For Thanksgiving this year Bobby smoked a standing rib roast and for one of the sides, we made these Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes. What a fantastic pairing! The roast was smoky, medium rare with a spicy crust on the outside. The potatoes provided a creamy, buttery, and slightly cheesy complement. Other sides included this Candied Pecan, Pear & Pomegrante Salad but with a white balsamic vinaigrette, a relish tray that my SIL put together of a variety of homemade pickles along with deviled eggs, roasted vegetables, and fennel infused onion. What a feast!!!
In addition to serving along side standing rib roast, these blue cheese mashed potatoes also make a nice side dish for roast chicken, grilled ribeye, pulled pork and much more. Of course you might just find yourself forgoing an entrée and just eating the potatoes. 🙂
Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes
Mashed potatoes are one of those sides for which I really don’t use a recipe.
I have my standard ingredients that I start with – potatoes, butter, buttermilk, cream, salt and pepper – then I add other ingredients (like blue cheese) for a desired texture and flavor. When making mashed potatoes, it is important to taste a few times while you’re making them and adjust ingredients for flavor and texture as needed.
There are no exact measurements for this recipe. It starts with potatoes and butter with a ratio of 1 pound potato to 1 tablespoon butter, then the remaining ingredients are added to create the desired flavor and texture.
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Since I do like my potatoes a little chunky rather than smooth and creamy, I leave a bit of peel on the potatoes and use a hand potato masher, which works great!
“*” See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
- 4 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes*, washed and scrubbed
- 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2- 1 cup buttermilk* at room temperature or warm (start with 1/2 cup and add more as needed)
- 1/2 – 1 cup cream* at room temperture or warm (start with 1/2 cup and add more as needed)
- 1/4 pound blue cheese* (start with 1/8 pound and add more as needed)
- salt to tate
- black pepper to taste
Wash and scrub all of the potatoes. Using a sharp knife or fork, poke each potato a couple of times. Place half of the potatoes on a large plate or shallow bowl and microwave 4 minutes. Turn over each potato and microwave for another 4 minutes. Test by poking with a fork to see if potatoes are done. If not, continue to microwave in 2 minutes intervals until done. Repeat with the second batch.
Transfer cooked potatoes to a large bowl and when cool enough, remove some or all of the skin. (I usually just remove any thick pieces and leave the thin, tender skin on the potatoes.)
Cut potatoes into pieces and add the butter. Using a potato masher, mash the butter into the potatoes.
Add 1/2 cup buttermilk and 1/2 cup cream, a few dashes of salt and pepper.
Continue to mash, adding more buttermilk and cream (in equal parts) until you get the texture you want.
Break half of the blue cheese in small pieces and mash into the potatoes.
Reheat in the microwave. Stir. Taste for salt, pepper and cheese flavor.
Add more seasoning and / or cheese until you get the flavor you want. For 4 pounds of potatoes, I usually use 1/4 pound of cheese, but that can change depending on the “brand” of cheese.
Set potatoes aside until ready to serve. Reheat in the microwave for 2 – 4 minutes just before serving. Retaste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Potatoes – Yukon golds make the best potatoes, but you can use a mix of potatoes. Yukon gold and a few red potatoes yield a nice texture. Also, since I don’t peel, both of these potatoes have thinner skins which smashed quite well.
Cooking the potatoes – Microwaving potatoes has been my preference for a very long time. I used to boil, but aside from losing some of the nutrients, you also lose flavor IMO. So if you have a preference, just cook the potatoes however you want.
Liquid – The liquids do affect the flavor so if you aren’t a buttermilk fan, then don’t add more than 1/2 cup or substitute all or part with milk (whole/2%). To cut back on calories, substitute all of the cream with whole milk and reduce the butter to 3 Tbsp.
Blue Cheese – Use a creamy blue cheese, not the drier, precrumbled. Gorgonzola is a nice substitute and a more subtle flavor.
Here are more potato recipes you will enjoy.
Parting Shots
If you remember my post-Thanksgiving 2016 post, my parting shot was of my new great-niece who was 36 hours old – born the day before Thanksgiving. This year, Thanksgiving was her one year old birthday! Happy Birthday our dearest Lizzie!!!!
And what happens when a little girl has her birthday on Thanksgiving Day? 🙂
A wonderful day celebrating Thanksgiving and a birthday with family!
I have to confess, blue cheese mashed on its own sounds scary to me, because blue cheese can be so overpowering, but I’ll bet it’s the perfect accompaniment to smoked standing rib roast!
It’s really surprisingly good. Thanks Jeff.
I’m going to try this in a small amount – can’t quite imagine the taste. Cheers
Thanks Carole! I hope you enjoy. They go great with a nice steak or rib roast.
Ohhh that Blue Cheese would give the potatoes a really nice twist
Thanks Raymund!
My husband and my son are big fans of blue cheese! they would sure love them!
Thanks Katerina!
Feast indeed! Your Thanksgiving dinner sounds scrumptious and how come I’ve never thought of putting blue cheese in mashed potato before? What a cool idea (gorgonzola is a dreamy choice – just the right bite for us). Sounds like you had the perfect holiday MJ and your sweet Lizzie clearly agrees (so cute!) the camera ready shot is priceless too (I love the personal stuff).
Thanks Kelly! We did have a nice meal but, even more importantly, we had a great time. We did a lunch instead of a dinner, so it opened up the afternoon to hangout and enjoy the warm weather we had that day. It was great! I have made these with gorgonzola and they were fabulous! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
On the same page as you… prefer a little chunky than smooth mashed potatoes. Blue cheese though is something I have yet to develop taste for.
Thanks Tamura! I had to develop a taste for it as well and still can’t eat it plain, but it’s great in these potatoes. It’s a subtle flavor, not overbearing, so it works for me. My husband wanted more that why I put a range amount in the recipe. 🙂
I would have loved to see a photo of the standing rib roast! Sounds like a great meal! (I too love those last 2 photos – happy first birthday!)
Thanks so much for your comment Steph! Here’s a “rough” picture of the smoked rib roast. Everyone was standing around with their plates waiting for a piece, so I just had time to snap one shot. Bobby cut the end piece off and then cut it into smaller pieces so everyone got a little crusty end. 🙂 As you can see, it was cooked perfectly IMO. Bobby thought it was a little overdone. He did cut the ribs off beforehand and smoke them separately. That way, the roast itself cooked evenly all the way round.
I’m glad you shared it for all of us to see. It looks perfect – I wouldn’t want it any rarer, myself! The crunchy end pieces are my favorite!
Thanks Steph! I thought it was perfect too! 🙂
I’ve never had a smoked standing rib roast! Sounds totally amazing. The mashed potatoes look amazing, too — I’ve never added blue cheese, but really like the idea. Really love that last picture, too, with all the camera action. 🙂
John, good to see you! Hope you’re doing better and feeling well. Thanks for your comment as always! Yes, the smoked rib roast was awesome! Bobby did a fabulous job on it. I’m posting a picture in the next comment. 🙂 You really need to try Blue cheese in potatoes. It’s very good and so complementary to beef. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Oh my goodness – what a scrumptious sounding feast!! These potatoes look so perfect along with any red meat especially.
Thanks Amy! It was pretty scrumptious. 🙂 Hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
What a scrumptious post MJ! From the lush mashed potatoes to your adorable niece this post was a joy to find in my in-box this morning.
Thanks so much Deb! She IS adorable and so is her older sister. They always make me smile. 🙂
These mashed potatoes need to be on my dinner table and soon.Pinning this one. I love that last photo with everyone aiming cameras. Happy Holidays to you and your family!
Thanks Lea Ann! Isn’t that last photo just great?! When I first saw it, I cracked up. 🙂
Looks like you had a joyous Thanksgiving! Blessings to you and yours.
Thanks so much Sharon! We did have a wonderful day. Hope you and your family did as well.
Happy Birthday, Lizzie! I love the add of blue cheese in mashed potato…must be extremely delicious.
Thanks Angie! 🙂
Happy birthday to your great niece.
Blue cheese mashed potatoes sound very tasty.
Thanks A_B!!