These pumpkin cheddar mashed potatoes are a pumpkin-lover’s dream. I don’t know about everyone else’s homes, but in ours the only Thanksgiving dish that used to contain pumpkin were pumpkin pies during dessert. Pumpkin never had a place during the main feast and for a pumpkin-lover such as myself, this was simply unacceptable!
I’m not a huge fan of gravy (if you’re thinking how un-American that is of me, some members of my family would definitely agree with you 😉 ). Because of this, I’m all for mashed potatoes filled with their own flavor and don’t feel something is lacking if my mashed potatoes are “un-gravyable” (a term coined by my own die-hard gravy-loving family members).
So last year I decided try these out for Thanksgiving dinner (which I host). I knew my die-hard gravy-loving family members weren’t ready to handle a Thanksgiving dinner without some gravyable potatoes, though, so I made a 1/2 batch of these and a batch of some “regular” mashed potatoes.
My fear that the “regular” mashed potatoes (which were red-skinned potatoes mashed with garlic and parmesan) would go over far better turned out to be unfounded, because these held their own and were a huge hit! In the end we were left with hardly any leftovers of either kind.
So these pumpkin cheddar mashed potatoes have now secured a solid spot in my Thanksgiving dinner menu rotation. I’ll probably still make both kinds of potatoes because they each have their own merits and their own purpose within the dinner, but these will always be my own personal favorite.
This will almost certainly be my final post before Thanksgiving (who else can’t believe it’s only 5 days away?! Seriously, where does the time go?). I hope everyone is able to spend Thanksgiving with their loved ones and has a wonderful holiday!
With that said, part of having a wonderful holiday may include having a fabulous cocktail in hand to get through some of your loved ones’ antics, right? So here is one of my absolute favorite cocktails for Thanksgiving (see photo below): for 1 glass it’s 2oz caramel vodka, 3/4 cup ginger ale and ~1/4 cup of apple cider (you can add more, to taste, to make it sweeter and smoother). If you want to make a big batch, just multipy quantities above by how many people you’ll have, mix it all together in a pitcher and you’re good to go!
Pumpkin Cheddar Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 lbs white potatoes (peeled and cubed)
- 6 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 sticks unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/3 cup milk (heated)
- 2+1/2 cups pumpkin puree (must be plain pumpkin puree, NOT pumpkin pie mix)
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 Tbsp. rosemary (fresh, finely chopped)
- 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (see my recipe for homemade pumpkin pie spice here)
Instructions
- Place cubed potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water (you want ~1-2" cold water above the potato cubes too).
- Place pot over medium-high heat for ~25-30 minutes until potatoes are fully cooked and soft (a fork should go through easily).
- Drain the cooked potatoes. Place the potatoes and minced garlic in a large mixing bowl and mash using your preferred method (I use my electric mixer but when doing so, be careful not to over-mix the potatoes).
- Add the butter, salt and pumpkin pie spice and beat until butter is completely melted and spices are thoroughly mixed in with the potatoes. Then,slowly beat in the milk. Lastly, add the cheese, pumpkin puree and rosemary and stir/mix until cheese is completely melted and everything is combined.
- Serve immediately. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
