Michael Symon's Simple Tips For Perfect Mashed Potatoes

While you may know him from his appearances on The Food Network's "Iron Chef," touring America on "Burgers, Brew & 'Que," or for his time as a co-host on the daytime show "The Chew," chef Michael Symon is also known for his affable manner and for creating recipes that draw inspiration from his Mediterranean heritage. But he also has tips for making stellar mashed potatoes, which he shared on social media.

Symon's tips for taking your mashed potatoes to the next level appeared on his Twitter feed. In the tweets, he recommends a series of simple steps to take to make perfect mashed potatoes, including boiling your potatoes in salted water, which, according to Allrecipes, is crucial for seasoning the potato all the way through. After straining the cooked potatoes, Symon tweets that you can add them back to the pot to heat for about 30 seconds. Although you may assume pulling out the potato masher would be his next move, that's not how Symon prefers to prepare this dish.

According to his Twitter feed, Symon recommends running the potatoes through a ricer once they're fully cooked. This tip is backed up by an article by America's Test Kitchen, which shares that using a ricer will give you the fluffiest mashed potatoes. Besides using a ricer, Symon advises home cooks to also skip adding milk, and reach instead for another dairy ingredient for those potatoes. Symon says (har-har) that whisking together a 2:1 ratio of potato to butter will give you an amazing result. 

And if you're tempted to reach for something electrical, Symon cautions against this saying, "don't use a mixer [as] it will make them pasty." Once the potatoes have been riced, and the butter has been whisked in, there are a couple of seasonings Symon prefers. He says that adding salt and a bit of nutmeg are all you need for a perfect complementary flavor. So the next time you're making mashed potatoes, try these tips for a flawless side dish.