: Begin the recipe for basic mashed potatoes. While the potatoes cook, take the cream and bring it to just below a simmer in a small saucepan with one smashed garlic clove and one large sprig of fresh thyme (or two small). Take it off the heat, and allow to steep for 10 minutes, then mix it in per the instructions in the original recipe.
• Pesto Mashed Potatoes: Reduce the butter to 2-1/4 tablespoons and the cream to 1/4 cup in the basic mashed potatoes recipe and mix in 1/4 cup plus two tablespoons pesto. For a fun garnish, thin a dollop of pesto with olive oil until runny and drizzle it on top of the mashed potatoes.
• Mashed Potatoes With Brown Butter, Goat Cheese, and Sage: Prepare basic mashed potatoes, but instead of the original cream, butter, and salt measurements, use 1/2 teaspoon salt, three tablespoons of milk, three tablespoons brown butter, one teaspoon of chopped fresh sage, and four ounces of fresh goat cheese.