Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes

We’ve tried what seems like every variety of mashed potatoes under the sun, be they with heavy cream, half and half, sour cream or just tons and tons of butter, but it wasn’t until recently that we realized we were missing a huge ingredient that could be a game changer in our tots. Cream cheese. We’re not sure how or why it took us so long to realize that we desperately needed to incorporate these into our potato game, but once we did, we were thrilled with the results.
Now, we would definitely fall into the “cream cheese lover” bucket, if there were one, but what’s so great about this dish is that you don’t even have to love cream cheese as much as we do to love how these cream cheese mashed potatoes turned out! They’re smooth and creamy – though you can leave a couple lumps in there, if you want – and once we top it off with some butter, it tastes like heaven. Everything melts and blends together perfectly and we’re absolutely hooked on ‘em!

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cubed
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup half and half
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon onion powder
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

PREPARATION

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, add potatoes and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until fork tender.
Drain potatoes, then return to stock pot.
Mash potatoes lightly, then add butter, cream cheese, garlic and onion powder, then season generously with salt and pepper.
Mash potatoes until mostly smooth, then gradually add half and half in, until desired consistency is reached.
Serve hot and enjoy.