I Tried Ina Garten and Ree Drummond's Mashed Potatoes Recipes, and There's a Clear Winner

I take my mashed potatoes very seriously, so when I was asked to host a little showdown between two of my favorite recipe creators, Ina Garten and Ree Drummond, it felt like my Super Bowl. The two recipes I put head-to-head are Ina’s Classic Mashed Potatoes and Ree’s Creamy Mashed Potatoes.

One thing you should know about me is that I am kind of uptight about mashed potatoes. I once caused a semi-riot at my Mom’s house on Thanksgiving Day because she didn’t have a potato ricer. Though I may be stuck in my ways, for the sake of important research, especially ahead of the holidays, I threw my rules out the window and followed each recipe exactly as written.

Ina’s ingredient list is very simple, while Ree’s is a little more involved. I tend to think more is more when it comes to mashed potatoes, but the results of this showdown surprised me, so let’s get into it. For the sake of consistency and as suggested, I used Yukon Gold potatoes for both recipes. 

Ree Drummond’s Creamy Mashed Potatoes

One ingredient that really spoke to me in this recipe is Lawry’s Seasoned Salt. I’d never consider adding this to mashed potatoes, but it certainly intrigued me. It’s super potent and I figured it would do a nice job of cutting through the richness, but I was a little underwhelmed with it.

The positive of this recipe for me is the make-ahead aspect. You can assemble the potatoes up to two days in advance, store them in the fridge, then reheat with a little butter on top in the oven right before serving. The reason this works so well is the potatoes are fortified with a heavy amount of fat. A combination of half and half, cream cheese, and butter keep the potatoes from drying out in the oven.

This recipe has one fatal flaw: not enough salt! Even though the Lawry’s is very salty, Ree does not instruct you to cook the potatoes in salted water, which to me is one of the most crucial steps to making mashed potatoes.

Potatoes absorb salt best while they cook, so only seasoning them afterwards doesn't maximize flavor. Since no salt is added to the water, the potatoes tasted very flat, even with a hefty sprinkle of seasoned salt.

Ina Garten’s Classic Mashed Potatoes

Ina’s recipe calls for boiling the potatoes in salted water, which I was happy to see right off the bat. However, she called for cooking the potatoes for just 10 minutes, but during my test, it took closer to 20 minutes for the potatoes to be tender enough to mash.

As for the extras, she warms whole milk in butter on the stove and slowly drizzles this into the warm potatoes as she mixes them with a hand mixer. This may seem like a small detail, but warming milk and butter makes a big impact. When you add cold dairy to warm potatoes, it can cause them to seize and get dense. Also, you would have to mix them for longer to melt the butter, which will make the potatoes gummy. When you stream the butter and milk in warm, it blends quickly and you'll have light and airy mashed potatoes.

I will say, these did have a few lumps, but I know some people don’t mind that. If I were to make them again, I would rice the potatoes to eliminate any lumps. However, I did like the texture they got from using the hand mixer. 

The Winner: Ina Garten’s Classic Mashed Potatoes

While I don’t think you can go wrong with either recipe, Ina’s stood out because the potatoes were properly seasoned while they cooked. In my experience, this step is crucial and is the difference between okay versus amazing mashed potatoes.

If you were to season the water used to cook Ree’s potatoes, it would be hard to choose a clear winner. That said, I do like a traditional mashed potato, and I think the cream cheese and Lawry’s Seasoning Salt in Ree’s take away from the true potato essence I love in this classic holiday side.