5 Underrated Potato Sides To Make Instead Of Your Regular Mash

Mashed potatoes are a holiday classic, but one of the wonderful things about potatoes is just how many different side dishes they can become. This is not a diss on mashed potatoes, they are popular for a reason and have earned their place as a year-round comfort food. Instead, this is a paean to the power of the humble potato, which comes in many different varieties that are all capable of being creamy, fluffy, crispy, hearty, and so many other things. So during special occasions and holidays, why stick with something you're already eating all year round? Why not explore the whole world of potato side dishes available to you and find something that will surprise your family and your guests as much as it will satisfy them?

Potatoes are the single most commonly consumed vegetable in the United States, and even taking french fries into account, that is a lot of different dishes to make from them. What makes potato side dishes so great isn't just how tasty or filling they are, but how simple, as lots of potato dishes are hands-off bake-it-and-forget-it kinds of affairs. So when we recommend these underrated potato side dishes, we are looking for recipes that aren't just as flavorful as mashed potatoes, but easy for a crowd as well. And with potatoes' transformative versatility, these options should be able to satisfy any table full of hungry diners.

Funeral potatoes are a lot more celebratory than their dour name would suggest. While the dish has spread across the country, it appears to have originated with the Mormon community in Utah, where it would be served at large gatherings, including funerals. The classic form of funeral potatoes is a large cheesy casserole, the kind of thing that can satisfy any middle-American party. Its base is usually frozen hash browns, creamy soups like cream of mushroom or chicken, sour cream, plenty of butter and cheese, and a crispy cornflake topping.

Our cheesy funeral potato recipe follows most of the standard formula but with the option to use fresh cubed potatoes or frozen hash browns, depending on your preference. Like any great casserole, prep is a cinch, and boils down to mixing everything in a dish and baking it off. It can go from kitchen to dinner table in under 45 minutes, with almost all that time spent in the oven. And if you are hosting a big holiday gathering and want to save time, it's also great if it's made ahead without the cornflake topping and refrigerated, where it will keep for four days. You can then top the pre-made potato base with the cornflake mixture, and reheat for 20 minutes to warm through and crisp up.

It's a strange phenomenon that twice-baked potatoes aren't more popular, because they combine the best parts of three different dishes. Mix the creaminess of mashed potatoes with the crunchy, hearty base of potato skins, and all the loaded toppings of your favorite once-baked potato recipe, and you have the twice-baked version. And if that wasn't good enough, that second baking also helps brown the top of the mashed potato too, for the perfect mix of fluffy and crispy textures. Sure, they take a little more work than baked potatoes, but not that much, and the reward is well worth it, not just in the amazing melding of flavors you get, but also the more special presentation that makes them a great dinner party side.

When making a twice-baked potato, you don't want to hold back, and our recipe doesn't, combining the potato with butter, sour cream, and milk, before mixing and topping it with cheese, green onion, and bacon. That means you don't just get all the good stuff on top, as it's also mixed into every bite. And beyond the festive look of the finished dish, the half-potato size makes them easy to split up and dole out to big groups.

Some people may prefer light sides that don't take the spotlight off the main course, but where is the fun in that? Potato casseroles are made to be big and bold, and there should be nothing subtle about the flavor of any Cajun dish. This is the kind of side that can serve as a main course in its own right if you want it to, but is made to compliment meaty main courses. And unlike your shredded or cubed potato casseroles, our Cajun potato casserole is a creamy and decadent dish reminiscent of mashed potatoes, so you get a taste of multiple potato favorites in one.

Potato casseroles can be as simple as potato, stock, and cheese, but this recipe gets an extra kick from a Cajun seasoning mix and chopped andouille sausage, with some added crunch from onions and peppers. It starts off much the same as mashed potatoes, being boiled and then smashed with sour cream, mayonnaise, and milk, but gets finished in the oven after getting folded with the fillings and topped with cheese, giving everything a nicely browned top to compliment the smooth potato. It's just different enough from your normal potato sides to delight, while still being classic enough to be a crowd pleaser.

If there are two things people love it's potatoes and dishes that seem way fancier than they actually are, and fondant potatoes are both of those. Also referred to as "melting potatoes," for their luxuriously rich and tender texture, fondant potatoes are made by basting and baking peeled potatoes in a fatty sauce of oil and butter. A dual process of searing the potatoes and then cooking them in the oven produces a golden-hued finish with crispy, invitingly browned tops and bottoms that look like way more work than the relatively simple recipe entails.

Our easy fondant potato recipe is a straightforward interpretation of the classic French version and takes only minimal prep before cooking. Using starchy russet potatoes is important for getting the creamy texture. Just peel them and then lop off the top and bottoms to create flat surfaces the potatoes can sit on to brown, and you're ready to roll. Flavored with fresh herbs and garlic, the fat the potatoes are cooked in becomes an elegant sauce for baking the potatoes in, so they can be served fresh from the oven. It's the kind of dish you make when you want to impress everyone you serve, and not waste a lot of time in the process. And they taste amazing to boot.

Potato salads of all kinds are a lovely alternative to mashed potatoes, and scratch that same creamy itch. But if you are looking to do something unique and special with your potato side, you need to go beyond the mayo- or vinegar-based recipes everybody already knows. Luckily, there is an American classic waiting for you that fits in perfectly with potato salad while still giving it a nice twist: Ranch dressing. The rich buttermilk and herb mixture is an easy substitute in mayo-based potato salad, and it brings an extra-special fresh and tangy flavor.

To take your ranch potato salad to the next level, it also helps to make your dressing from scratch, which happens to be quite easy. We have two different recipes that feature ranch, both of which make use of fresh buttermilk and herbs instead of bottled dressing, producing a much more satisfying and robust flavor. Our buttermilk ranch potato salad is a classic creamy potato salad that only needs the homemade sauce, scallions, garlic, and chives to produce a delicious side in about 20 minutes. And if you want to go a little bit bigger, we also have our bacon and egg ranch potato salad, which combines two mayo salad favorites in one and ties them off with the smoky and salty flavor of crispy bacon. We promise that with either of these, nobody will be asking where the mashed potatoes are.